Spyderco price increases and higher MAP pricing

jbmonkey said:
when ya add sales tax in, it often isnt below map at walmart. many online delaers dont charge or collect sales tax unless you are in the same state. i dont buy knives at amazon, so i dont know.
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Haven't bought from Walmart, but there are quite a few on Walmart-owned Jet.com that go for under MAP after taxes. They get around it by having you to log in before showing you the price they will charge.
 
halden.doerge said:
It's all of them. They all want/need it.

Except Amazon. Mystery solved. You're welcome.
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I don't believe that for a second.
There is a certain smallish online knife retailer which I'm sure most of us are familiar with. Prior to Spyderco implementing MAP, I ordered 4-6 Spydercos from them because they offered the best price on most items, typically by around 3% or so. At the time I think they even had Amazon beat on most items. And they still offered EXCELLENT service and fast shipping.
Post-MAP, I haven't ordered from them. They are no longer differentiated on price, and they're too small to compete on inventory/selection. They always offered great service, but so do most of the online knife shops. So, you're telling me that this small, low-overhead online knife retailer, who was my go-to pre-MAP, hasn't lost business to the megakniferetailer? You don't think they knew that MAP would hurt them?

I also heard a story about another smallish online knife retailer who Benchmade now refuses to do business with because Benchmade found out they were offering 'private sales' at below MAP. This retailer no loner sells Benchmades. You think that retailer was asking for MAP?

I can totally buy that most retailers were asking for MAP. But not all.

Only thing MAP has done for me is limit impulse buys, and I can usually beat MAP if I'm not in a hurry.
 
For better or for worse, Walmart & Amazon are great anti-inflationary forces. Of course, there are downsides but consumers and businesses crave for lower prices.
 
RamZar said:
For better or for worse, Walmart & Amazon are great anti-inflationary forces. Of course, there are downsides but consumers and businesses crave for lower prices.
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Of course. Neither of those statements is hard to understand. They are hard to disagree with.
 
I posted this on the site forum

As Wsdavies mentioned, it's a daily battle. We stopped doing business with Amazon for a good portion of this year because they made demands for lower prices and we would not meet their demands. We're back on track now, but that's for now. There are a number of big boxes that we stopped dealing with because of their lower price demands. I guess it's part of their standard bargaining tools.

GoldenSpydie, on the MSRP, we tried that and it didn't work. Buck tried it as well many years ago with the same results. MSRP really isn't what it appears to be.....it's a standard bar from which all other discounts are measured. It also gives dealers an opportunity to comment on how much you are saving.

sal
 
I also posted this on the site forum

I would also like to add that "academic speculation" on what "might be" is often naive.

I was having a discussion with an individual that kept saying that this law should be passed and that gun should be outlawed..... to reduce crime ..... picking this minor refinement or that. My response was "why don't we simply just outlaw crime"? oversimplified?

Today's business environment is very complicated. Simple answers are challenging. As Eric said, if we stick to our core business values, solutions are less complicated. Reliable high performance - Constant quality improvement - above all else, be fair - people are human beings and each one is important - Be honest in all things - Take good care of and keep your good crew, etc. I think you get the point.

sal

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The goal in life is to be: consistent like the sun and transparent like the air. That's how trust is built".
 
and this

Hi Ramzar,

Loyalty is a very important core value in Spyderco's business model, for crew, vendors, customers, etc. We have, for various reasons made adjustments, but not likely if they are doing a good job and the price problems are no fault of their own. (dollar value, government, etc.). We are still working with our very excellent Japanese partners when ALL others have moved to less expensive countries. Partly for quality, partly for giri, partly for the Karma bank, partly because they saved our *** when we came close to going down, etc. But you won't see too many G-10 models coming from Seki in the future, at least in pocket knives. Most will go to FRN, for which they excel, like the new Police 4.

sal
 
Mo2 said:
So anyway when I see the dealer prices of the benchmade anthem is around $250 and they go for anywhere between 325-400 that's some major profits. To bad the qc on those models is as poor. The benchmade price is crazy for the quality you get but it's only really a 250 product with the rest going to dealers. I think benchmade should bring map prices down because of this. But every dealer is happy to push them because of the margin.
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Actually, when Benchmade enforced their MAP, retailers like Knifeworks were not happy about it (and said so), expecting that the drop in quantity would not make up for the increased profit on a reduced number of knives (and KW was one of the biggest Benchmade dealers, if not the biggest). The interesting thing is that - at the time - Benchmade did not increase the dealer cost of the knives, so the increased profit went to the dealers, not to Benchmade.
 
Sal Glesser Sal Glesser you guys truly are great.

Saving up for my next spyderco knives the maxamet pm2 and the fluted carbon fiber s90v native 5. Eventually a sprint shaman.

Keep doing what you do.
 
I wanted to pipe in here... I started collecting knives in the $150-$300 price range a couple years ago. After first checking Amazon, I found that many of the larger online knife dealers (some of which are sponsors here) sold them for less (not a special sale price).

Besides the obvious support for the community and the extra care and customer service the respected online knife dealers offer, I have actually spent on average 10-15% less by NOT purchasing on Amazon. I don't know if MAP pricing will have a significant affect on the difference, but do yourself a favor and compare the prices between Amazon and the dealers that are sponsors here. You might find it surprising.
 
Ok, I don't post often on here but I figured this is worth commenting on.

I know I am not alone in the sentiment that... at the end of the day, I work hard for my money. I choose to purchase a quality knife, and in this case, Spyderco. Their knives have always suited me well, and when something works well for the task you have purchased it for, then a small increase in price for something you KNOW works well is a non-issue. Of course, many of the people up in arms are the kind that own so many and use so few. I tend to use mine, which (from what I recall) is the intended purpose of owning a folding knife, correct?

Much of the reason why some people despise price increases or MAP is that it seldomly trickles down to better QC. I hear it all the time regarding Benchmade but in the end it actually had people re-evaluate their spending habits. Some chose to persist, and some looked elsewhere. With Spyderco, their QC has always been great, even with their factory seconds. I am a new owner of an S30V Para 3 purchased from the seconds sale and for the life of me I can't find why it didn't pass QC. I liked it so much I just ordered a S110V Para 3 last night from an authorized retailer.

Kristi, Sal, Eric, and many others in the Spydiecrew are always a pleasure to deal with and having met/seen them at BLADE here in GA, you can tell they are a stand-up bunch. They are not a huge organization like some other companies out there, and that being said, they listen to us even when it comes to designs, sprint runs, etc. Why wouldn't you want to throw a little money back at a company that actually listens to you? I know I do... and will.
 
All the MAP and pricing changes did for me was to let Spyderco have my money a few weeks/months early.

I wanted two Para 3’s and a Pacific Salt and instead of ordering them next year, I bought them this week.

I might pay more for new stuff when the new catalogue comes out, but I am very happy for what I paid in the last month for the aforementioned, my Manix 2, Tenacious and few Byrds. :thumbsup:
 
SharpieB said:
All the MAP and pricing changes did for me was to let Spyderco have my money a few weeks/months early.

I wanted two Para 3’s and a Pacific Salt and instead of ordering them next year, I bought them this week.

I might pay more for new stuff when the new catalogue comes out, but I am very happy for what I paid in the last month for the aforementioned, my Manix 2, Tenacious and few Byrds. :thumbsup:
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Same here, except I have been buying discontinued and Black Friday sales on sprints and exclusives, etc.

The only one on my horizon otherwise is the Maxamet Military, which I will have to pass on as it will probably have a MAP @ $225. Oh well...
 
So will this new MAP price increase affect existing dealer exclusives, sprint runs, and discontinued models like the kw exclusive cts-204p and fluted ti millie?
 
Sal Glesser said:
and this

Hi Ramzar,

Loyalty is a very important core value in Spyderco's business model, for crew, vendors, customers, etc. We have, for various reasons made adjustments, but not likely if they are doing a good job and the price problems are no fault of their own. (dollar value, government, etc.). We are still working with our very excellent Japanese partners when ALL others have moved to less expensive countries. Partly for quality, partly for giri, partly for the Karma bank, partly because they saved our *** when we came close to going down, etc. But you won't see too many G-10 models coming from Seki in the future, at least in pocket knives. Most will go to FRN, for which they excel, like the new Police 4.

sal
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Did he just say there is an FRN Police4?
 
I have never had much issue with MAP until looking at knives. From how I understand MAP to work vendors can sell below MAP but they must hide the price and I get that and sometimes its a nuisance to have it show but it works to allow occasional great deals. These deals can bring in new customers to a brand as well maintain loyalty to a vendor and/or brand. I mostly hate seeing the increase because I don't see anyone really doing this so it just means a price increase across the board. I am not saying it isn't worth it still but I can't drop even $100 a month on a knife right now so I have to be selective and price will be a factor. I don't know why Mass Drop always has Spyderco's priced so standard for a special discount vendor given you can't see prices unless your logged in other than I would assume it is part of the sales contract they make for any of the knives they get.
 
PirateSeulb said:
I have never had much issue with MAP until looking at knives. From how I understand MAP to work vendors can sell below MAP but they must hide the price and I get that and sometimes its a nuisance to have it show but it works to allow occasional great deals. These deals can bring in new customers to a brand as well maintain loyalty to a vendor and/or brand. I mostly hate seeing the increase because I don't see anyone really doing this so it just means a price increase across the board. I am not saying it isn't worth it still but I can't drop even $100 a month on a knife right now so I have to be selective and price will be a factor. I don't know why Mass Drop always has Spyderco's priced so standard for a special discount vendor given you can't see prices unless your logged in other than I would assume it is part of the sales contract they make for any of the knives they get.
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Massdrops way around map is to include it with a case and you can opt out of the case for a slightly reduced cost but it will still take several weeks to get it.
 
I would assume that since massdrop does an individual deal for each drop, they would not fall under MAP as such, since they have a different business model. They commonly sell a couple products that are otherwise only available from a couple of companies, (darn tough vermont for one) and that doesn't seem to affect the other agreements. I think its more the fact that the "group buy" model hasn't turned out to work so great, and doesn't produce the discounts that it did off the beginning.
 
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