Silly Question Regarding LM Warranty & Policy

[N_N_R]

I've recently been watching many Leatherman Warranty videos on YouTube. There've been people (you undoubtedly know that) who buy second-hand beat up tools from eBay for no money and then send them to LM and receive brand new ones due to their 25-year warranty policy. My recent case is similar - I bought a tool from eBay, it broke and then they basically sent me two brand new ones and didn't even want me to send in the broken one. So... they're in with whole three tools. I realise that they "earn" me as a customer forever, but still, how do they.... make their money, lol. Basically they "risk" having to replace every single tool they've manufactured for the next 25 years...

I'm not an expert at marketing or sales, so perhaps now I'm asking a really silly question 

[airballrad]

Well, in this case they replaced a low-cost tool for you several times over. They gained:

Knowledge that maybe they need to replace a distributor
Your undying loyalty as a customer, who may well by more expensive tools later
Lots of good PR as you've been busy telling everyone about it
Future advertising as you carry and display your Leatherman lanyards

Of course, if everyone who ever bought a Leatherman tool, new or used, sent it in for warranty they'd be in trouble. And people who buy damaged used tools on ebay and send them in usually get cut off after a little while.  Could prices go up a small amount if warranty abuse becomes more common? Sure. But the vast majority of people who buy a new Leatherman will never send it in; they are pretty durable after all, and many people will not use them enough to wear them out. And while I don't consider myself the typical multitool consumer, I've purchased over 20 LM tools at this point ( ) and only used the warranty once. 

[Syph007]

Ya I bet its a low percentage who actually send in tools for warranty.  Ive bought over 20 leathermans in the last 10 years and never sent anything in ever.  Same with victorinox, never warrantied anything.

[N_N_R]

Haha, good points, guys

At one point I also thought: Hm... don't these warranty videos actually do harm to Leatherman? People post warranty videos, i.e. they've had to send in a tool for repair, i.e. the tool's broken, i.e. the quality was not good, i.e. ... wtf

Ya I bet its a low percentage who actually send in tools for warranty.  Ive bought over 20 leathermans in the last 10 years and never sent anything in ever.  Same with victorinox, never warrantied anything.

Your tools never bROKE or you just managed to repair them yourself/just didn't send them in?

Well, in this case they replaced a low-cost tool for you several times over. They gained:

Your undying loyalty as a customer, who may well by more expensive tools later
Lots of good PR as you've been busy telling everyone about it

That's sooooo true

[jekostas]

I think people vastly overestimate how much an individual tool costs Leatherman to make.  It's not that much.  Plus the costs of expected replacement tools are built in the wholesale price anyways.

You still shouldn't abuse the warranty policy, though.

[Scalyman]

I think people vastly overestimate how much an individual tool costs Leatherman to make.  It's not that much.  Plus the costs of expected replacement tools are built in the wholesale price anyways.

You still shouldn't abuse the warranty policy, though.

+1

[N_N_R]

I think people vastly overestimate how much an individual tool costs Leatherman to make.  It's not that much.  Plus the costs of expected replacement tools are built in the wholesale price anyways.

You still shouldn't abuse the warranty policy, though.

Hm... aha, lol, indeed. So, if they make a tool for say, $1 and then sell it for $5 ... when buying, actually, you've prepaid for more replacements you're likely to need...

[Bellasdaddy]

I've recently been watching many Leatherman Warranty videos on YouTube. There've been people (you undoubtedly know that) who buy second-hand beat up tools from eBay for no money and then send them to LM and receive brand new ones due to their 25-year warranty policy. My recent case is similar - I bought a tool from eBay, it broke and then they basically sent me two brand new ones and didn't even want me to send in the broken one. So... they're in with whole three tools. I realise that they "earn" me as a customer forever, but still, how do they.... make their money, lol. Basically they "risk" having to replace every single tool they've manufactured for the next 25 years...

I'm not an expert at marketing or sales, so perhaps now I'm asking a really silly question 

If what you are stating about the tool breaking is truthful and they did not require you to send it in then they trust their customers, right? Whether you bought it brand new or used on ebay, you are still the owner and it is still technically under warranty if it is less than 25 years old and not abused...

[N_N_R]

If what you are stating about the tool breaking is truthful and they did not require you to send it in then they trust their customers, right?

Yes, I never questioned that or claimed the opposite

[Accujohn]

Rebar is great... super configuration for the $ and mine is very solid. No play at all in pliers. Clumping on smaller tools, as expected. But not a big deal for me at this price point.GREAT in the pocket without sheath!

[JNieporte]

I've read a bit about people contemplating sending in their Blasts and wanting a Rebar in return. Well... that's not going to happen any time soon. I called Warranty and told them my problems (a faulty Wave, a Blast with broken lock, a Pulse with broken pliers, and two way dead PSTs). One of my questions was, what do they do with the discontinued models? The Pulse will be replaced with a Blast. The PSTs will be replaced with Blasts if they don't have the parts to repair mine. The Wave will be replaced with a Wave.

Per our conversation: Leatherman has around 2000 Blasts available, both on hand and from a local warehouse and distributors, for warranty work. Once those are gone, they still have spare parts for many more. So, unless over 2000 Blasts come through for warranty work, they won't be getting replaced with Rebars any time soon.