Spyderco custom shop

[talesk]

Howdy,

In Sal's 'why' thread Naperville proposed a great idea... A spyderco custom shop.

With the right service level agreements, updates on your knife in queue, and other formalities to adjust expectations ... I think a lot of spyderco junkies would absolutely love to be able to order a bespoke knife at a premium. Honestly I would rather pay more direct to spyderco than a random retailer (or sprint scalper).

Logistics are difficult but I feel spyderco fans would patiently wait for their selection of steel/grips to enter rotation for making a batch of x+y+ z knives.

Even if only one golden model like the para3 were offered I feel it would be successful.

Additionally it could help fix the price gouging and hoarding issues with sprints.

Thoughts?

[cptdean]

I would buy one...I would wait...and I’d want it to be a Para 3.

Then I’d do it all over again. And again. And again.

[MichaelScott]

OK, I’m going to be the Devil’s Advocate here. I suspect from Spyderco’s, or any makers perspective, this could be a pretty deep rabbit hole. With say ninety different models each year, not counting exclusives, that’s a LOT of parts to keep up with. Would constraining the number of custom designs be reasonable and would the demand grow until there were hundreds of combinations?

Would a separate department be required to create and logistically support such a shop? How much would that cost? Would it be self funding? What about the repair process for all those customs? How long must all the various parts be maintained? How much would it cost to create new parts for long discontinued knives?

Many other questions will come to mind as you think deeply about this from a business perspective.

[talesk]

I would buy one...I would wait...and I’d want it to be a Para 3.

Then I’d do it all over again. And again. And again.

Yes, if this happens it could mean the death of my wallet. I suspect this hasn't been done yet to spare the community from bankruptcy.

[talesk]

OK, I’m going to be the Devil’s Advocate here. I suspect from Spyderco’s, or any makers perspective, this could be a pretty deep rabbit hole. With say ninety different models each year, not counting exclusives, that’s a LOT of parts to keep up with. Would constraining the number of custom designs be reasonable and would the demand grow until there were hundreds of combinations?

Would a separate department be required to create and logistically support such a shop? How much would that cost? Would it be self funding? What about the repair process for all those customs? How long must all the various parts be maintained? How much would it cost to create new parts for long discontinued knives?

Many other questions will come to mind as you think deeply about this from a business perspective.

I am all for making jobs. I did mention that this would likely be a premium service.

Also, limiting scope to a few knives (golden only models?), or even a single knife instead of the full catalog.

I think when benchmade started their custom shop it was limited to the griptilian. Over time the shop both grew and shrank in scope. Colors offered went in and out, steels changed. It is something that needs a lot of study and a lot of luck to succeed.

Sal and team would know best as they have access to numbers both sales and technical we will never see.

[Sharp Guy]

...I did mention that this would likely be a premium service...

If we'd be buying these custom shop knives direct from Spyderco my guess is the price would be retail plus whatever needs to be added for the customization. Perhaps a little too premium for most buyers? Hard to say.

I do like the idea but it's a topic that's been discussed a few times. It's nice to think about but I'm not sure it'll ever happen.

Hi Doc,

While we appreciate the suggestion, and believe it would be interesting, as Deacon, Yab and others have mentioned, it would be very distracting to our normal product development. Thanx for the thought though.

sal

http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtop ... ustom+shop

[bearfacedkiller]

Almost every one of us on here is eagerly awaiting something in the que. Do we really want to slow them down?

This comes up a few times a year. The answer is always the same. I am not against the idea at all but there are a handful of reasons why it may not be a good idea.

You would have to exclude every variation that has been a sprint or exclusive. Also, if I order a Para2 with K390 and dark blue scales does that rule out that combo ever being a sprint? Collectors would be livid if people could just order a knife that has already been run as a sprint. How do you keep track of all that?

[guywithopinion]

Additionally it could help fix the price gouging and hoarding issues with sprints.

It seems like it would simply destroy sprints if you can build something identical from the custom shop. Why bother collecting them?

People do seem to still collect Buck 110's and such, but only a limited set of steels are available from the custom shop. 420HC and s30v are it, even though Buck has made them in all sorts of other steels (440c, 5160, BG42, probably a bunch more). They have a lot of handle options, but a lot of exclusives are things like micarta or aluminum frames/bolsters, etc, that are not available custom. Their custom shop doesn't compete with their exclusives and sprints. And generally speaking exclusives are better priced. A very basic 110 with 420HC and wood handles not unlike a production one is $80 custom.

Benchmade isn't that different. They offer more steel options, but fewer handle options. And the price is still pretty high. A Griptillian with a regular drop point 154CM blade, but G10 handles is almost $200.

If you think a custom shop is a way reduce prices from the secondary market, I'm not sure that's particularly true.

[mb1]

Spyderco obviously has a good thing going with their business model. If it ain’t broke and all that.

One thing I’ve been a little surprised about is not offering deep carry clips as an accessory in the store. They are so popular it just seems like a missed opportunity. But I’ll take the never ending menu of new steel options over piece parts any day. That’s one of the defining traits that sets Spyderco apart for me.

[Sharp Guy]

One thing I’ve been a little surprised about is not offering deep carry clips as an accessory in the store. They are so popular it just seems like a missed opportunity.

Sal's commented before, something to the effect of, he appreciates the small aftermarket industry that the desire for deep carry clips has created. It seemed to me that he likes to support those guys and doesn't feel the need to step on their toes and create a Spyderco version of something that's already available.

Personally, I'd like it if there were Spyderco versions of short and long deep carry clips. Problem is, there's only so many ways to design and make a deep carry clip for these knives. I like the Lynch design so much that Spyderco's would have to be almost identical for me to even try it. I don't think Spyderco would be interested in copying Casey's design (like another clip mfg did :rolleyes:). So I'm happy to just buy directly from Lynch NW whenever I need to.

[mb1]

@Sharp Guy thx. I wondered about that even as I typed my post. That’s both understandable and commendable.

[Evil D]

I'm 100% in support of this idea, but it's not a new idea. In the 9 or so years I've been on this forum it has come up many times, I think I may have even made a thread about it myself at some point. It has always been shot down but things change so maybe someday.

[Larry_Mott]

If it as up to me i'd have a go, starting with one model to test the waters. I also can't see how it would be so/too hard to have choices preventing the knife to mimic an existing sprint run. A simple addition of "C.S." on the blade stamp would keep "fake sprints" from the market.

[Sumdumguy]

If it as up to me i'd have a go, starting with one model to test the waters. I also can't see how it would be so/too hard to have choices preventing the knife to mimic an existing sprint run. A simple addition of "C.S." on the blade stamp would keep "fake sprints" from the market.

Was just about to say that.

I'd be interested in being able to order a custom Manix 2 BL or Native 5. But I can understand them not doing it, this would be for nothing but fan service.

[MichaelScott]

The more I think about it the more I just don’t like it. Spyderco isn’t a boutique knife shop open to all customer whims. Their knives are designed for a reason that isn’t based on mainly increasing the bottom line. They produce for example a limited run of PM2s with burnt orange scLes and Rex45 steel. People go crazy trying to buy one. Soon they are gone. Some people are happy and have a special knife. Others are not happy. But that is the game. Then a SpydieBoutique shop opens and anyone can have that knife. Not good. It’s not special any longer.

You can’t always get what you want. I like Spyderco’s system just fine. Sure, there are a few knives I wish I had bought when they were available. But, if I could just put them together from a menu now, I wouldn’t really care.

[Larry_Mott]

The more I think about it the more I just don’t like it. Spyderco isn’t a boutique knife shop open to all customer whims. Their knives are designed for a reason that isn’t based on mainly increasing the bottom line. They produce for example a limited run of PM2s with burnt orange scLes and Rex45 steel. People go crazy trying to buy one. Soon they are gone. Some people are happy and have a special knife. Others are not happy. But that is the game. Then a SpydieBoutique shop opens and anyone can have that knife. Not good. It’s not special any longer.

You can’t always get what you want. I like Spyderco’s system just fine. Sure, there are a few knives I wish I had bought when they were available. But, if I could just put them together from a menu now, I wouldn’t really care.

I tried to make it a point that the purpose wouldn't be to create sprint run clones.. Not in my mind anyway.
Now, if i had the opportunity to buy, just for the sake of argument, a Native with polished red G10 scales with a stainless steel inlay engraved with my initials. They are available in damascus, M4 or S35V, i think i choose M4, plain edge. When people ask about it i just show them the C.S. blade stamp and tell them to have their own a la mode made from Spyderco custom shop.
PS: All similarities with another brand using the C.S. abbreviation is purely coincidental! :D

[talesk]

If people are worried about ruining a collectors market just stamp the buyers name on the liner steel :)

Makes it worth more to me and worth less to others :P

[TomAiello]

I realize that Sal has already said he didn't think this would happen, but it's still interesting to discuss.

The way to launch it would probably be like the BM custom shop--just one popular USA model. So you'd probably get a custom shop in Golden that only produced PM2's. And then, if that was a home run, slowly branched out to other Golden models in descending order of popularity (PM3, Native, Military, Manix...or something like that).

[MichaelScott]

Taken to its logical conclusion, clamor for more and more custom options, what would be the value of sprint runs or exclusives?

Bad idea.

[Evil D]

Taken to its logical conclusion, clamor for more and more custom options, what would be the value of sprint runs or exclusives?

Bad idea.

Maybe, maybe not. You can still in some cases order a Mustang with any rims you want, decal packages, superchargers etc from a dealership and have Ford custom make you a unique car but it doesn't detract from the value of a Shelby one bit. For collectors I think sprints will always be worth something, but they may be worth less to people who just want users with different steels.