Not great news about Spyderco.

[captain spaulding]

I got a email from Spyderco announcing they are introducing M.A.P pricing as of 1-1-16.  If you are in the market for a Spyderco you better get it now unless you want to pay more later. Complete bummer. 

[jekostas]

I guess they want to polish up that brand image a little bit and differentiate the Spyderco name from Byrd and the other low-end market brands.

Sucks but not altogether unexpected.

[Kampfer]

I maybe never will buy a Spyderco.

[captain spaulding]

I guess they want to polish up that brand image a little bit and differentiate the Spyderco name from Byrd and the other low-end market brands.

Sucks but not altogether unexpected.

I personally never grouped Spyderco with any low-end brands.

[captain spaulding]

I maybe never will buy a Spyderco.

Not sure why you say that. Benchmade has had MAP pricing for years. 

[Kampfer]

I maybe never will buy a Spyderco.

Not sure why you say that. Benchmade has had MAP pricing for years. 

I can not stand how their knives look. Huge hump and with big hole.

[captain spaulding]

I maybe never will buy a Spyderco.

Not sure why you say that. Benchmade has had MAP pricing for years. 

I can not stand how their knives look. Huge hump and with big hole.

I respect that. For me I love the look. Not to mention the hole is the end all be all for me and the hump (on some models) is much preferred as it acts as a thumb ramp and is great for multiple purposes. Again I respect that you do not feel the same. 

[Kampfer]

I maybe never will buy a Spyderco.

Not sure why you say that. Benchmade has had MAP pricing for years. 

I can not stand how their knives look. Huge hump and with big hole.

I respect that. For me I love the look. Not to mention the hole is the end all be all for me and the hump (on some models) is much preferred as it acts as a thumb ramp and is great for multiple purposes. Again I respect that you do not feel the same.

I also understand your reasoning, they are just not for me.

[jekostas]

I guess they want to polish up that brand image a little bit and differentiate the Spyderco name from Byrd and the other low-end market brands.

Sucks but not altogether unexpected.

I personally never grouped Spyderco with any low-end brands.

Perhaps, but Spyderco clearly sees a problem.  It's certainly not unheard of - as was mentioned Benchmade has a MAP as well.  They also discontinued their Red class knives and rebranded models under the H&K name instead.

[sawman]

This doesn't change my desire for Spyderco's. I just hope this means they keep quality up and maybe even improve some of their models. I can't always afford these high-end brands but when I have the funds I don't mind paying for the very best.

[captain spaulding]

I guess they want to polish up that brand image a little bit and differentiate the Spyderco name from Byrd and the other low-end market brands.

Sucks but not altogether unexpected.

I personally never grouped Spyderco with any low-end brands.

Perhaps, but Spyderco clearly sees a problem.  It's certainly not unheard of - as was mentioned Benchmade has a MAP as well.  They also discontinued their Red class knives and rebranded models under the H&K name instead.

I don't see it as solving a problem, but rather a opportunity.

It seems like they just want to do it because Benchmade and other companies do and they don't want to be the odd man out.  While it sound silly it actually is just what you are saying about differentiating themselves from the lower end side of their business.

[shark_za]

How does it differentiate them from their lower products?
All it does is protect the dealer channel from small fly by night sellers.

I understand the MAP is 40% off the RRP so its not so bad after all.

Down here the distributor of Spyderco already has a MAP that is around 20-30% OVER the RRP when converted to US$.

[HarleyXJGuy]

Ok I will be the dumb guy, what is MAP and how will it affect the price of my Spydies?

[dks]

Basically it means that you will not be allowed to sell any of them, below a lowest price fixed by the manufacturer. Even if you buy them really cheap you will not be able to pass the saving to the buyer.
If they find out that you are selling cheaper, Spyderco will not allow you to buy any more of their products.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

GEC, has a similar policy too, from what I understand.

[captain spaulding]

Exactly what DKS said. For example, the Delica4 will be the same price basically anywhere you want to buy one. If you want a Delica4 (or any other Spyderco) their will be no shopping around for a good price, it will be the same everywhere. On top of that when MAP pricing is introduced the price almost always increases to the consumer. Probably considerably. I would guess around 20% - 30% increase.

Its exactly how Benchmade does it. If I want a plain edge, Satin Griptilian I have to pay $89.25 no matter where I buy it with few exceptions like EBAY.

[styx]

Doesn't Victorinox have the same thing in place?

[captain spaulding]

Doesn't Victorinox have the same thing in place?

I am not sure. I can buy a Vic (for example) Huntsman for a bunch of different prices online from different retailers so it would not seem that they do MAP pricing.

Maybe I am not understanding something correctly about MAP pricing. 

[David]

Read about it in the November Spyderco byte. With the economy like it is I'm not to sure what to make of it yet.       

[theonew]

If I had a $200-a-week Spyderco habit, I'd be very nervous now.  Since I don't and if I get a strong urge to pick up another higher-end Spyderco, to add to my already ridiculous amount of knives, I'm sure I can budget in another $20/$30 or more.  But from a business perspective I can see why a company would do this and I expect to see more of it. 

The almost instant price comparison shopping available over the internet now, has to some degree created its own MAP.  If you see a quite noticeably lower price on an item it starts to make you question things like authenticity, quality of the vendor, and most importantly quality of the product.  It may make those "holy-smurf I had to buy it because it was so smurfin cheap" type of deals become fewer and farther between but maybe not.  There may be provisions to allow for close-outs/discontinuations or businesses can get creative and offer a "buy any Spyderco and get 5 Moras free" type of deal.

Also I'd bet that the guy who buys a Spyderco every month is probably a fraction of a percent of Spyderco customers, whereas the person who actually needs a high quality folding knife and is prepared to pay up for what is expected to be a long term purchase, probably won't be concerned with or even notice a 10 or 20 percent price rise.  Just my 2.18 cents (sorry but had to add the New York State sales tax).

[Gerhard Gerber]

  I pay full price plus a bit anyway......

[Gareth]

Doesn't Victorinox have the same thing in place?

I am not sure. I can buy a Vic (for example) Huntsman for a bunch of different prices online from different retailers so it would not seem that they do MAP pricing.

Maybe I am not understanding something correctly about MAP pricing. 

Styx is right though, Vic did announce they were bringing in MAP a good few years ago and it didn't seem to change much.  I suspect your Benchmade analogy might be closer to the mark though.

[Yalius]

Basically it means that you will not be allowed to sell any of them, below a lowest price fixed by the manufacturer. Even if you buy them really cheap you will not be able to pass the saving to the buyer.
If they find out that you are selling cheaper, Spyderco will not allow you to buy any more of their products.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

GEC, has a similar policy too, from what I understand.

This isn't correct. It will be a minimum advertised price. They can still be sold for less but the retailer has to jump through a few hoops, like not showing the price until it's in the shopping cart, not displaying final price on a shelf tag, or finalizing price using a discount code or coupon offered by the customer. Enforcing a minimum selling price in the US is illegal. Enforcing a minimum advertised price is not.

[dks]

It all depends on how it is enforced.
Benchmade has been known to make it difficult/impossible to sell anything below the advertised-set price, by punishing those that did so. There were a few threads on that on BF.

Some sellers, as you say, will only show the lower price when you add the item to the cart, or supply special discount coupon codes, which you can not tell anybody about etc.

The problem is that some sellers are better equipped at doing that (e.g. online sellers) whereas some, B&M shops, are not.

I remember this being an issue with Benchmade, which in the end let to everybody sticking to the set, higher, price, so as to not have issues with benchmade, and make a good profit, as they are selling the knives for more than they could do, blaming the MAP for that.

[this_is_nascar]

Basically it means that you will not be allowed to sell any of them, below a lowest price fixed by the manufacturer. Even if you buy them really cheap you will not be able to pass the saving to the buyer.
If they find out that you are selling cheaper, Spyderco will not allow you to buy any more of their products.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

GEC, has a similar policy too, from what I understand.

Stop spreading inaccurate information.  For the real facts behind the MAP, go to the Spyderco Forum page and read what's there.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[this_is_nascar]

They can still be sold for whatever the dealer wants to sell them for.  He/She can only advertise the MAP.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[dks]

Basically it means that you will not be allowed to sell any of them, below a lowest price fixed by the manufacturer. Even if you buy them really cheap you will not be able to pass the saving to the buyer.
If they find out that you are selling cheaper, Spyderco will not allow you to buy any more of their products.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

GEC, has a similar policy too, from what I understand.

Stop spreading inaccurate information.  For the real facts behind the MAP, go to the Spyderco Forum page and read what's there.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

What is your problem?

I post what I remember from BF and so on. Others remember the same too. Do you know the meaning of spreading?  Do you assume people are out to get spyderco? Is spyderco worried about my views? I doubt Sal shares your enthusiasm.

If you know more then post your view like Yalius did and supply people with the correct information, instead of trying to get them to got to a different forum. Is that your aim?

[pfrsantos]

So... MAP - Minimum Allowed Price and RRP - Recommended Retail Price?...

It will be hard to enforce, shops can always have items on sale. No way the brands can force all of them to sell over a certain price...

[Etherealicer]

MAP == minimum ADVERTISING price

It means exactly what the name says, you cannot advertise a product cheaper than this price. HOWEVER, you can still sell it at lower price (although it is difficult to communicate this to your clients).

Pros of MAP:
- Shops with a larger overhead (brick and mortar stores) stay more competitive.
- Smaller companies that have higher purchase price due to lower volumes stay more competitive.

Cons of MAP:
- Its an underhand/legal way of price fixing
- Prices go up (without advertisement, there is no point of selling stuff below MAP).

For a good read about MAP

[Corwyn]

Well... if the new price will be more or less similar to RRP, than no more Spyderco knives for me.  It was hard enough to pay for them as is - and there are too many fakes to risk buying used ones...

I paid 106 USD for my Para 2, RRP was 198 USD
I paid 68 USD for my DF 2, RRP was 125 USD

[this_is_nascar]

Basically it means that you will not be allowed to sell any of them, below a lowest price fixed by the manufacturer. Even if you buy them really cheap you will not be able to pass the saving to the buyer.
If they find out that you are selling cheaper, Spyderco will not allow you to buy any more of their products.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

GEC, has a similar policy too, from what I understand.

Stop spreading inaccurate information.  For the real facts behind the MAP, go to the Spyderco Forum page and read what's there.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

What is your problem?

I post what I remember from BF and so on. Others remember the same too. Do you know the meaning of spreading?  Do you assume people are out to get spyderco? Is spyderco worried about my views? I doubt Sal shares your enthusiasm.

If you know more then post your view like Yalius did and supply people with the correct information, instead of trying to get them to got to a different forum. Is that your aim?

My problem is that bad info is being passed along.  The dealer can sell the product for whatever they want.  The MAP means they have a limit on the lowest price they can advertise the product for.

Update:  I have no desire to retype or summerize what's already been mentioned on the Spyderco site, that's why I suggested those who care go read it right from the horses mouth.  I have no stake in Spyderco and could really care less.  I have a few of their offerings.  If they or one of the other large knife folks went away tomorrow, I'd loose no sleep whatsoever.  I just don't like misinformation being spread, that's all.