Spyderco shopping on Amazon - experiences

[bjz]

Like anything, one has to do a little leg work with amazon and make some decisions around your risk. Over the past few years, I’ve probably made 10 Byrd/Spyderco purchases, all but one through Amazon and its mostly been a great experience because I took the time to pay attention to my seller options.

If you blindly purchase something “sold by” or “fulfilled by” amazon (Ie PRIME), then sure, the product is probably coming out of a mixed bin and you take on some risk, but it’s also amazon prime and returns are almost free and painless if you end up with something random.

If you can find a reasonable seller that is also listed as the sender, you lessen the chances of risk.

If you are like me, and occasionally order something “used” from amazon warehouse, well
It’s kind of like playing the lottery!!! Just yesterday I ordered an “acceptable” used wharncliffe dragonfly from amazon warehouse at a very reasonable price. It was returnable so I figured I’d see what happens. Today, a seemingly new and unused dragonfly arrived!!! I’ve never had one of these and there is absolutely nothing making me think it’s fake, but I’ll probably return it because it’s NOT A WHARNCLIFFE!! It’s a regular PlainEdge dragonfly. So it goes.

[pantagana23]

If you blindly purchase something “sold by” or “fulfilled by” amazon (Ie PRIME), then sure, the product is probably coming out of a mixed bin and you take on some risk, but it’s also amazon prime and returns are almost free and painless if you end up with something random.

If you can find a reasonable seller that is also listed as the sender, you lessen the chances of risk.

So what I understood from you here - if it's "sold and shipped by Amazon", it could be a problem; if it's another company, then look at the rating.

As for the other companies, I always look at ratings, but have not avoided Amazon as seller so far.
But i haven't bought knives over Amazon so far :D

Edit: I think I'll skip this one, sold and shipped by Amazon. Better to wait a bit more for dealers to restock. And maybe Reveal 8 comes up in the mean time.

[bjz]

So what I understood from you here - if it's "sold and shipped by Amazon", it could be a problem; if it's another company, then look at the rating.

As for the other companies, I always look at ratings, but have not avoided Amazon as seller so far.
But i haven't bought knives over Amazon so far :D

Edit: I think I'll skip this one, sold and shipped by Amazon. Better to wait a bit more for dealers to restock. And maybe Reveal 8 comes up in the mean time.

I apologize, I don’t think I realized you might be shipping overseas! If that’s that case, and I were in your shoes, I’d pass on amazon as well.

[Evil D]

As a rule I don't buy knives from Amazon because it's way too easy to return them used, and that's not even considering how many fakes are on there. Years ago I did buy a ZDP Delica from Amazon and it was legit, but that was before I knew any better and the price was so good it was worth the risk.

My wife bought me a stainless Police for Christmas off there this past year and it's legit. She didn't know any better. I'd say if nothing else make sure you buy it from a retailer that offers free/easy returns, we can take returns to a local Kohl's and don't have to pay anything for shipping or even box items back up so make sure you can do something like that just to make it easier if you do get screwed.

[pantagana23]

As a rule I don't buy knives from Amazon because it's way too easy to return them used, and that's not even considering how many fakes are on there. Years ago I did buy a ZDP Delica from Amazon and it was legit, but that was before I knew any better and the price was so good it was worth the risk.

My wife bought me a stainless Police for Christmas off there this past year and it's legit. She didn't know any better. I'd say if nothing else make sure you buy it from a retailer that offers free/easy returns, we can take returns to a local Kohl's and don't have to pay anything for shipping or even box items back up so make sure you can do something like that just to make it easier if you do get screwed.

Dispatched and sold by Amazon (see picture).

However, I really don't want to go through the hassle of returning, no matter how "simple" it is.

I started the thread because I wanted to see whether fakes/used/defective products are still an issue with Amazon, or they improved on this.

[Evil D]

As a rule I don't buy knives from Amazon because it's way too easy to return them used, and that's not even considering how many fakes are on there. Years ago I did buy a ZDP Delica from Amazon and it was legit, but that was before I knew any better and the price was so good it was worth the risk.

My wife bought me a stainless Police for Christmas off there this past year and it's legit. She didn't know any better. I'd say if nothing else make sure you buy it from a retailer that offers free/easy returns, we can take returns to a local Kohl's and don't have to pay anything for shipping or even box items back up so make sure you can do something like that just to make it easier if you do get screwed.

Dispatched and sold by Amazon (see picture).

However, I really don't want to go through the hassle of returning, no matter how "simple" it is.

I started the thread because I wanted to see whether fakes/used/defective products are still an issue with Amazon, or they improved on this.

Well to he honest it's not something I follow since I avoid buying from there, but I don't see people complain about it as much as I used to. MAP pricing seems to have changed it, you used to be able to buy knives significantly cheaper on Amazon so it was very tempting, but now they sell at the same prices it seems so maybe there are less fakes. I think I'd feel safer buying from Amazon than eBay when it comes to new knives.

[M Sea]

My next Spyderco may come from DLT Trading, and Knife Center and SMKW have always done right by me. As two vendors have a good track record with me, I see no reason to buy knives from Amazon...especially since their packers could cut corners off a circle.

DLT is phenomenal. Excellent customer service and the fastest shipping I have found.

[bobnikon]

Some legitimate sellers sell through Amazon. So I consider buying through Amazon but only if it’s a seller I know. (Check the sold by and fulfilled by sections of the listing) I may be wrong but I think DLT trading does or at least used to sell through Amazon.

DLT is awesome but this is a false assumption. When XYZ legitimate knifeco sends their Spyderco product into Amazon, XYZ legitimate knifeco product is placed into the SAME bin as product coming in from Joe Scammer Fakes LLC. A return (as previously mentioned) may also be placed into that same bin. When Kathy Sue Public purchases a spyopera on Amazon that is fulfilled by Amazon, she is buying product based on price from a vendor, NOT a specific product held by and shipped from the vendor she purchased from. When Amazon fulfills that order, a random product is pulled from the bin containing the spyoperas. Will Kathy Sue Public end up with the genuine knife sent in by XYZ legitimate knifeco, a fake sent in by Joe Scammer Fakes LLC, or could it be a soyopera box with a gas station knife inside as a result of comingled returns that weren’t rejected? It’s a crap shoot.

In summary, just because a well known and reputable company sells on Amazon doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll receive product emanating from that business.

Not entirely correct. If the order is fulfilled by Amazon, that is a possibility. If it is fulfilled by said company, not so much so. Sort of the point of them fulfilling it.

Cheers

[ladybug93]

i don't use amazon for knives either. same reasons for everyone else.

i've bought from knifecenter, blade hq, dlt trading, cutlery shoppe, smoky mount knife works, and house of blades. they were all fine experiences, but i tend not to support kc or bhq anymore because they like to advertise huge sales that are just their normal prices. i think that practice is gross and i don't want to give them my money if i can help it.

[samdasnake]

Weirdly I bought a Rex45 Lil Native sprint on Amazon. I wasn't worried about it being fake due to the newness of the knife at the time. And it was selling out everywhere instantly. And all worked out fine. Vendor called Optics Nation. But in general I try to avoid Amazon when possible.

[The Meat man]

I prefer to buy my knives from small dealers, but I have bought 3 or 4 Spyderco/byrd knives (also some "others") from Amazon and have had no problems at all.

[TSINGA]

I also avoid Amazon except for my Mora knives.

[z4vdBt]

I've gotten my two Spyderco G-CLIP 5 Position Carry Clip for Fixed Blades from Amazon. No drama.

[Cowboyfromhell]

I actually just ordered a k390 ladybug last night from Amazon... Fingers crossed!

[nerdlock]

Successfully bought 2 Lil' Temperance 3's from Amazon - but from a seller called photo4less. The store had awesome deals on disco'ed Spydercos last year. Aside from that, I buy from the other dealers mentioned here.

[Matus]

I only order from Amazon (.de) if I am not sure the knife is what I am looking for (lockdown or not, there is no usable knife shop worth its salt in my area), because to return the knife is 100% hassle free (as long as Amazon is the company selling/shipping the item). Otherwise I prefer buying from knife stores (preferably from those that run an actual store somewhere in DE/EU)

[blues]

My relatively few knives purchased from Amazon have been authentic...and...the one time one came that was a bad example, it was replaced with an excellent example.

So, my experience overall has been positive. That said, I always go to the reputable dealer's sites first if possible.

[DSH007]

I was driving home from visiting my mother yesterday and passed the little blue amazon van, still out making deliveries, at 6:12 pm, EST. On a Sunday! On Mother's Day! I know they've been delivering on the weekends for a while now, but that's still crazy to me hahah.. the whole world is just moving too fast.. :p

I avoid amazon in general, but for knives especially. It used to be they offered products at the lowest possible price, but I don't think that's been the case for +/- a decade.. I find myself ordering from them less and less over the years. Their return policies can be convenient (when they inevitably send you the wrong item) and they have pretty much anything you can think of in stock, so I will still use them as a last resort.. but I don't typically buy enough annually for a "prime" membership to benefit me in any real way.. And without the "prime" membership, there is no real advantage to using Amazon vs. anywhere else anymore.

For knives, I prefer the smaller dealers. Their shipping is typically much faster than amazon (w/o prime) and customer service in general is (usually) much, much better.. and call me old-fashioned, but I still think it's nice to be able to talk to another human being when I have an issue haha. I will always prefer to support the "little guy" vs helping Bezos' add another billion to his portfolio..

Yes, I realize this whole post makes me sound like an old man haha..

[S-3 ranch]

Maybe a Byrd cara cara , but on a USA or Japanese spyderco other places are superior then Amazon

Ok I will stick to my original statement
But I have been putting together a new ranch / company wide knife upgrade and I chose spyderco raven2 and sharpmaker from our dealer, to my huge surprise they offered us a huge discount
And free overnight shipping if we used their Amazon account/ store front
When my K390 stretch 2 and delica are available they will not use Amazon delivery
But I will never say never even though Amazon is to political for me

[James Y]

The only knives I’ve ever purchased from Amazon (in the past) were a couple Victorinox knives. Both were authentic.

However, I won’t buy knives off Amazon anymore. And especially not Spydercos. Even if there are some Spyderco-approved dealers on there. I prefer to buy my knives from smaller, legit, known knife dealers. Then there is no question about if what I’m getting is real or not.

Jim