Cutco knives

[mizzou]

I have no respect for a -for profit- company that feeds it's $ by getting children to sell products to family/friends.

It preys on people who are too nice to tell their friends/siblings "NO"



*As I cut my steak with a Cutco knife I've had for years*


Anyway, I can't stand that marketing scheme. Be it girl scout cookies, magazines, or knives

 

[Eug]

Yeah, my nephew got suckered into that, so out of pity I bought a bread knife off him. (That's what Cutco counts on.) It's actually an OK knife, but of course it's quite overpriced.

 

[SandEagle]

i got suckered into it by a relative not long ago. got the sizzers and 3 knives for about fo-hunned

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I have no respect for a -for profit- company that feeds it's $ by getting children to sell products to family/friends.

Like Girl Scout cookies?

 

[Soundmanred]

Like Girl Scout cookies?

Anyway, I can't stand that marketing scheme. Be it girl scout cookies, magazines, or knives

Yes.

 

[DrPizza]

I know a few people who work at their corporate headquarters (my hometown.) There was an online contest at some popular cooking related website to vote for best knives - they requested that their employees vote. They're not the worst knives in the world, but are far far from being worth what they charge for them. I have both a set of Cutco knives and a cheaper set of Chicago cutlery, both in the wooden knife holders on the counter. 95% of the time, I reach for the Chicago knives - far easier to keep a sharp blade on them. The Cutcos are serrated so that people who don't know better don't realize that ripping through food isn't the same as cutting through food.

 

[0roo0roo]

exploiting social networks since 1949

 

[Leros]

At least the girl scouts sell their cookies for a reasonable price. I never understood the $15 tins of boy scout popcorn.

 

[Rumpltzer]

At least the girl scouts sell their cookies for a reasonable price. I never understood the $15 tins of boy scout popcorn.

bewbies

yeah, that's right. bewbies!

 

[Destiny]

Network Marketing Company at its finest... I was actually about to be interviewed for a Cutco job 13 years ago, I was a bad ass salesperson so I would have no problem selling the knives to strangers - I was in a room full of people about to be interviewed for the job and I was explaining to all the potentional employees how Cutco sales and the company works, the hiring manager overheard me, ran out and yelled at me and KICKED ME OUT in front of everyone...

LOL... I guess he didn't like me explaining the truth how Cutco really makes its sales or operates...

 

[BoomerD]

I know a few people who work at their corporate headquarters (my hometown.) There was an online contest at some popular cooking related website to vote for best knives - they requested that their employees vote. They're not the worst knives in the world, but are far far from being worth what they charge for them. I have both a set of Cutco knives and a cheaper set of Chicago cutlery, both in the wooden knife holders on the counter. 95% of the time, I reach for the Chicago knives - far easier to keep a sharp blade on them. The Cutcos are serrated so that people who don't know better don't realize that ripping through food isn't the same as cutting through food.

Yep. They make a decent product...not nearly worth what they charge for it...I guess that makes Cutco the Bose of kitchen cutlery...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Their scheme is actually quite brilliant. Are you going to say no to someone holding a knife at you? I wonder if some people sell guns the same way.

 

[z1ggy]

I know a few people who work at their corporate headquarters (my hometown.) There was an online contest at some popular cooking related website to vote for best knives - they requested that their employees vote. They're not the worst knives in the world, but are far far from being worth what they charge for them. I have both a set of Cutco knives and a cheaper set of Chicago cutlery, both in the wooden knife holders on the counter. 95% of the time, I reach for the Chicago knives - far easier to keep a sharp blade on them. The Cutcos are serrated so that people who don't know better don't realize that ripping through food isn't the same as cutting through food.

They aren't serrated. It's a special pattern on them that is more like 3 tiny razor blades. It's in the shape of an upside down "U", and not pointy and jagged. I worked for them for a summer. And yes it's kind of a shit scheme, but it only works for so long. Eventually you run out of family/friends to sell to, and you then move on to complete strangers. They are garuanteed for life and you get free sharpenings. Shit, the scissors can cut a penny in half.

 

[DrPizza]

Cutting a penny in half isn't special; but it's a cool demonstration because people never think to cut a penny in half. That you are bragging about that quality indicates that they suckered you into believing their spiel. Before finishing this post, just to make sure I wasn't wrong, I walked across my classroom, grabbed a pair of School Smart brand scissors ($1.99) and cut a penny in half. edit: ironically, it just occurred to me that I could rebrand the cheap scissors, and go door to door selling them based on a demonstration of cutting them in half. "Look! They cut a penny in half just like a $100 pair of Cutco scissors!" I'll leave out "just like a cheap $1.99 pair of scissors would, that I just rebranded and am now selling for 5 times that amount (or 50 times that amount if they were Cutco.)" Hey, isn't this where you're supposed to claim, "surgical stainless steel" (a phrase which has no real world meaning)?

"Like 3 tiny razor blades" - comparing them to razor blades - implying they are sharper than they really are (after a bit of use.) You can rename "serrated" if you want, but that's what they are. That blade design is so that you don't realize that the knives are dull - after a while you're sawing through food, rather than cutting through food. Big deal that you get free sharpenings. I used to live 15 blocks from the main headquarters. THAT was too inconvenient to get my knives sharpened. I use knives just about every day - I'm not packing them up and shipping them off to get them sharpened and shipped back to me... especially when I can grab a steel & get an incredibly sharp blade on my non-serrated knives in about 5 seconds prior to use.

edit edit: I love their fisherman's friend knife though; nice filet knife. (With a non-serrated edge.) The blade isn't any better than the other 5 or 6 filet knives I own; I just like the handle more. The ability to change length is kind of gimmicky; can't recall that I've ever used that (and I filet hundreds of fish each year.) And, the Kabar knives are very nice.

 

[sourceninja]

I have a full set of cutco knives (they were gifted). Honestly, they are nice knives, but I would have never bought them. They are no different than any other nice knife. You still have to sharpen the non-serrated ones, and the serrated ones are meh.

A knife is only as good as the person who sharpened it.

 

[edro]

I went to one of their interview processes.
I was 18 and just got into college. I saw a sign at college advertising for employment.

They had ~10 interviewees in a little sales office in a strip mall.
They give the group the presentation and let you know they are only looking for the people with the best personal skills.
At the end, they call you in one by one to see if you were accepted or not.

I was accepted!!! Now, to begin employment, all you have to do is buy this presentation knife set for $500.
Don't worry about the $500. It's an investment! It will pay you back many times over with all of the knives you sell.

retards... wasted my goddamn time!

 

[ichy]

At least Girl Scout cookies are a good product being sold at a reasonable price. Cutco is a scam.

 

[ioni]

They're definitely expensive, but I'm surprised to see people say they think they are just average knives. I sold Cutco knives for one summer and I loved using the sample set I got and eventually sold to my parents. They'd slice through steak like it wasn't even there.

 

[dud]

I went to one of their interview processes.
I was 18 and just got into college. I saw a sign at college advertising for employment.

They had ~10 interviewees in a little sales office in a strip mall.
They give the group the presentation and let you know they are only looking for the people with the best personal skills.
At the end, they call you in one by one to see if you were accepted or not.

I was accepted!!! Now, to begin employment, all you have to do is buy this presentation knife set for $500.
Don't worry about the $500. It's an investment! It will pay you back many times over with all of the knives you sell.

retards... wasted my goddamn time!

How many jobs/careers require you to pay your employer ... just so that you can work for the on commission?

My son got suckered into this scheme a long time ago. I almost creid when he gave us his presentation. It only hit me then that he had wasted 3 days "training" to sell severely overpriced knives ... for no pay.

 

[LTC8K6]

They aren't serrated. It's a special pattern on them that is more like 3 tiny razor blades. It's in the shape of an upside down "U", and not pointy and jagged. I worked for them for a summer. And yes it's kind of a shit scheme, but it only works for so long. Eventually you run out of family/friends to sell to, and you then move on to complete strangers. They are garuanteed for life and you get free sharpenings. Shit, the scissors can cut a penny in half.

A penny is only copper plated zinc, and is fairly easy to cut.

 

[sourceninja]

A penny is only copper plated zinc, and is fairly easy to cut.

Yea, when my friend was practicing his speech on me he cut the penny. I then grabbed my kitchen shears and did the same thing. We got a good laugh out of it. a $20.00 set of knives from walmart had a pair of shears as good as cutco.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

They're made in the USA (Olean NY).
That's why my parents bought a set. Support local manufacturing.

 

[PottedMeat]

is this unique marketing system the only way they've survived?

 

[kranky]

If not for that business model I would have never made so much money as a 10-year-old selling greeting cards door-to-door.

I'm glad it was a time when any enterprising youth could sell things and keep the money, rather than having to hawk wares for school bands, athletics, etc. like it is today.

 

[piasabird]

I have a little pampered shef knife at home and it keeps on cutting.