Les Robertson
08-18-2001, 09:41 AM
In the Bang for the Buck Thread, Ghostdog had questions about the aftermarket impact.
I thought I would answer that here as opposed to the BFB Thread.
Makers, by the nature of their sales are concerned almost soley with the primary market. The Primary Market is direct sales, either to a customer or a dealer.
Very few makers I know will take their own knives back in trade for a new one, most won't even consider taking another makers knife in trade. After all they only sell their knives.
So the aftermarket is the domain of the collector and dealers.
Dealers, are the "Masters" of this domain.
The aftermarket is important to knife makers for several reasons:
1) This is where collectors get their education as to what the real world of knives thinks about your work. You no longer are afforeded the luxury of having the collector's undivided attention in front of your table or on the phone.
The collector is holding your knife up for the world to see and saying: How much will you pay ME for this knife? It is at this very moment that the collector has asked to be edcuated.
What many find, especially the new collector is that they made a mistake. I know this to be true, as a collector I went through thousands of dollars worth of knives before I started to "GET IT".
2) The aftermarket, kicked into overdrive by the Internet and forums such as this. Provide today's collector with unlimited information, regarding all aspects of custom knives.
The days of Shows, Magazines and Catalogs (all which required, for the most part, money to get the information) has been supplemented with forums such as CKD.
3) Information on you as a maker, Good, Bad or Indifferent is now available for all to see. I have witnessed makers crushed by the information passed along the Internet. The good news is, most of these makers deserved it. Unfortunately, because too many of these forums allow access to them without the new member identifiying themselves. Makers can be bashed by these unknown assaliants without fear of retribution.
4) The aftermarket is where a maker can find out which knives are in demand in the aftermarket, which knives hold their value and which dont.
Obviously, this is very important. Because if your knives do not hold their value in the aftermarket, it will DIRECTLY AFFECT YOUR PRIMARY MARKET SALES.
Next time you have a couple of minutes, pick up a Knives 2001 and a Knives 1996 and look at how many names that appeared in the Knives 96 are no longer in the Knives 2001. Ever wonder what happeend to those makers?.
The other thing you should notice is how many more makers are now listed in that book in 2001 than were in 1996. Where did all these NEW makers come from.
Years ago I wrote a couple business plans for makers. Part of this process is Competitive Analysis. That is to say, I would figure out what the makers primary market(s) were. Then looking at styles, materials, sheaths, etc. Would look for his/her nearest competitors.
I would look first within the state. That would show the maker how close his nearest competitor is. This may be important if the maker attends large gun shows within a couple hundred miles of the house.
Then you would expand into a "tri-state" area and then finally nationally.
This model no longer exists. As with your potential customer base, your competitor base is now GLOBAL.
5 years ago, information travelled at a much slower pace. Collectors were tempted with fewer knives. Places to find knives for sale were also fewer. Consequenlty, the aftermarket had much less of an impact on custom knife makers.
Today that is not the case. In my book I tell collectors specific things to look for in the aftermarket. How to track trends and use this information.
People ask me all the time, how do you determine which makers you will work with. I answer them that performance in the aftermarket is a major part of my decision.
As part of my business plan, I will not buy knives in the primary market from makers who's knives do not hold their value in the aftermarket.
This is part of the reason I can offer the trade in policy of 100% of your purchase price towards a more expensive knife.
Ever ask yourself, How come Les is the only Custom Knife Dealer in the United States that offers that?
Are there makers out there who I would like to buy from but can't or don't? Yes. This has mostly to do with availability of that makers work.
For you makers out there reading this, I would urge you to give at least a glance every once in a while to the aftermarket and see how your knives are doing.
You may be pleasently surprised or you may get thousands of dollars in direct consumer marketing information for....FREE!
Either way it is a win/win situation for the maker. That way when the Knives 2006 comes out, people won't wonder why your name isn't in it.
Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur
www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
I thought I would answer that here as opposed to the BFB Thread.
Makers, by the nature of their sales are concerned almost soley with the primary market. The Primary Market is direct sales, either to a customer or a dealer.
Very few makers I know will take their own knives back in trade for a new one, most won't even consider taking another makers knife in trade. After all they only sell their knives.
So the aftermarket is the domain of the collector and dealers.
Dealers, are the "Masters" of this domain.
The aftermarket is important to knife makers for several reasons:
1) This is where collectors get their education as to what the real world of knives thinks about your work. You no longer are afforeded the luxury of having the collector's undivided attention in front of your table or on the phone.
The collector is holding your knife up for the world to see and saying: How much will you pay ME for this knife? It is at this very moment that the collector has asked to be edcuated.
What many find, especially the new collector is that they made a mistake. I know this to be true, as a collector I went through thousands of dollars worth of knives before I started to "GET IT".
2) The aftermarket, kicked into overdrive by the Internet and forums such as this. Provide today's collector with unlimited information, regarding all aspects of custom knives.
The days of Shows, Magazines and Catalogs (all which required, for the most part, money to get the information) has been supplemented with forums such as CKD.
3) Information on you as a maker, Good, Bad or Indifferent is now available for all to see. I have witnessed makers crushed by the information passed along the Internet. The good news is, most of these makers deserved it. Unfortunately, because too many of these forums allow access to them without the new member identifiying themselves. Makers can be bashed by these unknown assaliants without fear of retribution.
4) The aftermarket is where a maker can find out which knives are in demand in the aftermarket, which knives hold their value and which dont.
Obviously, this is very important. Because if your knives do not hold their value in the aftermarket, it will DIRECTLY AFFECT YOUR PRIMARY MARKET SALES.
Next time you have a couple of minutes, pick up a Knives 2001 and a Knives 1996 and look at how many names that appeared in the Knives 96 are no longer in the Knives 2001. Ever wonder what happeend to those makers?.
The other thing you should notice is how many more makers are now listed in that book in 2001 than were in 1996. Where did all these NEW makers come from.
Years ago I wrote a couple business plans for makers. Part of this process is Competitive Analysis. That is to say, I would figure out what the makers primary market(s) were. Then looking at styles, materials, sheaths, etc. Would look for his/her nearest competitors.
I would look first within the state. That would show the maker how close his nearest competitor is. This may be important if the maker attends large gun shows within a couple hundred miles of the house.
Then you would expand into a "tri-state" area and then finally nationally.
This model no longer exists. As with your potential customer base, your competitor base is now GLOBAL.
5 years ago, information travelled at a much slower pace. Collectors were tempted with fewer knives. Places to find knives for sale were also fewer. Consequenlty, the aftermarket had much less of an impact on custom knife makers.
Today that is not the case. In my book I tell collectors specific things to look for in the aftermarket. How to track trends and use this information.
People ask me all the time, how do you determine which makers you will work with. I answer them that performance in the aftermarket is a major part of my decision.
As part of my business plan, I will not buy knives in the primary market from makers who's knives do not hold their value in the aftermarket.
This is part of the reason I can offer the trade in policy of 100% of your purchase price towards a more expensive knife.
Ever ask yourself, How come Les is the only Custom Knife Dealer in the United States that offers that?
Are there makers out there who I would like to buy from but can't or don't? Yes. This has mostly to do with availability of that makers work.
For you makers out there reading this, I would urge you to give at least a glance every once in a while to the aftermarket and see how your knives are doing.
You may be pleasently surprised or you may get thousands of dollars in direct consumer marketing information for....FREE!
Either way it is a win/win situation for the maker. That way when the Knives 2006 comes out, people won't wonder why your name isn't in it.
Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur
www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com