OK, Skunk. Here we go:
Id like to present my views in terms of a proposal. Im not interested in complaining without offering a solution. And while Im certain others could come up with a better solution, this is the best I can do for now.
The problem as I see it is that a number of people feel that they are not being given a fair and equitable opportunity to purchase knives from the BCS. These people believe, rightly or wrongly, that the activities of resellers are to blame. The resellers buy up all the available merchandise before individual purchasers have a chance to get any. As a result, individuals are forced to purchase the knives they want from resellers on the secondary market, often at highly-inflated prices.
IMHO, the best way to eliminate the problem would be to reinstate the pre-order system, but with a twist. Id recommend that you list every knife you sell and every possible combination and permutation of each knife. (This is PRECISELY the way Busse sells knives from their web site today.) Then create an order form and allow people to pre-order knives based on their exact preferences. Preferences would include finish, handle material/color, blade thickness, etc. Those who place pre-orders would have to make a deposit of the full purchase price for the number of knives they order. They could cancel their pre-orders at any time and obtain a full refund of their deposits.
When the number of pre-orders for a particular knife reaches a critical mass determined solely by you, youd have Jerry create a run of knives that fill the outstanding orders PLUS, and heres the twist, an additional amount. The additional amount could vary, but its purpose would be to continue to sell the remainder as you have in the past, i.e., first-come, first-served, no order limit. So, for example, lets say you get orders for 50 Orange Wardens and thats your critical mass. At that time, you could have Jerry run, say, 100 Orange Wardens. When they arrive, youd fill the pre-orders first and hang onto the rest until the pre-ordered knives had time to arrive at their destinations. Then youd let everyone know that youre going to have a ganza on Orange Wardens and let the tackle fly.
What are the advantages to this approach. First, no one could complain about not being able to buy knives from the BCS at store pricing. As long as you received enough knives to fill their orders, theyd receive theirs. Second, youd have the use of the money from their deposits until the knives were shipped. Depending upon how long it took to fill their orders, interest income earned from outstanding deposits could amount to a tidy little piece of change. Third, reseller activity would slow to a crawl. Only resellers with more money than sense would place large pre-orders for specific knives without knowing when those knives might arrive. Fourth, it would broaden your customer base. Keep in mind that people who resell knives they purchase from you on the secondary market arent your friends. Theyre your competition. And fifth, and this is absolutely precious, nothing would have changed from the perspective of the resellers. They'd have absolutely no idea how many pre-orders you might have filled yourself. So for a while at least, they'd continue to purchase knives off the 'ganza for resale thinking that they had a market to sell to. You'd not only be able to continue to sell to your resellers, you'd sell direct to their customers as well.
Well there you have it. Do with it as you will. And thanks again for being willing to hear me out.
