ucfgrad93 wrote:RamZar wrote:Additionally, I refuse to give any business to BBS.
I've seen a couple of comments about BBS. As a newbie in the knife world, what is so bad about them?
They charge basically full MSRP for a lot of Sprint run allocations instead of MAP 35% discounted pricing ( I say basically, because I'm not sure the Sprint runs have MSRP, but regardless you get the point). In addition, they generally charge a hefty rate for shipping and handling - charges that are often included with some dealers MAP discounted pricing. They sell some models that aren't Sprint runs and generally are close to typical pricing, but again extra for shipping.
So a Sprint gets made of whatever model, it's a limited run, 1200 pieces (i think that's the right number). All of the other dealers gets their allocations, some slightly upcharge, but generally they are selling for about 2/3 of BBS prices. BBS is priced higher, so nobody buys from them. Sprint run sells out quickly, lots of people can't get the knives they wanted, then the scalper prices start appearing on e-bay.
Then people get angry that BBS still has inventory but they are charging "scalper prices" when they are a dealer. To me, it's a different business model. They have to sit on their inventory a long time to get their money back, but seems like there's always someone willing to pay it eventually. When you get it you know you have a new knife and it's genuine, not a fake. Certainly not for everybody, but they stay in business so some people are buying them.
This isn't a sprint run, this is a dealer exclusive made just for BBS. So instead of only receiving their small allocation of a sprint run (don't know what that number would be, probably around 30-40 pieces), they have to sell the entire allocation. Don't know how many what that number is, but it's many hundreds. BBS will never sell their whole dealer exclusive if they charge inflated prices, so they are charging more normal pricing, which further causes folks to get upset with them...
David