7 yr. old maker wants to sell a knife-what do I do?

Well we talked about his knife tonight and I told him I wanted to buy it instead of letting him put it up for sale. I told him that part of the deal is that he has to use part of his money to buy materials for his next knife and that he has to be able to meet certain standards (yet to be determined) before I will let him put one up for sale. He agreed to all of this and then I asked him what his price would be for me since he was wanting to ask $50 for the knife. He thought about it a few minutes and said he would take $100 from me!!! The little thief!

After I regained myself I told him that would be fine, and he gave me a huge grin. I then told him the deal would only happen if he agreed to buy his materials from me. :) I told him that the material costs would depend completely upon the deal he makes me on the knife. Once he fully grasped the situation he decided that $50 was a fair price.

I am going to be at the KGA knife show in Tulsa, OK on August 28th. As a part of the show the KGA offers a table that can be used by makers under 18 at no cost to them. I told my son that if he can create a quality knife by then that I would allow him to try to sell it at the show.

Thank you again to everyone who posted here. I don't think I would have come to the decision I did without the input I got here.

SDS
 
SDS said:
Knifemaker.ca, actually this is the first knife that he has made by himself.
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Then he should absolutely keep it - and get his butt in gear making one for me. :D

The grampa idea is great because he always needs to be able to refer back to this beginning - and he will be able to do just that. :thumbup:

Rob!

by the way, I'll bet it would be REAL interesting to see his next one auctioned.
 
A C Richards said:
First I would ask him why he wants to sell it? Does he plan on making more? If he does then I would say allow him to sell it with the understanding he will invest in the materials for the next one. The price he gets may not cover the total cost but it will give him an incentive to do better the next time. If he does not plan on making more then I would advise him to hang onto this knife. It will be a great reminder of the time he spent on it. It looks pretty darn good for a first knife. It is even better that he is only 7. Do we see another Josh Smith or Kyle Royer in the making??
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You must be proud of him-that is an astounding amount of effort & concentration for 7yo.My suggestion is to tell him when he has made 10 or more knives then he can sell one.
 
OK, here's the feminine perspective ;)

I think it's great that your son already wants to work for a living, that kind of mentality is far too rare these days. I would say inspect the knife and if it doesn't pass a reasonable-for-a-seven-yearold quality standard explain each flaw to him so he has something to work toward. I think you as the Dad and experienced knifemaker should set the price for him, something low enough that gives him a sense of the ratio of hard work to money. If you're concerned about him getting crushed if it doesn't sell head that one off before hand with stories of yours or others that didn't sell right away and tell him that doesn't take the joy out of creating. That's my 2 cents worth anyhow. Sounds like you've got a great kid there.


HD
 
Meiko and DeRosiers, thanks for the input. This one had me pretty stumped from a Dad's perspective. I am VERY proud of my son, but for much more than making a knife. He is going to do great, in spite of my shortcomings as his father.

I have purchased the knife from him to give to my own Dad on Fathers day. Some day I will get the knife back from him when he passes on and then my son will get the knife again from me when I die. He gets the knife back and when he does it will have a bit of history behind it, besides being his first knife sold.

I did add a caveat though. I told him that he had to use part of the money that I paid him to purchase the materials to make another knife. If his next knife is up to par I will let him put it up for sale at a knife show I will be at in August. I don't know if he will finish the knife, or if it will pass inspection, but those are the guidelines we agreed to.

It's summer time so we'll see if he is more interested in baseball and bycycles or if he wants to get out in the hot shop with dad.

SDS
 
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