2010 Benchmade Catalog Finally Posted

distorted said:
Haha...it's really not that complicated. :D
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Wow. I'm getting totally confused. :o

Lessee, we have a price on the manufacturer's site. But we know we don't pay that.

Then we have a discounted price on the vendor site. Do we pay that? Apparently not.

Ok, lets put it in our shopping cart and see...hmmm....is that it? Maybe not.

Guess we need to phone (wow, phone's do still exist...who knew!) and ask for the price...OK...we got!

But wait....we really need to call 2 or 3 vendors to find out if we have a good fair price.

Whew! I think we finally got the "ultimate selling price" :eek:

That was only slightly more complicated than buying a car. And I can still love the manufactuer because I know all this work wasn't his fault since they firmly stated "that we do not dictate the price at which a dealer must sell our product".:rolleyes:
Hopefully Edmunds will put up a site so folks who don't frequent the knife forums can find out what the price of a knife should be.
 
I rest my case...
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Those who want to buy those new models will find a way to get a good deal. Those who want to complain about a problem that isn't there will continue their complaining. It's in their nature.
 
RxEnergy said:
Those who want to buy those new models will find a way to get a good deal. Those who want to complain about a problem that isn't there will continue their complaining. It's in their nature.
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Those who don't care about a free fair market will continue to not care about policys that restrict that market as long as they know how to get around them.
This particular policy annoys me because it costs the vendors and consumers time and money with, IMHO, no real benefit to BM.

BTW, belief has little to do with this...contrary to some folks opinioin, BM is a company not a religion.

oh..and quoteing their obfuscating bull hardly makes a case...just IMHO.


More seriously, it has been my experience companys don't improve or change incorrect processes without customer feedback.
 
Alann45 said:
At least one of us may have a problem reading. ;)

From what I have been told and "read" they are being very firm about the price that is "advertised"....that is, put up on a web page or even the price displayed in the shopping cart. Thus the reason one vendor is now using "Coupon Codes" where he didn't have to previously; another is now adding a new tag to BM items to call if you find a lower price and he will match it.

And maybe you should tell Knifecenter, they seem to have the same reading problem:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=696035
"Beginning on Jan 1 2010, all Benchmade prices will be fixed at 15% off of full retail."
"Benchmade has moved to a strict enforcement mode with their minimum advertised pricing. We will no longer be able to hide our prices behind the "add to cart for price" tactic. Everyone that is a certified dealer will have to honor their pricing in order to stay a dealer."

Of course, a dealer can sell for whatever price he wants...BUT...advertising and the price in the shopping cart are kinda the way most of us mortals find out the price wanted.

It seems rather dubious to force this apparently abitrary pricing on customers. More trouble for the vendor to sell the product, more trouble for the customer to buy the product. Only one who won't have "trouble" is the customer who buys at an inflated price, then finds out later he paid too much because he didn't know how to find out the "real" price (bet he'll be a returning buyer). Yep, sounds like a good plan.
All of this to force a perceived value on the market? Gotta wonder.
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From the same thread you just linked to...

KnifeCenter said:
Well the prices have been changed. HOWEVER- we can still sell the Benchmade products at great prices but we can't advertise them. Call in your order to the KnifeCenter and we'll give you a better price- if possible.
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I guess it is beyond a "mortal" to use a phone anymore, it is just so much trouble. :rolleyes:

Of course, a dealer can sell for whatever price he wants
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That is not what you said earlier in this thread. Funny how that reading thing keeps coming up.
 
tjsulli790 said:
*sigh

I guess I'll have to say it again. The Minimum Advertising Price is 15% below MSRP, many companies including Chris Reeve Knives, Strider Knives, Surefire Flashlights have the same system. I'd say their business model is working okay for them..

It doesn't effect the selling price until you get into online dealers where it is hard for them to differentiate a selling and advertising price. That is why some dealers (including Knife Center) will give you a cheaper price than what is online if you call them (yes they still make phones). Another option that one dealer has taken is to offer coupon codes. These are all tools used to differentiate a selling price from an advertising price. You can still purchase any Benchmade in production for the same price as before the MAP policy but you will either 1. Use the coupon code or 2. Use a phone. Hopefully this helped.
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It seems that MSRPs online are actually a sales ploy. For example, a major manufacturer lists a knife at $219 MSRP. Yet, virtually no one sells it for that in fact its usually found at $130 ( a discount of 40% ). I see that and think, hey what a deal, but is it really?

No one pays full sticker for a car (ok except for Prius maybe) and no one pays full MSRP for knives, except perhaps at a local knife shop. Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me.
 
tjsulli790 said:
That is not what you said earlier in this thread. Funny how that reading thing keeps coming up.
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Even funnier :rolleyes: I never originally mentioned selling price, YOU did. I was discussing their restrictions on advertised or listed or displayed price, not the elusive and mystical "ultimate selling price". These widdle mis-statements could be why reading keeps coming up.
 
Just browsed quickly thru the 2010 lineup.

Anyone know if they're coming out with any new models using M4?
 
Amaranth said:
It seems that MSRPs online are actually a sales ploy. For example, a major manufacturer lists a knife at $219 MSRP. Yet, virtually no one sells it for that in fact its usually found at $130 ( a discount of 40% ). I see that and think, hey what a deal, but is it really?.
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Correct. As long as you feel it was a good deal you're happy, which the manufacturer wants. A win-win situation.

More to this particular debate(?), there is also a widely held belief that the price (advertised, list, or whatever) tends to convey a perception of relative quality to the potential consumer. If something is expensive it must be better. Or, more importantly, if it is priced too cheaply it will be perceived as cheap or less worthy. As a generality, there is truth in this, particularly in the abscence of any other criteria to evaluate the worth by.

As a probably poor example, a very well known and respected firearms expert I worked with got a contract with a major international company. After they hired him, they told him they almost didn't because he didn't charge enough! Their knowledge of his field was limited, so their primary guideline became cost.

I think BM recognizes this perception concept and understandably wants their excellent products to be viewed as quality and wants the price (selling or listed) to reflect that excellence to potential consumers. Perfectly understandable and they may very well be correct.
However, it is my opinion that they as a company would be better served by letting the quality of their product speak for itself and letting the vendors determine what the best price to sell/list/advertise them for is.
 
Thanks for the catalog links. Some things look neat, definately looking forward to the bone collector folders.

As far as the pricing goes, it may only be an issue for online stores, but I don't like having to jump through hoops (even small ones, like calling up multiple vendors) to get a decent price on a knife, especially when its only one company doing it. I'll pick up the phone and make a few calls for a small bone collector, but only because I really want that knife, any casual purchases won't go benchmades way because of the PITA factor, and forget about suggesting them to non knife orriented people don't need them getting reamed out by paying 15% off msrp.

Not saying its a good opinion, as i'm quite sure it doesn't help BM much, but I'm not the only one with a similar one judging from the posts on the forums.
 
tjsulli790 said:
I guess it is beyond a "mortal" to use a phone anymore, it is just so much trouble. :rolleyes:
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There are many from other parts of the world buying from US online stores.
But I'm not going to call to know the price.

Concerning the MSRP.
European resellers just take the MSRP and change the $ into a €.
And these are the best prices you can find in the eu.
Bricks and mortar prices are much higher.

Even with shipping and import duties and taxes it pays off to buy from the US.
For us Benchmade made a very bad move.
 
Thanks for this Heads Up, I placed a order for one of these so hopefully it will come in the mail....
 
Neo said:
European resellers just take the MSRP and change the $ into a €.
And these are the best prices you can find in the eu.
Bricks and mortar prices are much higher.

Even with shipping and import duties and taxes it pays off to buy from the US.
For us Benchmade made a very bad move.
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None of this is Benchmade's fault
 
RxEnergy said:
Gold 551-101. M4 blade/CF handles.
I'm sure there will be more LEs in M4, as well.
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Thanks,That Grip looks really tempting.I probably won't be able to get one until late spring/summer.Hope they're still around.
 
JTR357 said:
Thanks,That Grip looks really tempting.I probably won't be able to get one until late spring/summer.Hope they're still around.
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They will be. Looks like it will be a non-limited Gold Class knife for 2010. Like 525-81 was for 2009, and they made over 500 of those.
 
I have a question about the new Bone Collector small folder. I'm considering this for an edc for light work. Is this knife designed for heavy fare, like skinning? How do you think it would work for slicing, or will it be on the thick side?
 
I'm fairly certain the last thing the retailers wanted was to have employees spend more time on the phone quoting prices, and racking up 800 numbers charges because they can't post their selling price online. This does not benefit them, and the coupon code seems to be the only efficient workaround. This instantly invalidates the policy, its no different than the above mentioned websites listing MSRP and their selling price. BM made online retailers jump through hoops for no reason.

(no, I don't/won't sell BM, I only got this dealer account because I bugged the manufacturer for 3 months to reintroduce a very difficult to make model, and I wanted to help move it after the hassle)
 
mongomondo said:
None of this is Benchmade's fault
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You seems not to understand the point.
A lot of foreign customers are now buying from us resellers.
They are not going to take the phone and make expensive calls to ask the price.
So less benchmades will be bought.
US resellers lose customers.

The other point was that the MSRP price is a reality for other parts of the world
 
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