What's going on with Benchmade?

T

Tai Chi Feely

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I just clicked on a favorites list at Knifeoutlet.com to look at their Benchmade prices and no Benchmade knives there. Nada. zilch. Just read about Newgraham's trouble with BM (Les walking away from Michael). Now this. Is there some Benchmade pressure for internet dealers carrying their line? If this has already been answered, apologies to the forum. Maybe the Knifeoutlet and Newgraham incidents are unrelated. Or maybe not. The last Spyderco I bought looked pretty darn good. No knife company is an island.

Tai Chi.
 
Fred at Knife Outlet is somewhat vocal in his dislike of BM, I used to order from that site a few years ago, but since stopped because of the dwindling number of BMs they sold.

The recent thing with newgraham was really annoying. I decided to order BMs, but just from them. If BM makes New Graham wait, then BM can wait for my order just as long; and I don't know who in particular was complaining about NG's practices, so I don't want to give the whiner(s) my money by mistake.
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but Benchmade has always been hard on the e-net deallers. Didn't Mike Turber also have issues with becomeing a dealler of BMs or getting dealler prices or something?
 
Benchmade might be cracking down on the online places that heavily discount their knives. What is the point of an MSRP when the knives are sold online for just about wholesale?
 
Doesn't MSRP stand for Manufactuer's Suggested Retail Price though?

If they want their knives sold at X price, why don't they just do what Chris Reeves does? (Or was it Strider that does the price fixing? I've forgotten)
 
That may be the case but there will always be places like RSR wholesale who online retailers can go to who's only requirement be an order over $100. Thier prices are usually within a couple bucks of actual dealer prices and there are no requirements to meet over the term to keep the status.
 
Yes, it does, but it really is more than a suggestion. Many compaines are instituting strict pricing policies.

Surefire does not allow any discounts to their retail price. They enforce this by not selling to any distributors and cutting off any retailer that violates the policy. I think many more companies will do the same.
 
IMO, if Benchmade wants to limit the distribution of its products, - well, in this country it's free to do so. If we customers decide its prices are too high, and don't buy its products because of that, then either its prices will come down or the company (Benchmade) will come down.

I'm a big believer in the operation of the free market in most (not all) instances - and in this instance, I think the market and time will sort things out.
 
I think you'll find that Benchmade can sell all the knives they make at retail price. They don't make too many knives, and they run out of things all the time.
 
knifeoutlet stopped selling bm a long time ago, maybe even a year ago i remember because they had the best price on the model 42
 
Steven Roos said:
I think you'll find that Benchmade can sell all the knives they make at retail price. They don't make too many knives, and they run out of things all the time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but most of their knives aren't sold at anywhere near retail. In my opinion, if they do go to a strict retail only selling policy, it will not be good for the company. Some companies can get away with it, I don't think Benchmade is one of them.
 
Steven Roos said:
I think you'll find that Benchmade can sell all the knives they make at retail price.
Click to expand...

I'd be very surprised if that were true. There is just too much competition for quality production knives these days.

Jack
 
Picked up the Bm 425 today from my local gunshop,been shopping there...my whole life.didn't pay full retail either.$99.83 out the door.was it cause of my longstanding support of a small guy? maybe maybe not.we have these "why does knifemaker X sell for this price and knifemaker Y not?" here on Bf and not being smart maybe i should ask some economist "why"? cause i sure don't know...other than i got a bargain on a quality blade.
 
just to throw it in there...

oakley also fixes prices. it appears to be a common practice among "top shelf" brands.
 
I don't blame a company for holding their dealers to a set pricing structure, but ... if they do have some leeway, then it should be up to the dealer how tight he's willing to squeeze his own profits in return for volume sales.

As I understood it, BM doesn't fix selling prices, it mandates a minimum advertised price. Once you go to order (click on "add to my shopping cart") you will see what the dealer can do for you.

But since it looks like BM allows dealer flexibility only up to a point, then they're playing both ends against the middle. That's hard to justify. It is not really open and aboveboard.
 
I like benchmade company. I have more than 10 of their knives. I will not buy any of their knives for suggested retail price however. None. Same for Spyderco, Kershaw, CKRT etc., etc.

I have become so spoiled by the internet that I expect this....nay, demand this discount. I'd bet I'm not the only one. I'm aware they mark the MSRP up accordingly.

Benchmade hasn't made a knife yet I can't do without. Joe.
 
I love my 710D2 but wouldn't have paid $170 for it.

Anyway, I think the concern expressed in this thread may be a little premature. Looking around, there are still quite a few reputable sources for Benchmade selling them for deep discounts to MSRP.

Which to me is a good thing.
 
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