Just got this note from one of our distributors

R.A.T.

R.A.T.

Randall's Adventure & Training
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Feb 4, 2004
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I will leave out the distributor's name that sent this out but thought this was interesting:

As of mid May Victorinox has decided they are such an innovative company that they can spurn the world trade markets and set their own inflated market price. This of course goes against everything America was founded on and the principal reason why we have have succeded as a nation. Seeing that their principal design of their product has not changed in over 100 years i am sure (insert sarcasim) their innovative means will succeed. (I will get off my soap box now). Us and EVERY other distributor was not on board with this so they decided to longer do business with ANY distributor. Therefore once current inventory sales out we will no longer restock Victorinox.
 
Wow! That's pretty incredible. What are they thinking, that they'll sell them all themselves?

Interesting.
 
That sounds a little different than I understood it at Blade. I thought Vic was now stocking dealer direct like Sig Sauer, Benchmade, Surefire and I'm sure others, meaning they no longer sell to distributers who then sell to small dealers. That might drive up the price some but not quite as much as that letter makes it sound. I hope I understood correctly.
 
I'm not sure. Just passing along what was sent to me.
 
I'm reading that as they are setting the prices that the knives are to be sold at?

Isn't that what CRK and WH do? Among others?
 
May be along the lines of non-compete pricing... Welcome to Wal-Mart (actually, even Wal-Mart has regional adjustments for pricing)
 
I thought they were going to be following essentially the same policy as Benchmade, for example. MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) and preferentially supplying brick-and-mortars over internet dealers. If so, it cuts distributors out, but shouldn't affect buyers tremendously.

From 5-11-2010, Victorinox says goodbye to distributors

Effective this morning, Victorinox has dropped all of its distributors in response to complaints from Amazon.com. That means that the product will only be available from retailers who buy directly from Victorinox and follow the minimum advertised price policy. If you are looking for something from the Swiss Army people, now would be the time to buy it.
Click to expand...
 
I have never agreed with MAP since it does in fact go against the principles of Capitalism and ultimately hurts the end-user/consumer.
 
R.A.T. said:
I have never agreed with MAP since it does in fact go against the principles of Capitalism and ultimately hurts the end-user/consumer.
Click to expand...

Doesn't that eliminate price gauging? For instance, there is a dealer here who sells Lone Wolf. I bought one from him that was marked up well over $100 what the suggested retail is on their website. I bought it through him because I can't get autos online.

On the other hand he also carries William Henry. They set the prices, so wherever I go a 500$ Pitaki will always be $500. They still make a decent profit, they just don't get to set the price.

Or maybe I am just understanding it incorrectly.
 
I am surprise that these distributors think that because they are no longer going to be the one importing SAK in the US, nobody else will. I am sure amazon were pushing for the best price possible and although some of their prices are quite often interesting for the end customer they certainly would not sacrifice their margins for them! My 2p
 
I heard about this a few weeks ago. I didn't 100% understand it then, nor do I now. If their prices get jacked up though, I will be a bit disappointed.
 
Personally I don't think a business should set another business's prices. Period. If we sell a knife for 10 dollars and the retalier decides to sell it for 10.01 then that's their business, even though others may be selling it for 13 dollars.
 
Coming from the Musical Instrument business, MAP stands for Minimum Advertised Price.

Meaning, you can sell their guitar for $5.00 if you really want to, but you cannot advertise below their MAP price. Which differs from someone like CRK as they sell for MSRP direct and through dealers. That isn't the case with guitars...or knives for that matter when it comes to bigger brands like Kershaw or BM for example.

Edit*

I just wanted to add that getting it from a distributer makes you exempt from having to use MAP pricing. That is why the distributers are being cut. Authorized dealers shouldn't have any issues because with MAP, like I said before the dealer can sell for whatever they want. They just can't advertise it. Distributers and Authorized dealers are two totally different things.

Also, this is only from my experience with Musical Instruments....YMMV.
 
Last edited:
Esav Benyamin said:
I thought they were going to be following essentially the same policy as Benchmade, for example. MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) and preferentially supplying brick-and-mortars over internet dealers. If so, it cuts distributors out, but shouldn't affect buyers tremendously.

From 5-11-2010, Victorinox says goodbye to distributors
Click to expand...


The person who gave me my Soldier Knife for Christmas ordered it from a well known/well established on line company and had it shipped directly to me. Then I finally found the OHT at a local outfitters. I like that the OHT is basically the same knife but also has the tweezers and the toothpick that the soldier knife doesn't, plus it has a somewhat more stylish/less military looking black handle with the same exact blade set up. But at the outfitters the OHT is more than twice what he paid for the Soldier Knife at the time he bought it and nearly three times what I can get the OHT for right now at the same on line company. Personally I have been debating getting the knife off line or supporting the local company...I like to support local businesses when I can but I still have issues with the 3X price. I would think that could be a major effect on some people in today's market.
 
There is always Wenger.
Besides, ever since the Leatherman type mulit-tools gained popularity, the "swiss army" style knives have been rendered virtually obsolete.
This of course is just my opinion.
 
damn that company. don't they know it's a recession?!?!? ah well. i haven't purchased anything from them, but if this continues to be a trend, i will shart myself if leatherman and ESEE join the fray.
 
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