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What's going on with Benchmade?
- Thread starter Tai Chi Feely
- Start date
for the price of some of there knifes at there cost,i can buy a handgun or buy two or more from a other company.Name sells alot,not products and the consumer is to blame not them.If everbody stop buying them then watch there price drop where everbody can afford it.I own a 9050 and a ambush and i see no difference in there quality than others costing a couple of dollars less but the famous benchmade logo is on it and that what counts to alot of people,not the knife
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donovan said:
Benchmade's more expensive knives are all made in the USA. The ones made overseas are part of their Red Line and way cheaper than anything else they make. I wasn't even considering the Red Line in this thread.
Kershaw and Spyderco do offer some great values, but they both have their lines that are as much or more than Benchmade. Benchmade has always (up until now anyway) stayed with the higher end, $100 and up market.
Both Kershaw and Spyderco have their benefits. Kershaw has the best spring assist mechanism and one of the best designers around with Ken Onion. Spyderco has the popular opening hole and the excellent VG-10 as a base steel.
However, as a whole, I find I prefer Benchmade. They use great materials, great fit and finish, and have a great warranty. They are worth what they retail for if you ask me. It is something you shouldn't ever be replacing, unless you are really abusive. Collectors are a whole different ballgame, and I don't think Benchmade is focusing on the collectors.
interesting topic. While I am 100% behind BM's and any other company's right to do business as they see fit (legally, that is 
), there are very few production knives out there that I would pay MSRP for. Most MSRP's are way over priced for what you get. Just my opinion.
), there are very few production knives out there that I would pay MSRP for. Most MSRP's are way over priced for what you get. Just my opinion.I was looking at buying 10 or more Benchmite IIs for gift purposes. In doing so, i was sending emails to see if I could get a small price break on these inexpensive knives. Most of the online stores sell these between 22 and 24 dollars. The lowest priced dealer explained that their cost on these knives was 18.00 and the margins were as low as they could go already.
So there's a sample of one on the markup issue.
Phil
So there's a sample of one on the markup issue.
Phil
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I have no doubt that online dealers are doing fine. With nearly no overhead it wouldn't take much to make ends meet.Knife Outlet said:
What I am saying is that if every knife manufacturer only sold direct and did not permit anyone to sell for any less than retail do you think sales would drop to zero? I don't think so.
Dirk said:
I think it's because customers are used to big discounts and bargain shopping.
Considering the fair market value of a knife is USD 60. Most likely it will sell much better
with a MSRP of USD 100 and a "reduced market sale price" of USD 60 than with a MSRP
of USD 60 that's not discounted. Could be the main reason for high MSRPs, in my opinion.
I think brick and morter stores just have to change the way they make money. I worked in retail sales and we sold camera equiptment at the same price as B&H Photo Video. We would make no money on the equipment. Where we made money was with classes on how to use the equipment, our photolab, selling used equipment, etc. SERVICES.
With the Internet it's going to be harder and harder to make money on things that people can buy online. So you have to find other ways.
If someone can buy a knife for about the same price in a store as they can online, they'd probably rather buy it from a store. The store can take the time to show the product, let the user handle it, etc, so the customer can see what they are buying.
What comes in next is the ability of the store to sell other items and services.
"You've made a great choice with that knife sir! Just so you know, for $25 extra we can sharpen your knife 3 times a year for the life of your knife. Or we can sell you a sharpener for $50 and you can attend one of our knife sharpening classes for $35."
Etc. The knife shop could sharpen knives for a flat rate, or charge by the inch, etc. They could offer cleaning and lubing services.
The big thing is accessories. Sell a sharpening system, sell a belt pouch, cleaning kits, etc. If you're selling a Benchmade for $110 (making $0-5 on it) the customer would probably want to invest in some accesories to maintain an expensive knife.
Then there's also the used market. A knife store could give someone $10-15 credit towards a new knife purchase for a knife they could clean up and resell for $50 as used peice, with a instore guarntee of X amount of time. We sold a lot of used camera equipment (before digital came along) and it's where we made a lot of our profit.
With the Internet it's going to be harder and harder to make money on things that people can buy online. So you have to find other ways.
If someone can buy a knife for about the same price in a store as they can online, they'd probably rather buy it from a store. The store can take the time to show the product, let the user handle it, etc, so the customer can see what they are buying.
What comes in next is the ability of the store to sell other items and services.
"You've made a great choice with that knife sir! Just so you know, for $25 extra we can sharpen your knife 3 times a year for the life of your knife. Or we can sell you a sharpener for $50 and you can attend one of our knife sharpening classes for $35."
Etc. The knife shop could sharpen knives for a flat rate, or charge by the inch, etc. They could offer cleaning and lubing services.
The big thing is accessories. Sell a sharpening system, sell a belt pouch, cleaning kits, etc. If you're selling a Benchmade for $110 (making $0-5 on it) the customer would probably want to invest in some accesories to maintain an expensive knife.
Then there's also the used market. A knife store could give someone $10-15 credit towards a new knife purchase for a knife they could clean up and resell for $50 as used peice, with a instore guarntee of X amount of time. We sold a lot of used camera equipment (before digital came along) and it's where we made a lot of our profit.
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Actually, percentages stay the same or even go down. Granted, even if you have a small margin of 20% on a $400 knife, you can afford to offer little perks.Andy_CN said:
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Assume every production knife made was sold for MSRP. What would you buy instead of the D2 Griptillian then?Jim70 said:I love my Benchmades too, but there is no way I would pay MSRP for one. The D2 Griptilians are some of my favorite knives, but not for a $130. I'm sure benchmade is glad they're going to have at least one customer.
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Steven Roos said:
I don't think so either. Higher prices mean less demand and less volume but certainly not zero. If you can sell everything you can make and get higher prices, that's the ideal. Perhaps they can. I don't know. I have no knowledge at all of their operation.
Nearly no overhead is a little extreme, I think. We do have plenty of costs. If you saw the size of seemingly minor bills like credit card transaction fees or even packaging materials, it would take your breath away. The expenses are just small as a percentage of gross profit earned compared to retail stores. We can make more net profit than a retail store with half the gross profit percentage. That's the efficiency I was talking about.
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Makes sense. Of course, retail stores get to pay credit card fees too. Not many people seem to use cash anymore, even for small purchases, let alone a $100+ knife.Knife Outlet said:
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Steven Roos said:
The reason for this as that there are fixed costs involved in receiving, inventorying, billing, packaging and shipping products. We generally figure the fixed cost at around $3.00 per unit at our place. It costs the same to handle a $20 knife or a $200 knife. The $3 can eat up the profit on a low priced one or hardly be noticed on a high priced one. Really inexpensive knives have higher gross margins in order to allow for these fixed costs.
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I assume that the customer covers shipping of their order? $3 is a pretty impressive figure.Knife Outlet said:
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Steven Roos said:
Yes, but we manage to lose a little on shipping every year because of returns, errors, chargebacks and other things. The $3 figure only includes the fixed costs. Shipping and credit card transaction processing are variable costs. They are quite a bit more than the fixed costs.
Steven Roos said:
Well, I guess that is my question. If BM gets their MSRP pricing do you like BM enough to pay $200 for a Mini-Skirmish vs. $115 for a Spyderco Manix? I'm just using those particular knives as examples, but I'm not willing to pay that sort of premium for comparable blades.
Jack