Originally posted by spartan_ajax
Strider Knives has for a long time protected the company and the name.
I think Mick and Duane refuse to do business with people that would undercut the prices on Striders. Example 1SKS gets 10 Striders, another smaller dealer gets 10 Striders. 1SKS then starts to slowly undercut the smaller dealer until 1SKS is selling Striders for 30 bucks less then everyone else and now the litte dealer is SOL.
He can't compete. To PREVENT this Strider Knives has what I believe is the most fair policy in the knife business it is as follows...
Comply with the dealership agreement or you will be hunted down and killed.
What you are advocating is
1. Illegal under US law - re. price fixing and
2. Not in the dealer agreement I signed.
Furthermore, you apparently think it's ok to judge me on actions that I could possibly do, rather than ones I have done.
FACT: I lowered the prices on Strider Products by $5 because at the time there was no way for us to offer free shipping.
FACT: There was no place on the dealer agreement I signed that mentioned pricing policies, MAAP or price fixing.
FACT: Mick emailed me about the price lowering and we discussed Strider's "unofficial policy"
FACT: I changed the pricing back to full MSRP within minutes of his email.
FACT: Prices were not lowered since.
So, while you have a nice theory, it's just that. Let's deal with the <b>real world</b> instead. I did not get in any "undercutting" war with any other dealer. Furthermore, the reverse cannot be said about another Strider Knives Inc dealer who has, on multiple occasions, gotten into undercutting wars with us using their higher discounts to sell below our costs. If you truly feel that this is bad behavior, worthy of a dealership being revoked, they should have been gone a long time ago.
Anyway I know what prices are for dealers to get knives I know exactly what an Emerson Commander costs a dealer, how do I know this I did a little research. I know that 1SKS sells Emersons for alot less than I could if I was a small guy with a smaller clientel and no web-site.
You don't know what you are talking about then, because our price on an Emerson Commander is based upon wholesale cost. We're not a distributor of Emerson products - we don't get any price breaks beyond typical wholesale. Furthermore, our prices on the Commander match other internet stores, and are higher than a few I could point to. Again, you have a nice theory, but it isn't reality.
The prices are set in stone with Strider Knives vary from them and you will be pulled as a dealer. Sell knock of POS knives and you will be pulled as a dealer.
Not true, again, and completely illegal. I suggest you check your sources if you think you know exactly how much the dealer discount is for Strider Knives.
Second, no manufacturer has the right to dictate what a dealer can and cannot carry in their store. Especially Strider.
Third, let's not even start into the Knock off area. I turned down the Linton Knife company cold when they asked us to pick up their line. Do you really want to start a discussion of the originality of a knife design?
Now many people are not accustomed to this method of business because it takes a man to do business this way do not forget we are dealing with a highly respected Ranger and a a highly respected Marine Scout Sniper. Its an in your face company and in your face with a 1/4" of flying war steel.
Complete garbage. Running a business is running a business - being a Ranger, Marine Scout Sniper, or Force Recon member does not grant you mystical business running skills or even the ability to run one in the first place.
If running a business to you means shaking a manufacturer's hand at Blade Show, setting up an account, signing dealer agreements, then having that manufacturer decide not to live up to their end, you are in the wrong business.
If running a business to you means that a manufacturer can dictate that you can carry their product line, but not sell it in your store, you are in the wrong business.
If running a business to you means not getting return phone calls, emails, or faxes when you put in purchase orders of $25,000, you are in the wrong business.
If running a business to you means that my customers should be hung out to dry because some manufacturer won't communicate order & account status for 3 months, you are in the wrong business.
If running a business to you means that any manufacturer can dictate what you do and do not carry in your store, how you set pricing on products other than your own line, or can push their own "ethics" on you while libeling you publicly, you are in the wrong business.
If running a business to you means that you should make yourself available 24 hours a day through email, home phone, and business phone to discuss any problems, take lightning action to resolve any said problems, and still be left in the dark and jerked around, you are in the wrong business.
It's not going to wash with me. You don't know what you are talking about.
It seems to me that Strider Knives just didn't want to be associated in a undercutting price war, why would you want to see your knives selling at some bargin basement web-site.
That's the funniest thing yet - an undercutting price war where none exists. Here's a website for you:
KnifeCenter:
http://www.knifecenter.com -
They match our prices exactly for Emerson & are lower on a few other brands. Yet they are a dealer. According to your rules, they should not be.
TAD / Triple Aught Design -
http://www.tadgear.com - Strider Knives Inc.'s favorite dealer
They are Microtech Distributors and sell their Microtech Knives below dealer price quite often. In fact, they are guilty of the same behavior you accused me of above, yet they are Strider's most prominent dealer. And yes, I <b>know </b> what dealer & distributor prices are on products, I don't have to guess. So, they do what you accuse me of, and I don't - yet I'm the one who is cut off.
Where is the honor in this unequal treatment? Or am I being singled out because someone else feels threatened?
I hope you guys cn clear this up or I fear I may not be able to read and post about Strider knives here any more.
Somehow I don't think this is possible anymore. I've more than done my part. I don't know what else I can do. Strider has chosen to ignore my requests for status until without warning they cut us off entirely, questioned my ethics, and now want to tell my customers about what I have "done" - something I'm still in the dark about.
You tell me what else I should have done.
Kevin
