It's a good thing I have an economist for a husband, because ever since I weaseled my way out of a mandatory high school economics class, the subject has confused me no end. (I took advanced physics instead, but that's not helping either.)
One of my little side pleasures on visits to Switzerland has been the purchase of Swiss Army knives. So far, just the little keychain versions, but I've bought three of them (at different times, and from two different stores). For years I had had one that I liked a lot, but it had lost parts and eventually become lost itself, so I was delighted to be able to replace it.
The second purchase was because I live in fear that the TSA will take the first one away from me, some day when I forget to take it off my keys before attempting to pass through airport security.
The third was a birthday gift for a grandson.
For each of these knives I paid some 15 Swiss francs, about $18.50 at today's exchange rates (which are considerably worse than when I actually bought the knives, but that's another story). I thought the price was reasonable, and paid with no regrets.
Then two days ago I happened to be wandering through the sporting goods section of our local Target store. It's a department I hardly ever see, but I was looking for fishing line. (Deleted: story too long to bother with, having nothing to do with fishing.) Lo and behold, there was The Knife: not some cheap Chinese rip-off, but the genuine, Victorinox, made-in-Switzerland Real Thing. Selling for $9.99!
How do they do that? How can they cart it all the way from Switzerland to the U.S. and sell it for not much more than half the Swiss price, expecting to make a profit in the process?
Porter suggests that the Swiss respect small businesses and won't allow a big-volume company to undercut the local knife stores. I can see that as a good thing. But I still wonder how much profit Victorinox must normally make in Switzerland that they can afford to sell in volume to Target at a price that allows Target to profit on a resale of $9.99.
So ... a word to Noah: Your Swiss Army knife is the Real, Real Thing. It came from a wonderful little knife store in Basel. If the TSA ever takes it away from you, try telling your parents you really ought to pay a visit to your Birthday Buddy, Joseph. But if that fails, maybe they'll fund a trip to Target.
As part of our veggie coop deal we helped out at the farm the other day. As we were carefully slicing at the weeds around the precious onions we both wondered "how can food be so cheap?"
