Chesapeake Knife and Tool. are you kidding me?

mercop

mercop

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
Messages
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Had the whole fam at the mall for pictures and swung by the knife store while we were waiting. They wanted $65 for the Kershaw Chive I paid $30 for at Wally World. Who the hell buys from them.
 
Try asking them to rationalize there $550 price tag on a large plain Sebenza. or there $190 benchmade 940.

THANK GOD for the internet and it's ease of buying knives at low prices
 
Who in the world would pay $30 at WalFart when you can pick up Chives for $22 on several auction sites. Its all a matter of perspective and convenience.
 
House of Knives in Canada is selling the (black) Chive for CA$130, which works out to about U$86....:eek:
 
Paragon Sporting Goods in NY is a great store for sports gear, but not for knives. Thier customs are priced as though they bought them retail and then tacked on 75% on top of retail prices.
 
I understand your outrage at the high prices, but, keep in mind, these stores have overhead, ie. rent, electric, salespeople, etc., something net sellers dont have, and thus, they can charge far lower prices. The internet may just be the end of retail stores since they just cannot compete with the low net prices. Good for us, bad for them. The net has changed and will continue to change the buying and selling market.
 
There is also more to consider than high rent, high utilities.. etc.. that these stores must foot in order to be in malls. If all buyers switch to the internet - or to WalMart - true knife collectors will lose the ability to see large, solid selections of knives by several different knife makers. It's great to get a bargain and more and more cutlery stores are lowering prices to compete. But remember, if you give all your business to large box stores - it's going to be pretty difficult to find any merchandise other than what large box stores can buy. That means no William Henry's, no Chris Reeve's... and no custom collaborations.
 
Dear friends,

It seems that this is a global phenomenon. It is correct that internet sites do not have the overheads that mall stores have. That, my friends, is not my problem I say, maybe retail stores should also offer an internet alternative.

You guys in the USA still have it pretty good compared to us guys here in the colonies(metaphorically speaking of course). Not only do we have the higher prices in malls, but we have the Rand/Dollar exchange rate to contend with ( at about R10 to US$1). OUCH!!!!!!!

That would make a US$100 knife cost about R1000 here in South Africa. Now that's a lot of money for a knife here.

We do not have the internet shopping sites you guys have over there. If we buy something from say e-bay, it will take forever to arrive....if it arrives at all!!!!!!
 
I am very willing to support Mom and Pop Brick and Mortar Stores but I am not a fan of Chesapeake Knife and Tool.

Most Manufacturers gear their MSRP to support B&M Stores but Chesapeake has historically charged more than MSRP.

I have also been less than impressed with their selection.

I actually used to work in one of their stores and complained to Management about their pricing policies to no avail.
 
It does suck when it appears a brick and mortar dealer just goes by MSRP and that is that. I avoid them and spend my money elsewhere. I think that is why I'm seeing knife stores in malls closing rather quickly down here. They over charge and most people are not gonna drop that money on a piece they can get cheaper elsewhere, by net for example. That's not to say all B&M's are bad though.
I do most of my knife buying at a B&M store. Ruff's Saddle Shop and Knife Sales in Umatilla, Fla. to be exact. I do so because for a B&M his prices are very reasonable.
Here are a couple of examples:

Lg. Timberline/Worden Tactical Folder $35.95
CRKT lg. Crawford Falcon $38.95
Spyderco Military 440V $101.95
Spydie Chinook $107.95
Camillus/Becker K&T Fisk Magnum Camp knife $74.95

I'm sure there are net dealers who can beat these prices, BUT(!), I get to handle these before I buy them and decide whether or not they are right for me. I get to interact with a knowledgable dealer face-to-face which has allowed me to build a great business relationship with my dealer. Building this kind of relationship is entirely possible with net dealers too, but, it just seems better when done face to face rather than by phone or e-mail. I guess the old adage YMMV applies.:)
 
why not go to the store and handle the knives and then if you like it but it online? I'm sure some of you are adamant on supporting these retail stores but currently i'm in no financial position to be able to pass up on cheaper prices
 
Manji, if you would like to continue to be able to go to brick and mortar stores to handle knives before you buy them, then it would be in your self-interest to pay the price and to buy one from them once in a while. I suggest this because, if everyone gets like you and won't buy from them, they may well go out of business and then we won't ever have any place to go where we would be able to look at knives and to see if they fit our hands. I have gotten to the point where I can pretty much tell if I will like a knife by looking t it, but that is not true of many, and was not true of me until fairly recently. Before then, I needed to handle a knife before I was ready to buy it. Another point about brick and mortar stores is that they give a place for the neophyte knife collector/user to go to begin to learn about knives of a class better than what he/she can find at their local WalMart or K-Mart. That is how I did it, by handling the knives at my local Remington store, which, by the way, has given up on carrying much of any knives in stock. It now carries almost all electronic or electric gew-gaws.
 
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