Originally posted by Chris Reeve Knives:
Why should our bid on eBay even be a question? The whole idea of a public area in which items can be bought and sold is for any purchaser to bid on the products listed. If that price is a bargain, the purchaser scores. Is there any reason why the manufacturer of that knife should be precluded from such an opportunity?
Most manufacturers, in any product category, make their money from - wait, this is a crazy idea - "manufacturing" things, not reselling. So you can buy your own stuff cheaper on eBay than you can make it?
For years, we have traded in our own knives this is part of our customer service. We will buy knives back, recondition them and sell them. This has enabled many of our customers to trade up, trade down, or even trade out (although out doesnt happen too often!). Why should we not be permitted to make a purchase on eBay and re-sell the knife? Remember, this is the USA the home of free market trade.
This is where the wrestling fans start chanting U-S-A!, U-S-A!, U-S-A!, right? I expected someone would bring up the "it's a free country!" line. Sure, you have every right to bid any amount on any item you want. And I have the right to think this has a foul smell to it, and change my mind about the future CRK purchases I planned to make.
The reference to price fixing is bizarre!
It's the phrase that seemed to fit best at the time. Bidding on something you manufacture seems more bizarre. Selling a knife to a distributer, then buying it back at a higher price to sell again, well, that sure doesn't sound like a brilliant marketing strategy. (Yeah, I assume you planned on reselling it direct to a customer at list price. That's the only way this made any sense, unless you were simply out to drive prices up.)
The bid that we placed was $10.00 - if we had bid $50 or $75 to put the price up to retail, then that could be construed as price fixing. We are 4-6 months back ordered there is a high demand for our knives so why should we be precluded from trading in our knives. Just like everyone out there, we like to make a profit on buying and selling knives.
Most manufacturers deal with high demand by making more product, not by reselling the same product over and over. And forgive me if I shed no tears for your profit margin; I'm sure you're doing better with that than most knife manufacturers. Which, of course, is even more reason to stay back ordered, keep demand up, and keep prices high. Again, it's a free country, so knock yourself out.
Hey, but on the bright side, I now can show people how much Chris thinks his knives are really worth.
It's funny - the sound of that Project I calling my name has faded to just a whisper now. . .
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Carl
