Paying full MSRP at a dealer vs buying online

I not only don't use B&M stores, I price check the Internet shops to get the best deal. There can be a big price difference among on line shops. I do the same thing with watches, cameras, any high end item. When I bought my Omega, my cousins employee discount price was higher than I could buy from gray market shops.
There used to be several knife shops in the downtown Chicago area and now I can't think of one. They've priced themselves out of the market.
 
I dont buy from B&M anymore just because I dont find the stores near me any good. The employees know very little about knives, and they dont carry any knives I like. I stick to my fav online dealers:)
 
godot said:
I not only don't use B&M stores, I price check the Internet shops to get the best deal. There can be a big price difference among on line shops. I do the same thing with watches, cameras, any high end item.
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+1. You're doing economic efficiency a disservice if you pay over the odds for something just because you feel bad for a local B&M store.
 
You ever try haggling? The store I buy my Benchmades from has lower than MSRP but still high prices. If I mention a discount he'll do the Benchmade MAP or slightly better pricing. If I buy 2 knives at once he'll beat just about everybody's prices (except gpknives who is a member here and one other who I dont think is a member so I won't name).
 
For those of you who are lucky enough to have a local knife store and have some sort of rapport with the proprietor, have you ever thought about asking for a better price?

I'd think that they'd rather sell the blade at a reduced profit rather than have a sale walk out the door.
 
We took our 8' case out a few Mo ago.
All my employees know knifes and steels well and we have a customer Laptop on the counter for customers to price if they want.

Most Manufacturers make us Distributors so we get another 10-15% off but still after spending 45 minutes with a customer we were still spending more time sending the knifes back to the Manufacturers for repair or to sharpen (and we didn't sell them). We had a few great knife collectors and they would buy all the time but not enough to take up a 8'x6' space in the store???

So we had the customer service, only place other than camping stores to buy, but still no turn on our knife stock.

Maybe you can help me understand. Still have customers asking daily what happened to the knife case, but when pressed if they wanted to buy it's usually "NO" just looking.

So now I have a case in storage with numbered BMs, SOGs, Ka-Bar, old Camillus stock, Cold Steel, ect...
 
I'm willing to pay a little more as a convenience factor but not much. Like another poster said paying more for something because you feel bad for the owner does the economy, the owner and of course yourself an economic dis-service. All your effectively doing is transferring your hard earned wealth to a business that cannot or will not function efficiently.

That being said if its a warm fuzzy feeling your looking for consider a charity that helps children, they need it more then a store owner who is unwilling to compete in a modern market.
 
Why not just buy used on the forums and support your forum members, and get a cheaper knife? Not like you NEED a scratch-free, brand-new knife.
 
mat_890 said:
I'm willing to pay a little more as a convenience factor but not much. Like another poster said paying more for something because you feel bad for the owner does the economy, the owner and of course yourself an economic dis-service.
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What Logic is THAT...wouldn't you like to feel the knife or test drive that new car...you remind me of that South Park episode the one with NO Internet how would you survive?

I don't Buy much of anything on the Net as my Taxes need to be here and used here...you know that whole keeping the money local... And you're from Canada aren't all your taxes paying for your health care?
 
i stopped going to actual stores long ago, i buy most my knives on ebay now. there are lots of great dealers on ebay with great prices, you can sometimes find discontinued and rare knives for good prices, and you can even buy both used and new knives from individual sellers at great prices.
 
NiceShotRange said:
What Logic is THAT...wouldn't you like to feel the knife or test drive that new car...you remind me of that South Park episode the one with NO Internet how would you survive?

I don't Buy much of anything on the Net as my Taxes need to be here and used here...you know that whole keeping the money local... And you're from Canada aren't all your taxes paying for your health care?
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You shouldn't question my logic using an analogy that compares a 150 dollar knife to test driving a 40,000 dollar car, they are not the same thing. Also if where going to compare one another to South Park episodes, you remind me of the 'goobacks' one with the rednecks who kept shouting "They Took Our Jobs, Took Errr Jerbs, dey turk err jurbz, theeey durrrka duuuuurrr".

I'm just joking around, no harm intended but on a more serious note I'm not going to discuss economic theory with you, its all available online if your interested but chances are if I were to Google a few simple points to show where your wrong, you wouldn't read it anyhow. After multiple debates with posters boasting no credentials who think they have an innate God given insight for micro/macro economics, greater then those who have spent years in the study...I have realized its just not worth it.
 
I'd pay a small premium to be able to hand pick a knife in which inlay choice or QC issues like blade centering (coughBenchmadeAxisLockcough) were a factor.
 
The knife shop at the local mall is a joke. They carry a ton of crappy chinese knifes, and then have a case off to the side with Benchmade and Spyderco knives in it. I usually laugh when I look at the prices they're charging for them.
 
mat_890 said:
You shouldn't question my logic using an analogy that compares a 150 dollar knife to test driving a 40,000 dollar car...

I'm just joking around, no harm intended...
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I am asking a serious question.
And harm over a computer...can't happen. Some people seem more brave typing if that's what you mean.

The job I have is easy. The computer spits out a sales sheet of turns per hour, per day, per week, Month, Year...I can have a sales Clerk spend time showing you knifes for 45 min (on an item making me 20 points) or put a Customer with a Range Master for 30 min with a bag of loaded mags and let him rip with a suppressed HK UMP, MP-5, ect...and make a few hundred dollars.

So $150= I don't care if I like it? $40k= I must like it? So at what cost point do you need to be satisfied? $500 bucks, $2k, $10k?

And just so we are clear this info will be passed on. I get asked by customers, Manufacturers Reps, Manufactures Marketing, Owners of knife companies, Buying Groups, Retail Organizations (like NSSF) all who try hard to get you the customer a place to hold, feel, handle merchandise in your hand.

I came here to ask you and the people on this fine knife Forum (of self proclaimed knife enthusiasts) what should be an easy question.

I can just give the Companies a simple answer, something like save your money, fire the Reps, put a few Ads in the knife rags (my S##T is Black, Bad A$$ and COOL), and make the cheapest knife you can as true knife people just want the cheapest product, So BM get back over to Taiwan? CRKT & MOD had it right this whole time.
 
00ChevyScott said:
The knife shop at the local mall is a joke. They carry a ton of crappy chinese knifes, and then have a case off to the side with Benchmade and Spyderco knives in it. I usually laugh when I look at the prices they're charging for them.
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Heheh, the knife shop at a mall I go to is called Plaza Cutlery. ;)
 
00ChevyScott said:
The knife shop at the local mall is a joke. They carry a ton of crappy chinese knifes, and then have a case off to the side with Benchmade and Spyderco knives in it. I usually laugh when I look at the prices they're charging for them.
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The local Walmart has some knives, some from good name brands like Kershaw, but I'll never see a knife for more than $50 behind the glass. Given that my interests are in $200-$250 range with the latest flavor of supersteel and titanium framelock, as well the $400-$600 range customs and mid-techs, I doubt I'll ever see a shop that carries the knives I want without going out of state.
 
midnight flyer said:
Like some here, I am frustrated by lack of knife stores. The largest knife store we have here is mostly a firearms dealer, and since he only sells knives as a sideline, he sells at retail plus.
Robert
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All the reasons given are exactly why there are no good knife stores. Example: CS Recon Scout:
CS Dealer cost - $98
CS MSRP - $189.99

Online Price:
Lowest $115.75 (free shipping)
Average $120.00

The online dealers are willing to make $10 per knife but they pay no bills such as employees, rent, electricity, insurance, etc. Plus they usually sneak in a few dollars on the shipping and then most are done. No one shows up at your door complaining about a scratch, or returns it after using it expecting Wal-Mart like returns. Even when they get a cheap Chinese knock-off they rarely send it back.

With the online dealers, no local store in their right mind will even carry knives. All they hear about from the customer is how cheap they can get in online. So they waste your time, tell you what you already know and in the end, don't buy anything. Stores typically have a 100% markup for a reason, thats the price of keeping the doors open. Since the internet isn't likely to die, you won't see many knife stores popping up any time soon.
 
I'm lucky enough to have a huge, well stocked knife shop very close. I try to buy at least two knives a year there. There's nothing like finding a great knife that you would've never bought based on pictures and specs alone. I love to be able to handle everything, and I'll pay extra for that experience. If it wasn't such a nice shop (owner's knife crazy like us), I probably wouldn't bother with it. For example, last week I wanted a CS American Lawman. I went to Bass Pro for other things, and they had an AL for $90. Just couldn't do it there, but I would've paid that price at the knife shop due to the selection/service.
 
I won't check out gear in one place and then buy somewhere cheaper. It's theft of services.

But I don't have the luxury of a choice when it comes to knives: there's no decent B&M knife dealer near me.

So I have to rely on online, where my priorities are both price and service.

I always request a QC check to make sure blade is centered and sharp with no blade play and opens and closes easily.

I ordered two Spydies last week at one of my favorite dealers. When I got the confirmation email from the manager, I reminded her of my request.

She responded, we'll take care of you.

Which I took to be a "yes," but in retrospect seems like it could mean anything.

One of the knives came visibly off-center.

When I wrote the manager, the owner responded that sometimes they just don't get around to fulfilling requests such as mine.

He didn't offer to do anything.

I wrote again, saying a QC check upon request was the most important thing I wanted from him.

I got no response.

This is a well-known dealer with a fine reputation, but I'll need a better response before I'm able to trust him again.
 
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