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
It looks like BM is trying to increase profitability per unit in the short term by raising prices. The problem is they will reduce volume and increase their unit manufacturung and marketing costs in the long term. Making knives for Harley-Davison dosen't seems to be a good idea given the financial state of HD and their customer base.

It will increase profits in the short term and look good on paper. Maybe they are trying to sell themselves and need paper profits to get the best price. Or maybe BM hired one of those out of work Masters of the Universe from Wall Street and hes on a bonus.

It looks to me like they want to exploit the BM name to the full, make a quick buck, then sell whats left to the highest bidder.
 
I won't be gettin' a benchmade after all...

Kershaw/ZT is just fine for me. 3rd option for poll--I don't care, I'm spending my money with companies that do care.
 
Benchmade hasn’t offered anything new that I want for a couple of years now. If they want to charge more for stuff I don't want anyway, I don't care. Even if they didn't raise prices, they don't want my business anymore because they aren't showing me anything that appeals to me.
In fact, the last 3 BMs I’ve bought were models that had been around for a while.
This years catalog was a joke, worse than last years offerings.
Oh yeah, BM offers assisted opening Axis now. Whoopee. The reason I don’t buy Kershaws anymore is BECAUSE of the assisted opening Speedsafe. I can flick open an Axis lighting quick without assist, thank you. I can’t CLOSE an assisted knife lighting fast.

Since I’m not one of those guys who buys 8 variations of the same model like some BM buyers, I only care if BM offers something new, different and progressive. As it stands now, I have all their good knives already. And make no mistake, the good ones are very, very good.

BM was really the only game in town for a decade or so. They seem to have lost their way as of late.Too bad, because the Axis is still the best locking system ever made.

Spyderco? Ho Hum. They all look and function about the same as the one I bought 15 years ago. If Kershaw would offer non-speedsafe options I might buy more of their stuff.

I wonder if Les sees the writing on the wall and is just getting out of the business before the red tape and Gov. restrictions no longer make it profitable to make and sell knives.
 
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I'm curious, can anyone here show proof that Benchmade will be raising their prices? In other words not a rumor...real proof such as a pricing sheet to a dealer. Or is everyone just guessing as I suspect they are? If 6 months from now, when their prices haven't gone up, will you still refuse to buy Benchmade products?
 
Not REAL proof, but I called knifeworks and they said they will be raising prices of all BM knives. If you look up the BM943 it's already selling for $170. I bought it for $130 from them a couple months ago.
 
It's their company, and they can run it however they want, but if the prices are too high I won't be buying any.
 
I think you´re all blowing this way out of proportion. They changed their distribution scheme. Big deal. At the end of the day, we´ll look at the product and the asking price and evaluate if we´re willing to pay it, same as we do now.
 
I does seem that the prices have risen somewhat, but it's still too early to jump to any conclusions.
One thing that puzzles me is what sort of exit strategy BM came up with just in case the whole B&M idea doesn't play out...
 
I love Benchmade knives, but not their quality. Even still, I have about 20 or so of them. Their MSRP is way too high for their quality. For every BM knife I have purchased in the last 11 years, there are 3 or 4 that I passed on because of quality issues. Their quality is really hit or miss in my experience. I could spend hours explaining, but that would bore you. I have heard of others that have no issues, but that has definitely not been the case for me.

If they go through with this, and the result is that no online stores can sell these below MSRP, then I am out. Half of the BM knives I have ever bought online had to be returned or sent back in to BM. Now, if they reduce their availability to store front only, anyone who orders one site unseen is foolish. The price I saved buying online wasn't worth the hassle I experienced later anyway. They certainly have a knack for angering us knife nuts. They ignore us on their forum and they pull this stunt.

Many other knife companies bend over backwards to communicate with us - Spyderco and Kershaw.

Maybe I am dull, but can someone please explain exactly what they think the end result will be? Does this mean that all online stores will be MSRP and all brick-n-mortars will be MSRP (as most already are anyway)?

What about our favorite pharmacy? They have a store front and an online business. Will they have MSRP now for knives ordered online?
 
I like the couple of BMs I have. I want to pick up a couple of the orange grips, and maybe the dive knife, but otherwise I'm pretty much done with the BM line unless they bring in a new model I like. I won't mind buying the aforementioned knives for a bit of a price increase, but if I have to pay MSRP for any BMs I probably won't.
 
You should have another choice in you're poll. "I don't care what BM does!" I don't have one and I won't buy one - EVER. IMHO, they've always been WAY overpriced for what they are. And, I HATE their designs! I swear you can buy better Chinese made knives (Marbles).
 
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Shing said:
It will increase profits in the short term and look good on paper. Maybe they are trying to sell themselves and need paper profits to get the best price.

It looks to me like they want to exploit the BM name to the full, make a quick buck, then sell whats left to the highest bidder.
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I think you're reading my mind.

mike
 
hmm, you decided it best not to add an opinion/bit of info in the other thread, 2brothers... what's up?
 
If anyone is interested in a thousand other individual viewpoints on this matter, there is a very long thread at the Benchmade company forum.
 
After benchmades kerfuffel with spyderco, ive never looked at them the same way again. I do own 2 benchmades, but i have more knives then i need anyways, so if i didnt own these two i could care less. Brand loyalty these days is non-existent with me as most companies will do something stupid eventually, and i will end up going somewhere else. So let em.
 
rugershooter16 said:
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.
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Yup. We're on exactly the same page.
 
Teague said:
You should have another choice in you're poll. "I don't care what BM does!" I don't have one and I won't buy one - EVER. IMHO, they've always been WAY overpriced for what they are. And, I HATE their designs! I swear you can buy better Chinese made knives (Marbles).
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I almost feel that way but it just peeves me that so many people here always recommend them (how many times do we get the "spyderco, benchmade, or kershaw" response in a thread?) and they go and screw the people who spend hundreds of dollars on their products.

They have a few designs (maybe 4 or 5 total) that I really like but I could never justify the cost.
 
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