Are production collab profitable for custom makers?

Joss

Joss

Joined
Nov 20, 2001
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The title says it all. I wonder how profitable are the collaborations with manufacturers? There are quite a few examples: CRKT with Crawford, Spyderco with Lum, Moran, etc, Camillius with Fisk, Lone Wolf with Loveless, etc, etc, etc.

Are those big money makers for custom makers? Or are they just small bumps, and more of a PR / advertising thing?

Thanks,

JD
 
Ed Halligan is the poster boy of factory colabs success. He told me years ago he gets $1.00 commission for each CRKT K.I.S.S knife that is sold. Three years ago that number was around 600,000. Now it's probably over a million. Because he is *relatively* unknown and has few other credits, I would say this was the money shot.

Coop
 
From what I have been told, Ken Onion does pretty well on his collaborations with Kershaw. Collaborations can be very lucrative for makers.
 
I was just going to say what Coop said about Ed Halligan. I've gotten to know Ed pretty well over the past year or so. He says that the standard commission is 5% of each knife a production company makes goes to the designer.

Greg Lightfoot told me a few years ago that his commission sales from his production designs provide a steady income for him, not that he really needs this to provide steady income but you know what I'm sayin.

All in all if you have a name and a good design I think that this is a very good thing for the custom maker, in terms of money generation. I'd certainly love to get involved with this as I think that this really helps the custom maker (at least the fulltime ones) in terms of financial security.

Sean
 
I have known Ed for quite a while. He lives pretty close to Atlanta and would come to small shows way back when:). He is a good man and when I think of the success of the Kiss all I do is smile. I remember having a table next to him at a show a decade or more ago where he had prototypes of the Kiss design.
To see Ed and others (as well as the production companies) do well in these relationships has little if any downside that I am aware of.

I think these collaborations are the greatest thing since sliced bread for the factories, makers and collectors of all types of knives for many reasons. :D

As far as the downside the only thing I can think of is that there have been rare cases when a collaboration may have had a negative effect on the value of a custom model on the secondary market, but I am not aware of them doing anything but increase orders for the maker. Couple that with an occasional "royalty check", supporting the family and paying bills become a little easier.

In some cases the maker has been able to try things they may not have had to chance to try regarding knifemaking or other areas of interest due to not having to worry quite as much about keeping things above water. They might have a little more time to spend with families, other knifemakers or at more shows.
 
Depending on the agreement reached between the maker and the manufacturer, it can be anything from a small check and some exposure for the maker to a nice steady income that allows a maker a little more freedom to do some things in his shop that he wouldn't normally be able to do.

I know Darrel has done fairly well with Camillus. They have picked up about 8 of his deisgns with more to come. They haven't made him rich, but it has permitted him to start doing new things that he may not have taken a chance on without that steady income from Camillus.
 
I am glad to hear that the makers involved with the custom collaborations do well. It certainly helps put their names out there.

I suspect that how well they do depends on the knife company.

In any event, since this particular niche is one that I like a great deal, I hope that everone else involved does extremely well.
 
Another point a Knifemaker will consider when collaborating with a Production house is TRADEMARKING.

Many Knifemakers have neither the means nor energy to go for a patent on a feature or function that they have developed.

A Productions company, for example, Benchmade, Columbia River and other large firms will do this and an agreement on the Trademark is made between them and the Knifemaker.

Take care, Neil
 
SharpByCoop said:
Ed Halligan is the poster boy of factory colabs success. He told me years ago he gets $1.00 commission for each CRKT K.I.S.S knife that is sold. Three years ago that number was around 600,000. Now it's probably over a million.
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That seems amazing. I don't want to say "difficult to believe", but the idea that anyone could make $500,000 to $1,000,000 through a collaboration is definitely novel to me. So much the better for the maker of course - with such an asset, someone can basically retire and just work "for fun". :eek: :thumbup:
 
Yep, and Ed Was already retired from the Airline business when he designed the KISS.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
 
Anthony Lombardo said:
Yep, and Ed Was already retired from the Airline business when he designed the KISS.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
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Yup. Thanks. I didn't emote on this above, but this was my impression as well. SOMEONE gets fortunate now and then, and he deserved it! :)

Coop
 
Are those collaborations initiated by makers or companies, generally? I'm just wondering about the life cycle of those things...
 
Joss said:
Are those collaborations initiated by makers or companies, generally? I'm just wondering about the life cycle of those things...
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From what I know, in most (not all) cases, a Company will seek out the Knifemakers when they believe that the custom knife has proven to be highly sought after by collectors/enthusiasts.

On the other hand, a company may go after a neat locking system or other feature. Such as Columbia River and the Allen Elishewitz “E-Lock”.

Neil
 
This arrived in the mail today, addressed to 'my attractive wife':

orig.jpg


Retail value $243, yours for only $199.99 - p. 63
 
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