To Open Retail Package, or Not To Open...

[solidorange]

It's actually not an issue about cost or plastic (though the "new" style clams do use considerably less plastic than the old ones... much more environmentally-friendly). Packaging is determined by our dealers. Some want the boxes because they store better and the knives can be taken out and handled. Others want the clams because they display on a peg and are harder for shoplifters to get away with. If it were up to me, we'd sell everything in a box... they're a lot more convenient. But I think there will always be those retailers who prefer the clams.

thanks for the response, i figured that was the case. the strange thing, as previously mentioned by oregonknifenerd, is that i have never actually seen these retail packages on a peg in any store. they are always behind a locked counter anyway, so why wouldn't the retailers just use a box?

 

[KershawLynda]

thanks for the response, i figured that was the case. the strange thing, as previously mentioned by oregonknifenerd, is that i have never actually seen these retail packages on a peg in any store. they are always behind a locked counter anyway, so why wouldn't the retailers just use a box?

Good question. I have no idea the answer. You'll have to ask them.

 

[chester22]

thanks for the response, i figured that was the case. the strange thing, as previously mentioned by oregonknifenerd, is that i have never actually seen these retail packages on a peg in any store. they are always behind a locked counter anyway, so why wouldn't the retailers just use a box?

Depending on where you live its just an extra measure to stop theft. Where I live the WallyWorld/Dix/etc etc have them sitting on a shelve ready to buy.. but if I drive 20mins north they are all in glass cases 20ft behind a counter and need the manager just to look at them... crazy

 

[solidorange]

Depending on where you live its just an extra measure to stop theft. Where I live the WallyWorld/Dix/etc etc have them sitting on a shelve ready to buy.. but if I drive 20mins north they are all in glass cases 20ft behind a counter and need the manager just to look at them... crazy

i didn't even think about that but you are probably right. the wallyworld closest to me does not sell any guns or ammo and has all of their knives locked up. the one 20 minutes away sells .308's, shotguns, etc. and has every kind of ammo imaginable. i bet their knifes are out in the open too, but i have never thought to look. :thumbup:

 

[kneedeep]

The flat retail packages are better for large retailers (or stores that can't always provide individualized sales help). They are easier to display, reduce theft, and help sell the knives by making them visible to potential buyers. The packages also have more room to explain features of the knives, something that is important when there isn't someone there to sell you the knife. We, as knife enthusiasts, don't really have a problem with the boxes, because we generally go to the store with a good idea of what the knives look like, but the average person has never seen one. The blister pack is much more likely to inspire an impulse buy. Heck, if you walked by pegboard and saw knife with a handle color you hadn't seen before, how much more likely are you to buy it than if you saw the end of a box in a display case with a part # that ended in OR?

The Bass Pro Shops in my area display the flat packs on pegs in the open. They also have samples on display in the showcases along with the higher end knives which aren't out on the pegs. All the Walmarts in the area display the flat packed knives on pegs behind glass doors, but that's Miami for you.

Having said all that, I like the boxes too. It would be nice if they could be packed flat in the blister pack.

 

[fadetoblack73]

Good question. I have no idea the answer. You'll have to ask them.

I have contacted customer service at Kershaw about purchasing boxes and paperwork for my opened clamshell models. They told me that it was impossible to sell me just the packaging. Why is this? The clamshell models usually do not have serial numbers. Please pass along the extreme desire of collectors to obtain the alternate packaging.

 

[KershawLynda]

I have contacted customer service at Kershaw about purchasing boxes and paperwork for my opened clamshell models. They told me that it was impossible to sell me just the packaging. Why is this? The clamshell models usually do not have serial numbers. Please pass along the extreme desire of collectors to obtain the alternate packaging.

We used to be able to send out boxes to people who requested them... until we noticed a couple pawn shop owners that seemed to be requesting too many boxes. Ultimately we decided that in order to protect the integrity of the product, we no longer send out boxes. It keeps people from packaging up their used knives to look new and selling them at pawn shops or "that auction site" as "New-In-Box." I wish dishonest people like that didn't exist, but that's the sad reality.

Regarding the product inside the packaging - there is absolutely no difference between a knife that comes in clam or one of the same model that comes in a box. They are produced and made exactly the same, they just go in a different line at packaging. Most of our Kershaw line of knives don't have serial numbers anymore, so you're not going to find that in either packaging. We save serial numbers for limited production and ZT products.

 

[fadetoblack73]

We used to be able to send out boxes to people who requested them... until we noticed a couple pawn shop owners that seemed to be requesting too many boxes. Ultimately we decided that in order to protect the integrity of the product, we no longer send out boxes. It keeps people from packaging up their used knives to look new and selling them at pawn shops or "that auction site" as "New-In-Box." I wish dishonest people like that didn't exist, but that's the sad reality.

That policy is unfortunate ... but understandable. But may I make a suggestion? Perhaps you could only send out boxes to members of this forum and only if the request is made through this forum.