Being a Benchmade dealer takes $10k???

[Volk]

But from what the sounds of what FlaMtnBkr said, Benchmade is no longer working with a distributor, so this method doesn't really work with Benchmade, no?

Sorry I was answering this part

Can they just stock a few and buy from a wholeseller and have it in a day or 2?

Should have been more specific. The wholesaler could still buy them, just the profit margin would go down big time for the end retailer. But then again thats why you carry multiple products and multiple brands. It might mean one thing, that who ever stocks up will stock up only on most popular models and what you want will be rarely available.

 

[knerd]

I little off topic but IMO Benchmades aren't even worth it. The only "higher end" Benchmade I have is terrible quality for the price I paid. Uneven grinds, poorly machined screws (threads were stripped or non existent to begin with), very slow customer service. They pride themselves on how great the quality of their knives are and yet I've seen first hand how bad they are and have heard countless complaints of the same issues I've had. I'd choose Spyderco and Kershaw over Benchmade any day, at least I get what I pay for with other companies. Hell my ESEE knives, which were cheaper than my Mini Rukus, are better quality and have better warranty/customer service.

 

[mdauben]

Given the cost of Benchmade products, $10,000 is not a lot of inventory, maybe 30-50 knives.

Its a lot of knives if the store might only sell 3-4 of them a month which I don't think would be that unusual for expensive knives in a low volume setting. For a small store, that is probably just squeeking by, $10,000 is a huge amount of inventory to be tied up in one product line. WHile I have never owned a store, I have friends who have owned small retail establishments and such stores don't make a lot of profit and can't redily afford to tie up a lot of their capital in slow moving inventory. I've heard them agonzing over investing $2-3,000 in a new product line they can't be sure will be a fast mover. Doing so with $10,000 is right out of range of many smaller stores.

In a big store in a large city, it may not be such a burden but not every customer and not every store are in a big city. This policy freezes out smaller retailers and forces people outside major markets to go on-line if they want BM products.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

I little off topic but IMO Benchmades aren't even worth it. The only "higher end" Benchmade I have is terrible quality for the price I paid. Uneven grinds, poorly machined screws (threads were stripped or non existent to begin with), very slow customer service. They pride themselves on how great the quality of their knives are and yet I've seen first hand how bad they are and have heard countless complaints of the same issues I've had. I'd choose Spyderco and Kershaw over Benchmade any day, at least I get what I pay for with other companies. Hell my ESEE knives, which were cheaper than my Mini Rukus, are better quality and have better warranty/customer service.

That might be your opinion and maybe you got a lemon, but there are lots of really great Benchmade knives. They wouldn't be 3 times the size of Spyderco and producing at full capacity and expanding their capacity if all their knives were as you describe. Benchmade also has great customer service from my experience and I think you are the first I have heard complain about Benchmade customer service. Normally it is the opposite and people are raving about how good it is.

If you had a bad experience that sucks, but it is NOT the norm. Yeah people don't like this new distribution network and MAP pricing and that is what you hear people complain about, that and out of box sharpness. Again, some may come not as sharp as they should be and a lemon might slip through occasionally but it is not the norm.

I have about 4 users and 12 NIB Benchmade knives and not one of them has something I can complain about.

Edit: You say they have slow customer service, did you try emailing them? I know they have some pretty heavy email filters and they don't even get a lot of emails. If you want fast customer service pick up the phone and call them. Yeah it might take a couple weeks to get your knife back but they work warranty work into the schedule and it gets fixed when it is your turn. Any company is going to be like this.

 

[nevermind35]

This whole thing is horse pucky!!

I work at a local brick and mortar store and am an official Benchmade dealer. We carry 4 blue class knives and 7 red class knives (atleast did as the red class is now discontinued but we still have been getting stock). The sum of these knives in no way shape or form equals anywhere near 10k and I would be quite surprised if our annual sales on Benchmade products equals 10,000. Yes Benchmade has started the MAP policy and as a cause their prices have been raised but damn guys cut them some slack!

From reading on this forum you would think that Benchmade has the worse customer service, horrible quality and outrageously priced... But this just is not true. Benchmade is doing VERY good as a company now and has just made a huge expansion of their business. They may have raised their prices but in doing so have also made a couple very positive changes that, in my eyes, have improved their image even more:

*They have haulted ALL oversees production and are now making all of their knives here in the USA.
*They have made it so that if you want to sell Benchmade knives you must run a brick and mortar store. This GREATLY helps your local mom and pop shops and puts the ball in their court. Today many internet companies buy huge sums of knives and sell them from home or a small office therefore eliminating overhead and can therefore sell the knives for much cheaper. Now after their stocks are depleted these storeless internet sites will be no more (As far as Benchmade goes). Finally the small American stores will have a chance.

And just as a side note it is my understanding that Buck has also started making all their knives in USA this year.

 

[knerd]

It took them over 3 months to respond to a warranty email (form was setup on their site). I don't care how busy they are, when they can't respond in a reasonable time then that's bad customer service. Funny you mention I got a lemon, I've heard countless complaints about Benchmade having uneven grinds and other shoddy workmanship on their knives. If any Kershaw knife has the slightest blemish they are not sold as a full retail knife. ESEE knives have had less than a handful of returns on their knives, and they were due to abuse and not poor construction/quality. This day and age there really should be no excuse for "lemons" especially for knives beyond the $100 price. Yes I know there are hickups every so often, but major knife companies should have better quality control.

 

[speedfan]

It took them over 3 months to respond to a warranty email (form was setup on their site). I don't care how busy they are, when they can't respond in a reasonable time then that's bad customer service. Funny you mention I got a lemon, I've heard countless complaints about Benchmade having uneven grinds and other shoddy workmanship on their knives. If any Kershaw knife has the slightest blemish they are not sold as a full retail knife. ESEE knives have had less than a handful of returns on their knives, and they were due to abuse and not poor construction/quality. This day and age there really should be no excuse for "lemons" especially for knives beyond the $100 price. Yes I know there are hickups every so often, but major knife companies should have better quality control.

Weird. When I've e-mailed BM through their website form I've gotten a response within a day.

 

[Drudge]

I don't know if all this is correct. The Cabela's here in CT only carries the D2 Griptilian. Are they exempt from carrying any other Benchmades?

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

It took them over 3 months to respond to a warranty email (form was setup on their site). I don't care how busy they are, when they can't respond in a reasonable time then that's bad customer service. Funny you mention I got a lemon, I've heard countless complaints about Benchmade having uneven grinds and other shoddy workmanship on their knives. If any Kershaw knife has the slightest blemish they are not sold as a full retail knife. ESEE knives have had less than a handful of returns on their knives, and they were due to abuse and not poor construction/quality. This day and age there really should be no excuse for "lemons" especially for knives beyond the $100 price. Yes I know there are hickups every so often, but major knife companies should have better quality control.

Again, that is your opinion. Like I said if you want quick customer service call them. I called them and had two new clips and screws in about 3 days free of charge. As I also said I have 16 knives that are near perfect. These were not hand picked, just what was sent to me. It sucks you had a bad experience (what knifes btw?) and it sounds like you have ruled them out and won't except anything else. That is fine, you have that right.

 

[knerd]

Weird. When I've e-mailed BM through their website form I've gotten a response within a day.

Yeah I was disappointed especially hearing all the praise about their customer service from other members here.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

This whole thing is horse pucky!!

I work at a local brick and mortar store and am an official Benchmade dealer. We carry 4 blue class knives and 7 red class knives (atleast did as the red class is now discontinued but we still have been getting stock). The sum of these knives in no way shape or form equals anywhere near 10k and I would be quite surprised if our annual sales on Benchmade products equals 10,000. Yes Benchmade has started the MAP policy and as a cause their prices have been raised but damn guys cut them some slack!

From reading on this forum you would think that Benchmade has the worse customer service, horrible quality and outrageously priced... But this just is not true. Benchmade is doing VERY good as a company now and has just made a huge expansion of their business. They may have raised their prices but in doing so have also made a couple very positive changes that, in my eyes, have improved their image even more:

*They have haulted ALL oversees production and are now making all of their knives here in the USA.
*They have made it so that if you want to sell Benchmade knives you must run a brick and mortar store. This GREATLY helps your local mom and pop shops and puts the ball in their court. Today many internet companies buy huge sums of knives and sell them from home or a small office therefore eliminating overhead and can therefore sell the knives for much cheaper. Now after their stocks are depleted these storeless internet sites will be no more (As far as Benchmade goes). Finally the small American stores will have a chance.

And just as a side note it is my understanding that Buck has also started making all their knives in USA this year.

A store has to advertise a certain price, they don't have to sell them at that price. They can sell them at whatever price they want to where they still make plenty of profit, yet are competitive with other brands.

Also, all Benchmade labeled knives are now made in the USA, but someone will point out that some of the Harley Davidson and H&K knives are still made over seas.

 

[Bob W]

...Doing so with $10,000 is right out of range of many smaller stores.

That was a thoughtful post on an issue that, no doubt, the Benchmade management spent considerable time investigating and researching prior to making such a drastic change.

 

[knerd]

Again, that is your opinion. Like I said if you want quick customer service call them. I called them and had two new clips and screws in about 3 days free of charge. As I also said I have 16 knives that are near perfect. These were not hand picked, just what was sent to me. It sucks you had a bad experience (what knifes btw?) and it sounds like you have ruled them out and won't except anything else. That is fine, you have that right.

Mini Rukus, love the design and it's still a good knife but for the price I spent the quality needs improvement. I also own a Monochrome which surprisingly has more even grinds (still slightly uneven).

 

[bigbadboom]

No benchmades to be found in Australia , maybe a couple online at crazy stupid prices. Never actually seen one at a store that sells knives.
weird. Spydercos galore though.

 

[cj65]

I do not understand all the fuss and anti Benchmade stuff. I own 3 BM's. A Grip, a 710, and 530. OK, my wife carries the 530, but I bought it. I love Benchmades. I enjoy buying from a true American company, especially more now. It is a feel good purchase for me. If you do not like BM, do not buy them. If you know little about doing business as a manufacturer of goods, you really should shut your typing fingers up. If you had a bad experience with BM customer service, go to GBU forum and post away. My only complaints about BM right now is thier current T shirt designs suck. OK, there I said it.... BM T shirt designs are horrible this year.

 

[Mossyhorn]

Benchmade makes a fine product and can choose the conditions to become a certified dealer. This policy several years ago really hurt Surefire and a lot of dealers dropped out.
The certified dealers must comply with Benchmade's policy or risk loosing the dealership.
If you look around at gun shows , you will surely find Benchmades on a knife dealers table. The minimum order and yearly quotas required to deal Benchmades create a secondary market where the dealers will sell to other knife dealers in order to meet their quota and move excess inventory. Zero Tolerance has just expanded their market and is selling to distributors. This is a very smart move and their sales should skyrocket. Benchmade would be wise to follow this example.

 

[experimentjon]

I personally doubt the $10,000 figure. One of the airsoft shops in my area just became an authorized dealer. And I doubt that they would be able to stock $10k in BM knives. They must have had a max of $5000 of knife inventory total across all their knife brands before becoming a dealer. (After all, they are an airsoft specialty shop with nearly half the clientelle under 18.)

Also, I've had one run in with BM Customer Service. I wanted them to ID a knife, so I emailed them pics, and they got back to me in 2 or 3 days, and told me exactly what the knife was, and the MSRP when it was still being produced. (This was before they updated their site to show out of production knives.) I was happy with the service.


On the quality side, I think BM is great. I probably have about 10 BM knives right now, all of the ones legal for carry are in my EDC rotation. Have not had any quality problems except for the spring latch on my Morpho being a bit too loose.

 

[steveg30]

Its not true the company I work for is a benchmade dealer. You get free shipping on orders if its over a certin price but I tell you its not 10000.00 $ . You do have to sell so many knives to order gold class knives . Benchmade sends us two of every new knife for the new year .

 

[speedfan]

Its not true the company I work for is a benchmade dealer. You get free shipping on orders if its over a certin price but I tell you its not 10000.00 $ . You do have to sell so many knives to order gold class knives . Benchmade sends us two of every new knife for the new year .

So we've got you saying it's not the case, and 2brothers saying it was 10k back in the 90s when he was selling them. This is so confusing lol.

 

[DennisStrickland]

nearly all of us would like to be able to get our favorite brand at the corner hardware. while i do'nt like this scenario it's happening all over america. i've seen many smaller retail shops go under when walmart came to town & most clerks do'nt know much about screws & pipe & plumbing fittings. like it or not this is the future of marketing in america. look at this another way' mail order saves energy & all dealers i know will allow a return if you desire.a person desiring to view lots of cutlery stock can go to cabelas or sears. small retailers are relegated to beer & bread. not a happy thing but its the way it's going to be .