Inflation is a very complex concept. And determining the causes of inflation is even more complex, unless, of course, you have a Congressional-backed government program that gave businesses loans that became grants after the businesses took the money. The common refrain is that things are getting more expensive. And generally that is true. Commodities especially see regular and consistent price increases. So the idea that knives are getting cheaper seems profoundly counterintuitive. But if you think through it carefully you will see, it is actually true.
If you look at the price of the Benchmade Mini Grip over the past 20 years you will see that there is a huge increase in its price. I remember purchasing a 154CM Mini Grip in the early aughts for around $90 street price. That same knife with the same design and materials (except steel—the base model Mini Grip is steeled in S30V) now sells for $160 street price. That is clearly a price increase (notably it is exactly at inflation which pins $90 at $160 in October of 2024). So if you confine your view only to this aspect of the market, the answer is yes.
As an aside there is another model that is used in other industries—the price stays the same but the cost of production goes down. Arizona Iced Tea has famously been 99 cents since its release. Even has Pepsi, Coke, Red Bull, and others raise their price, Arizona was so confident in their product that they printed the price on the can at the factory. Arizona might be a bit of an anomaly, as their owners stated that they don’t need more profit, but other companies do this as well. Hot Wheels, for example, have been, in their base form, 99 cents forever. They increase profit by making the costs related to the production of each car lower. That is why, for example, the base plate for 80s era cars were metal and most now are plastic. Obviously a good profit-driven company would both increase prices and decrease costs, but it is worth noting that some products use only one of these strategies.
Focusing on one knife is not the right way to look at this issue though. The better way, the brand and model agnostic way, is to find a knife that has a similar position in the market and see if it costs more than the Mini Grip did at the time. This does two things—first it controls for weird market fluctuations and it controls for brand-related pricing structures.
Interesting examination of the current pricing structure in the industry.
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