Spyder fruit>> getting ripe?

[JD Spydo]

This is a subject that I have been hoping that someone would bring up for quite some time and I am surprised no one has really touched on it. Some Spyderco knives are like "Fruit on a vine"~~ They simply have to get ripe.

How many models of Spyders have we seen that it wasn't until they got discontinued or got hard to get before they got appreciated and their market price bolstered. For instance about 14 months ago I came into 4 of the Gray FRN Goddard model. I thought that I was going to be married to them for the rest of my life. Finally after having them for almost year a guy was really excited about them and traded me well for them. Here lately I have had 3 people wanting to know if I still had them because they wanted to trade for them. The same people could have cared less at the time I got them.

It was only a year ago I could buy the JD Smith model and the Impala both all day long for somewhere between $50 to $70. Try getting one of them now for that price. I had heard that the Lil Temperance and Gunting both were very slow movers but now since they been disco-ed they have literally become cult classics. I am correct about that ain't I? Spyderco knives are like fruit>> They have to ripen Why is that?

[zenheretic]

I think is my fault, you see whenever I bid on a Gunting or Ayoob it goes crazy 150 plus, but when I ignore it, it goes for 95...

Perhaps it is just human nature...once it can't be had whenever you bother to order it...suddenly then it is desirable.

[greencobra]

Sure, you're right my friend. It's human nature, people want what they can't get. I'm an expert in this method of collecting.

[WORKER#9]

It's true!!!


Supply and Demand!

[Fairlane]

Well, i think that there are quite a special thing about Spyderco's in general, and that is that most of them has to be held to be appreciated.
That and the fact that it's suddenly too late to hold one, and find out how nice they really are, are two factors.
Another factor, of course, is that Spyderco often stops producing the knives due to low demand, or new models coming, and when that dawns on the collectors (like myself, had this happen a few times) you suddenly want one, and then it's a matter of time before the prices start aiming at the skies.
I am not a particularily good e-bay user, but am trying to follow the prices as much as i can, and look at the Ayoob!
Not much appreciated when it was beeing produced, and now everybody wants one? At least it looks like it on the 'bay.

Just my 2 cents on the subject.

[ront]

Well, I am happy to say that I have at least one Gunting (thanks again Scott) and one Lil' Temp. I also helped a friend get the Impala for about $80. He was happy.

Ron

[pjrocco]

I think we can chalk most of it up to, you don't know how good it is till it's gone. I have two examples of this.

One being, the Lil' Temp. When I first got mine, I held it and looked at it for a good while. Thought to myself.. "To beefy and heavy" Ended up selling it thinking I could just buy another later. After reading the forums and see how many people love the Lil' Temp, I figured I'd give it another shot. Well after actually using the knife, I fell in love! and the rest is history.

Second, the Delica 3. The Delica 4 has only taken over for a little while now. But I have people e-mailing and PMing me asking if I have any I want to part with. So I would say, give it another 6 months...and you will see a little price jump.

[JD Spydo]

Yeah Rock I have reminisced the old Joni Mitchell song that goes: "you don't know what you got till it's gone~they paved paradise and put a parking lot" I just loved that girl still do . But that accounts for a lot it I guess to a point. But still time is more of an element that just the discontinuation itself because I can name at least 4 Spyders off the top of my head that it still took months before it's price catapulted. Is it the fact that the style itself is finally appreciated for what it was. Is it the fact that like myself with the Spyderhawk to where I actually got one out and used it for the first time and realized it's tool value at last. Or could it be: I am going to get one of those but I got 2 others on a list I want to get first. Or maybe hard wood is a good analogy: It takes it longer to start on fire but when it does it burns for a long time. Of course most fine art is rarely appreciated until time passes or the artist dies. I guess if I had the answer for this question I posed then I would in turn be a marketing genius.

OK just buy them while they're affordable you can't lose that way.

[Axlis]

Very true JD, some of the Spyder's have to ripen before they are appreciated. I try to look at new ones with a "how will these be regarded in the future" perspective. Which currently easy to get models do you guys think will go this route? I feel that the Spyker, Persian(practically already cult status!), the Dodo and possibly the Centofantes will be appreciated the most when the supplies dry up.

[smcfalls13]

I think is my fault, you see whenever I bid on a Gunting or Ayoob it goes crazy 150 plus, but when I ignore it, it goes for 95...

Don't feel too bad Zen, if I bid on a Gunting it tiptoes towards $300, if I don't...it hovers around $150.

[The Deacon]

Sal has commented, on more than one occasion, on the frustration of bringing out a new model, only to have it sell so poorly because of the price that it had to be clearanced at a loss to Spyderco. Then, once the supply dries up, having to watch the price increase, until finally, someone suggests that discontinuing the model was "unjust" and that it "deserves" to be resurected, not realizing that, in at least nine cases out of ten, history would just repeat itself.

Then there's the other factor, the microcosm / macrocosm effect. "Model X" had an MSRP of $150 and a street price of $100. Last January it got closed out for $79. In the course of the last six months We see perhaps twenty specimens of it sell on eBay for prices ranging from $140 to $225. We fail to take into consideration that if they were readily available, they'd still be selling for $79, or perhaps even less. The fact that they are "hard to find" makes them more desirable, and, even then, the number of people who want them badly enough to pay top dollar is not necessarily all that big. The fact there were twenty people out there willing to pay a hefty premium does not indicate that even a twenty first one would sell for anywhere near as much.

[zenheretic]

. The fact there were twenty people out there willing to pay a hefty premium does not indicate that even a twenty first one would sell for anywhere near as much.

Good point Deacon as I refuse to pay 300 for a Gunting and 150+ for a Gunting Trainer even though doing so would complete two different "sets" I have going.

Also your point about supply also is good...not everyone is plugged into Spydie central like some of the freaks in the world. "Regular" folks don't realize a model has been discontinued for a couple months...about the time it takes for the supply to run out and the price to climb. I do notice though that some models that more rare than others command a lesser price...so there is an upper limit folks are willing to pay for a production model knife.

Also I can't prove it, but these forums do seem to have some anecdotal influence on short term ebay offerings/going prices. For example, I watch for Herbst models daily. There was quite a dry spell then a couple of threads opened up on the model and suddenly models popped up all over the place on ebay...like I said anecdotal but interesting.

[The Deacon]

Also I can't prove it, but these forums do seem to have some anecdotal influence on short term ebay offerings/going prices. For example, I watch for Herbst models daily. There was quite a dry spell then a couple of threads opened up on the model and suddenly models popped up all over the place on ebay...like I said anecdotal but interesting.

Yep ZH, I've noticed the same, I think there are a few eBay sellers who quitetly
monitor these forums and use the "buzz" as an aid to deciding what to list for a given week.

[zenheretic]

Yep ZH, I've noticed the same, I think there are a few eBay sellers who quitetly
monitor these forums and use the "buzz" as an aid to deciding what to list for a given week.

Ah good to have my suspicions verified by another party...just because no one else sees them doesn't mean they aren't out to get me...

[dialex]

...finally, someone suggests that discontinuing the model was "unjust" and that it "deserves" to be resurected, not realizing that, in at least nine cases out of ten, history would just repeat itself.

Just my idea.

Also I can't prove it, but these forums do seem to have some anecdotal influence on short term ebay offerings/going prices. For example, I watch for Herbst models daily. There was quite a dry spell then a couple of threads opened up on the model and suddenly models popped up all over the place on ebay...like I said anecdotal but interesting.

Remember those products where it sais "as seen on TV"? Now we have a new breed: "as heard on the Forum"

[smcfalls13]

I think there are a few eBay sellers who quitetly
monitor these forums and use the "buzz" as an aid to deciding what to list for a given week.

I know I do.

It always backfires on me though

If you want something to pop up on Ebay, have JD start a thread about how great it is, within the week one will pop up.