Talk of Benchmade availability problems?

bobnery said:
It sounds like New Graham is not getting more and they have a storefront. It seems like they could get them straight from BM??
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I believe NGK and BM have had... issues in the past due to NGK trying to give us ELUs the best prices possible.
 
My friend started an online auto parts business. He got a few distributorships and started selling. People were taking his online prices printing them out and bringing them in to the local shop, the local shop honored his online prices. They in turn complained to the manufacturer, explaining to them that they cannot maintain a storefront and sell at those prices.

They pulled my friends distributorships, and now he drives a semi-truck.
 
slimshaneee said:
My friend started an online auto parts business. He got a few distributorships and started selling. People were taking his online prices printing them out and bringing them in to the local shop, the local shop honored his online prices. They in turn complained to the manufacturer, explaining to them that they cannot maintain a storefront and sell at those prices.

They pulled my friends distributorships, and now he drives a semi-truck.
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Thats not cool, but I see where they are coming from.

In this day and age, everything can be found cheaper on the internet. How can a brick and mortar place pay rent selling knives at cost or nearly at cost. I think Benchmade should lower their MSRP and then enforce a minimum price. A knife store will charge MSRP if they can (and all in my area do). I would hate to see knife stores disappear because everyone knows its cheaper online, but the way BM is going about fixing this problem is not with the customer in mind (the reason for the product).

What does Surefire do? Dont they do something similar? They are strict with their pricing I know.
 
Now is a great time to be a Spyderco fan. :D

Surefire does the same thing as Benchmade is trying to do. Only difference is, there's nothing quite like a Surefire in build quality and reliability. I think BM is making a poor choice in tough financial times, but it is honorable that they are trying to protect their B&M dealers.
 
I pay no more than 60-70% MSRP on knives. Does anyone know where I can read more about this? No offense but to me this post is just hearsay and I'd like to read more about it. I'll check wikipedia if there is anything new. Not really a reliable source of info but it'll have to do for now.
 
AWGunS said:
I have seen two posts of a potential problem with Benchmade availability. One here from New Graham Knives, and another from a benchmade forum.
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Where can I read the post from NewGraham? Is it under General Knife Discussion?
 
Wow, I was just checking prices on Mini-Grips at NGK because I have one up on the exchange, and NGK is SOLD OUT. Ebay seems to be drying up too, couldn't find any yellow ones.

This is horrible news for the average knife nut, I don't want to spend $300 on a BM.

Why, on earth, would BM do this to itself?
 
I can confirm this rumor. The B&M store that I work at sells massive amounts of Benchmades, and I am part of the "buying team." I just got back from SHOT, and we were indeed required to go direct through them as opposed to our usual distributor. Fortunately we already had an account with them for our Gold Class pieces, but it was a bit of a bump nonetheless. Good news is they were giving out limited edition assisted-opening blue g10 mini rukuses for every x amount spent. Keep your eyes peeled.
 
It could be bad, it might not be. If you are really upset about it people should start writing to Benchmade.
 
Back when I went to school, we used to call this process 'price fixing', which is still an offense in the US and Canada. No matter, I already have my 3 Grips and 2 Ritter Grips, so my interest in BM is finished.

Perhaps this little fiasco will result in higher sales for Spyderco, Kershaw and Buck, three companies that deserve the business, IMO.
 
HKBM45 said:
Thats not cool, but I see where they are coming from.

In this day and age, everything can be found cheaper on the internet. How can a brick and mortar place pay rent selling knives at cost or nearly at cost. I think Benchmade should lower their MSRP and then enforce a minimum price. A knife store will charge MSRP if they can (and all in my area do). I would hate to see knife stores disappear because everyone knows its cheaper online, but the way BM is going about fixing this problem is not with the customer in mind (the reason for the product).

What does Surefire do? Dont they do something similar? They are strict with their pricing I know.
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I too can see their reasoning, but what they should do is enforce a minimum value price as other companies do, to keep the prices at a steady level. When I first started, I checked around the bay to see what my competitors were charging, and I wasn't very happy. It's almost impossible to make any profit at all on the bay with ebays fee, plus paypal fees, then you have to price somewhat cheap to actually sell your item, after all is said and done you probably only make back what you paid for it in the first place :grumpy:

Instead of just storefronts, I would hope they could make "authorized internet dealers" and just monitor prices that way. We'll have to see in time how things go, I'd hate to be forced away from benchmade's knives, as a buyer and a seller.
 
A.P.F. said:
Back when I went to school, we used to call this process 'price fixing', which is still an offense in the US and Canada. No matter, I already have my 3 Grips and 2 Ritter Grips, so my interest in BM is finished.

Perhaps this little fiasco will result in higher sales for Spyderco, Kershaw and Buck, three companies that deserve the business, IMO.
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How does Strider and CRK do it? Every single site sells their products at the same prices.
 
they do it because it isn't actually price fixing. Price fixing would be if two or more sellers of G10 decided to charge the same amount per pound, guaranteeing that they wouldn't lose business to free market competition. BM can charge what they want, and put requirements on resellers that protect their interests, such as being seen as fancy pants expensive knives.
 
hardheart said:
they do it because it isn't actually price fixing. Price fixing would be if two or more sellers of G10 decided to charge the same amount per pound, guaranteeing that they wouldn't lose business to free market competition. BM can charge what they want, and put requirements on resellers that protect their interests, such as being seen as fancy pants expensive knives.
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True enough, but when BM enters into a de facto agreement with one or more retailers to sell their product at a common price, under threat of having their BM dealerships revoked, it smells a lot like an offense under anti-trust laws, in spirit if not in fact.
 
HKBM45 said:
I think Benchmade should lower their MSRP and then enforce a minimum price.
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I don't imagine BM would lower MSRP unless they wanted to jumpstart sales because they weren't selling enough or they weren't running to a high enough percentage of production capacity. Otherwise, given how it seems they want to steer their ship, why would they choose to charge less?
 
I would guess that very few of their knives are sold at MSRP, so it hasn't been an issue so far. If the consumer thinks Benchmade makes $100 knives, and BM thinks they make $200 knives, there is a problem.
 
jujigatame said:
I don't imagine BM would lower MSRP unless they wanted to jumpstart sales because they weren't selling enough or they weren't running to a high enough percentage of production capacity. Otherwise, given how it seems they want to steer their ship, why would they choose to charge less?
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I dont think they want to charge less, but there is no way their knives are worth MSRP, they should know that. If they start selling knives to brick and mortar shops only, in my experience, those shops will sell the knives at full MSRP. If BM lowers their MSRP and sets a minimum sale price they would reduce the gouging of the consumer by brick and mortar shops. In a way standardizing the profit of the knife shops. I might consider paying a little more for a BM knife if its from a brick and mortar, however I would buy less knives.

I am sure BM doesnt care to try this, and perhaps it wouldnt work like Im imagining. Im not majoring in economics or business for a reason.
 
Prices are going up already. I checked with knifeworks and the BM943 used to cost $130, now it's $170. They said the rest of the BM knives should go up in price soon.
 
Nobody seems to be seeing a flip side.

They COULD be planning to cut OUT the distributors and sell direct either online or to the retailers.

MIDDLE distributors of almost EVERYTHING are being squeezed by the credit crunch. The depression is affecting all companies.

And with DISTRIBUTORS, it means that BM has to ship on INVOICE. CREDIT! As in "wait for payment."

Direct sales can cut both ways. They will have immediate feedback on model sales. They can dump their accounts receivable employees.

A ...temporary.... price hike (MSRP) could let the distributors clear out the inventory and clear the decks for the direct sales. They've already built the name and EVERYONE knows that nobody buys at MSRP.

Which COULD be priced far lower and still retain the margin they have with the middlemen.

This depression has closed many retail stores and will close thousands more.

A leaner, more informed company could result.

At least that's how I'd play it.

:confused:

I just can't see a company being so stupid as to RAISE prices permanently for a SHOT at more margin. I've seen lots of companies go out with that stupidity.
 
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