Spyderco price increases and higher MAP pricing

not so sure on your impression that everyone wants the more made in china to stay cheaper, Mr. Glesser. i sure dont. i prefer to pay for the American, Japanese, italian, and taiwan made models i feel are worth the money. even with the map increases myself. i do sometimes shop at walmart. might even buy a spyderco from there once in awhile.

i realize i speak only for myself.



Sal Glesser said:
I Posted this on the site forum thread:

Interesting thread.

I get the impression that many of you would be happier if we made all of our knives in China (cheap) and only sold to Walmart & Amazon (cheap) so YOU can get what YOU want as cheaply as possible? Or maybe we could get our crew, dealers, advertisers, shippers, suppliers, etc., to work for free?

It is our dealers that have asked us to do this. Not just B&M stores, but internet as well. Internet dealers have thanked us for doing it. The very same dealers that you get our knives from. Surely you aren't saying that you don't care about them, are you?

We don't make any more money from map. In fact it costs us more to monitor and enforce. Please try to broaden your understanding of production and distribution. You will have greater appreciation for what it takes to get you our product.

sal
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I have always been surprised how consumer prices for many things increase faster than salaries and wages for many people. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that at some point, regardless of what the consumer wants/demands, increased prices will prohibit many consumers from being able to buy. It's really just a matter of time.
 
Sal,

With all due respect, I believe the dealers pushed for this so that they don’t have to compete on pricing. If one dealer were to charge less the others would have to follow suit or lose business.

Frankly, MAP eliminates competition based on price. If it were just Amazon you could refuse to let them become a dealer. I suspect the margins on Spyderco didn’t match other brands and the dealers complained.

I’ve only spoken to you briefly at Blade but you’ve always been very gracious to me as just another knife enthusiast. Perhaps you should use a CRK model and don’t allow discounts at all and adjust your MSRP. I think there would be less controversy. But to quote Nick Shabazz, what do I know I’m just some random jackass.
 
Sal Glesser said:
I Posted this on the site forum thread:

Interesting thread.

I get the impression that many of you would be happier if we made all of our knives in China (cheap) and only sold to Walmart & Amazon (cheap) so YOU can get what YOU want as cheaply as possible? Or maybe we could get our crew, dealers, advertisers, shippers, suppliers, etc., to work for free?

It is our dealers that have asked us to do this. Not just B&M stores, but internet as well. Internet dealers have thanked us for doing it. The very same dealers that you get our knives from. Surely you aren't saying that you don't care about them, are you?

We don't make any more money from map. In fact it costs us more to monitor and enforce. Please try to broaden your understanding of production and distribution. You will have greater appreciation for what it takes to get you our product.

sal
Click to expand...

Sal,

I for one appreciate your willingness to engage, given the tide of whining and complaining that inevitably emerges in these threads. Entitlement is a pretty rampant sentiment in our consumer culture, and there's plenty of it on display in this thread. But more importantly, I appreciate the very evident commitment on your part to run Spyderco with a mind to keeping smaller retailers (both online and B&M) in business.

As usual there is a vocal chorus who care only about their own wallets, and hey that's fine I guess. People who just want as much as they can get for as little as possible can live that way if they like. But for me and mine, I'm happy to pay what's needed for a business that cares about how it runs itself, cares about it's smaller distributors and retailers, and keeps uppping the ante on value and innovation throughout the product line.

Keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see the 2018 catalog!

Cheers,
Halden
 
Captain Howdy said:
I don’t play with amazon when buying Spyderco. I know they will have the best price, but too many horror stories on authenticity.
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They also have the best return service bar none. They ship out a replacement on anything shipped from them before you send yours back (no charge), and you get 30 days to send back the problem item.

I've never had to send a knife back to them, but I've had popular dealers send out the wrong knife on a couple occasions, and I promise you they didn't send out the correct knife til they had the original back.

The big guy wins this one for customer service in my experience. Better c.s. and prices? Hard to argue for me.
 
kreole said:
They also have the best return service bar none. They ship out a replacement on anything shipped from them before you send yours back (no charge), and you get 30 days to send back the problem item.

I've never had to send a knife back to them, but I've had popular dealers send out the wrong knife on a couple occasions, and I promise you they didn't send out the correct knife til they had the original back.

The big guy wins this one for customer service in my experience. Better c.s. and prices? Hard to argue for me.
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To each his own. I’d rather not have to spend time questioning and inspecting the knife looking for hints on a clone. I like to think I can trust my dealers and know I get what I paid for. Just me.
 
I can’t believe so many people are up in arms about this. The prices on EVERYTHING go up eventually. I’ll keep buying and supporting Spyderco when I see something I like.
 
I like my Spydercos - I will keep buying Spyderco for the innovation, the design, the quality, and the integrity of the people behind the company.
Only recently have I started noticing the differences in authorized retailers. I have received excellent service from a couple recently - and if this helps those companies to continue, then I support the decision. I would rather my money went to Spyderco's bottom line, but I now realize the distribution network is also a key part of my ability to get my next knife.
 
Sal Glesser said:
I Posted this on the site forum thread:

Interesting thread.

I get the impression that many of you would be happier if we made all of our knives in China (cheap) and only sold to Walmart & Amazon (cheap) so YOU can get what YOU want as cheaply as possible? Or maybe we could get our crew, dealers, advertisers, shippers, suppliers, etc., to work for free?

It is our dealers that have asked us to do this. Not just B&M stores, but internet as well. Internet dealers have thanked us for doing it. The very same dealers that you get our knives from. Surely you aren't saying that you don't care about them, are you?

We don't make any more money from map. In fact it costs us more to monitor and enforce. Please try to broaden your understanding of production and distribution. You will have greater appreciation for what it takes to get you our product.

sal
Click to expand...
Sorry you seem so upset by your loyal customers and fans offering their true feelings on a price increase of sorts... another increase that is. I am surprised by your reaction, honestly. I'm sure you won't care, but I will take this as my moment to bow out of being a loyal Spyderco fan and buyer. It was fun. Thanks.
 
halden.doerge said:
Sal,

I for one appreciate your willingness to engage, given the tide of whining and complaining that inevitably emerges in these threads. Entitlement is a pretty rampant sentiment in our consumer culture, and there's plenty of it on display in this thread. But more importantly, I appreciate the very evident commitment on your part to run Spyderco with a mind to keeping smaller retailers (both online and B&M) in business.

As usual there is a vocal chorus who care only about their own wallets, and hey that's fine I guess. People who just want as much as they can get for as little as possible can live that way if they like. But for me and mine, I'm happy to pay what's needed for a business that cares about how it runs itself, cares about it's smaller distributors and retailers, and keeps uppping the ante on value and innovation throughout the product line.

Keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see the 2018 catalog!

Cheers,
Halden
Click to expand...
Entitlement? I love the winter.
 
Sal Glesser said:
I Posted this on the site forum thread:

Interesting thread.

I get the impression that many of you would be happier if we made all of our knives in China (cheap) and only sold to Walmart & Amazon (cheap) so YOU can get what YOU want as cheaply as possible? Or maybe we could get our crew, dealers, advertisers, shippers, suppliers, etc., to work for free?

It is our dealers that have asked us to do this. Not just B&M stores, but internet as well. Internet dealers have thanked us for doing it. The very same dealers that you get our knives from. Surely you aren't saying that you don't care about them, are you?

We don't make any more money from map. In fact it costs us more to monitor and enforce. Please try to broaden your understanding of production and distribution. You will have greater appreciation for what it takes to get you our product.

sal
Click to expand...
Thanks Sal for helping me understand what s going on with this 8.3% price increase for the customers. I understand how this new arrangement doesn t make any more money for Spyderco per knife sold. This makes me think that Spyderco has always tried to increase its profits by increasing the volume of sales rather than the profit margin per item. Maybe this volume increase will now be accomplished by making the retailers happy. After all, they are now used to map from Benchmade and Zero Tolerance so why not get it from you? All I know is that these kind of price increases begin to resemble the Benchmade model which has resulted in me and others losing interest in that brand. It was formerly my second favorite brand behind Spyderco. Now I can t find a Benchmade model I want to buy.
Again I understand that there is a competition for dealer business as well as customer business. I just regret that Spyderco feels it necessary to follow the map trend when for the first 25 years in business you did so well without it. (And the dealers were all in business for years before map also.)
I still think high sales volume with value pricing as your profit margins will allow will be as successful as a map strategy with dealers as well as customers. But I m just guessing as I don t know the pressures you re under from some of your dealers. I think they see a way to increase there profits by pushing for map from all suppliers. Why not get what they can? But your customers are paying the 8.3% increase .
Frankly I think some of that price should go to the production people, you. As a small businessman, I know what it feels like to hold prices steady for years while costs in terms of wages and supply costs rise with inflation. In my case smaller profit margins.
By the way, I think your development of the Taiwan production facility was one of the best moves I seen in the knife industry, from my casual observation. Excellent quality for reasonable prices.
Best of luck in the future. The Spyderco tradition is very important to me as a knife enthusiast. :thumbsup:
 
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I don't believe most people here are truly upset at Spyderco, but are more upset about MAP, a form of price fixing, as a business standard across many industries.
Spyderco is the latest to announce a price increase so they are receiving the current snowballs being thrown at business practice in general.
Next month it will be someone else.

The funny thing is: your in control and you can take that hook out of your mouth whenever you want.
 
minimize said:
Sorry you seem so upset by your loyal customers and fans offering their true feelings on a price increase of sorts... another increase that is. I am surprised by your reaction, honestly. I'm sure you won't care, but I will take this as my moment to bow out of being a loyal Spyderco fan and buyer. It was fun. Thanks.
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Loyal, lol. That's good.
 
Sal Glesser said:
I Posted this on the site forum thread:

Interesting thread.

I get the impression that many of you would be happier if we made all of our knives in China (cheap) and only sold to Walmart & Amazon (cheap) so YOU can get what YOU want as cheaply as possible? Or maybe we could get our crew, dealers, advertisers, shippers, suppliers, etc., to work for free?

It is our dealers that have asked us to do this. Not just B&M stores, but internet as well. Internet dealers have thanked us for doing it. The very same dealers that you get our knives from. Surely you aren't saying that you don't care about them, are you?

We don't make any more money from map. In fact it costs us more to monitor and enforce. Please try to broaden your understanding of production and distribution. You will have greater appreciation for what it takes to get you our product.

sal
Click to expand...

Sal,

Great respect for you and anytime I read something about you or hear a story about how you built this business and changed the knife industry I want to buy one of your knives; I've bought several.

With that being said, I haven't bought a knife from Wal-Mart in years (a USA Old Timer, was probably my last one) and I don't buy knives from Amazon. I don't expect your workers to work for free or you not to make a living. I even said earlier in the thread I didn't think you were some corporate greedy type. What upsets me is that the current model of MAP being enforced is price fixing that avoids competition.

I also find it interesting that one employee comes on here and posts that Spyderco is listening and cares. This post doesn't seem to reflect that but you're entitled to your opinions and feelings and I'm sorry that you are upset that customers are upset about a price increase, MAP increase, and that MAP is being enforced in a manner that is price fixing. We all have limited income when it comes to hobbies etc. I make a good living but every year things seem to increase but my salary doesn't. So as far as the picture being painted that I'm some greedy consumer that wants something for nothing that's not true. I buy US made knives from manufacturers like yourself with solid reputation.

The bolded part below expresses how I feel. Competition is a good thing but MAP is choking that part of the hobby out.

GB940Rookie said:
I don't believe most people here are truly upset at Spyderco, but are more upset about MAP, a form of price fixing, as a business standard across many industries.
Spyderco is the latest to announce a price increase so they are receiving the current snowballs being thrown at business practice in general.
Next month it will be someone else.

The funny thing is: your in control and you can take that hook out of your mouth whenever you want.
Click to expand...

Bingo.
 
halden.doerge said:
Like the old saying goes, loyalty forever... or until 8.3% price increases. Fun to know how low some people's loyalty goes for.
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Nah, loyalty goes two ways. I wasn't a fan of price increases again. But I was ok with it. Then I read that response from Sal with his emphasis on "yours". That turned me off completely. Again, loyalty goes two ways. Some people have the need to find approval from others that they hold in high regards for some reason. If it works for you, congratulations. Hope it works out for you.
 
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