I spent some time looking over the Topomart website. For those who are not aware, Topomart is a relatively new paid dealer on Bladeforums. Unfortunately, they advertise and promote blatant copies of well-known knives. Not just a few gray area designs, but intentional copies of popular designs. Just check out the ‘Production knives: For sale by dealer’ subforum.
Just using Big River as an example. Not promoting that river by the way:
· Spot checked Topomart vs Big River prices. Negligible price difference.
· Big River delivery is within a few days after order.
· Topomart shipping is 1-7 days after order, 2-4 WEEKS until Delivery.
· Big River is famous for its ‘did not receive’ and ‘return policies’. You ain’t happy, they make it right.
· Topomart says if order not received within 60 DAYS, then they will reship. 60 DAYS?!?!
· Also, Topomart return policy is 60 days after purchase. If it takes up to 60 days to receive product, that does not leave much time to return product does it?
· Topomart makes it very difficult to get a refund if not happy with purchase. Read terms on website.
· Topomart only has an email for communication. NO physical address or ph number on the website. No customer service? An old rule of internet purchasing is if they do not have a physical addy and phone number on the 'contact us' page, move on.
· A significant percentage of Topomart’s offerings are blatant copies of popular knife brands that are offered by established dealers that support this site.
· Those blatant copies are mostly of manufacturers that also support this site.
I could go on. Just go to their website and read through the Contact us, shipping, return policy, etc. Not a pretty sight.
Lesson 1: If you just gotta buy a clone, there is no credible reason I see to support Topomart. Those knives can be found domestically at essentially the same price, but with much better conditions of sale and MUCH quicker shipping.
Lesson 2: Do not support clones or the dealers of such.
Lesson 3: If I bought a knife from Topo, I could not offer it for sale here due to rules against selling blatant clones. Topo can sell here, but I can’t sell the same knives here?
PS – Go to their reviews page. Friggin’ joke.
PS2 – their webpage is lacking. Some have reported that their virus/malware protection blocks the site. My protection software let me in, but I got several errors (that I have never seen before) while trying to peruse their pages.
PS3 – Just buy from reputable dealers and manufacturers if you care anything at all about this hobby. Period
Just using Big River as an example. Not promoting that river by the way:
· Spot checked Topomart vs Big River prices. Negligible price difference.
· Big River delivery is within a few days after order.
· Topomart shipping is 1-7 days after order, 2-4 WEEKS until Delivery.
· Big River is famous for its ‘did not receive’ and ‘return policies’. You ain’t happy, they make it right.
· Topomart says if order not received within 60 DAYS, then they will reship. 60 DAYS?!?!
· Also, Topomart return policy is 60 days after purchase. If it takes up to 60 days to receive product, that does not leave much time to return product does it?
· Topomart makes it very difficult to get a refund if not happy with purchase. Read terms on website.
· Topomart only has an email for communication. NO physical address or ph number on the website. No customer service? An old rule of internet purchasing is if they do not have a physical addy and phone number on the 'contact us' page, move on.
· A significant percentage of Topomart’s offerings are blatant copies of popular knife brands that are offered by established dealers that support this site.
· Those blatant copies are mostly of manufacturers that also support this site.
I could go on. Just go to their website and read through the Contact us, shipping, return policy, etc. Not a pretty sight.
Lesson 1: If you just gotta buy a clone, there is no credible reason I see to support Topomart. Those knives can be found domestically at essentially the same price, but with much better conditions of sale and MUCH quicker shipping.
Lesson 2: Do not support clones or the dealers of such.
Lesson 3: If I bought a knife from Topo, I could not offer it for sale here due to rules against selling blatant clones. Topo can sell here, but I can’t sell the same knives here?
PS – Go to their reviews page. Friggin’ joke.
PS2 – their webpage is lacking. Some have reported that their virus/malware protection blocks the site. My protection software let me in, but I got several errors (that I have never seen before) while trying to peruse their pages.
PS3 – Just buy from reputable dealers and manufacturers if you care anything at all about this hobby. Period
