Announcing the new 3300BK-2001 Infidel

Benchmade said:
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I received an email today with the whole "limited unlimited" thing. It said that this would only be available for 12 months. If the past is any indicator, that is dishonest. Last I checked, the gold class Bugout was still available, and they said the same thing about that. Sure, Benchmade might say that they are just selling what they made, but it is then still "available." A company that would do this would also just keep making them and tell people that they are leftover. Marketing at Benchmade needs to be cleaned out. I've built many companies and am not a marketing rookie. Company needs to move past this small time stuff.
 
Do you really expect them to stop selling a knife after a year when they still have inventory? That would be irrational.

This thread is about the knife, and it looks sweet!
 
brownshoe said:
Do you really expect them to stop selling a knife after a year when they still have inventory? That would be irrational.

This thread is about the knife, and it looks sweet!
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Yes. If they indicate that it will only be available for 12 months, then it should only be available for 12 months. No way to build, or continue to build, a great company with these kinds of loose claims.
 
brownshoe said:
Do you really expect them to stop selling a knife after a year when they still have inventory? That would be irrational.

This thread is about the knife, and it looks sweet!
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I think what he means is, they should only build what dealers order, and then after 12 months that's it. It would keep inventory lower (they wouldn't have it just sitting around on hand) and would truly be "limited" to the amount that is ordered.

What Benchmade does it seems is they build however many they figure they need, then they sit around in inventory until they are all ordered up by dealers or bought from the website. Then they make another run, or if it's after 12 months, it's over.

Personally, I don't see why people get upset if they make a knife for 12 months and either they, or dealers, have stock leftover. They're not going to destroy what theyve built, and if they wait for an order to build one the wait times would anger people. So, build a bunch, and sell them until you run out. It's not that big a deal, and a knife company isn't a company like Toyota where all they make in a plant is a Corolla and every one that is made is already sold (and at 700 or so a day, it's pretty impressive to watch).

So yea... I think complaining about it is a first world problem. But whatever. I do think the infidel is overpriced, like most of the otf autos, but I'm not the target market.
 
Well I think it's fine. I had a 42 which I got great trade value and still have a 31 which has skyrocketed in value. I'm OK with BM marketing :)
 
soc_monki said:
I think what he means is, they should only build what dealers order, and then after 12 months that's it. It would keep inventory lower (they wouldn't have it just sitting around on hand) and would truly be "limited" to the amount that is ordered.

What Benchmade does it seems is they build however many they figure they need, then they sit around in inventory until they are all ordered up by dealers or bought from the website. Then they make another run, or if it's after 12 months, it's over.

Personally, I don't see why people get upset if they make a knife for 12 months and either they, or dealers, have stock leftover. They're not going to destroy what theyve built, and if they wait for an order to build one the wait times would anger people. So, build a bunch, and sell them until you run out. It's not that big a deal, and a knife company isn't a company like Toyota where all they make in a plant is a Corolla and every one that is made is already sold (and at 700 or so a day, it's pretty impressive to watch).

So yea... I think complaining about it is a first world problem. But whatever. I do think the infidel is overpriced, like most of the otf autos, but I'm not the target market.
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Not what he indicated. They should tighten their sales projections. In either case, honesty comes able all else, or it should. If they say that it will only be "available" for 12 months, then they should deliver on their word. It isn't complicated.
 
brownshoe said:
Well I think it's fine. I had a 42 which I got great trade value and still have a 31 which has skyrocketed in value. I'm OK with BM marketing :)
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Glad that it worked out, but that's an N of 1 example. I never see dishonesty, or lack of transparency, like this as being acceptable. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
 
Eljay2 said:
Not what he indicated. They should tighten their sales projections. In either case, honesty comes able all else, or it should. If they say that it will only be "available" for 12 months, then they should deliver on their word. It isn't complicated.
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I don't see it as dishonest. I see it as they are only making the model for 12 months, and won't be producing them after that. Doesn't mean there won't be any inventory, just that it won't be produced again after the year. Kind of like a 2020 model car. There will still be inventory after the 2020 model year, but they won't still be producing 2020s.

Or they could make it a sprint run and only produce 1200 and make a lot of people angry that they couldn't get one when it sold out in 30 seconds. Can't win either way I suppose.
 
S30V :thumbsdown: So tired of it as a go to steel. I'll admit I'm not even a viable customer because I can't legally use this in Hawaii (which is stupid but another matter).
 
tokerblue said:
Imagine if they upgraded the S30V steel!
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An upgrade to a modern steel would make this a $750 knife in Benchmade’s eyes o_O

Imagine buying one of these then finding out what other manufacturers are offering for (significantly) less money. I’m sure they’ll sell a few of these to the dedicated fanboys.

I don’t understand Benchmade’s idea that the Infidel is a collectors item merely because it’s a different color. Going from D2 steel to S30V is totally shruggable. DLC coating is fine and all, but a weird choice on a chisel-ground blade where the coating goes all the way to the apex on one side. It’s all a moot point; these knives are just going to sit in a safe or display case.
 
soc_monki said:
I don't see it as dishonest. I see it as they are only making the model for 12 months, and won't be producing them after that. Doesn't mean there won't be any inventory, just that it won't be produced again after the year. Kind of like a 2020 model car. There will still be inventory after the 2020 model year, but they won't still be producing 2020s.

Or they could make it a sprint run and only produce 1200 and make a lot of people angry that they couldn't get one when it sold out in 30 seconds. Can't win either way I suppose.
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It's not a matter of how I see it or how you see it. If they say that it will only be "available" for 12 months, and they make it available for more than 12 months, then it is, in fact, dishonest. Car companies don't say that a given model year will only be "available" that year - they make that model year car for however long they want and people buy it or they don't. They need to indicate "only made" for 12 months if they want to sell it after. With great companies, these kinds of things aren't open for interpretation.
 
Eljay2 said:
It's not a matter of how I see it or how you see it. If they say that it will only be "available" for 12 months, and they make it available for more than 12 months, then it is, in fact, dishonest. Car companies don't say that a given model year will only be "available" that year - they make that model year car for however long they want and people buy it or they don't. They need to indicate "only made" for 12 months if they want to sell it after. With great companies, these kinds of things aren't open for interpretation.
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Benchmade was, is, and will continue to be a great company whether you like their marketing or not. They’ve been well established for a good minute or two. ;)
 
AntDog said:
Benchmade was, is, and will continue to be a great company whether you like their marketing or not. They’ve been well established for a good minute or two. ;)
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I've been buying their knives for 25+ years, and am making a matter-of-fact observation. What they are doing is not at all typical of successful companies. And nothing whatsoever guarantees that they will continue to be successful in any way. Companies that take that approach often let their guard down and fail.
 
Eljay2 said:
I've been buying their knives for 25+ years, and am making a matter-of-fact observation. What they are doing is not at all typical of successful companies. And nothing whatsoever guarantees that they will continue to be successful in any way. Companies that take that approach often let their guard down and fail.
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Lol. Plenty of successful companies are guilty of much, much worse behavior and continue to be successful.

Just one example - Apple. Intentionally scuttles and slows older devices through “updates” to make upgrading a necessity, gets caught and admits it, continues to charge $1000 for phones. Somehow still successful.

There are tons of examples I’m sure you’re aware of. Benchmade continuing to sell knives they have in inventory after the period they said they’d be available is spit in the ocean, bud.
 
AntDog said:
Lol. Plenty of successful companies are guilty of much, much worse behavior and continue to be successful.

Just one example - Apple. Intentionally scuttles and slows older devices through “updates” to make upgrading a necessity, gets caught and admits it, continues to charge $1000 for phones. Somehow still successful.

There are tons of examples I’m sure you’re aware of. Benchmade continuing to sell knives they have in inventory after the period they said they’d be available is spit in the ocean, bud.
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You can use expressions like "spit in the ocean," and accept that this kind of behavior is acceptable, but it is exactly as I initially said - dishonest. I have built several companies that have been sold for hundreds of millions of dollars, and am quite familiar with many examples of what companies do that may or may not be dishonest. A relatively small company like Benchmade isn't helping itself by being blatantly dishonest with customers, and I will always call it for what it is rather than makes excuses for it. Again, I never accept that any company will continue to be great as you seem to, particularly when I know nothing about their financial situation, as I suspect is the case with you can Benchmade.
 
Successful companies lie all the time and continue to be successful. That was my point.

This one issue is not going to sink Benchmade. If they stopped selling the knives you’re talking about, some people would be pissed that they’re out of stock. It goes both ways.

This sounds to me like you might be focused on this one small issue because you bought one and want it to become a collector’s item. Is that far off the mark?
 
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