This is common in many industries (consumer electronics is probably the most obvious). It doesn't help the manufacturer that much, except maybe image, and it doesn't help consumers at all. It protects dealers, especially the brick-and-mortar dealers, more than anyone else. Manufacturers still give volume purchasing discounts to large dealers, but since all dealers have to sell for the same price (or at least advertise the same price), consumers can't price shop. Choosing a seller becomes a matter of convenience and service.
In the case of consumer electronics, brick-and-mortar dealers get a huge benefit because having consumers in the store allows them to haggle on price directly and gives them the opportunity to hard-sell overpriced warranties and accessories. For knives, the only benefit I can see for brick-and-mortar dealers is not having to compete with online stores that have much lower overhead. I suppose they could haggle on price, too.
The technique tends to work only when dealers don't keep much inventory, because when inventory builds up, either the dealer or the manufacturer has to cut prices to reduce them.
The scheme allows Benchmade to keep a fairly tight control over dealer profit margins, potentially at the expense of the dealer's own volume/growth potential. I honestly don't see this as being any benefit to Benchmade unless they significantly lower their MSRPs. Consumers are accustomed to buying new Benchmades at 35%+ off MSRP. If they start seeing prices that are 15%- off MSRP, they're gonna feel ripped off, and guess what, they'll be right.
