Benchmade pricing seems to have changed

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austonh said:
Great info, thanks for passing that along. I'll contact my preferred dealer about this as well. I'm sure email would also suffice.
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I thought so also, but the one I talked to said BM also considers email a form of advertising, so the price in an email can't be lower than MAP.
 
This is exactly what they did 2 years ago, so the online retailers took cues that online electronic retailers have been doing for years (Samsung, Sony, and other manufacturers have similar policies against advertising prices lower than MAP on some of their products), you use a coupon code or "add to cart to see price" etc. I'm sure they are now trying to prohibit these methods because the previous policy has been rendered ineffective. I'm also sure that you will always be able to get a lower price by calling, but that's not why you shop online, is it?

I hope that leveling the field for brick-and-mortar stores is not the reason they give, because it is futile: All of the brick-and-mortar stores sell more than just Benchmade products, so one brand changing it's policies will not change much. Saving money is not the only reason people shop in the internet. The internet has changed shopping/buying habits and trends and this will continue to evolve rapidly.

If they succeed in implementing the policy, I doubt it will change much for the brick-and-mortar stores. People will still by online for convenience and price since, like an earlier post stated, most brick-and-mortar stores charge full MSRP, not MAP. The higher average selling price will just mean a higher profit per item for the highest-volume online retailers, but it will also mean a lower number of items sold. If total volume goes down by less than 25%, then the online retailers will still be making the same or higher profit. If total volume goes down at all, it hurts Benchmade.

Maybe Benchmade is making a very respectable profit, and they can't keep up with current demand, and they don't want to grow their manufacturing--so they can really afford this policy change -OR- maybe the increase in price to end customers will reduce sales volume and they'll re-think the policy change after some time passes. Either way, the brick-and-mortar businesses won't be saved.

BTW, I buy 5 to 10 Benchmade knives per year and I started buying only used Benchmade knives when Benchmade change their pricing policy two years ago and didn't buy a new one again until online retailers implemented "coupon codes", "login to see price", etc. I will now revert to buying used Benchmade knives again...
 
It's hard to say what they mean by email. Do they mean a store sending out email "ads" with prices, or like some sites do allowing the user to email or press a web button asking for a "quote" price to be emailed. I've seen similar policies gotten around by dealers that way before.

I think it's a poor move by Benchmade, with companies like Spyderco, ZT etc. offering a lot of knife for the money now, and many other companies improving their products as well a 25% effective price increase is not going to help BM sales, especially right before the holidays. However, I'm sure Benchmade isn't making the decision knee jerk so they probably figure customers are not going to like it.

Honestly I already thought BM's online discount prices were not competing with some of the great popular value knives like the Paramilitary 2, Manix 2, ZT 566, 801, Hogue ex-01, and some others. I still love my Rift, and would like more axis lock knives down the road but at 25% increases, they better start making something really impressive.

More concerning to me than a price increase, is a couple months ago I sent in two of their knives due to poor blade retention, a Contego and a 760, turn around was fast and I was not charged, but neither came back any better than they left.

I suppose on the plus side I guess used BM's just went up in value :)
 
I called one dealer and they still wouldn't do the discount like they used too even over the phone, said Benchmade doesn't allow it and if they found out etc...Maybe in the future some dealers will still do it over phone?

Like I said before I really wouldn't mind paying more if they improve their quality control, especially on their blades. The 525 I just recieved yesterday as a back up came with a blade edge so poorly done it curved up in the middle like a recurve blade so back it goes for an exchange...Fortunately the 707 on the same order was fine. Seems to be 50/50 on blades from Benchmade for me, either they are awful or decent, still not as nice as Spyderco or Kershaw unfortunately....
 
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Redmasta said:
I called one dealer and they still wouldn't do the discount like they used too even over the phone, said Benchmade doesn't allow it and if they found out etc...Maybe in the future some dealers will still do it over phone?

Like I said before I really wouldn't mind paying more if they improve their quality control, especially on their blades. The 525 I just recieved yesterday as a back up came with a blade edge so poorly done it curved up in the middle like a recurve blade so back it goes for an exchange...Fortunately the 707 on the same order was fine. Seems to be 50/50 on blades from Benchmade for me, either they are awful or decent, still not as nice as Spyderco or Kershaw unfortunately....
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Red, this is the type of stuff, that won't be tolerated. If you want to charge a premium, that is fine by most people. But you had better not be putting out crap products in the meantime. If they are going to raise prices, there will be backlash, in the way of people accepting less flaws, and returning more of them to Oregon, making them make it right.
 
Benchmade knives were priced by the retailers within reason,not a screaming hot deal by any means. I have a feeling their brisk sales of Benchmade products will become a thing of the past.
 
Thanks to this thread, I just ordered backups of 710 (black blade), onslaught and 810 using heavily discounted code. These will be my last BM purchase for the foreseeable future.
 
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The past 10 days I've been buying all the Benchmade knives that I've wanted (either did not have or got backups) and a few for gifts as well:

  1. Benchmade 482 Megumi
  2. Benchmade 483 Shori
  3. Benchmade 581 Barrage
  4. Benchmade 586 Mini-Barrage
  5. Benchmade 810 Contego
  6. Benchmade 300-1 Axis Flipper
 
RamZar said:
The past 10 days I've been buying all the Benchmade knives that I've wanted (either did not have or got backups) and a few for gifts as well:

  1. Benchmade 482 Megumi
  2. Benchmade 483 Shori
  3. Benchmade 581 Barrage
  4. Benchmade 586 Mini-Barrage
  5. Benchmade 810 Contego
  6. Benchmade 300-1 Axis Flipper
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Holy bologna. These 10 days for you are more than I have spent total I think. That's awesome!
 
RamZar said:
The past 10 days I've been buying all the Benchmade knives that I've wanted (either did not have or got backups) and a few for gifts as well:

  1. Benchmade 482 Megumi
  2. Benchmade 483 Shori
  3. Benchmade 581 Barrage
  4. Benchmade 586 Mini-Barrage
  5. Benchmade 810 Contego
  6. Benchmade 300-1 Axis Flipper
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Nicely done.
 
RamZar said:
The past 10 days I've been buying all the Benchmade knives that I've wanted (either did not have or got backups) and a few for gifts as well:

  1. Benchmade 482 Megumi
  2. Benchmade 483 Shori
  3. Benchmade 581 Barrage
  4. Benchmade 586 Mini-Barrage
  5. Benchmade 810 Contego
  6. Benchmade 300-1 Axis Flipper
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You're set,good move. :thumbup::cool:
 
kreole said:
I thought so also, but the one I talked to said BM also considers email a form of advertising, so the price in an email can't be lower than MAP.
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That's a pretty interesting interpretation. So I would guess a phone call would also be advertising. Basically any for of communication, website, email, phone call, smoke signal, any communication between vendor and customer.
 
This appears to be the key...It enables a manufacturer to influence the price at which its distributors and dealers resell its products to consumers without agreeing with resellers on price.

Now can someone explain the part about 'without agreeing with resellers on price?' Does this mean they will now dictate the price and that's it??
 
jkarp_53 said:
This appears to be the key...It enables a manufacturer to influence the price at which its distributors and dealers resell its products to consumers without agreeing with resellers on price.

Now can someone explain the part about 'without agreeing with resellers on price?' Does this mean they will now dictate the price and that's it??
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It probably refers to the fact MAP just sets the lower end and does not set the precise price a knife must be sold at. In other words, dealers can sell above MAP if they wish; MAP doesn't define the price in that way.
 
jkarp_53 said:
This appears to be the key...It enables a manufacturer to influence the price at which its distributors and dealers resell its products to consumers without agreeing with resellers on price.

Now can someone explain the part about 'without agreeing with resellers on price?' Does this mean they will now dictate the price and that's it??
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The explanation is further down the page. In a nutshell:
US vs. Colgate (1919) states that a manufacturer can decide who it deals with and set terms for dealing with distributors and resellers. Manufacturers can announce their resale price in advance and then simply refuse to deal with anyone who does not honor that.
"The manufacturer, without any agreement with the reseller, announces a minimum resale price and refuses to make further sales to any reseller fails to sell at or above the announced price. There is no contract and the parties do not agree on the price."
 
It's interesting, I don't think BM's quality is anything special at their current market prices, I certainly wouldn't say they are priced too low, I like their knives, but I'll be buying a lot more ZT's and Spyderco's etc. instead of paying the new prices for BM's unless they up their game. I've seen a lot more unique and innovating designs from them than BM over the last couple years.

I suppose some dealers like it, they still pay the same amount for the knives from BM as before according to the Cutlery Shoppe posts, but now customers will be paying higher fixed prices means higher profits per knife, as long as sales don't drop too far.

More concerning is if this tactic appears to be successful for BM I'd imagine other manufactures will follow in suit.

It's not completely surprising, I think we've seen more and more production folders creeping near and above $200 even at discount prices like the ZT 0560, 0550, 0301, Southard, Socom, etc. BM probably wants more of their knives into that range.
 
What would kick butt is if everyone said: "that's fine....we just won't carry your product any longer. Have a nice day."
 
jkarp_53 said:
This appears to be the key...It enables a manufacturer to influence the price at which its distributors and dealers resell its products to consumers without agreeing with resellers on price.

Now can someone explain the part about 'without agreeing with resellers on price?' Does this mean they will now dictate the price and that's it??
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I believe this boils down to Benchmade telling retailers if they want to continue to be an authorized Benchmade Dealer, it's OUR way or the highway.:thumbdn:
 
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