It's hard to justify buying from a local shop.

I choose to support local businesses when I am able. Reasons have been discussed and include instant gratification, ability to handle various models, stock of pre-owned and less common items (impulse buys), rapport with local sellers. I don't mind if this comes at a reasonable mark-up.
 
Wow! Thank you Scott!!
:thumbsup:

scottyj said:
Hey Joe. I'm also in NJ. I don't know what part you are in, but if you are close to Fairfield there is Cutlery Mania. OMG......awesome store. Friendly helpful people that know knives. Also just over the northern border in Port Jervis NY is JT's Knife Shop. JT is very knowledgeable, and a real nice guy. Both shops have a generous selection of all the top brands, and are competitive with online retailers. Hope this helps.
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I wish I had someone here to support. We had a knife shop about 100 miles from here, but they kept a really odd selection of stuff.

What was in the Spyderco section you ask? Surely some PM2s, Millies, Enduras, Delicas, Etc. right? Nope. UKPKs, Lavas, Ladybugs, Pingos and a Tuff the last time I was in... WTF?!? ALL great knives, but not exactly hot sellers. The same story was true for the other brands.

There's also a supply store here in town that sells Benchmades... for MSRP. Clearly I'm not their target demo.

I'm jealous of gun guys in this regard. There's a dozen gun shops in town. You can go in and chew the fat with Rich, Keith, Tim, Carl or whatever the bloke behind the counter calls himself. You can buy products from them at reasonable rates, or at least use them for the transfer. You can have a relationship with them.

Would love to have that in a knife shop here. Even if it costs me an extra 10% over BladeHQ.
 
LukeTheSpook said:
If a business charged me extra to use my credit card, I would go elsewhere. It's proven that businesses that accept credit cards have an increase in business. That's what evens out the fees. I understand they get hit with too many fees but that's like guys on here charging extra to cover pp fees. That fee covers the business' benefit to accept more forms of payment and increase sales. It's not cool to pass that fee on to the consumer.

If that's the case, install an atm machine at the business and just don't accept credit
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Why can't people write checks. There are very few things in my business service that I provide that are under $500. Checks seem to be the answer to me and always have been. But in your case, I would be more than happy to raise my price to cover CC costs. Added: Been thinking about this, I think I'll just raise my prices 10-15% and call it good and freely accept credit cards. I haven't raised my prices in over 5 years.

PirateSeulb said:
22-rimfire 22-rimfire also in TN "A person must also register to report and pay use tax on purchases of tangible personal property, computer software and specified digital products that they cause to be imported for use in Tennessee. The use tax applies to the purchase price of the imported item, which includes the entire amount the customer must pay for the item." from http://tn.gov/revenue/topic/sales-and-use-tax
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Not sure why you quoted this. I am well aware that tangible property used for business is taxable. This normally covers things like vehicles, computers and so forth. A portion of the value of my home is taxable as well because I have a home office even though I do not claim a home office on my taxes. All money received in business is taxable. The interesting thing is that I pay state tax on gross revenue.
 
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It is really tough to buy from our one and only local knife store. They sell at retail plus (plus meaning as much as they can) and proudly show a limited selection of their favorite brands.

When searching for a BM mini-grip for my nephew, they were about 25% higher then buying it directly from Benchmade!

Worse, the guys behind the counter always have to give you their take (none professionally trained in knife skills) about the value of the knife as a tactical weapon. Then comes the lecture on the newest, most exciting steel, and nothing will do for a new knife but that steel. They will advise against buying a certain knife (even if you are ready to buy!) if it doesn't come in the newest steel being touted by the other know it alls like themselves.

It is way to easy to buy online. I use the preferred dealers on this forum and the pricing has been good, but the service outstanding. Just one time in the last several years have I had a problem with BF vendors. I buy a few knives a year, as gifts, for myself, and several folks come to me for advice on knife buying. Never, do I recommend out local guys, but always BF vendors.

Robert
 
22-rimfire said:
Not sure why you quoted this. I am well aware that tangible property used for business is taxable. This normally covers things like vehicles, computers and so forth. A portion of the value of my home is taxable as well because I have a home office even though I do not claim a home office on my taxes. All money received in business is taxable. The interesting thing is that I pay state tax on gross revenue.
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Just more a note and it likely applies to many other states w/o an income tax that most people aren't aware of. The way the tax is designed is that even if you buy from an out of state vendor and don't pay sales tax you technically owe the local government what the tax would have been if bought in the state in the form of a Use Tax. I know, as a TN resident, that is how it works in TN but from what I had gathered long ago looking into it when I learned about it we are not the only state that has this. I also had gotten the impression from my reading it is a common practice for state w/o an income tax so just a point to note for those mentioning avoiding sales tax as a reason to shop online.

22-rimfire said:
22-rimfire 22-rimfire
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I don't intend to imply it should always be clear more so that we as consumers should make that assumption.
 
Yeah, items that are not taxed shipped or purchased from out of state are still subject to TN sales tax. This is true in other states as well. In TN, I suspect that the cost to collect this tax if not volunteered is beyond the benefit to the state government. That is why the Amazon thing was such a big deal in TN as the state lives on sales tax revenue. As previously mentioned, universal sales tax collections will happen and because a merchant may be dealing with many states, unit costs will go up beyond just what the actual tax is. My guess is that it will be about another couple % added into the unit cost to cover the administrative portion of the collection for those with fairly vibrant online sales and more if it is something that is seldom handled by a business.

I think in terms of knives is that there are few free rides from regular merchants. On the exchange here, you can quibble about PP or CC fees asked for by a seller, or as a seller blow it off and set a price that includes the fees and reasonable shipping (lump sum). By reasonable, I mean predictable for the little guy who does not ship stuff all over the country often. The shipping (or shipping & handling) is one of the scary undefined costs which is why people like "free shipping" even though they should know that it is built into the price. But from a consumer point of view, it is a predictable cost to them.

Remember, once the merchant has your credit card #, you're hooked. Don't save the #'s..... you actually believe that? I purchased some stuff recently for about $200. I requested regular UPS shipping and they priced the shipping accordingly. I check my statement and they shipped FedEx at a higher price point. Do I have a reason to gripe? Of course, but the initial invoice/receipt said "estimated shipping". In essence, the merchant will do what they normally do as it is the most cost efficient to them and charge you for it.
 
The only local options for nicer stuff near me are:
Cabelas where MSRP is the sale price.
Or
The bigger local gun shops, which usually slightly cheaper than Cabelas with worse selection.

If the price difference is $10-$20 I'll buy locally, but usually the price difference is significantly more.
 
Local stores like Cabela's, Bass Pro, and Dick's that sell at or close at MSRP prices? No thanks.

I am very comfortable and happy with shopping online, especially from great dealers like Knifeworks and BladeHQ who have great customer service and returning policy should anything is wrong with the items I purchase from them. Plus, guys working for them are much more knowledgeable of knives than those working in Cabela's etc.
 
I'm lucky enough to live only a 30 minute drive from Canada's biggest knife store in Vancouver B.C. ; Blades Canada [ Warriors and Wonders]. I have absolutely no incentive to order online from the U.S. as I'd have to pay the exchange rate as well as shipping. Even if I were to order online from one of Canada's few online sites I'd still have to pay for shipping. I happily make the drive [even if it does cost me a few bucks in gas] joke with the staff and actually handle a knife before I buy it.
 
It's good to stay in touch with the cutlery market and visiting the large knife stores is the best way to do that. Nothing beats being able to actually handle a knife when choosing.
 
For new models and customs, I prefer to get my hands on them before buying. If it's a common knife that I've held before, I'll buy in person as long as the price isn't ridiculously higher.

Unfortunately the high end customs that interest me are in short supply, there's no way to get my mitts on one before buying one and it'll have to be through one of the large internet dealers.
 
I haven’t ever bought a knife online because local shops are way cheaper. I have 1 shop I buy so much from I get an extra 20% or so off Benchmade’s MAP plus discounts on other brands. Another shop does 25% off a couple times a year on knives. I just bought a BM Mini Loco for $145 locally and its roughly $190 online, found my Presidio II for $110 marked down a couple months ago. Deals like this can’t be found online.
 
My local is a B&M in the next town over. I have bought very little from them because of high prices. They know that they are the only real knife dealer in two counties. Only about 15-20 miles away but when the traffic is bad you are looking at 45 min to an hour travel time.

A few years ago I wanted a Kershaw Echelon. Their price was $79.00 plus tax. Online was about $45 bucks, free shipping, and no tax. That's just too big of a difference to ignore. If there are only a few dollars, I would buy locally, but, that is not the case most of the time.

They did have the Benchmade Bugout at the same price as everyone else, though. That was a surprise.
 
Larry Turko said:
I'm lucky enough to live only a 30 minute drive from Canada's biggest knife store in Vancouver B.C. ; Blades Canada [ Warriors and Wonders]. I have absolutely no incentive to order online from the U.S. as I'd have to pay the exchange rate as well as shipping. Even if I were to order online from one of Canada's few online sites I'd still have to pay for shipping. I happily make the drive [even if it does cost me a few bucks in gas] joke with the staff and actually handle a knife before I buy it.
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Oh man, I'm so jealous. Well maybe not. I'd be more broke than I already am.
 
This is not just a knife store issue. I have a desk lamp that I really like. The switch broke so I set of on a quest to put a toggle switch in to keep with the post industrial appearance of the light. Well of course no electrical supply store in town has one. If you want some cable or wall plugs sure but something like this? No way.

So it's off to Amazon for a toggle switch. And then that leads to more thinking of why try to buy local when all I get out of it is an afternoon of people looking at me like I'm a maniac for trying to repair something. So the online option goes from Plan B to the default.
 
The internet is doing to "Brick and Mortar" and "Mom and Pop" what Ford MoCo did to horses.
 
Try and go hang out at “online retail” store on a Saturday afternoon. I can only speak for myself and my dollar, but I’ll be supporting the local outdoor store in my town.
 
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