What's the deal with GEC?

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Floatingby

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I must admit, I know nothing of that company other than they(used to?) make a specific patern which I like and would have liked to get.

But from what I can see, no retailers on this planet stock ANY GEC, or the other name they go under(Tidote?), of any kind, yet ebay has pages upon pages of listing for all of their models BUT at 3x the msrp...

Is that their business model? Announce a model, send vey little stock, if any at all, to regular retailers to create false shortage, and then put the bulk of their inventory on ebay? I'm not saying, I'm asking.

If not, what is the story here?

It really did peaked my curiosity.
 
It's not a false shortage, it's an actual shortage. Far more demand than supply.


LIMITED GEC SUPPLY

Hey everyone ….there’s something I’m curious about and I want to see if anyone else knows anything about this. There’s probably already been a discussion on this and if so I apologize. I’m new to this forum. I’ve been collecting knives for a long time. I just buy knives I specifically like...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

What happened to GEC?

Their pocketknives used to be much easier to find & buy. Now, the retailers are out of stock when I look to buy. Even with the emailed notification being used by some. I see some folks know how to get the new releases before the distributors list them, good for them. :) But, I’m not paying...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
The deal is, they are a small, "boutique" maker which has been discovered by "flippers" - people who buy up as many pieces as they can when they are released and then resell them at a big markup. Their business model seems to be "Make good, old fashioned knives the old fashioned way and sell them".
 
r8shell said:
It's not a false shortage, it's an actual shortage. Far more demand than supply.


LIMITED GEC SUPPLY

Hey everyone ….there’s something I’m curious about and I want to see if anyone else knows anything about this. There’s probably already been a discussion on this and if so I apologize. I’m new to this forum. I’ve been collecting knives for a long time. I just buy knives I specifically like...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

What happened to GEC?

Their pocketknives used to be much easier to find & buy. Now, the retailers are out of stock when I look to buy. Even with the emailed notification being used by some. I see some folks know how to get the new releases before the distributors list them, good for them. :) But, I’m not paying...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
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Thanks for those link, my own search found only fs listing on the forum.

And I can undertand shortage, what I found somewhat bizzare is that when there is a shortage of some products, normally there isn't dozen of pages of this product found on ebay. But thanks, I have some reading ahead of me.
 
Floatingby said:
I must admit, I know nothing of that company other than they(used to?) make a specific patern which I like and would have liked to get.

But from what I can see, no retailers on this planet stock ANY GEC, or the other name they go under(Tidote?), of any kind, yet ebay has pages upon pages of listing for all of their models BUT at 3x the msrp...

Is that their business model? Announce a model, send vey little stock, if any at all, to regular retailers to create false shortage, and then put the bulk of their inventory on ebay? I'm not saying, I'm asking.

If not, what is the story here?

It really did peaked my curiosity.
Click to expand...
What you don't seem to understand is that GEC is NOT a large manufacturer capable of turning out hundreds or thousands of knives a week. Generally, when GEC produces a particular pattern, that production run might only consist of one or two hundred knives total, with different handle material or blade configurations included. So, being as popular as they are, most runs sell out quickly at stocking dealers, sometimes within minutes. Thats why you can't find them and why they are on Ebay for exorbitant prices.
 
They average @120 knives/day production. They have a very strong following because nice traditional knives made by human hands are very hard to find these days. There are some flippers, my guess would be 5% of total sales are flipped by customers buying and flipping. Another @10% (guess) are sold at >retail prices by dealers on eBay. The rest are sold by dealers to customers that want this style of knife while they are still accessible in the market. Most production runs are 1000-2000pcs; split between @4 variations. So 250-500 of each variation with @1000 customers that will take one of each for their collections / rotations. Many of those loyal customers have done the legwork to figure out how each dealer distributes their allocation and have tuned a process to acquire what they want. To those that have not put in the effort, it does look like a good old boy or secret handshake network. And the one thing everyone new to the market thinks, if not says in public, is that is all for inflated prices or the perceived market hype.

But, if you take the time to understand the market - there is no problem picking them up. Some do not consider it worth the hassle. I pay attention to who is buying and surprisingly a high percentage of steadfast buyers always get at least one on drops. Around 25% are folks that show up fairly often as they get them where they can. Finally around 25% are new names of people that just took the time to figure it all out.

There was a day where they would make 25-50 of each variant and they would sit on my shelves for weeks or months. But, now that they have been discovered, everyone wants them to change their staffing / process to accommodate the market. Even when they tried - there was still many cons expressed by customers. They are making as many as they can in a quality fashion by cutlers trained by Bill himself to insure the product does not suffer. It is not a lucrative paying job, so there is a lot of turnover. And the company realizes that everyone hired during the boom, will need to be let go during the bust. And nobody wants to turn their friends/families out.
 
When the dealers saw what prices the flippers were getting on the secondary market they got greedy and weren’t satisfied with the regular mark up and went directly to the secondary market and could sell them at multiple times what they paid. I know this for a fact and a couple of dealers are supporting dealers on this forum. I won’t drop names but they know who they are.

A few years ago I signed up for a model I really wanted through two different dealers. I kept watch for the drop and their website updates. I saw the drop about one minute after and checked my inbox, nothing, then about 30 seconds later their website showed 5 available and I hit the buy button. It said sold out. I went to the bay and there they were all 5 market up x 2+ the advertised price from , you guessed it, the same dealer. Both dealers did the exact same thing! I had done a lot of business with both dealers and after that I was done with them. I haven’t bought anything from them and I won’t. That’s greed and unacceptable behavior that they will do that to a loyal customer. I havent bought any GEC knives since, they aren’t worth the price in my opinion.
 
knifeswapper said:
They average @120 knives/day production. They have a very strong following because nice traditional knives made by human hands are very hard to find these days. There are some flippers, my guess would be 5% of total sales are flipped by customers buying and flipping. Another @10% (guess) are sold at >retail prices by dealers on eBay. The rest are sold by dealers to customers that want this style of knife while they are still accessible in the market. Most production runs are 1000-2000pcs; split between @4 variations. So 250-500 of each variation with @1000 customers that will take one of each for their collections / rotations. Many of those loyal customers have done the legwork to figure out how each dealer distributes their allocation and have tuned a process to acquire what they want. To those that have not put in the effort, it does look like a good old boy or secret handshake network. And the one thing everyone new to the market thinks, if not says in public, is that is all for inflated prices or the perceived market hype.

But, if you take the time to understand the market - there is no problem picking them up. Some do not consider it worth the hassle. I pay attention to who is buying and surprisingly a high percentage of steadfast buyers always get at least one on drops. Around 25% are folks that show up fairly often as they get them where they can. Finally around 25% are new names of people that just took the time to figure it all out.

There was a day where they would make 25-50 of each variant and they would sit on my shelves for weeks or months. But, now that they have been discovered, everyone wants them to change their staffing / process to accommodate the market. Even when they tried - there was still many cons expressed by customers. They are making as many as they can in a quality fashion by cutlers trained by Bill himself to insure the product does not suffer. It is not a lucrative paying job, so there is a lot of turnover. And the company realizes that everyone hired during the boom, will need to be let go during the bust. And nobody wants to turn their friends/families out.
Click to expand...
The flipping got it started then the dealers followed in kind. Greed simple and short! No other way to put it !
 
When the dealers are flippers the game is truly rigged. No matter how you justify it GEC doesn't care enough about their end-users to change their Old Boy Distribution Network. Currently it is rigged for collectors.

Check out the GEC's posted on BF.
Most come out of a tube for a photograph and then go right back in. If you can throw a Rolex/Patek Phillipe and a modded Hinderer into your photos in all the better.
#flex
 
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Its not impossible to buy at the ipo, its tedious and annoying. Unfortunately due to flippers and trade extorters, its difficult to buy gec knives with out getting scalped. Just saw a picture of some one dumping a whole bunch of rendezvous sfas for a range of $260-$350 per knife in one of the facebook groups. Some people just see $$$$$ and dont actually like knives much it seems. Unfortunate, but c'est la vie.
 
mrknife said:
Its not impossible to buy at the ipo, its tedious and annoying. Unfortunately due to flippers and trade extorters, its difficult to buy gec knives with out getting scalped. Just saw a picture of some one dumping a whole bunch of rendezvous sfas for a range of $260-$350 per knife in one of the facebook groups. Some people just see $$$$$ and dont actually like knives much it seems. Unfortunate, but c'est la vie.
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Greed.

Every time this subject comes up many people are quick to point out the greed of the dealers who sell their stock at exorbitant prices. Then comes the evils of Flipping. Those evil flippers, they have no appreciation of the knives they are trafficking in, it's all about money for these scoundrels.

Somehow or another we forget another greed, the greed of the buying public. I need that knife, I'm deserving because my need is pure. I was buying these knives before they were cool. It's not fair!

Whatever the motivation greed is greed. The market wouldn't look like it does if there wasn't a demand for the product. Manufacturers position themselves in a market, and how they position themselves is partially a conscious choice. Sometimes the market decides who succeeds or fails.

If you just have to have something scarce you have to pay whatever the market demands. A knife can be an important tool, and the chance of survival can be greatly improved if you have a suitable blade at your disposal. Let's face it, though, in the case of a real need any blade is likely to be better than no blade. Nobody is going to face mortal danger from the lack of the latest GEC offering.

Perspective.
 
Spillproof said:
Check out the GEC's posted on BF.
Most come out of a tube for a photograph and then go right back in. If you can throw a Rolex/Patek Phillipe and a modded Hinderer into your photos in all the better.
#flex
Click to expand...
For the record:
D8JqQ6p.jpg

ZUaps53.jpg


If one that I want is available at original retail price, I'll buy it. Unfortunately that happens less and less often. Oh well, life goes on.
 
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