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Is this a scam site?...

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Hello I'm not sure what proper forum to post this to but I'm thinking it's this one and I was wondering is this site a scam site?

(do NOT link to non-paying dealers that do not support Bladeforums-bhyde)

It's selling knives for $100 more than retail, I bought a knife for 250 and I found out it was like $50, not sure if the ones I found that were $50 were fakes or the one on the site is just a fake being sold for a lot more to scam people, I heard good reviews about this site and they reply quickly but Its still sketchy... the knife i bought was the sakura blade by nemoto knives.

(spam link removed)

They wrote "one left" when I bought it and they instantly reposted it and wrote "one left"

Did I get scammed?
 
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I don't see any specs listed on the page you linked on the knife you bought. If they are selling $50 for $250, I'd be willing to say you will get the knife you ordered but the scam was they charged you 5x what the knife normally costs. Oh, and anyone else interested in this particular knife, you better hurry, "ONLY 1 left".
 
The prices are incredibly high. It's a shame gullible people are purchasing from sites like this.
 
Seems like any import knives in Australia are super expensive. Even with the recent relaxation of the regulations.

If I was down under I'd be looking for local stuff like Hardcore Hardware.
 
I would not call that a "Scam" site but I can say this.
I contract jobs in my business. I quote a price, and meet my obligation.

IF there is a job that I do NOT want to do, and the customer insists that he wants me to do it... I will bid that job 4 times as high, and give that customer the option. There is nothing "wrong" in charging a lot for your services.

That site is however preying on uninformed customers. Perhaps that is too firm... They are waiting for uninformed customers, and charging more than fair value.
There is nothing wrong in their business practice that I can see. (moral discussion aside).

Some of us are geographically cut off from fair deals in many product markets. The shops that step in to supply these under served markets will almost always try to capitalize on this.

Another example.
I have to pay 4.99 for a head of Romaine lettuce here in town.
If I drive 60 miles I can get it for 1.99.

Do I spend 20 bucks in gas to buy lettuce? Same difference but bigger dollars...
 
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CEK are not a scam but that is certainly indicative of Australian pricing. On top of the cost of the blade is shipping, GST (10%) and import duties levied on the importer.
 
I have one small blade of theirs, got it in a giveaway, not much else of theirs has excited me enough to go look at them.
 
Not a scam site.

I would suggest to contact them regarding stock availability before placing an order or else you might have to wait a while.
 
Andy the Aussie said:
1776 are you here in Australia ?
Click to expand...
I am from the US I was thinking it might just be extra fees like you said but why put it as the price tag and not in the check out? One of the blades has $200 added on to the retail price, how can it possibly cost that much extra???

Also Scotcha, I already ordered and received the knife, it took 3 days to arrive.
 
Yes, the fees are not outgoing but incoming to Australia (I am not saying that this fully totals the mark up you note) but that price is in $A currently the $A is around 79c US (but you never actually get that on an exchange) so the $241.50 (@79cUS) works out at @$193US. When that knife enters Australia the importer is liable for the shipping costs to get it here, import duties (that in my experience woks out at around 7% plus the Customs broker charges if you use one or a processing fee by Aus Post or the carrier if you don't - these are calculated on the price of the good INCLUDING the shipping as I recall but I may not be 100% on that) and needs to apply 10%GST. They are not fees added on for you buying from the US they are the costs to have the knife "on the shelves" here. They they have to carry those costs (ie paid up front - except the GST) until the knife sells...

And yes I generally think CEK is over priced and this is why I generally buy from the US, during the regulation period here I did buy a few they had in stock simply because they were not longer able to be imported. That said if you thought it so overpriced why buy it in the first place and then complain ? Would the answer simply have been not to buy it ?

Where did you find the same blade for sale for $50 ? Just to compare apples to apples.

Do understand we get it in the butt down here on the price of most all imported goods.
 
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They are generally not well regarded on Australian Blade Forums. Poor customer service and they used to just drop ship a lot of their items. Annoyingly the feedback threads on ABF normally get deleted for fear of legal repercussions against the site.

They did well during the prohibition years as they often had stuff that was hard/ a gamble to get through customs.
 
The "Drop Shipping" also relieves the shop of the import duties (if any), and taxes.
It also lowers the cost to the end user in MANY cases.


If I import a case of engine cylinders from Taiwan, I have to pay the duties/fees on that case. Every time.

When I drop ship a single cylinder (from Taiwan to my customer) it will in most instances go thru customs with no fees or duties due.
That drop shipping lowers the cost to everyone.

IMHO it is a good way of doing business if you can set it up.
 
It depends on if you know something being dropped shipped and if this is acceptable to you. For example, using this case, during the regulation period around folding knives here (2012-2015) the attraction to using the local vendors was the presumption that the items were already in Australia and as such the extra price was perhaps worth it to save the hassle/risk/uncertainty of navigating the Customs quagmire as it was yourself. Quite painful to discover that they may not have been and that drop shipment you have paid a premium for is STILL going to cause you grief.
 
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