Posted on 10/18/2017 6:39:03 AM PDT by C19fan
Just after graduating from high school, Nicholas LeBerth got an ambiguous letter inviting him to an job interview. The firm was called Vector Marketing and it promised generous compensation and flexible work schedules. The job was selling kitchen knives, first to his parents. “I started mostly trying to sell to my family and ran out of them to sell to in like two weeks,” LeBerth told The Daily Beast.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Better lessons than college.
I bought Cutco knives from my goddaughter. They’re O.K.
But I cannot vouch for their handling of the young recruits their marketers hire to sell the knives.
My goddaughter did not do it for very long, and I think most of her buyers were in her large family of aunts, uncles and cousins. I’ve seen Cutco knives at many of their homes.
It really is. When I was a kid the DR made house calls and brought the medicine he might prescribe with him. He'd put it in one of those little white envelopes. My parents paid for all their insurance when Francis, the insurance man came around once a month to collect. My mother bought a vacuum cleaner (electrolux) encyclopedias, Fuller Brush and dinner ware from door to door salespeople. You'd starve to death today if you tried to sell door to door.
some of my relatives have had Cutco knives since the 1960’s when they married. Still sharp and work great. Not sure what pricing was then but they sure got there moneys worth and much more out of them.
I am holding in my hand a Cutco Cookbook, Volume One, 1961 by a Margret Mitchell. It is a reference on meat from how to buy, what to buy, how to cook it and of course the right knife for cutting it. It came with a beef chart showing retail cuts of Beef and where on the animal they come from. Recipes for all meats are included. And of course there is the Cutco catalog included. Also in the book which was bought second hand are lifetime guarantee for the knives someone apparently bought. They say for the double D edge if you need it sharpened send it back and they’ll do it for free. A 10 knife set in a wood block is $546 in 1961.
Avon lady used to stop by every month. Paperboy used to stop by to collect the money and then punch the card.
I agree... and they will re-sharpen your knives for no charge basically forever. We love our Cutco!
Similar to how Kirby vacuum cleaners operate, which is a division of Berkshire Hathaway so it’s Warren Buffet’s baby. The same same Buffet who’s an intellectual superior to Pres. Trump yet one of his subsidiaries still implements such an outdated, sleazy business model.
My wife swears by her Cutco knives. Personally, I don’t like the bakelite handles. They are too small & too smooth and weirdly-shaped to get a decent grip.
So we have two knife blocks - one for her Cutcos and one for my Chicago Cutlery 1776s.
got mine in the 80's. Great knives! The son lost my trimmer right away and I finally replaced it and got 4 others. yes, VERY expensive but I love them, use them every day!
Nope. Not a scam, a marketing schema. I sold Cutco for about 6 months (as well as Carico china and cookware). Excellent products with a direct marketing approach that has done well for them. Sold my first set to my parents and they still have and use them. Cutco guarantees their edge for life.
He uses it at least once weekly to cut out the coupons from what the local Gannett rag passes off as a Sunday paper.
I've also known very wealthy people who try to negotiate down even the most minor of purchases, protests a ten dollar vehicle tax, etc...all the millionaires I know are very tight with their money.
Gotcha. I don’t think it’s a scam. Except for the aspect of extremely exaggerating the quality to justify the exorbitant pricing. But the customer’s did get a decent quality knife, probably the best they ever owned, and they almost always believe it was worth it, so I hesitate to call it a scam.
Of course, part of the customer satisfaction is our inherent need to justify our choices.
They guarantee they will sharpen it at no charge for life, not that the edge will hold up for life.
Of course, it’s conveniently forgotten that the shipping and the handling fees add up to as much or more than if you just had it sharpened locally.
But the shipping and handling charges are about the same or more than if you got it sharpened locally.
Our 25 year old set has kept their edge better than me.
Picked up a Cutco steak knife in a yard sale for 50 cents, it works great, I keep it in my tackle box.
I like the Forschner over the Chicago but not enough difference to argue over.
Sorry, Victorinox is the name now.
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