Benchmade Prices

DMG said:
So why go to the Benchmade forum page to complain?
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I agree.

My last four Benchmades were perfect.

Never broke an omega spring but did break a coil spring in a Stryker auto…Benchmade fixed it for free.

I buy my Benchmades brand new from authorized dealers at my local gun show for well below MSRP.
 
I like a very few of their knives but they are too high priced in general.
 
Well, I have to say, I agree that Benchmade prices are too high. However, I did decide to pay the butterfly tax and buy a couple of new magnacut Benchmades, a 940 and 945 with burnt copper aluminum handles recently (early birthday and xmas presents to myself). Sure I overpaid, and have a little regret for that, but it's been a while since I wanted a new Benchmade and couldn't decide between the two.

Nothing else really catches my fancy in Benchmade's current lineup at the moment. Would love to consider the new 710, but that brown coated blade is so ugly and the knife itself is so expensive. The Narrows looks interesting, but it costs way too much for what it is. I'm so glad I picked up a Bugout when they first came out. I eventually replaced the crappy pastic scales with aluminum Aimfront ones. Turned it into a completely different know. I would not buy a new Bugout today, not at the current prices.

I love my Benchmades, don't get me wrong, but I don't like to feel ripped off. I don't think I'll be buying anymore anytime soon, and keep and enjoy what I currently have at the moment.
 
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While I don’t 100% agree with the cost of the Narrows mainly because I’m not interested in it. I feel it’s a more difficult knife to produce than a Sebenza.
 
I do enjoy my Benchmades but the current prices have gotten way, way out of my affordable range nowadays. Especially, as an international customer, there are additional costs on top such as international insured shipping and import duties of around 30%. And then sales tax of 8% on top of all that too..
 
It's a good point. Most of the high end US knife makers have a very small and unchanging product selection in a limited array of materials. They do what they do very well, but the only focus on a few models. The US companies that have deep product catalogues typically outsource to China, Taiwan and Italy to supplement their US production. Benchmade has a huge variety of knives and materials, and they do it all in the US. That kind of capacity is not cheap.
 
My issue with Benchmade isn’t the price, it’s the quality for the price. I’ve had lock issues, warped blades, and blade play on the last few I’ve owned. If they could just make a folding knife without those issues I’d be satisfied. Now they do have a good warranty and they did fix most of the issues, but it’s really annoying having to send brand new knives in on a consistent basis. I know every manufacturer has their goof ups, but Benchmade in my experience has been next level.
 
I usually just walk past the Benchmade case at the store these days. Tired of getting dizzy from shaking my head at the prices. I don't even want to know what I used to spend, but probably a knife a month? Maybe every other month? That's since dropped to $0, essentially.

Oh, wait, I did buy the new 940BK-03 in August and that was only because I had $150 in gift cards for the store and I got 10% off for taking the display model. It was the best of the 4 examples of that model they had in stock... All 4 were flat out dull, but two had a recurve ground into them and off center. This one was centered and smooth action at least and I could fix it on my wicked edge.

There are definitely still some Benchmades I'd like to have and are within my knife budget, but I will not be buying because they are no longer worth it, in my opinion. Unless I get them secondhand or rack up more gift cards or somehow BKC checks themselves back into reality, I'm done buying their knives.
 
Benchmade were awesome 10 or 15 years ago when they were $100 and $200 a pop for fairly cutting edge American made stuff. They haven’t wowed me in a while but I’m always hopeful. Everyone is chasing the rainbow of steel and scale flavors of similar models so I suppose they’re on the money for staying afloat.
 
Case in point, my first Benchmade was a 580SBK... Barrage in 154CM, drop point, black coating, partially serrated. I think I paid $93 or something after tax. While they don't have the exact same knife on the site anymore, pretty close is the 583SBK (same as mine, but tanto blade) for $230 before any shipping or tax. ($210 on dealer sites.). Why? What the actual #@&$ is going on? That was 12 years ago, I get it, but a 125% - 150% increase? For what?

I remember thinking it was spendy back then as I'd never bought a pocket knife that expensive, but understood why after coming to appreciate the quality. Daily, reliable use, lifesharp option, (prior to them decimating my 10th Anniversary Infidel) replacement blade option, (except on limited editions, like the Infidel blade you just ground 1/8" of material off both sides) used to made me believe it was worth the "butterfly tax." Now it's a butterfly fleecing. Oh, and that blade replacement option they used to offer for $30 or $40 or whatever it was... Go ahead and triple that, too. (Yes, I get it that it was unlikely to ever reasonably need to replace many blades, but it was peace of mind to me at least.)
 
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TiHawk60 said:
Case in point, my first Benchmade was a 580SBK... Barrage in 154CM, drop point, black coating, partially serrated. I think I paid $93 or something after tax. While they don't have the exact same knife on the site anymore, pretty close is the 583SBK (same as mine, but tanto blade) for $230 before any shipping or tax. ($210 on dealer sites.). Why? What the actual #@&$ is going on? That was 12 years ago, I get it, but a 125% - 150% increase? For what?

I remember thinking it was spendy back then as I'd never bought a pocket knife that expensive, but understood why after coming to appreciate the quality. Daily, reliable use, lifesharp option, (prior to them decimating my 10th Anniversary Infidel) replacement blade option, (except on limited editions, like the Infidel blade you just ground 1/8" of material off both sides) used to made me believe it was worth the "butterfly tax." Now it's a butterfly fleecing. Oh, and that blade replacement option they used to offer for $30 or $40 or whatever it was... Go ahead and triple that, too. (Yes, I get it that it was unlikely to ever reasonably need to replace many blades, but it was peace of mind to me at least.)
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Would someone explain inflation to this guy?
 
Delta-v said:
It's a good point. Most of the high end US knife makers have a very small and unchanging product selection in a limited array of materials. They do what they do very well, but the only focus on a few models. The US companies that have deep product catalogues typically outsource to China, Taiwan and Italy to supplement their US production. Benchmade has a huge variety of knives and materials, and they do it all in the US. That kind of capacity is not cheap.
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This is the crux of the matter, which always goes unaddressed in these conversations.
 
DMG said:
Would someone explain inflation to this guy?
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You nailed the main cause of the high prices - it's inflation. In 1972 I paid 30 cents/gallon for gasoline, and the minimum wage was $1.60/hour. How much is gas these days (about 10X what it was 50 years ago). While wages have increased, it has been at a slower rate than the price of gas (and other goods & services).

So what causes inflation - it's the federal government (both Democrats and Republicans) spending way more than they receive in taxes. The government borrows money to cover the overspending and/or they just print more worthless paper money to cover their wild, frivolous spending. When more money is printed, it decreases the value of each dollar, so it takes more dollars to buy the same goods as before.

I remember thinking many years ago that I would not pay $100 for a quality knife – that sure did not last long. Do some manufacturers and/or retailers charge more than what is fair – probably so, but businesses need to raise prices as their costs increase, just to make the same percentage profit. Should workers at Benchmade work for a few bucks/hour – of course not, wages also increase to keep pace with inflation. With higher wages and higher cost of materials, Benchmade has no choice but to raise prices just to stay even.

If you shop for groceries, you know that prices have risen sharply in the last few years. Is it because grocers are price gouging – no, not generally, it's because of inflation and the reduced value of the US dollar. Until politicians are held accountable for their reckless spending and voted out of office, nothing will change (except for even higher prices)! Contact your US representative and senators, and tell them you're fed up with inflation, and they need to do their job and cut wasteful spending! VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5! 😠
 
I hate that Benchmade and several other manufactures have increased their price as well, but I also understand why. Yes the cost of materials and labor has increased, and we as consumers are seeing that. Another thing to consider is these companies don't price their products to just keep business open, they also have to add on a growth variable. Otherwise the business won't stay in business.

Benchmade and Spyderco among others saw the writing on the the wall last year, and doing what a good business should do, they tried to get a head of these inflationary adjustments. While we as consumers may not like it, and I don't, the folks making these decisions, did it to keep the companies moving forward.

I'll sit here and complain about it as much as the next guy, but you know what, I still keep giving Benchmade my money. I'm not company loyal per se, but If a company designs a product that fits my uses, then a lot of the time I will bite the bullet and purchase it. Benchmade so far makes knives, that fit my criteria for use, being the 940 and Bailout variants. If another company designs and builds a product that fits my uses better, then I will go with it. If it happens to be less money and an American made product that's just icing on the cake.

With that I do try and purchase American made, but sometimes, a foreign manufacturer just does it better. I have carried Glock as my duty weapon for years. I don't care that they are a foreign company, they make a product that fits my use criteria and I trust my life to them. Just because they also have a location here in the USA is a plus, but not a requirement.




TXPO
 
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Inflation happens. It's good. Unfortunately, wages have been far outpaced by it which isn't how capitalism is supposed to work when it runs properly. There's no balance, hence credit, and the hilairity the ensues.
 
How about price differences like on the 585 Mini Barrage with the black plastic to the 585-03 with the blue richlite for an extra hundred dollars? A hundred bucks to upgrade the handle??? Same S30V steel on the both of them.
 
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