Aftermarket in the Toilet?

We're in tough times for sure, and as JFK said, "a rising tide floats all boats" - buyers just have to make sure they don't overload theirs lest they capsize and sink. But then again, a lot of business infrastructure is being "disassembled" and shipped overseas to places like India...so i don't think you can even call it "a rising tide."

The trickle down effect may be cause for concern for some makers, especially if they have to resort to using common materials as Mr Wylie suggested...but it will be for the interim and shouldn't tank them.
 
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Ken,

Wow, this really has you wound up.

Made me think of the Ghost Busters:

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?

Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.

Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!

Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...

Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Click to expand...

Im with Betzner on this one...before you jump out of the window give me a call about your custom knives. Perhaps we can work out a deal and save you from jumping.

Just a note here...a large part of the world outside the US is still buying custom knives. Hell a large part of the US is still buying custom knives.

I was at the SOS Show over the weekend (it was the 3rd best SOS Show I have had). Knives sold in the range of $400 - $1500.

Interesting side note while on the plane between Atlanta and Dallas I received internet orders: 1 knife from a client Australia, 2 knives for a client in Bermuda and 2 knives for a client in Lithuania.

Now I have to watch the market and see how much it is going to drop today to figure out how much I am going to buy. :D
 
Les Robertson said:
Now I have to watch the market and see how much it is going to drop today to figure out how much I am going to buy. :D
Click to expand...

Back to my boat analogy....I don't know why.....I just like boats I guess....:D

Les, it's definitely a nice financial position to be in to be able to watch this proverbial ship sink while sitting in one of its lifeboats. One so lucky may even get a little pleasure out of watching it happen as they imagine how they'll be able to profit because of it .

Sure, a few people will be able to take advantage of this "opportunity" and buy up assets at bargain prices and profit from it. But, I'm quite certain most folks will not have that luxury in the long run.

IMO, the major effects of this series of events are still to come and people have not yet felt the brunt of this storm.

IMO, Congress will be passing this bill on Thursday which will provide some calm and perceived short-term relief to this panicked situation.

EDITED TO ADD:
I don't know but I think it's kinda cool how I got a storm analogy shoved in my post along with my boat stuff. :thumbup::D
 
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RWS,

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Living within ones means. No credit card debt, not getting a new car every 2 years, etc.....

Solid investing plan (pay yourself first). College programs for my children fully funded..so they won't be in debt when they graduate (unlike me...I learned my lesson the hard way).

No business debt

RWS, if you want to blame this mess on someone then point the finger at those who bought more house than they could afford. And those lenders who knew they couldn't afford it and still gave them the loan.

Now feeling a sense of "entitlement" look to you and your fellow tax payers to "make them whole".

RWS, do you really think Warren Buffet got his Billions..buying high and selling low or Buying Low and selling High?

So I guess he is just "Lucky" too?

Luck is winning the lottery.

RWS, if you are not in the "Lucky" position perhaps you should reexamine your personal "market" position. The devise a plan that will help you become one of the "Lucky" ones.

I apologize for diverting this thread. I get tired of hearing how "lucky" I am.
 
RWS,

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Living within ones means. No credit card debt, not getting a new car every 2 years, etc.....

Solid investing plan (pay yourself first). College programs for my children fully funded..so they won't be in debt when they graduate (unlike me...I learned my lesson the hard way).

No business debt
Click to expand...

Some great advice there , not easily done , but that is a goal we should each strive for.
 
Les Robertson said:
RWS,

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Living within ones means. No credit card debt, not getting a new car every 2 years, etc.....

Solid investing plan (pay yourself first). College programs for my children fully funded..so they won't be in debt when they graduate (unlike me...I learned my lesson the hard way).

No business debt

RWS, if you want to blame this mess on someone then point the finger at those who bought more house than they could afford. And those lenders who knew they couldn't afford it and still gave them the loan.

Now feeling a sense of "entitlement" look to you and your fellow tax payers to "make them whole".

RWS, do you really think Warren Buffet got his Billions..buying high and selling low or Buying Low and selling High?

So I guess he is just "Lucky" too?

Luck is winning the lottery.

RWS, if you are not in the "Lucky" position perhaps you should reexamine your personal "market" position. The devise a plan that will help you become one of the "Lucky" ones.

I apologize for diverting this thread. I get tired of hearing how "lucky" I am.
Click to expand...

Luck has nothing to do with it? If you believe success is driven solely by hard work and "brilliant" strategic planning alone, you may actually be more egocentric than I originally thought. I have news for you, right time and right place is not always a planned event.

Also, please, don't try to couch my posts here as sour grapes comments coming from some poor pissed off guy who wasn't as "brilliant" as all those unlucky "geniuses" out there who figured out how to rise above it all.

Did Warren Buffet get lucky? Nah, I'm sure it was all skill set driven.

BTW, I'm one of the hard workers out there that did plan his future and got lucky in the process. :cool:
 
Kevin,

Was that a quote from the Titanic's captain?

Les,

You know I love you; just tossing you a life jacket. Like I said, a blind spot, so what's a future-fixated knife entrepreneur going to say . . . uncle? What I would say is it's not too late to switch horses in mid-stream--Cubs to the White Sox. Doesn't really matter, though, because the Angels have already purchased the champagne.

Won't be selling or buying . . . it's called bartering (there won't be any money), such as my GenO Big Boy for a nice, plump roadkill. Or maybe my brand new award winning Ray Richard hunter for a 50 lb. bag of Bruce Bumps' Walla Walla sweets. Yes, I'll trade them all to keep from cannibalizing my kids and grandkids.

Sweet dreams,
ken
 
where do the zombies fit into this future?
:D
sorry, but there you have it.
:p

Gotta balance the optimism, pessimism and realism all at the same time.
Humor never hurts! Well, unless you're being satirized.
 
Hi RWS,

If you are one of the lucky ones...then quit your bitchen and buy some bargains.

I have news for you, right time and right place is not always a planned event.
Click to expand...

Many years ago a General Officer and I were talking. He explained to me that:

"Luck is when preparation and opportunity meet."

As well my Dad told me when I was a kid "The harder you work...the luckier you will get."

What you view as Ego, is in fact nothing more than working hard. Preparing myself for when the opportunity becomes available to take advantage of the opportunity that has been presented to me.

Perhaps the "right place at the right time" is luck???

I try every day to try and put myself in a position to be able to take advantage of any opportunity that is offered to me. Perhaps you would say I make my own luck.
 
Hi Ken,

No need for the life vest here...you might need it for RWS he seems to be worried.

I think people forget how bad the market was for several years after 9/11. Everyone was worried that the economy would be horrible for years. That this too would have a huge negative affect on the custom knife market.

Guys, don't get sucked into this.

Before you pop the cork...you should first get by the Red Sox.

After all the only reason the Angles clinched their division so early and had so many wins was the sorry division they were in.

You do realize it took the Angles 2 weeks to clinch home field advantage...after the Cubs did?

On the plus side the Cubs will be dispatching with one California team...then possibly a second later in October. First things first, the Angles need to get past the Red Sox.
 
Hi John,

My Grandparents grew up in the Great Depression. Those who survived it had a particular mind set. They would talk about it to me on numerous occasions.

Very basic message, live within your means. Kept debt to a minimum and do the best you can to provide for your family and their future.

I try my best to do this....but two daughters :rolleyes: :D
 
Apart from "reports" where is the sinking ship?

Knives are still being bought/sold here and everywhere. Has anyone seen proof of this "Great knife Depression" .. i don't see it, anywhere.

Fluctuations in Sebenzas prices? ..where's this happening,.. on inlaid knives? I'Ve also been watching Busse stuff- nothing crazy i've noticed. But these are companies, semicustom at best- they might be causing any problems themselves, in production.

I don't see any symptoms of any mass sell off. Are any of you seeing anything?

Why was this thread entitled "secondary market", if it is not more an issue of lost interest in older customs 70s-80s, the knifemaker would feel a pinch too. Right?

BTW, i saw a huge electronic billboard ad driving to work yesterday of a WH knife. (Jewerly stores must be selling these ok)
David
 
I think I can offer one helpful suggestion about the comments on knife prices, especially those in the handmade and semi-handmade market.

The knifemakers themselves will set their prices with absolutely no attention to what is said by someone who is not a knifemaker and offers suggestions in places like online forums. Reason will not figure into it either.

My suggestion is save the time and waste of breath in that vein. I base that comment totally on personal experience in trying to advise selected knifemakers on business practices.

If the prices go down on handmade knives and you paid more -- well you paid too much.

This is not an uncommon thing, and the reasons why we have pretty well beat to death already on this thread.

There are far too many knife shows, to the detriment of the business overall.
The chain of shows in September was absolute stupidity (and I include myself in that group because I had SOS there and didn't move it). I have remedied it next year and moved the date to July 11, but the Guild Show has moved into September now. I wish everyone who stays there luck--but I predict something has to give in the number of shows, and likely very soon.

The whole idea of knife shows has changed. The criteria for many to attend a knife show today has nothing to do with sales, expense in attending, or finding a market where all their competitors are NOT--the holy grail at the moment seems to be which show has the best cocktail party.

As for the overall economy I do have an absolutely correct prediction too. It is going to change.

Bruce Voyles
 
2knife said:
Apart from "reports" where is the sinking ship?

Knives are still being bought/sold here and everywhere. Has anyone seen proof of this "Great knife Depression" .. i don't see it, anywhere.

Fluctuations in Sebenzas prices? ..where's this happening,.. on inlaid knives? I'Ve also been watching Busse stuff- nothing crazy i've noticed. But these are companies, semicustom at best- they might be causing any problems themselves, in production.

I don't see any symptoms of any mass sell off. Are any of you seeing anything?

Why was this thread entitled "secondary market", if it is not more an issue of lost interest in older customs 70s-80s, the knifemaker would feel a pinch too. Right?

BTW, i saw a huge electronic billboard ad driving to work yesterday of a WH knife. (Jewerly stores must be selling these ok)
David
Click to expand...

Oh so true...............for the last six months the liberal press has taken the "possible recession in the future" and run with it until everyone in the USA is afraid to spend their money on anything. Sure gas has gone up, but the GNP has GROWN FOR THE LAST FOUR QUARTERS..........that is NOT recession my friend.......far from it.

The predicament we see on Wall Street has been long in coming.......I can remember when the DOW was 3000...........it climbed to four times that. WHY???

The housing crisis is really the result of a lot of things initiated in the Clinton era and has finally show its true colors.

America has been thru this before, heck, in just 1989 we had something nearly this severe. The market came back. I do not know one person that is not still getting up every morning and going to work and paying their bills.

Half of what is going on today is because the Democrats and the Republicans are acting like 5th graders and we have to suffer for it. GEEZ!!!!!
 
tom mayo said:
Half of what is going on today is because the Democrats and the Republicans are acting like 5th graders and we have to suffer for it. GEEZ!!!!!
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Tom, this is probably the most accurate statement made in the whole thread.
 
Lorien said:
where do the zombies fit into this future?
:D
sorry, but there you have it.
:p

Gotta balance the optimism, pessimism and realism all at the same time.
Humor never hurts! Well, unless you're being satirized.
Click to expand...


15zombie.span.jpg
 
Hi Severed,

Ok, I was referring to the fact that there are many people in the US buying custom knives...not a large portion of the US as a total.

The percentage of Americans buying a custom knife is very very low. Good thing too. If 1% of the population were to buy custom knives can you imagine how long the wait would be to get knives! LOL :D
 
tom mayo said:
Oh so true...............for the last six months the liberal press has taken the "possible recession in the future" and run with it until everyone in the USA is afraid to spend their money on anything. Sure gas has gone up, but the GNP has GROWN FOR THE LAST FOUR QUARTERS..........that is NOT recession my friend.......far from it.
Click to expand...
I agree
The Q3 GDP report comes out on Oct 31 at 8 A.M. EST
We'll see then if we are entering a possible recession.....
 
Someone post a bunch of pretty knife pics to make us all happy and content again, LOL.
 
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