@@chucknunface yeah i agree … albeit the company is reputed to have good pay and comp for the employees and that probably reflected on the prices we are seeing now especially due to the economy. But the other makers have the same dilemma and we don’t see this kind of pricing model … sad sad
Being a Benchmade customer for over 20 years, the next generation of owners sadly seem to have adapted the 80/20 rule. They have figured out that they can make more money with less work by focusing on the 20% willing to spend to way too much and ignoring the other 80% of would be customers.
Love my amphibian! Not sure about the heat treatment on magnacut, but my understanding is that its a very flexible steel at different hardnesses. But yeah Benchmade is out of their minds as far as pricing. They could cut their prices in HALF, and they would STILL be overpriced! I just bought a mcnees mac 2 3.5 for just over 400 and thats like a usa mid-tech.
The price simply reflects the market. If people buy it, the price was appropriate. It seems incredibly silly to me, but people collect all sorts of stuff. I’ve even seen “serious” Civivi or TwoSun collectors.
Pretty much. They won't have trouble selling 2,500 knives at $600 a pop. Even if most of the buyers are flippers. Seen a ton of that happening with the gold class version that sold out in literal minutes. And those flippers sell fast, too. The market says Benchmade isn't smoking crack or pricing themselves out of anything 🤣
I don't do Benchmade they are slowly pricing themselves out of business. I just don't even consider them anymore. I mean Benchmade is getting to the price of some handmade American knives. The community shouldn't buy into these prices if you do your only gonna cause the prices to go up and up. There are much better knives out there for that price range no doubt.
@chucknunface My most expensive knives if a AD20 Ti ffg and Arius. I have some expensive Spyerco knives but they are decked out with Zirconium Meton Boss scales and clips. For what BM is wanting I would rather spend another 100ish and get Herman knives. Really hope no one buys any to send BM a message that we ain't going to put uo with the price gouging.
I don't get why people freak out over Benchmade prices. If you think they're overpriced don't buy them, end of story. Why care if someone else buys it with his own money?
Nothing about Benchmades is competitive anymore. Axis lock - not impressive anymore Soft magnacut - not impressive anymore Aluminum - not impressive anymore Old designs - not impressive anymore Some people are married to the brand and buy in because they don't know any better, but everyone else is scoffing or laughing.
I'm a Benchmade fan. But I'm not an apologist for them, either. And I honestly don't think $600 for that knife is crazy. I'll explain why. Since you're using an Amphibian to compare to the 710, let's compare the companies. Microtech employee 100+ people. Benchmade employs 300+ people. They both do business out of relatively business-unfriendly states (CA and OR). So they pay more corpo tax that most states. And you have two companies paying 'living wages' + benefits + retirement to said employees. Have to account for that in knife prices. Then you have the knife catalog. BM makes 100% of their knives at their HQ. I'm sure stuff like screws are imported. Microtech makes some of their knives in China (correct me if I'm wrong). So they can at least subsidize some costs there. BM has no ability to offset costs that way. Add that to the cost of the knife. "Butterfly tax" is an indefensible argument made by people who are just mad at the high cost of doing business in the USA and companies passing those costs onto consumers. It's basic economics at this point. Is there markup? Yeah of course. They can charge whatever they want. You can say the same for Nike. Who makes all their stuff in China and charges Benchmade-level prices for shoes. That's ridiculous to me. But you can't really accuse BM of greed (or whatever) without proof. As for heat treat, my answer is always: who cares. How many people are going to put their 710 through hard use? About zero. They don't even care what the HRC is. If we're honest, most are just opening mail and other knife boxes with them 😂Frankly I prefer softer heat treats. I'd rather bend a blade than snap it in two. Let's not forget about inflation. It's made every knife more expensive. Not quite 20% more expensive, but definitely more expensive than nearly 4 years ago. Lastly, this knife is a limited run. That alone ups the price. This knife also uses the newly designed axis lock that was introduced on the Narrows. Everything adds up. That doesn't automatically make it an ultra high-end knife, but it undoubtedly factors into the price. At the end of the day, the knife is worth what people are willing to pay. If they want to pay $600 for it, big deal. If you want to torture yourself you can read comments on major knife company YT channels about how BM is 'pricing themselves out of the industry' and 'is smoking crack with these prices' but people keep buying them. Some folks are just that hardcore about supporting a company that dares to offer 100% USA made knives to their customers. I used to be on the same bandwagon until I took a chance on a Bugout and then my mind was changed and I now own 5 BM knives. I want this exact 710, also. $600 is steep so I'll just wait for someone to sell on the secondary for price that's more in my budget. I'm patient. But why be mad at their prices? Are they not allowed to price as they see fit? If we start trying to act like the gov't and price-police, that's hurting competition. Frankly we should be rooting for them to continue to succeed. It will inspire more people to commit making 100% USA-made knives. I can get behind that. The market decides, and Benchmade has not fallen out of favor with anybody except a microcosm of the knife world on social media it seems. Speaking of, keep in mind that the 'knife community' is a fraction of the people who actually buy these knives. We're in a bubble on social media dude. And we keep patting ourselves on the back saying the same stuff over and over again thinking we're right. It's just not a reality for the knife buying public at large. It might not be working-class people who buy the 710, but collectors. And you can bet there are 2,500 collectors out there who will buy this knife. I'd caution you not to look at this knife only as a value proposition for materials used. It's about heritage, jobs, and pride of ownership in USA made products. I value those things quite a bit in what knives I choose to be in my collection. For the price, I'll admit there are a few things I'd like to see changed. It would be nice to have a coated pocket clip to match the blade for an additional accent color to tie it in. The liners I'd like to see coated black to match the scales. And the scales I'd like to see in Ti instead of aluminum. It is what it is, so I'll just wait for a good price for one on the secondary 😁 Congrats if you're read this far, haha. I just keep hearing these same arguments but I think a lot of info is missing and people are making a lot of grandiose assumptions about the company and the people that work for them. I really want to support a company that dares to keep manufacturing here in the USA and isn't trying to import all the work overseas for the sake of the bottom line. Even if I overpay, I get a sense of pride in supporting my fellow countrymen who make knives 'by us, for us.' But don't fall into the trap of trying to tell people how to spend their money man. Nobody wants to be lectured about that. I can appreciate the dissenting opinion, but don't go all school marm on us! Nobody is forcing anybody to purchase this knife. They do it of their own free will. But it is your channel, so it's your call. And it's mine to keep watching or not. But I like your stuff, so I don't want to see you go the way other channels I used to enjoy went and started going off the rails with Benchmade Derangement Syndrome 🤣 Also Instagram does suck haha. Appreciate your thoughts. Friendly debate is healthy. Also, didn't know you were a firefighter. That's awesome, thanks for putting it all on the line for serving the community like that man. And that Rick James meme is hilarious lol. Cheers bro.
@@chucknunface yeah, I respect that 😆 but your last point was the most important: in the end, it really doesn't matter. There are always bigger fish to fry. Take care man!
glad you’ve made this video. Like you said the design is so awesome but the pricing is out of control. The s90v sounds good but 400?? crazy
There's basically nothing about it that justifies that price point. But to each their own, I suppose
@@chucknunface yeah i agree … albeit the company is reputed to have good pay and comp for the employees and that probably reflected on the prices we are seeing now especially due to the economy. But the other makers have the same dilemma and we don’t see this kind of pricing model … sad sad
Being a Benchmade customer for over 20 years, the next generation of owners sadly seem to have adapted the 80/20 rule. They have figured out that they can make more money with less work by focusing on the 20% willing to spend to way too much and ignoring the other 80% of would be customers.
Never thought of that. Good observation
Love my amphibian! Not sure about the heat treatment on magnacut, but my understanding is that its a very flexible steel at different hardnesses. But yeah Benchmade is out of their minds as far as pricing. They could cut their prices in HALF, and they would STILL be overpriced! I just bought a mcnees mac 2 3.5 for just over 400 and thats like a usa mid-tech.
The mac 2 is a great knife
I hope they don't sell so it's send a message that the price is WAY off the mark.
That would send a message. Time will tell
Benchmade is off their nut. I haven’t seen anything I’ve liked or agreed on the prices they charge in over 5 years.
It's bonkers, buddy.
Es muy muy crazy papi
Si guey
The price simply reflects the market. If people buy it, the price was appropriate. It seems incredibly silly to me, but people collect all sorts of stuff. I’ve even seen “serious” Civivi or TwoSun collectors.
Pretty much. They won't have trouble selling 2,500 knives at $600 a pop. Even if most of the buyers are flippers. Seen a ton of that happening with the gold class version that sold out in literal minutes. And those flippers sell fast, too. The market says Benchmade isn't smoking crack or pricing themselves out of anything 🤣
If it sells, it sells
full steel liners = extra 300 😅
Totes magotes
I don't do Benchmade they are slowly pricing themselves out of business. I just don't even consider them anymore. I mean Benchmade is getting to the price of some handmade American knives. The community shouldn't buy into these prices if you do your only gonna cause the prices to go up and up. There are much better knives out there for that price range no doubt.
I agree bro. I like some of their stuff but it's just too pricey for what it is.
Benchmade will be fine. I don't care for them but the majority of their customer's aren't knife guys.
@@jdmbeaner182 that is true
$600 is outright stupid. Really don't understand who is incharge of pricing but they must be smoking crack.
Too rich for my blood. I have expensive knives but benchmade is approaching shiro levels
@chucknunface My most expensive knives if a AD20 Ti ffg and Arius. I have some expensive Spyerco knives but they are decked out with Zirconium Meton Boss scales and clips. For what BM is wanting I would rather spend another 100ish and get Herman knives. Really hope no one buys any to send BM a message that we ain't going to put uo with the price gouging.
🤷🏻♂️
Benchmade can join James Brand in the timeout corner to be shunned until they clean up their act.
Every now and then they put out a model that intrigues me. The s90v 710 is nice if you can get it for a little less
I don't get why people freak out over Benchmade prices. If you think they're overpriced don't buy them, end of story. Why care if someone else buys it with his own money?
"I had to warn you too many times about my money, Smokey. You see, it's the principle of the whole thing. There's principalities in this."
@@chucknunface Benchmade is applying the only business principle there is: make as much profit as possible. It's what capitalism is all about.
@@Didier090765 ffs bud I'm having a laugh don't be so serious.
Nothing about Benchmades is competitive anymore.
Axis lock - not impressive anymore
Soft magnacut - not impressive anymore
Aluminum - not impressive anymore
Old designs - not impressive anymore
Some people are married to the brand and buy in because they don't know any better, but everyone else is scoffing or laughing.
I think the full steel liners are the least impressive. The soft magnacut isn't a surprise, nor are they alone
I'm a Benchmade fan. But I'm not an apologist for them, either. And I honestly don't think $600 for that knife is crazy. I'll explain why.
Since you're using an Amphibian to compare to the 710, let's compare the companies. Microtech employee 100+ people. Benchmade employs 300+ people. They both do business out of relatively business-unfriendly states (CA and OR). So they pay more corpo tax that most states. And you have two companies paying 'living wages' + benefits + retirement to said employees. Have to account for that in knife prices.
Then you have the knife catalog. BM makes 100% of their knives at their HQ. I'm sure stuff like screws are imported. Microtech makes some of their knives in China (correct me if I'm wrong). So they can at least subsidize some costs there. BM has no ability to offset costs that way. Add that to the cost of the knife.
"Butterfly tax" is an indefensible argument made by people who are just mad at the high cost of doing business in the USA and companies passing those costs onto consumers. It's basic economics at this point. Is there markup? Yeah of course. They can charge whatever they want. You can say the same for Nike. Who makes all their stuff in China and charges Benchmade-level prices for shoes. That's ridiculous to me. But you can't really accuse BM of greed (or whatever) without proof.
As for heat treat, my answer is always: who cares. How many people are going to put their 710 through hard use? About zero. They don't even care what the HRC is. If we're honest, most are just opening mail and other knife boxes with them 😂Frankly I prefer softer heat treats. I'd rather bend a blade than snap it in two.
Let's not forget about inflation. It's made every knife more expensive. Not quite 20% more expensive, but definitely more expensive than nearly 4 years ago.
Lastly, this knife is a limited run. That alone ups the price. This knife also uses the newly designed axis lock that was introduced on the Narrows. Everything adds up. That doesn't automatically make it an ultra high-end knife, but it undoubtedly factors into the price.
At the end of the day, the knife is worth what people are willing to pay. If they want to pay $600 for it, big deal. If you want to torture yourself you can read comments on major knife company YT channels about how BM is 'pricing themselves out of the industry' and 'is smoking crack with these prices' but people keep buying them. Some folks are just that hardcore about supporting a company that dares to offer 100% USA made knives to their customers. I used to be on the same bandwagon until I took a chance on a Bugout and then my mind was changed and I now own 5 BM knives. I want this exact 710, also. $600 is steep so I'll just wait for someone to sell on the secondary for price that's more in my budget. I'm patient. But why be mad at their prices? Are they not allowed to price as they see fit? If we start trying to act like the gov't and price-police, that's hurting competition. Frankly we should be rooting for them to continue to succeed. It will inspire more people to commit making 100% USA-made knives. I can get behind that. The market decides, and Benchmade has not fallen out of favor with anybody except a microcosm of the knife world on social media it seems.
Speaking of, keep in mind that the 'knife community' is a fraction of the people who actually buy these knives. We're in a bubble on social media dude. And we keep patting ourselves on the back saying the same stuff over and over again thinking we're right. It's just not a reality for the knife buying public at large. It might not be working-class people who buy the 710, but collectors. And you can bet there are 2,500 collectors out there who will buy this knife.
I'd caution you not to look at this knife only as a value proposition for materials used. It's about heritage, jobs, and pride of ownership in USA made products. I value those things quite a bit in what knives I choose to be in my collection.
For the price, I'll admit there are a few things I'd like to see changed. It would be nice to have a coated pocket clip to match the blade for an additional accent color to tie it in. The liners I'd like to see coated black to match the scales. And the scales I'd like to see in Ti instead of aluminum. It is what it is, so I'll just wait for a good price for one on the secondary 😁
Congrats if you're read this far, haha. I just keep hearing these same arguments but I think a lot of info is missing and people are making a lot of grandiose assumptions about the company and the people that work for them. I really want to support a company that dares to keep manufacturing here in the USA and isn't trying to import all the work overseas for the sake of the bottom line. Even if I overpay, I get a sense of pride in supporting my fellow countrymen who make knives 'by us, for us.' But don't fall into the trap of trying to tell people how to spend their money man. Nobody wants to be lectured about that. I can appreciate the dissenting opinion, but don't go all school marm on us! Nobody is forcing anybody to purchase this knife. They do it of their own free will. But it is your channel, so it's your call. And it's mine to keep watching or not. But I like your stuff, so I don't want to see you go the way other channels I used to enjoy went and started going off the rails with Benchmade Derangement Syndrome 🤣
Also Instagram does suck haha. Appreciate your thoughts. Friendly debate is healthy. Also, didn't know you were a firefighter. That's awesome, thanks for putting it all on the line for serving the community like that man.
And that Rick James meme is hilarious lol. Cheers bro.
You must be smoking the same crack as Benchmade
Rubbish, it's way overpriced, and you're making very lame excuses.... enjoy your soft steels buddy..... 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good points but I'm not responding to all that 🤣
🤙🏼
@@chucknunface yeah, I respect that 😆 but your last point was the most important: in the end, it really doesn't matter. There are always bigger fish to fry. Take care man!
Garbage
With a French accent? Le garbage