BEST and WORST places to buy online

For custom knives, or Strider, or Chris Reeve knives, True North Knives: www.truenorthknives.com is tops. Please don't let that fact they are in Canada influence you. TNK will ship overnight, charges in US dollars and provides service second to none. There are NO ADDITIOINAL fee's associated with purchasing in canada. TNK's credit card processing is based in the US and there no "currency fees" or anything like that. Also, no sales tax. In addition, TNK has a money back guarantee, if you are not happy, neither is Neil (owner, TNK). If that's not enough, Neil will always take the time to describe a particular knife and answer any and all questions about the knife you interested in.
 
Avoid spydieguys.com like the plague. Live and learn. I won an ebay bid on a Salt1 plain edge. They sent a Salt 1 Serrated edge. The Spyderco box was labeled plain edge. I tried to contact them numerous times via email. No response. I eventually learned to like the serrated edge and gave up.
Lessons learned.
Don't ever, ever order from someone who does not have a phone number.
Avoid knives on ebay offered by strictly digital stores.

I second that. I will never do business with SpydieGuys ever again. I won an auction for 11 Spyderco zipper knife cases. Shipping was $4 for the first and $2 additional. Well that came out to $24 for Priority Mail. I emailed them several times to give me a new shipping quote since these cases are so light. 11 of them don't even weight a pound and the could ship for about $8 max. NO RESPONSE. I didn't want to not pay and get a bad non-payment eBay rating so I paid it. I got a confirmation of shipment and it was from a person at SpydieGuys and not their general email address. I wrote about my situation and requested a refund for the postage which was excessive. Again, NO RESPONSE. I wrote again to three different emails. NO RESPONSE.

I get my knife cases. They come in a thin plastic bag and it was mailed PARCEL post that took nearly two weeks. I paid for Priority! I estimate it cost them about $4 to mail it Parcel. So, they ripped me on shipping and they shipped the slowest method. If you see their shipping quotes, they're always high. If you buy multiple items then it gets even worse as it doesn't go in your favor. SpydieGuys = ABSOLUTLETY NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. Your emails to them will go into a black hole.
 
I've had great luck with http://www.bladematrix.tv/ for production knives.

Their pictures and descriptions aren't the greatest, so I often go to other Web sites to research knives that I'm not familiar with, but their prices almost always beat the competition, frequently by a lot. They've filled 14 orders for me since late 2005 with no major problems, so they've got an excellent track record for me.

I also sometimes order knives from Smoky Mountain Knife Works, http://eknifeworks.com/
 
HoB,

I disagree that www.dlttrading.com is a good company to buy from. I bought a knife from them last year, and now I am no longer able to order from their site. The reason is that I had to set up an account with them last year to be able to order, which included a username and password. Of course, I promptly forgot the username and password.

Then last week I tried to order another knife from dlttrading. However, I could not get past the login screen. There was no way that I could find to pull up an order form without my username and password, which I had long ago forgotten.

I think it is absolutely stupid for companies to force customers to set up usernames and passwords that they must remember in order to buy anything from them in the future. People are going to forget these, and then the company is just denying itself future sales.
 
If you can't find a "lost password" button delete your cookies. Then the system won't recognize you and you can open a new account.
 
Cougar,

There may be a way around the login problem as you suggest, but my attitude is that if a company wants to cause me some unnecessaray trouble to buy from them, then I would rather take my business elsewhere. I do not want to encourage companies that create extra hassles for customers by making any extra effort to get around the road blocks they throw up in front of me. If I can't simply pull up an order page on their website, then I will find a website where I can.
 
HoB,

I disagree that www.dlttrading.com is a good company to buy from. I bought a knife from them last year, and now I am no longer able to order from their site. The reason is that I had to set up an account with them last year to be able to order, which included a username and password. Of course, I promptly forgot the username and password.

Then last week I tried to order another knife from dlttrading. However, I could not get past the login screen. There was no way that I could find to pull up an order form without my username and password, which I had long ago forgotten.

I think it is absolutely stupid for companies to force customers to set up usernames and passwords that they must remember in order to buy anything from them in the future. People are going to forget these, and then the company is just denying itself future sales.

Never had this or any problems from them so far! In fact, they have been very helpful. As Cougar said ,you can fix that problem easily or just e-mail them for new password.Is this so difficult? They inspire my trust.:thumbup:
 
AG RUSSELL..........THE WARRANTY IS FOREVER.....FOR-EV-ER !!

He fixed a knife I broke once...for free....and knows more about knives and steel in his little finger nail than I'll ever know.
 
just e-mail them for new password.Is this so difficult?

I found it even easier to simply order the knife from a different company. I didn't have to wait around for someone to send me a password.
 
.
Avoid knives on ebay offered by strictly digital stores.

I ebay a fair amount of knives , I mainly deal online and have no "real" store .

I have a number of customers in the US and have yet to have one with complaints or issues we havent been able to fix to both parties satisfaction .

Please dont tar all traders with the same brush , just because we dont have a brick n motar shop front to deal from .
 
I ebay a fair amount of knives , I mainly deal online and have no "real" store .

I have a number of customers in the US and have yet to have one with complaints or issues we havent been able to fix to both parties satisfaction .

Please dont tar all traders with the same brush , just because we dont have a brick n motar shop front to deal from .

Ok, fair enough. There are many good ebay dealers. I do think it is wise to avoid dealers that you cannot call on the phone.
 
I found it even easier to simply order the knife from a different company. I didn't have to wait around for someone to send me a password.

Well, quite frankly I can not understand your attitude here. To me people behind a webpage are far more important to me than the webpage itself. Not every knifeshop has an html wiz, and many webpages use standard templates. A poorly designed webpage is hardly a reason for me not to recommend them and I stand by giving them two thumbs up.

If you don't like their webpage give them a call at 877-622-2397 and do it the old fashioned way for crying out loud. My preferred way of odering anyways.
 
I’ve done business with many of the above listed, and eBay. But it looks like I’ve settled on three primarily because they really know how to treat a customer. Knifeworks, Gpknives and Newgraham
 
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