i know this will probably reflect poorly upon me, but i also hope it adds something to the discussion. This kind of going direct to the maker does really effect businesses like mine (and many others). We spend a lot of time and effort searching for new makers/brands, helping develop them (both in name recognition, but also, in our case, with improvements to the design, workflow, profiles, heat treatments, etc). Small businesses like mine also have many additional costs associated with running this kind of business... Fluctuating exchange rates (this effects inventory pricing in both the long and short term), customs and duties (which often times end users do not end up paying), shipping costs, storage costs, loss of goods due to damage or unforeseen problems, customer service, and so on. I dont feel like many people who go direct to the makers consider many of these things, nor do they consider how businesses like us may feel (its very personal to many of us and really does hurt our feelings and our business). It also effects how we go about sharing information with the end users (as we often feel like we cant trust anyone with anything important after these kinds of things happen). In the long run, this kind of attitude limits the new makers and brands that are introduced, as companies are less likely to search out and share new things for fear of this happening again. Also, in japan, though the makers will never say this to their customers, this kind of thing puts them in a very uncomfortable situation, as they then end up competing with the vendors they have chosen to use.
As a last point, bargain hunting can also cause serious problems in the long run. Though i truly understand the value of a dollar (i was a line cook before), and i know not everyone is swimming in money, bargain hunting encourages price wars amongst competitors. While in small doses this can be very healthy, many have a tendency to take things out of control. This severely effects the craftsmen making the knives (who are first to loose profits in these cases), and also can very negatively effect brand images that the makers have worked so hard for. Shigefusa is a great example of this. A while back, many people in Japan would frequently talk about how online price wars in the west brought shigefusa prices to the same level as their wholesale prices in Japan. The knives were sold at nearly break even points, as the pricing competition had become so fierce. People would often say how they felt bad this was happening. Lately, it has been a lot better, as they have done a better job at vendor control for the most part. This has happened with a number of other brands over the years as well. This is not an effect that customers here often notice, but it is significant... not too dissimilar from ichimonji stopping all shipments to the US based on a very bad experience with one US based vendor.
I hope this does not come across nearly as rude as i feel it may. I just hope these are things that maybe people will consider more in the future.
