Wow

[maxim]

Wow prices in DK is crazy :Ooooh:

http://www.hwl.dk/products-tojiro-jagtknive-(11jagt)/groentsagskniv-(fhmcv024).aspx

700 USD for Tojiro 17 cm

 

[bprescot]

? Well, I guess that's what eBay is for. Even with customs, that would be a huge savings.

 

[tk59]

That's incredible! Why is the price so high?

 

[stevenStefano]

UK vendors are all like that. There is maybe 1 place in the UK I'd buy knives from. How about a Miyabi Birchwood for $600?

 

[oivind_dahle]

Same in Norway

Insane pricing!

 

[welshstar]

400 quid with free shipping though

 

[Seb]

That's incredible! Why is the price so high?

I'm guessing high rent, taxes (import, consumption, payroll, environment, etc etc), regulation, minimum wage, naive customers and lack of competition. Just like in Australia.

 

[Noodle Soup]

I always find it strange the folks in the rest of the world never seem to realize their high prices are the result of equally high taxes at every level to pay for their all so superior social systems. Sorry guys, you can't have it both ways. But it is kind of funny when a kitchen knife is far cheaper in the U.S. than in the country it was made in.

 

[stevenStefano]

I think big prices like maxim shows are just an example of opportunistic vendors in a market where there is no competition. They price a knife crazy high and put some generic stuff about the steel that sounds good to casual knife buyers and hope someone who normally buys more common brands like Global or Wusthof believes the marketing spiel and pays the super-high prices.

Maybe taxes are partly to blame but I think it is also a little more sinister than than from the point of the vendors. I have seen a couple of UK knife vendors that sell knives nearly the same prices as in the States

 

[Seb]

I always find it strange the folks in the rest of the world never seem to realize their high prices are the result of equally high taxes at every level to pay for their all so superior social systems. Sorry guys, you can't have it both ways. But it is kind of funny when a kitchen knife is far cheaper in the U.S. than in the country it was made in.

Thanks to the internet/ebay shopping, exchange rates, and Australian Medicare/UK NHS, we can and do have it both ways.

But I'm touched by your concern.

 

[Seb]

Maybe taxes are partly to blame but I think it is also a little more sinister than than from the point of the vendors. I have seen a couple of UK knife vendors that sell knives nearly the same prices as in the States

Yep. Naive/unaware consumers and lack of competition.

Interestingly, Australian online prices for Globals (sub-$90 for a G-2) are cheaper than the UK, US or Europe.

 

[UglyJoe]

You guys are knife guys and know your stuff. If you think there is price gouging going on open a store and undercut their prices and you will make a killing. But I'm willing to bet you'll find that the price that most of those knives are at are about right for turning a reasonable profit.

 

[maxim]

I think big prices like maxim shows are just an example of opportunistic vendors in a market where there is no competition. They price a knife crazy high and put some generic stuff about the steel that sounds good to casual knife buyers and hope someone who normally buys more common brands like Global or Wusthof believes the marketing spiel and pays the super-high prices.

Maybe taxes are partly to blame but I think it is also a little more sinister than than from the point of the vendors. I have seen a couple of UK knife vendors that sell knives nearly the same prices as in the States

That is spot on ! Taxes is very little part of it. import tax in DK is 25 % thats it !
If you look around you can get same knife in germany around 4 times less in price
http://www.fine-tools.com/messer.html

But sell 170mm Tojiro KU Santoku for 700 usd is just ripoff

 

[Seb]

Come to think of it, we have been having the online retailing debate in Oz recently. The main factors are price gouging and lack of innovation by lazy and complacent retailers (who chose to ignore e-retail until it was too late). Another important factor is very, very high rents in the capital cities (particularly Sydney which is just behind Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong for retail space leases) and lousy distribution channels in the regional areas.

This is good for a laugh. A re-branded Ryusen/Ittosai/HD 240mm gyuto for A$343.95 plus shipping (lol). And A$355.00 plus shipping for a Grand Chef 240mm Wa is a bit rich here.

To be fair, economy of scale comes into it as well. The Australian market for Japanese knives is relatively small and immature and Australian distributors can't buy in the same high volumes that US retailers can and consequently have to pass on the higher prices to consumers. From another angle, the marketing strategy by the market-leading, high-profile Japanese brands like Shun, MAC, Yaxell and Kasumi which are flogging those stupid VG-10 cored, sanmai monstrosities for $200++ retail set the running for everything else in the market too.

OTOH, there are a couple of Australian online stores selling Tojiros and Kanetsugus at a reasonable price.

 

[Seb]

You guys are knife guys and know your stuff. If you think there is price gouging going on open a store and undercut their prices and you will make a killing. But I'm willing to bet you'll find that the price that most of those knives are at are about right for turning a reasonable profit.

Why would you open a store when you already know that anybody with a PayPal account can get it straight from Japan or via the States at a price you'll never be able to match?

I can see myself opening a retirement/hobby sharpening business and offering a few knives and stones and stuff but that is a long way away. The idea would be to sub-let/share floorspace with a cafe or deli otherwise it would be a total white elephant given the high rents in this city.

 

[MadMel]

Why would you open a store when you already know that anybody with a PayPal account can get it straight from Japan or via the States at a price you'll never be able to match?

I can see myself opening a retirement/hobby sharpening business and offering a few knives and stones and stuff but that is a long way away. The idea would be to sub-let/share floorspace with a cafe or deli otherwise it would be a total white elephant given the high rents in this city.

Ditto to that. The same situation is present here in Singapore. The only plus point I can think about having a JKI style shop open here is that us k-nuts can get a feel of the knives and stones before actually making a purchase. But Currently, with no competition, the prices are super crazy.. How about SGD600 for a 240 FH??

 

[Seb]

Ditto to that. The same situation is present here in Singapore. The only plus point I can think about having a JKI style shop open here is that us k-nuts can get a feel of the knives and stones before actually making a purchase. But Currently, with no competition, the prices are super crazy.. How about SGD600 for a 240 FH??

Or, worse still, the punters walk into your store to fondle/try out the knives and then walk out again empty-handed to go home and buy the same knife over the 'net.

 

[MadMel]

Or, worse still, the punters walk into your store to fondle/try out the knives and then walk out again empty-handed to go home and buy the same knife over the 'net.

I hate to admit it but that's what I'd do if faced with a price difference of more then $50 after including shipping.. I mean we knife nuts are people who are going to be the regular customer base or so to speak, and we know our stuff and the prices of the particular knife that we are intending to get. There's no point charging us that much extra and alienating the whole community...

 

[Peco]

HWL in Denmark charged approx. $800 for a F.Dick 1893. I got it in Germany for $360 (shipping incl.). Even in DK their prices are way higher than most other shops!

 

[SpikeC]

My first choice is always local, but if the price difference is too great I will go elsewhere. I have no problem paying extra for higher overhead and lower volume buying capacity, but there are limits!

 

[keris]

I hate to admit it but that's what I'd do if faced with a price difference of more then $50 after including shipping.. I mean we knife nuts are people who are going to be the regular customer base or so to speak, and we know our stuff and the prices of the particular knife that we are intending to get. There's no point charging us that much extra and alienating the whole community...

I do not do that. I dont even step foot in there as I do not wish to make use of the shop for free information. its not right as I know the shop has to wipe clean they knives so that it does not rust, no finger prints for the next viewer and it is not right to waste peoples time. OR make use of people. Not to mention that he has overheads to cover and that knives has been stolen.

My friends manage to buy display or demo knives or knives with little rust cheaply from there.They get to try the sharpening stones and free sharpening lessons before they buy..

Thus I take the risk and do my buying online. I got lemons at times ( disappointment) and the last time i bought from JCK, i was asked to produce a licence by customs! i sorted it out though...

yu have fun...

 

[stevenStefano]

Something else I forgot to mention is that I think a lot of these inflated charges are due to perceived difficulty in buying things from the States or Japan. I think many people have a preconceived idea that shipping from far away countries is a lot of hassle and it's easier to just pay more for a shop in their own country. Before I bought anything from the US or Japan I had no idea what way it worked, I basically just went for it and of course it is incredibly straightforward and simple

 

[Peco]

Still it would end in customs and cost a lot more due to taxes - at least when shipped to Denmark. If you buy within Europe taxes won't be applied.

 

[Seb]

I hate to admit it but that's what I'd do if faced with a price difference of more then $50 after including shipping.. I mean we knife nuts are people who are going to be the regular customer base or so to speak, and we know our stuff and the prices of the particular knife that we are intending to get. There's no point charging us that much extra and alienating the whole community...

LOL Don't be embarrassed!

Huge numbers of shoppers in Australia are doing this because of the perceived past price-gouging behaviour of traditional Australian retailers - it's been all over the news recently.

 

[zitangy]

The australian dollar has reversed. When the exhange rate was 1AUd to 1.10 USD, it was far cheaper to buy from America.Companies providing virtual addresses ( as some companies do not export out of USA) boomed. With the Greek fiasco, flight to the safety of USD, it is now 0.94 cents to 1 USD, percentage wise, is quite substantial for currency movt, may not be so " economical".

during the lehman crisis, it was usd .56 to 1 usd with the mining boom. Yes it almost doubled! Read somewhere that mid tech workers in the mining industry earns more than President Obama..

probably we are going to be "sadamized" by the greeks this time. They will have to default, cant generate enough revenues, no one wants to lend them money to finance their spending orgy...

rgds

 

[Seb]

It's unfair to simply call it the 'Greek Financial Crisis' - the major German and French banks are equally to blame, as is the entire financial 'system' itself and the lack of regulation and general oversight.

It's still cheap to buy from America. When I bought my first Japanese knife in late 2008, the exchange rate was US$0.65 to AU$1.00. IIRC, at that time even the SGD was worth more than the AUD.