Benchmade is overpriced due to MAP and there sub par fit and finish on a majority (not a minority) of there products (as shown by customer reviews on many forums and shopping reviews). to many issues to list but the majority of them are blade grinds, side to side and up and down blade play, off center screw holes and pivot collars, and scales not flush. service is also debatable with half saying they had no issues and the other half saying they had to send the knife in more than once to get the issue resolved. basically benchmade knives are not worth the MAP pricing for most of the knives, even if they didnt have fit and finish issues, but thats a matter of opinion. you can find some legitimate benchmades at a very reduced cost from MAP in some cases, for example the benchmade 940-1 is 280MAP and i found it for around $220 give or take, and even then i think in comparison to other knife manufactures with higher end steel, more materials and more exotic materials, say Zero Tolerance, which cost around $240 MAP give or take, that $220 is overpriced and the MAP pricing is WAYYYY overpriced and ZT quality is the quality standard in knives. lets not also forget they are now charging huge prices for essentially a blade with very short metal internal scales and plastic body with axis lock. increased the prices across the board and brought out boring models for 2017.
Another apect to look at is most knife companies now have MAP pricing. this is pricing that is inflated so that larger big box stores cant charge less money to put small mom and pop shops out of business and everyone will make the same amount across the board. This is good for mom and pop shops but bad for customers because the prices are more than they were prior to introducing MAP pricing.
end of year clearance, excluding a knife pouch, and manufacture price changes are the only ways im aware of that can cause that MAP pricing to change.
