An Honest Opinion for Bladesmith Sales

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Vincent Price

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I realize I am a new maker who is pushing one year in this time (Continuous). I have dabbled for years but built my forge and began hand forging and finishing almost a year ago. I have sold a dozen knives over the last year, mostly to people I know or by word of mouth. I have a bunch of knives that I wont sell because I have deemed them of less than my absolute best. I have a bucket of scrap mistakes, and I have an ever growing number of knives that are not selling.

People are telling me that my knives are nice (obviously I'm not a MS yet and they aren't MS quality, but I am working toward that one day) and seem to be affordable but obviously I'm not getting the traffic I need. I will not put something out that I don't feel is my best quality and obviously safe.

So. Makers. Sell me on what to do. I see that Bladeforums has a markers level membership with its benefits, Does that seem to move knives for some of you?

I have a website that gets maybe 10 visitors a week, website marketing is prohibitively expensive. Should I save up for that?

I see places like Arizona Custom Knives and The Cutting Edge take consignments, anyone have any luck or reccomend any of those routes?

A final thought. I dont want anyone to think I'm in this to make a living or looking to skirt by with sub par work. I do this because I love it. If I never sold a knife, I would start the next one tomorrow anyway. But, it sure would be nice to sell enough to further my obsession with the blade and pay for consumables, belts etc. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
There are 3 Key areas to determine why they are stacking up. 1. Design: there are a handful of designs that will always sell. Buyers are familiar with those designs because they are purpose driven...Example: Machete single purpose. Drop Point Hunter really an all around design.
2. Materials: For Custom Handmade Knives Buyers are very particular about Blade steels and handle materials...You can have a nice design with less than popular materials and it looks nice, but not the materials I will spend money on.
3. Workmanship: Fit and Finish....This is what a Buyer sees First. I look at Bob Loveless Knives and see hours of detail perfection and that is why I regard his work as something I want to produce.
Once you get these dialed in your sales should take off...Few Designs, Good Materials, High Quality Finish...:thumbsup:
 
the details matter, so as Adam said, what kind of knives are you making?

you want an honest opinion, but what is your goal? to sell more knives? to be a full time knifemaker?

my opinion is, if you love it, and have an income otherwise, then don't worry about sales, just keep making what you are for yourself....the rest will work itself out.

AVigil AVigil this might be him https://vincentpriceknives.com/shop

V Vincent Price I would suggest you not worry about sales at this point. You need another year or more to improve your work. I suggest finding someone who can mentor you.
 
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HSC /// said:
the details matter, so as Adam said, what kind of knives are you making?

you want an honest opinion, but what is your goal? to sell more knives? to be a full time knifemaker?

my opinion is, if you love it, and have an income otherwise, then don't worry about sales, just keep making what you are for yourself....the rest will work itself out.

AVigil AVigil this might be him https://vincentpriceknives.com/shop

V Vincent Price I would suggest you not worry about sales at this point. You need another year or more to improve your work. I suggest finding someone who can mentor you.
Click to expand...
Yep thats me. Thanks for the advice. My main focus right now is improving but also making enough to pay for supplies. I do have other income but not enough to cover all my steel, belts, etc. I'm in it for the long haul so I have no time frame. There is only one maker near me, about an hour and a half away. I live in a very rural area. Thats been tough.... I've reached out to several other makers in nearby states to see if I could travel a bit and spend some time in shop for a week or so but haven't had very much luck. Would be an expense for me but so be it. If you wouldn't mind some constructive criticism feel free to let me know. You can send it to me at thewolfcreekforge@gmail.com.
 
https://vincentpriceknives.com/shop

You are in an ocean of 3 piece knife makers selling similar style work with much higher fit and finish.

You will sell some but not many until fit and finish are improved.

Go through the classified here and look at the work of other makers such as Duckchildress, Oneil and others that have a lower price point then you but offer much more refined knives.

Things to strive for are ergonomic design, no gaps, precise plunges, clean grind lines, no wayward scratches

A wise man once said

"You can learn to make a knife in a weekend, but it can take you the rest of your life to make the best knife you ever made"
 
well you are in the right place to start improving....many here started just like this , including me. First thing that jumps out at me is fit and finish. I suggest start watching some nick wheeler videos on youtube. pay attention to his process on fit and finish, that will give you ideas to apply to your own work. Right now you can build your skill set on the basics. Like symmetry, dialed in profiles and crisp grind lines. even if you want to focus on a specific thing it helps to get experience on several types. Try taking some forged stuff and finishing out like a scagel, you could do very well with this style...dont be afraid to challenge yourself to a stock removal only blade and finish it in the loveless method.
 
I'm only an amateur maker...but a serious collector, so perhaps my comments may be of service. I agree 100% with the knife makers above- you have plenty of enthusiasm but your knives are unsophisticated and the prices are therefore a little out of line. Further, if I were you, I would NOT be "taking orders" on your paring knives...read any number of threads where knife makers get into trouble with this.

You are of course welcome to use premium woods on your knives, but currently you will not get your money back until you significantly improve your handle shapes, fit and finish. Nothing wrong with simple shapes...but they need to be as close to perfect as you can make them.
Even for a Brut de Forge knife, yours are primitive and more "uneven" than most, which will not appeal to even those who like "rough" knives.

Sorry to be so blunt, but at this point I don't believe you should be selling your knives via a website (which by the way is nice, and more polished than the knives). Put the time and energy into making another 50 knives with good blade geometry, heat treating and quality simple handles using something like maple. Feel free to show your process and progression here and get helpful input from the guys who make knives for a living - and periodically ask if your knives are "ready for primetime". This does NOT mean you can't give knives to friends, sell them locally or anything like that - we want you to keep being enthusiastic!

Bill
 
I'm not a maker, just a hobbyist modder, but from a consumer standpoint (1) I agree that the fit and finish needs to improve to be competitive, especially if you are selling via photos, but also (2) something that could help sales for an unknown maker are testing videos showing that the knives have a high level of performance
 
I think Vincent has enough info, and since his membership level doesn't allow posting of his website, knives for sale, and sales specific talk it is time to close this thread.

If he is working on a knife and wants to post a new thread for critique and suggestions that is fine ... just leave all sales talk and web site links out of the thread.
 
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