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The Business of Knife Making A forum dedicated to all aspects of running, managing and legal operational issues relating to the custom knife making and custom knife selling industry. |
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#31
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my sales have been higher in the last few years...but its mostly tactical/using type of knives for military that are selling better and since we have a bit of military action going on it helps out a lot.
ive seen concern that there are getting to be more and more knifemakers out there and its making the slice of pie for each maker smaller and smaller. while i dont know if its true its hurting sales theres a solution.....get more people interested in custom knives! there are so many people that have never even heard of the custom knife industry and they could be great customers. just a month or so ago i was playing literati(scrabble) online and someone asked what i did. i told her about knives and to make a long story short i had 2 sales to her in the last month. the more people we can make aware of our field, the better for everyone involved! yes there are many more makers nowadays compared to 25 years ago, but there are also many more people, all we need to do is get them interested in our products heres some neat population stats. roman period....250 million people renaissance......500million (thats about 15 centuries after romans) year 1810.........1 billion year 1930.........2 billion year 1975.........4 billion right around now theres 6 billion pojected 8 billion people by 2025 as you can see the population is growing at an amazing rate! thats a lot of knives we could sell -Jason Aube |
#32
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Well there you said it Jonathan! I only make what I want to make. I do on occassion make something that is a little off the road for me, but its all still this is what I want to do today. I can handle this slower side for now. es, I see a lot of makers going into the tactical side more now than ever. Why not, if that is what you want or need to do. I wish everyone success. Frank
__________________ Without collectors there would not be makers. |
#33
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I wrote a long post to this then deleted it.
Same thing has been tossed around more than once. If your knives are not selling...you are responsible. If your knives are selling....you are responsible. You are responsible for every thing good, bad or indifferent that happens to your business. "Well the world needs ditch diggers too" Judge Shmales to Danny Noonan in the movie "Caddy Shack". __________________ Les Robertson Custom Knife Entrepreneur Field Editor for Blade Magazine www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com |
#34
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I've finally come to the conclusion that making the things I want to make is simply not good business. For some reason, chasing trends & marketing concepts just doesn't sit well with me. Yup. I'm responsible for that decision. I'll dig ditches part-time now if it means not compromising my vision... and it'll pay off in the long run.
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#35
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Jonathan, it's a sad state of affairs when someone with your talent isn't getting far more orders than they can handle. I don't think the problem lies in the styles of knives you choose to make, but in the fact that you are not as well known as you should be. You need to get your name out there more. Whenever someone is looking for knives in the styles I know you for I recommend you to them. I ahve noticed that there are many others that do the same. It is the makers that learn how to promote themselves and their knives that seem to do the best.
It is rare that you run across a maker with a six year backlog, but there are a few, and right now I am dealing with two of them. I am also quite often surprised by the quality of makers that are at the other extreme. Many of the big name makers seem to be able to get you a knife in a very few months. This leads me to believe that are far less busy than they should be. Maybe there is a turndown in the selling of custom knives right now, but if that is the case all the more reason to concentrate on getting your name out to more people. Many times it this part of the knife business that makers have the biggest problem with. __________________ Avatar is my Wild Goo. |
#36
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Hi Keith,
You hit the nail on the head. Makers must but their knives in the hands of potential buyers. __________________ Les Robertson Custom Knife Entrepreneur Field Editor for Blade Magazine www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com |
#37
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Quote:
__________________ "The greatest productive force is human selfishness." Robert A. Heinlein |
#38
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I can't even remember how many times I was told that I could never make any money with custom knives.
Once I started showing a profit I was told you will never make enough money to make this "hobby" pay for it's self. Once the business started paying for it's self I was told I couldn't make a living at it. Now that I have been a full time custom knife dealer for 9 years. People tell me how lucky I am. LOL Luck is when training and opportunity meet. __________________ Les Robertson Custom Knife Entrepreneur Field Editor for Blade Magazine www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com |
#39
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Well lets see.
You folks complain when a guy doesn't charge enough. You folks complain when a guy charges to much. I guess there isn't any pleasing you cranky old farts. Take care TJ __________________ TJ Smith Knifemaker |
#40
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Hi TJ,
So your opinion is that the knife that started this thread is worth $6,500? Since you feel you have a degree of expertise in the area of pricing. How do you price your knives? __________________ Les Robertson Custom Knife Entrepreneur Field Editor for Blade Magazine www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com |
#41
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Les
No I don;t think the knife mentioned is worth the price. I don't think the wedding dress that sold for $3800 was worth that either. The knife listed for $6800 can you imagine the fee ? I'm gulity of pricing my knives to low, so I'm told,and expirence sorta proves that out. Of the 70 I have made I only have 2 on hand. Then again I don't want to have a big collection of my own knives. Take Care TJ __________________ TJ Smith Knifemaker |
#42
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Hi TJ,
So your basing the fact you sold all those knives on the fact you priced them to low? (Sounds like a cranky old fart ). Perhaps they were priced right. How do you determine a price for one of your knives? __________________ Les Robertson Custom Knife Entrepreneur Field Editor for Blade Magazine www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com |
#43
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#44
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i have seen a slow down on my knives this and last year if i hadent gont to making leather stuff also last year i would be looking for a real job right now insded of still being able to make knives
and if all of us knife makers were as good at selling/promoting are knives as making them then we all could be making good livings of off them but not every one can be good at every thing what we all need is a p.t. barnum or two to sell are knives for us then we could all drive big expensive cars and have enployies doing the work but then agen some of the places that have lots of workers cant stay in bisnes ether damd if we do damd if we dont im going back to bed this is to depressing __________________ sharp and pointy sharp and pointy giving you your sharp and pointy fix since 1995 Last edited by Dragon cutlery; 05-02-2004 at 02:27 PM. |
#45
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Hi Don,
Market value is not determined by one transaction, but buy several...usally several hundred at least. Custom knife makers specifically who lower their prices just to make a sale. Will long term hurt their market price. The problem is not the economy, nor customer demand or trends. It is the lack of truely knowing what your knife is worth, pricing it accordingly and sticking to that price. That becomes the market value of your work. Understand what your work is worth can only be determined by analysis of the current market. This will help you determine your position and as such help you with your pricing structure. Fifteen years ago a friend of mine decided he was either going to get what he was worth or he was going to do something else. For 9 months the least expensive knife on his table was $900 and he didn't sell a single knife. An interesting thing happened then. He sold two knives at his next show. One for $900 and another for $1,300. From then on he never had a knife for less than $1,000 on his table and he started to consistently sell out. He won awards at every show he went to. To include the very prestigious "Cronk Award" given at the Guild Show. Ultimately, he made the mistake that almost took him out of custom knife making. But that is the other end of the spectrum. Point is, figure out your position in whatever market you want to compete in. Charge a fair price for the quality of your knives and stick to that pricing structure. Even if that means you have to get a "real job" in order to maintain that pricing structure. __________________ Les Robertson Custom Knife Entrepreneur Field Editor for Blade Magazine www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com |
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