High price to pay

I gladly pay more for the ability to check out the particular knife in person. I'm a perfectionist, and it matters to me.
Click to expand...
Can't argue with that. :)

Also, there's no shipping charge in person, so that must be taken into account.
Click to expand...
Shipping charges are often negated by rip-off local sales taxes. 8% tax on a $200 purchase is a heck of a lot more than normal shipping...
 
I would pay up to 10 dollars more to cover shipping and convenience. My local knife store sells everything around full retail so I send all of my business to a little shop in Virginia ;)
 
.....like to trade in the neighborhood and support local business when I can, even if that means paying a few dollars more. I don't mind doing that except when it means supporting someone else's family over feeding mine. When I was much younger, and a very few local merchants would take the attitude "I'm a good guy trying to raise a family...you should be willing to pay more".....my thought typically was, "I'm a good guy trying to raise a family....I deserve a discount." Of course to say that directly would have been provocative so I would just steer clear of that particular business. ;)

- regards
 
Last edited:
for me it depends on if i have to have it now, or can wait... say $40 online, OK, I'm gonna pay about $8 shipping= $48 and wait a week for it... I might go to $55 or even $58 to avoid the wait... but I'd realy have to want it.

G.
 
Artfully Martial said:
I gladly pay more for the ability to check out the particular knife in person.
Click to expand...
That's the bottom line for me as well. I don't think it's fair to ask a local dealer to incur the expense of maintaining an inventory so that I can check out knives I may want to buy, then turn around and buy them from an internet retailer. If it's important enough for me to handle a knife before I buy it, it's important enough for me to pay the dealer's markup for giving me that opportunity.

Having said that, I buy most of my knives sight unseen via the internet. There's more of a risk in doing that, of course. But I conduct plenty of research before I buy, so most of the time I end up satisfied with my decisions. And on those rare occasions when I'm not satisfied, it's usually not too difficult to sell the ones I don't like via the secondary market.
 
Tale of two gun shops: I stopped in to check out a Benchmade Lum 740. It took 10 minutes for the first one to unlock the cabinet and let me look, then another ten for the guy to come back with a list price (wrong- I might add, as the knife was a 745 and he quoted me $160, the 740 price), and he seemed bothered by my "non-gun" question.

The next day, I went to another shop in town. They didn't have the 740, but I picked up a 770 Osborne in green/blackG10 for 30 off the marked price. We both seemed to enjoy the transaction. It was not the knife that I was searching for, but a cool little discontinued EDC collector that I now enjoy. He wanted to move a few knives so he could put together another order. I will go back and buy another knife soon.

Later that week, I ended up getting a 740 on Ebay for $47 cheaper than what the first guy wanted. I probably would have been willing to pay an extra 20 bucks to keep it local with a store I liked.

I am also in the market for a 12g and a .40 semi-auto, and I will buy from the second guy. I like his business style.
 
I pay $10-$15 more shopping with my favorite Canadian dealer compared with U.S. prices (after exchange rate). Part of the problem is with shipping charges somewhere around $30 I have to buy at least four knives at a time to justify placing an order from the U.S. That takes a lot of planning. Whereas I can buy at my leasure domestically.
 
I try to support local dealers when possible, but the mark up is usually too high. The closest I'll pay to retail is buying at a gun show because I don't have to wait for shipping.

I used to shop at a store in my hometown, which had a lot of tourist traffic, and their prices were high. As the internet grew, the local shop went out of business. I'm all for supporting local businesses, but in today's economy, saving money is too important.
 
There's a shop in town that sells knives as a secondary thing, with Cigars being their number 1. That being said, they stock a huge supply of the stuff we all like, meaning quality.

I've bought a few items at their MSRP sticker, but only a few. If I'm going to, I tend not to look up the price on the internet first, so I can judge the knife on the then-and-there quality vs. price. If I want to depress myself, I'll research after I buy the knife.

Now, what I really like about the store is they stock William Henry knives, and Chris Reeve knives, and we know that you can't find prices online that are less than MSRP, due to their price fixing policy.

Looking at it that way, you are NOT going to be able to find a better price online, unless buying used. That sort of levels the playing field, in this instance.

Of course they are going to gouge you on taxes, but it's not something they are making money on, and it's comparable to over-nighting an expensive knife with insurance.

Again, this is a break-even $$$ situation, with the advantage of being able to personally inspect the knife first.

Hey, I like to go there and check out their over-priced cigars, as well. It doesn't hurt that they have a free party once a month with beer and food. Overall, it's one of my favorite places to hang out.

DD
 
If I had local dealer id pay a little more than the knife shipped from NGK maybe $10 more, being a poor highschool student i cant aford much more than that.
 
my knife store in the local mall usually charge double on benchmades and spydyercos. about 1.5x as much on a muela CRKT stuff. i bought one there about a year ago and i havent bought one since. i always buy online
 
I dont support my local store because the people know little about kinves ask crazy prices and carry crap.
 
I'd love to have a local store to support. I have to order all of my knives on the internet or make do with what the local Canadian Tire stocks.

If I had the choice, I'd probably support a local store, but that price difference may not be worth it.
 
Im tired of the "internet price", then the "store price" crap.
Click to expand...
Huh?

You think the prices should be the same online as at local stores?
Or you're tired of people talking about the difference?
 
I go through the same thing

consider tax, shipping and handling and if holding the knife in your hand and feeling it for yourself is worth paying the extra $$ sometimes it is, but if your buying somethng you're already familiar with it may be too high
 
The closest knife store to me has the most ridiculous markups you can imagine, $240 bucks for a leatherman surge(can get for $120 new of Ebay), $360 for a leatherman charge TTi(around $180 new off Ebay).
 
My local storefront, charges about what the internet would charge me to the door. He competes with a 'Mart price on everything. So, it's all good. I surf, find it, and buy from him.

If he has it . . . no BM or Spyderco, not a lot of the newer quality stuff. Can't blame him, it won't sell here anyway.

So, back to the i-net, and try to deal with reputable people.

As for Bass Pro up the road, the local gun shops, the hardware store, no way. Like most here, I don't like paying MSRP.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top