Benchmade Company Question?

ZippoThisKnifeThat

ZippoThisKnifeThat

Joined
Oct 7, 2009
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I saw in previous threads a week or two ago about BM selling their blades for no less than 15% under MSRP. I see that is a true statement. I had also heard [perhaps from a comment under a thread?] that BM wasn't selling their knives through online retailers, but only actual shops?

I see that BM's are still being sold online at different sites. So was that just a false statement that I had read or am I confusing it for another brand or just out my mind?

Thanks a bunch!
 
Personally I think they are being sold online by retaillers who have sites, but only if they have them in stock.
 
They don't sell to wholesalers anymore. So now a business has to buy directly from Benchmade and can't go through a distributor which is how many knives are sold to smaller stores.
 
A number of online retailers have given up on Benchmade; New Graham, e.g. is no longer carrying them. But others still have the line; Knifecenter, e.g. is already advertising for the new Benchmade's introduced at the SHOT show.

To get around the pricing issue, some web sites will not display prices for Benchmade products. You have to add the knife to your shopping cart, and you then get a full--and much larger--than 15%. If you don't want to make the purchase, you just delete it.
 
Another way of getting around the new price regulation is to offer a coupon code applied at checkout. Knifeworks does this and I think Benchmade has something against the whole "see price after adding to cart" strategy.
 
ASBOB said:
A number of online retailers have given up on Benchmade; New Graham, e.g. is no longer carrying them. But others still have the line; Knifecenter, e.g. is already advertising for the new Benchmade's introduced at the SHOT show.
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Benchmade will no longer sell to New Graham for whatever reason, New Graham didn't decide to just drop their products

ASBOB said:
To get around the pricing issue, some web sites will not display prices for Benchmade products. You have to add the knife to your shopping cart, and you then get a full--and much larger--than 15%. If you don't want to make the purchase, you just delete it.
Click to expand...

Not anymore. With the new MAP policy which came with this new year, authorized dealers no longer do this. They can however do the coupon dealy like knifeworks does, Benchmade has said they were fine with that.
 
Lock1454 said:
Not anymore. With the new MAP policy which came with this new year, authorized dealers no longer do this. They can however do the coupon dealy like knifeworks does, Benchmade has said they were fine with that.
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The one's that don't use the code are putting up lines like "If you find a better price call us and we will beat it." Others that don't use that kind of tag will give you a competitive price if you call or email them.

Whole thing is a pain and wastes the vendors time and money.
 
Whole thing is a pain and wastes the vendors time and money.
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benchmade is paying a high price to protect it's brick and motar pricing structure. Doesn't seem like a smart move, but they've been doing that for some years now.
 
BM products have been overpriced relative to Spyderco already, and now this absurd 15% rule makes them even more overpriced. I don't have time or energy to deal with this nonsense so I'll either get them at a knowable realistic price (perhaps eBay) or move to other brands.
 
From what I have heard, Benchmade is operating at maximum capacity and employs 2-3 times as many employees as Spyderco. So while some of their decisions are unpopular, they are not hurting in any way. In fact they have expanded their capacity and are moving all their production to the US.

They do not have as many cheaper (under $100) models, but what you get in their middle and upper end models is equal to any other company at the same price. A $150 dollar knife from Benchmade is going to be similar to a $150 knife from Spyderco in materials, fit, and finish for the most part.

Every knife company has it's fans and critics and they are Benchmade and they fill their role in the knife world. While they might not be perfect, they have a large fan base and are not going anywhere for the time being. And even though they are implementing these new policies, it appears that their knives will be available for essentially the same prices if you go to the right place. There are not any stores locally that carry them so having to order online is not a big deal for me and using a coupon code is pretty simple.

I like Benchmade, Spydero, and Kershaw and have quite a few models of each as well as a few other brands. I will continue to buy the knives that interest me and nothing they have done so far will change that.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
From what I have heard, Benchmade is operating at maximum capacity and employs 2-3 times as many employees as Spyderco. So while some of their decisions are unpopular, they are not hurting in any way. In fact they have expanded their capacity and are moving all their production to the US.
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I haven't seen the statistics, but are you sure about that? I don't really understand how that can be. I mean aside from Knifeworks, you have to go through a lot to get the pricing on other sites. I don't see anywhere on Knife Center that offers a discount, you have to call in to see the prices of the few BMs that Cutlery Shoppe carries (requiring call-ins probably turns off upward of 90% of customers), and NGK has stopped carrying BM altogether.
 
Samael said:
Benchmade. Yeah, they used to make some great knives. Too bad. RIP.
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ORLY? :rolleyes:

Seriously, BM is expanding and getting new designers, how is this company dead?

Is this something personal to you? Trolling a topic with personal sentiments isn't very helpful, I find it more of an attempt to derail a simple thread. Yes I'm a BM fan-boy, but I would address "attacks" made on most any company.

A little more class please.

Jon.
 
Some real good information here gents [ladies if present]. Not a huge fan of BM myself, but I do like some of their designs [just purchased a 710 or $80]. Price is what held me back from the start and reading previously about some of their changes I wanted verification. All of you did more than just that and appreciate it greatly!

Hopefully in the end it plays out. I have seen more weight on the no go for BM since their new decisions in recent threads. Time will tell right?

thanks again everyone!
 
Skimo said:
Seriously, BM is expanding and getting new designers, how is this company dead?
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I guess this could be a temporary feeling/statement - i dont like the latest designs (2009 and 2010) either - so i wont buy any of them and if I had enough of the older models i'm interested in i wouldn't buy any Benchmades..
Now for me there are a few (3 or 4? ;)) left i'm keen on but i guess i'll drift off of BM after that if they dont get designs i like - and maybe the current designers do not produce any designs i would like?

I dont doubt their quality and I think all their knives are very good knives, so i suppose other people will love them - but I just dont like their latest designs and maybe other people, too - and well.. to those people BM may be dead at the moment...

s_f
 
I have to say that the MAP thing put me real off. I was looking at getting a couple of their new knives this year- a 741 Lum, a MPR and perhaps a McHenry-Williams.

Poof, and the price at KC goes through the roof.

Thanks for the Knifeworks coupon code thing. Never checked that place out. I still want that MPR, so may be worth a look.
 
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