Is Benchmade as a company not profitable?

[Lapedog]

I’m posting this in General because I will be mentioning companies other than Benchmade.

So as the title says, is Benchmade as a company no longer profitable and are they losing money?

We all have heard the complaints about QC issues (which some say have improved somewhat, others disagree) but that alone is not enough to get a bigger picture.

When we consider it in conjunction with the fact that Benchmade has slashed lines (Red Line made in China) slashed divisions (Lonewolf, Bone Collector, Hogue got the HK contract, etc.) and slashed their model line up of longtime classics.

It seems like alot of their new models only use base line materials like steel liners g10 etc or that new rubberized handle material and for premium steels or carbon fibre the price of a knife goes through the roof. (Look at that new Ti flipper pocket rocket) Ontop of that they have raises prices across the board for their standard models and have tried to standardize on s30v as a baseline.

When I look at all of these moves in conjunction it seems to me that they are moves a business would make when it is trying to squeeze profits and overall not a great growth strategy. More like a let’s get what we can out of this while we still can strategy.

If we look at Chinese companies which seem to clearly be growing all their moves are opposite. (I know labour is much cheaper in China) They have standardized on s35vn with many models featuring m390. They also seem to grow their model lines and create new lines and sub-divisions. (WE is coming out with a new cheaper line I forget the name of, Kizer has tangram etc.)

Also I would like to note that Benchmade seems to do its own building of its knives. I have often heard it stated that companies like Kizer subcontract to mainly 4 different chinese factories.

So what’s going on here? I would love to hear your opinions. This is in no way a bash against Benchmade who are a great company with a long history that has contributed much to out modern knife market.

 

[marcinek]

Are they public? Then get an annual report.

If not, we can hypothesize all we want, but none of us know squat about their bottom line.

 

[Lapedog]

Are they public? Then get an annual report.

If not, we can hypothesize all we want, but none of us know squat about their bottom line.

They’re a private company. I am aware the thread is just speculation. I just thought it was an interesting topic to speculate based on some of the moves they have been making.

 

[TheEdge01]

Possibly, the company is doing well enough that they can cut the extra baggage and don’t need the budget red box line or collaborations. Plus, they still offer free services such as LifeSharp, free shipping, free pocket clips, etc. If they started chiseling away at CS support, then I would start questioning the company’s welfare. Some of the changes are actually old news, BM dumped the red box line years ago, so I doubt that is a sign of poor business. I still don’t understand why they dumped the 710 though.

 

[Lapedog]

Possibly, the company is doing well enough that they can cut the extra baggage and don’t need the budget red box line or collaborations. Plus, they still offer free services such as LifeSharp, free shipping, free pocket clips, etc. If they started chiseling away at CS support, then I would start questioning the company’s welfare. Some of the changes are actually old news, BM dumped the red box line years ago, so I doubt that is a sign of poor business. I still don’t understand why they dumped the 710 though.

I don’t think any one or two or maybe even 3 things would make me wonder, but everything together does make me wonder.

Obviously it is all speculative but there are moves a company generally makes when it is growing, and moves companies generally make when they are shrinking.

Maybe profitable is a actually not the right word as a company can be growing and not profitable or shrinking and profitable.

A better question might be, “Is Benchmade shrinking as a company?”

 

[BadComrade]

A better question might be, “Is Benchmade shrinking as a company?”

I don't think they're shrinking. In fact, I think its the opposite. Especially when they have this big blue "now hiring" banner on their front page:

They're also worth more than spyderco and they make all their knives at one location which i think is impressive

 

[Lapedog]

I don't think they're shrinking. In fact, I think its the opposite. Especially when they have this big blue "now hiring" banner on their front page:

They're also worth more than spyderco and they make all their knives at one location which i think is impressive

Shrinking companies can still hire. I’m not saying that they are trying to close up shop ASAP.

Also even though they are a larger company than Spyderco doesn’t mean they can’t shrink. Large companies shrink and small companies grow all the time.

Is there a specific source that says how much Benchmade is worth?

 

[AF]

Compared to say Spyderco, I think Benchmade has always been a bit light on innovation. I would say they've rested on their laurels.
Benchmades are sold in many sporting goods stores. I think they have a well established dealer network.
If I were to speculate, I'd say Benchmade is very profitable.

 

[b00n]

Benchmade is definitely resting on laurels and are doing quite well simple because they are the household name who are sold "everywhere" in terms of outdoor/sporting goods stores and are considered high end by the majority of people. You need "just a good folding knife" you get a Buck, you want something more modern and tactical you get a Benchmade. They fall in that "just expensive enough to appear premium" range.
At least that's how I perceive them, I only have one, both because the center is pretty off on the one I got and I don't like the Axis lock all that much.

 

[TheEdge01]

Compared to say Spyderco, I think Benchmade has always been a bit light on innovation. I would say they've rested on their laurels.
Benchmades are sold in many sporting goods stores. I think they have a well established dealer network.
If I were to speculate, I'd say Benchmade is very profitable.

In fact, Benchmade has expanded lately in my area. We have a local dealer that has sold Benchmade for years. Another has recently added Benchmade and dumped ZT and is possibly going to dump Kershaw.

 

[BadComrade]

Shrinking companies can still hire. I’m not saying that they are trying to close up shop ASAP.

Also even though they are a larger company than Spyderco doesn’t mean they can’t shrink. Large companies shrink and small companies grow all the time.

Is there a specific source that says how much Benchmade is worth?

Well a lot of those new jobs appear to be manufaturing/production floor jobs so I can only speculate they might need more people to ramp up production. But Benchmade is a private company so many of the sources where Ive tried to find revenue can only estimate worth.

 

[zhyla]

Hard to really know anything about a company’s health without talking to someone on the inside.

It seems to me they’ve become less relevant. 10 years ago people wouldn’t shut up about Benchmade. It’s hard to compete with the Chinese invasion. But (100% subjective, just opinion) Spyderco seems to be thriving in the same market conditions.

 

[marcinek]

They’re a private company. I am aware the thread is just speculation. I just thought it was an interesting topic to speculate based on some of the moves they have been making.

Well, I speculate they are managed by space aliens from Orion's belt.

Either that or they are a well run long standing business with professionals choosing their current business strategy with the intent of making as much money as possible.

Or the aliens thing.

 

[mtngunr]

another internet rumor thread soon listed as fact in the internet echo chamber. OP gave ZERO money numbers.

 

[marcinek]

I have no real idea or insider information, but I think I read somewhere they they are doing fine.

Maybe an expert will verify.

 

[sXePhenomenal]

They are most likely doing well. For reasons stated above. The shrinking question hmm I don’t think so right

 

[Pilsner]

Man, this thread.

Again with the QC attack, and yet again not citing personal experience. It’s in general because other companies will be mentioned. Like the Chinese companies who are benefiting from manufacturing costs undreamt of in Europe or the USA? Wow. Who knew?

For the record, as Marcinek points out, we don’t know squat, but what matters to any business is whether it is working for them. If they are going with less costly materials, then that is their choice. We’ll see how it goes. They have a really nice custom generator going on for people like us.

 

[TheEdge01]

Hard to really know anything about a company’s health without talking to someone on the inside.

It seems to me they’ve become less relevant. 10 years ago people wouldn’t shut up about Benchmade. It’s hard to compete with the Chinese invasion. But (100% subjective, just opinion) Spyderco seems to be thriving in the same market conditions.

Well, Sal Glesser commented on a thread I started a couple years ago concerning Benchmade. He complimented them as a business and said other knife companies would love to have their share of the market. So apparently Spyderco views them as a strong competitor.

 

[Pilsner]

BTW, I don’t have any patriotic inclination to US knife companies: I’m English. There is one brick and mortar knife shop in the UK that stocks Benchmade. Current UK population is >65,000,000 souls. One other carries a couple of their models online. That’s it. Yet I own quite a few of their knives, seven I think. That is for knife reasons, not sentiment or whatever. The last one I bought was a Crooked River. Perfectly centred, beautifully made, great design. They exist for a reason and it isn’t to please a minority like us who love high end materials.

 

[jimmyd1982]

It seems to me if they were struggling they would double down on lower quality budget knives, using their name and reputation to sell to non enthusiasts the way Gerber and several other companies do.