BM Pulling from Distributors-Who Won't Put Up With It!

BM is Pulling From Distributors-How Do You Feel?

  • I HATE IT. I WANNA DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I Don't Care About Paying MSRP For A Knife

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
No skin off my A$$ either way , I used to have about 50 benchmades , now I only have two . Havent bought one in years . Basically it's their bussiness , they can screw it up anyway that they want .

Chris
 
I only have two as well. Guess I really don't need that Griptillian.
 
Looks like it is time to pull the trigger on the Benchmade dive knife though.
 
I'm going to reserve judgment until I actually see what happens. As for buying Benchmades, if the prices go up I'd evaluate whether to buy on a case-by-case basis. I've owned numerous Benchmades, and I have a good feel for the level of quality, which I think is generally good but not ooutstanding. If I feel the price is too high, of course I won't buy. But I'm going to wait and see what exactly those prices are. Anyway it's not much of an issue with me because I'm not particularly devoted to Benchmade. I do have some interest in their new Ti Framelock/M4Lum, though.
 
I have a fairly simplistic way of looking at stuff like this. Benchmade has the right to conduct business in whatever manner they wish. I own several of their knives (most recent being the 710-801), and overall am pleased with their quality. That said, there is a limit to what I'm willing to pay for a knife. There is a greater number of decent, quality knives on the market than ever before, which is good for all knife enthusiasts. Benchmade has been a positive contributor to this process, but if their pricing exceeds what I'm willing to pay I will not buy them. My vote would be choice #3: We live in a free market society, Benchmade can market their product in whatever manner they wish and the market will decide the outcome.
 
I will not be buying anything from them anymore.I checked their new catalog & nothing really wowed me.The Axis is a good lock,but I personally prefer Ti-Framelocks & a good Backlock over the Axis.
 
This is absolutely ridiculous. They're just handing the market over to companies like Spyderco and Kershaw IMHO.
Pisses me off too because I was looking at getting one of those new Marc Lee knives:mad:
B@$tards....
 
I am somewhat indifferent on this topic because I already do not normally buy BM products. I have had many in the past couple years, but I only have two now. There is just something about them I dont like. I believe I have narrowed it down to the axis lock. I just cant carry it. I am more of a liner/ frame lock guy i guess.

I do not think the BM will do as good though. for the one or two knives in their 09 year i do like, i probably will not spend my money to try them now. I dont think they will be worth MSRP.
 
Sounds like a really idiotic buisness choice. I'm sure controlling prices looks good on paper, but if they were doing a really great job of alienating the entire knife community before, this should push people into just not caring about the brand anymore.

And really, at the price point of their Blue, Black and Gold class, they're not selling to anyone BUT the knife community. Maybe a handful word-of-mouth outsiders.

Their Red class isn't worth MSRP, and pales in comparison to entry-level knives like the Spyderco Vex, not to mention the Byrd line.

And frankly, I love the series, but the Griptillian isn't worth the $90.00 MSRP.

But then, I haven't seen anything really new and interesting (to me) from them in a while. I still like the looks of a Mini Dejavoo, but I'm not going to spend the money just to find out if the blade detent is as weak as everyone says it is.
 
Having only three, I cant say much. I love the two I still carry. The 710 is my perfect folder. There are, or rather were, more that I wanted to get but I don't see that happening now. The round hole debacle and now this is souring my sentiments towards the company.

I'll wait this out and see what happens.
 
I've bought my last benchmade if they implement an msrp policy. I certainly wont be paying $90 bucks for a mini-grip with plastic handles - don't get me wrong, I love my Grip's but they aren't worth a hundred bucks.
 
mongomondo said:
Sorry you're not allowed to be rational on the internet. It's all or nothing.
Click to expand...


Thanks mondo-good feedback:rolleyes:

This thread is really about finding out who would be up for actually doing something. It's not a staight up poll. If you don't agree with either choice, post what you feel. I think that were really need to play the waiting game. Let's see what they do. If they implement their MSRP bs, then we write letters or something. If they don't, then we leave it alone. Less than 1 day, and there's almost 100 people that are willing to do something, and that's what I wanted to know.
THANKS GUYS, KEEP THE THOUGHTS COMING!:thumbup:
 
I just bought my first Benchmade today, from the secondary market. It's a Skirmish. I thought since it's my first Benchmade I might as well go for one of their better ones. I had planned on a few more pieces but I guess it might probably be my last since I'm not in the US and we don't have any stores that stock Benchmades.

FWIW I don't think they are making the right decision. Whether the online stores sell at MSRP or not they still get their pound of fleshso I see no good reason for this change in business strategy. If this decision is to up their reputation then I hope the quality of their products will follow suit to match their price.

With the global recession, disposable income for hobbies such as knives will go down in tandem with falling income levels. If dealers (B&M stores) find it hard to compete with the online stores they should set up an online storefront to supplement their sales? Instead of keeping up with the times they whine and ask for price fixing.

I'm not anti-American but I'm starting to think American companies just love shooting themselves in the foot. Lets hope this decision will not end up with a downsizing of operation as in the end the workforce suffers, not just the customers. I can't afford Benchmade's MSRP, but I can afford not to buy them at all. Better a USD50 Endura than a USD100 Griptillian... Axis or no Axis lock.

There should be a third option in the vote... I'm taking my cash elsewhere.
 
The best way is to vote with your pocketbook. Once they enact the policy don't buy there knives. There are way too many choices.

I'm sure Benchmade's decision makes Spyderco happy. :)
 
There are a lot of knife manufacturers that are putting out knives with better cost-to-performance ratio that Benchmade. I'm not paying $190 for a 710 when I can get the same materials, heat-treat, and finish somewhere else for half the price.

If they are trying to go Upstream and market/sell their products as high-performance alternatives to those "other" knife companies, they better back it up with something, because their 2009 catalog isn't exactly inspiring.
 
I just got this newsletter from 888knivesrus today:

BENCHMADE PULLING FROM DISTRIBUTORS

We regretfully announce that Benchmade has decided to discontinue offering their product line to distributors in an effort to control pricing.

This announcement recently came from one of our largest sources for their knives and they will no longer be able to offer the color classes (red, blue, black, gold) of knives offered by Benchmade. We will be discontinuing their line of knives once the remaining models are sold out. 888 keeps our pricing low by reducing our overhead and by not warehousing all the products we sell. We buy from distribution and let them warehouse our products for us. We are not permitted to become a direct dealer with Benchmade as they require a storefront in order to buy direct. We will still be offering all of the Heckler & Koch knives that Benchmade makes. Get your Benchmade while quantities last as prices are guaranteed to go up wherever these models are sold.
 
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Just posted the above letter on myspace.
 
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