For example, I contacted Chicago Knife Works, as they are one of the sellers on Amazon.com. I was looking at this knife. I received a response from CKW saying "We buy directly from ESEE knife authorized distributor . Any item purchased from us will be covered with manufacturer warranty as you buy from any other authorized dealer of ESEE knives . Thanks, Chicago Knife Works " I searched for this dealer but couldn't find them on this site. How do I verify they and others are legit if they're not on this site's dealer list? .. and yes, I read the warning for buying on Amazon / eBay.
They are most likely a good dealer. When a dealer buys from a distributor we have no way of knowing they are selling ESEE Knives unless someone tells us or the dealer contacts us to be added to our list of dealers on the website. There are a LOT of dealers out there who buy from a distributor and not directly from us. So, the short answer to your question is we have no way of knowing since they don't deal directly with us. Wish I could be more help.
Thank you for the response. It didn't occur to me dealer vs distributor. I assumed it only went one level from you. Dealers who buy from a distributor are not held to the MAP requirements, correct? That being the case it's hard to tell when you're getting a good deal vs. a lower priced knock-off.
We don't have a MAP program. We do have large distributors who buy large quantities then sell to dealers. We also have a dealer direct program where we sell directly to the dealer.
I thought I read here that you have a MAP program. I'm probably misreading/misunderstanding it. It's all foreign to me.
We have it on our website since we did have MAP pricing on a couple of products but dropped it since it's almost impossible to enforce.
About the only ESEE knife that has actually been counterfeited with any regularity is the Izula. And every one so far bears the exact same serial number, 51455. So it is likely you will see ESEE knives sold be LOT of dealers we have no knowledge of because they buy from a distributor somewhere but the knives are legitimate. Even Walmart and Amazon have shown being a direct seller of our products but we don't se to them. But the knives are genuine. I would say if you buy an Izula take a little extra caution and back check the seller. The ret I wouldn't worry over. Mike
I would just add that there are some counterfeit Izula knives described as "D2 steel" that have a 1000-series serial number. We knocked a few of those down on Ebay earlier this year. Those do not have a powdercoat finish. The Ebay sellers usually listed them in the $15 range.