MAP pricing: Has it affected your buying habits (i.e. buying less, switching brands, etc.)?

[22-rimfire]

Personally I think MAP is all in how it's applied. Spyderco did a good job of setting it low enough not to seriously impact consumers while preserving at least some small margin for retailers. And MAP just fixes the minimum advertised price. It doesn't mean they can't sell it to you below that--that would be price-fixing, which is illegal. It just means they can't advertise it lower. If you think a retailer would be willing to sell it for less than MAP to secure your patronage, just write them an email and see if they're willing.

This is very true. I buy based on price and quality (and obviously design and reputation). Occasionally I pay more. GEC is one company that I tend to pay attention to the prices at the retailer. Some are higher than others. Would I choose one retailer over another for $5 or $10 on the same $100 knife? Yep. But it is not an all inclusive generalization.

MAP pricing helps the little knife retailer, but hurts companies like Benchmade because they have in many cases reached the point where I refuse to even consider handling or buying one of their knives. I stopped even looking. That is not good for Benchmade and I suspect Spyderco is headed in the same direction.

 

[Hackenslash]

I think it's human nature to feel like you got a good deal. MAP has reduced my impulse buys of Benchmade, Spyderco and ZT that would have happened because of a knife being on sale. For instance, I've known I wanted a ZT 0460 since announced. If it could be advertised on sale by an on-line retailer, I'd probably have bought one long ago. As it is, it's always going to be the same price everywhere so no pressure to grab one at a discount price.

If this ends up with me buying a gently used 0460 on the Exchange, that's clearly a lost sale for ZT as a direct result of enforced pricing. A sale lost not due to any animosity toward MAP or the manufacturer, but simply because a short term discounted price can't happen.

I have a hunch that this is an unseen effect on other knife knuts too.

 

[22-rimfire]

MAP also impacts the secondary market for your average knives. Is this good? Depends on your point of view.

I agree with the above that MAP has an unseen impact on knife buyers in general and reduces the number of knives they might acquire. Years ago I used to buy LPs just to "try out or listen to".... knew very little about the band. Did it to learn. Prices started going up and I stopped cold turkey with this tendency. The same might be applied to movies...CD vs Blue Tooth etc. There is a point where I simply say NO. That point with knives will obviously vary with the consumer and their perceptions of value.

 

[sabre cat]

I am buying more used gear than before MAP was put in place. Come to think of it, all my Benchmade purchases (except two) have been since MAP pricing started and they all have been used.

I don't really have a problem with the MAP concept but, I do have issues with the way BM handled it. A twenty percent increase across the board was a little much. Especially considering that their price to the dealer did not go up at all. I also have issues when a dealer feels that MAP prices are carved in stone.
My one and only local brick and mortar is like that so he gets very little of my money.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Literally haven't bought a branded Benchmade or ZT since they cracked down. Spyderco, I feel, was much more reasonable with their policy, so my buying of them has slowed, but I'll evaluate them on a knife-to-knife basis (I feel all Benchmades and ZTs are overpriced right now). It definitely means I've spent more money with companies that have no MAP policy since the change.

 

[michaelm466]

For me, many more purchases on the exchange LNIB, really the only thing I buy new are the hard to get sprints/dealer exclusives- because they often will be more on the exchange

 

[22-rimfire]

...My one and only local brick and mortar is like that so he gets very little of my money.

This is actually very interesting psychologically from a customer point of view. The retailer has to know that this impacts the number of buyers or potential buyer pool. But they may well have made the decision that the price is rigidly fixed and they get enough other customers who wander in to compensate for the hobbyist knife buyer who buys a lot of product. The hobbyist tends to be more aware of other venues of purchasing as well.

My view is IF I look at a certain knife at an online retailer(s), I'll choose the cheaper price because both are shipped via USPS or UPS for the most part. But I might well choose not to buy from an online retailer when I have slow order processing experience and really slow "free" shipping and pay the extra $ at one that gives me the service I desire. Whether or not folks know it, you are paying for the "free" shipping.

There is one knife distributor that is currently asking about $140 retail (at the seller end) for a knife that would have been priced $80-$85. I refuse. The interesting aspect to this is that the production runs are smallish and they will eventually sell out. But the selling is going a lot slower than past offerings based on my casual viewing of various dealers who handle the product. I am interested in this knife, but at some point I draw the line.

From a distributor point of view, the knife is "sold" when it goes to the retailer. It will be interesting if this impacts the "next one" as the retailers will buy fewer perhaps. Supply and Demand..

I think you're going to see more and more of this kind of pricing.

 

[Murphjd25]

Not at all, I'm buying even more.

 

[fq55]

I stopped buying new Benchmades altogether. I only buy them on the secondary market. I do however feel that Spyderco still has offerings that represent a good value even at MAP.

My two most carried knives now are a Spyderco and Benchmade that are sold at a similar price point.

The Benchmade 698 Foray map is $191.25 - 20cv blade, axis lock, steel liners and black g10. Fit and finish is typical Benchmade. Good but not great.

Spyderco Spydiechef map is $197.97. LC200 blade Ti frame lock and amazing fit and finish. It feels like a custom.


I would definitely buy the Spyderco at MAP pricing.

 

[SpySmasher]

As far as how map pricing has changed my habits, I'm now looking more toward custom makers. It seems like the price gap over the last few years has decreased to the point that it is hard to justify the purchase of production knife over some of the customs out there.

This is my situation as well, particularly now that so many custom knifemakers are offering midtechs and the ubiquity of the internet has created a global marketplace for used customs (and their lower price-point).

 

[Sigguy]

I buy far less knives than I used to. It has to do with higher prices and percieved value for me.

 

[Cory Hess]

As far as how map pricing has changed my habits, I'm now looking more toward custom makers. It seems like the price gap over the last few years has decreased to the point that it is hard to justify the purchase of production knife over some of the customs out there.

I'd agree with this 100% and I'd also include that it reduces the price gap between volume producers and smaller shops. I don't avoid a brand specifically because of MAP, but when you take away the impulse buys that comes along with sale prices, as another member mentioned, it makes it that much easier to save up for a more special knife. I think that this is the most significant way that MAP affects my buying decisions.

 

[PURPLEDC]

In the case of benchmade yes. But only because i saw the jump from what they used to cost to what they are now and i feel like im overpaying. Other companies who have long had map prici like zt it has no effect on me as there was never a huge jump in price. At the end of the day i actually like map because i dont need to scour dealers to find the best price. Its only when they inflate the prices to ridonculous levels that i start to squirm.

 

[Sonnydaze]

I buy from the Exchange almost exclusively. Prices are better, obviously, for the same thing.

 

[Lapedog]

Honestly I thought that the prices on Spydercos website were so high to encourage customers to buy from distributors. The prices on the website seem a bit outrageous.

I think MAP prices is a disservice so both the customer and the retailer.

 

[jbmonkey]

yep. its affected my buying habits. i like free markets, not price fixing games. advertising price control is a joke and is a lame way to control pricing.

 

[sabre cat]

This is actually very interesting psychologically from a customer point of view. The retailer has to know that this impacts the number of buyers or potential buyer pool. But they may well have made the decision that the price is rigidly fixed and they get enough other customers who wander in to compensate for the hobbyist knife buyer who buys a lot of product. The hobbyist tends to be more aware of other venues of purchasing as well.

My view is IF I look at a certain knife at an online retailer(s), I'll choose the cheaper price because both are shipped via USPS or UPS for the most part. But I might well choose not to buy from an online retailer when I have slow order processing experience and really slow "free" shipping and pay the extra $ at one that gives me the service I desire. Whether or not folks know it, you are paying for the "free" shipping.

There is one knife distributor that is currently asking about $140 retail (at the seller end) for a knife that would have been priced $80-$85. I refuse. The interesting aspect to this is that the production runs are smallish and they will eventually sell out. But the selling is going a lot slower than past offerings based on my casual viewing of various dealers who handle the product. I am interested in this knife, but at some point I draw the line.

From a distributor point of view, the knife is "sold" when it goes to the retailer. It will be interesting if this impacts the "next one" as the retailers will buy fewer perhaps. Supply and Demand..

I think you're going to see more and more of this kind of pricing.

At one time I wanted a Kershaw Echelon knife. My local guy wanted $79 bucks, the retail price. Add for sales tax and the trip to the store and you were looking close to 90 dollars. Prices on the Bay were about 40-50 dollars, shipped to my door. That is just to much of a difference for me to overlook.

If there is only a 10% (maybe 15%) difference, I'll buy locally. I want to buy local but, it's getting hard to do. Especially with good audio gear.

 

[totkst1]

It hasn't really effected me at all. Usually if I want something and find a price that is fair (by my perception) for that item then I will buy it either from a retailer whom I have developed a trusted relationship with or that was recommended by a friend with that type relationship, or I will buy it from the first place I see has it sir said fair price.

 

[Fred Sanford]

Yes.

I now buy less knives and I refuse to purchase most knives over $150. Every now and then one will come up that I am willing to pay more for but that is not often. In the past, I could buy most of what I wanted for around $125 or less.

I am very thankful and well enough off but I will not pay extra cash for something just because someone decided to force everyone to sell for the same price.

Now some of the money I used to spend on Benchmade and Spyderco goes to Boker, GEC, and some others that keep their prices where they should be.

 

[jbarsquat]

Yes it has. I still buy from these brands however I mostly buy sprint runs or dealer exclusives now.