BandK Enterprizes trumps Sportsman's Guide

S

Stainz

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C.A. (central Alabama) was once a mecca of sorts for many items, including knives. It seems the only local stocking sources now carry at list - or better. The 'Academy Sports/Outddors' chains did carry a mix of Puma knives - but recently discontinued them, resulting in a few decent values. At any rate, my Skinner II whet my appetite for a Bowie - also with a stag handle. Nothing locally, so I hit the web. Sportsman's Guide had the $240 list knife for $70... hmmm, they sent me a $10 off/$100 purchase coupon. I added a few things, and, as they expected I am sure, I had way over $100 worth of stuff. No worry, I tried several cs folks - same result - when I called, they wanted to sell me something else - but when I got to the Puma Bowie, they said they couldn't sell it to my zipcode - determined by their legal department. What? I'd bought Bear & Son Damascus Bowies from SMKW - and even other Pumas from S.G. - I had friends from other zipcodes try - same result. I saw a prospective customer report meeting the same fate on Amazon. Well, S.G. no longer exists to me... off to evil-Bay!

I found a nice seller - rpmfl1 (BandK Enterprizes) - bid on their Puma Bowie (Same exact item!) - won it - with s/h, it was $1 less than the knife alone would have been here from S.G.. It arrived quickly - and perfect - exceeding my expectations. Who needs S.G. - or any mail order concern who tries to dictate, without 'legal' reasons, what they will sell me? I voted with my wallet. Now, if I can just quit getting their catalogs...

Stainz
 
Now thats a strange one.

They can send a catalog to your Zip, but won't sell an item in it to your zip:confused:

Don't blame you for wanting them dropped
 
They send their standard catalog. But there are a few jurisdictions that have hassled them about sales of certain items in those areas, so ... they don't. Lawsuits are essentially free for government bureaus but expensive for businesses. They have a long list of codes for what they can ship where.
 
There are no restrictions on buying/owning edged devices here... just on public carrying and display, as you'd expect. The other Bowies I have were all delivered either by UPS or Priority Mail, and several were larger by a substantial amount. I don't doubt they have trouble selling in some zipcodes - but here? I really, especially after one order taker tried to sell me something to sharpen the knife they wouldn't sell me, think it may just be the case of a loss-leader not being 'available' - the old 'bait and switch'.

The end result is the same - I have the Puma Bowie, which was worth the effort. It'll be a while, if ever, before I venture onto S.G.'s site again.

Stainz

PS For comparison - The Puma Bowie is less than .5 inch longer in both blade length and overall length than the Buck 119, available at all Wally Worlds.
 
All it takes is an ambitious district attorney, reading about another jurisdiction doing it, to approach SG with a deal where they pay a "fine" and agree never to sell a particlular class of item there again.

Small dealers aren't worth harassing, and the Wal-Marts own their own district attorneys, so the guy in the middle gets hit again.

After enough of this, they get gun-shy and may even over-protect themselves, or have a clerk over-interpret the restrictions. I doubt they just ran out of a loss leader. It's easy enough for them to say "out of stock". I've had that happen from time to time.
 
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