Best website to consign knives?

I have successfully consigned knives in the past with AGR, Nordic, and KnifeArt.

They all did a fine job. I really miss the "old" cutting edge.

Les is a straight shooter and an honest guy. He also happens to have really good taste. He will not tolerate any monkey business from knifemakers so he tends to work with an elite group of sought after people.

Bob Neal is another honest gentleman to consider.
 
I have dealt with Les Robertson on many occasions. I have always found him to be a stand up guy.
 
Anthony,if you do'nt mind me asking what do you mean by missing the "old"cutting edge ?
I've also dealt with Les and never had any problems.:thumbup:
 
I meant AG Russells "cutting edge" consignment list that was expertly run by Amy Hinchman. I bought (and sold) some great knives there.
 
I still say give us a shot first. You never know unless you post some pics.

Been buying/selling knives with Les for 15 years - never a problem.

Michael
 
I've personnally had good luck with Mike at Rehoboth Custom Knives. You really need to talk to a couple and see if what your selling is up their alley. To me consignment is a tough call. The dealer has no money invested, why push your knife over one he owns?

If what you have are by obscure makers you're going to take a beating, just put them on Ebay and take your lumps. Believe me I've got a few and no dealer in the world is going to do them justice!

Win
 
Dan O'Malley at Blade Gallery.co, and Paul Basch are two great folks to deal with, as is A. G. Russell. All three have been absolutely honest and as knowledgable as they come.
 
Walking Man said:
I have a couple customs and a couple of high end productions that I'd like to put up for consignment, and I'm wondering who has had luck consigning, and who was the seller. I'm looking for a honest seller, not one that has a bunch of clauses in their contract designed to allow them to keep the knives, and also one that doesn't take too high of a percentage. Okay, I know I'm asking a lot, but who's the best. Thanks.
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Please check ouy my web site.

Thanks,

A.T.
 
Hi Keith,

To give you the correct information regarding percentages on consignment knives:

Custom Knife Consignment is 25%

Robertson's Custom Cutlery is 20%

CKC carries some great knives they also have some knives such as the type that Win talked about. They take a little longer to sell, hence the little higher percentage by CKC. They did sell a lot of knives last year. CKC sold 4 of mine.

WWG
 
Up front, A. T. Barr is a good friend of mine and has been a Mentor to many knifemakers, myself included. His integrity is unquestionable and his work ethic as an extremely fine knifemaker, and as a Dealer of of handmade knives, is top notch!

As a collector, I have worked with A.T. Barr to sell a number of knives from my collection, and very successfully, thanks to A. T.'s efforts.

As a kniifemaker,I have been very pleased that A.T. has sold a number of my knives quite successfully.
His rates are fair and equitable.

A.T. currently represents the work of 14 different makers directly, 5 of which are Knifemakers' Guild voting memebers. He also sells prime quality knives for collectors, with a number of those by other Guild and non-Guild members as well, and probably has over 150 knives on his site at this time.

A.T. is one of the Dealers who attends shows around the country, givning them further exposure to customers and potential customers.

A.T.'s website is http://www.customknives.com

As both a collector and as a full time knifemaker, I heartily recommend A.T. Barr.
 
John,

I thought AT was a custom knife maker? So he has stopped making knives and now focuses his attention to selling knives for others?

WWG
 
WWG,
A.T Barr is still a fine and active maker of custom/handmade knives.
He is also a Dealer of other makers' and collectors' knives, and has been so for the last year or so.
Based on the times of day on the e-mails he has sent me, I'd say he has extended his work day rather than trade one activity for another.

To my knowledge, A.T. has not missed a committment to any collector who has been on his "wait list"....and as I have experienced, he has been quite successful in selling both knives I have made and knives I have sold from my collection.

By the way, from my point of view as a collector, and maker, there are a very few makers whose knives I don't intend to ever sell....A.T.'s are in that category.
 
John I appreciate you taking the time to post this. I'm proud that you feel this way.

A.T.
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
John,

I thought AT was a custom knife maker? So he has stopped making knives and now focuses his attention to selling knives for others?

WWG
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Yeah, I'm still a maker and proud of it. At the Blade show for several years Arno Bernard and I set back to back. On Sunday of this year as the show was closing down I asked Arno if he'd like for me to take some of his knives and put them on my web site to sell. I figured he'd give me 3 or 4. He gave me 27. Since then I've sold about 40 of his.

Then my Friend John Fraps asked me to place some of his knives along with a few knives he had collected over the years to sell. Soon other makers asked me if I'd sell their knives for them. These makers only go to a few shows and they knew I'd take theirs and put them on my table along with my knives. And it doen't hurt that my web site is customknives.com.

Shortly after that, I was approached by several collectors that wanted to move some knives, but didn't want to give dealers a 50% discount.

So it just sort of snowballed. As far as my knives, I'm working on four One-Eyed-Jacks to be delivered to a Purveyor at the Vegas show in February. I'm hoping I'll be able to also have a few others of mine to sell also.

Hey, Life is Good!

A.T.
 
Hi John,

It is commendable that you are talking up your friend. Im sure AT is working 20 hour days to keep up. The question was the "Best website to consign knives?"

As you know going from collector to maker required years of education. It is the same with being a dealer. Some people are under the false impression that having a table full of knives makes you a "dealer". And I guess it does in the literal sense of the word. However, just as it took you years to learn how to make knives, it will take AT years to learn about the custom knife market from the dealers perspective. Just as your perspective of the market changed when you went from collector to maker.

I think you would admit that if you were to look at it objectively someone like Dave at Nordic Knives would have a much wider customer base and extensive knowlege concerning the custom knife market....25 years as a dealer will do this. Same for Paul Basch.

A.T. has made a name for himself in custom knives. As such when people think of him they think of him as a maker first, then perhaps as a dealer. Unless he goes full time as a dealer I don't know if this perception will ever change.

Lastly most of the established dealers have certain areas of expertise over and above their general knowlege of the knife market. For the best results it would be best to find a dealer who specializes in that area. As this will be the dealer who can advise their client on the best price for a quick sale and will probably have collectors they can contact before even placing the knife on their web site.

WWG
 
WWG, it's going to be a long time before I go to being a full time dealer. I'm doing what makes me happy and pays a few bills.

My clients seem to like the fact that I am a knife maker. I know that there is a lot I don't know about being a dealer, but I've sold knives (my own) since 1979. I guess time will tell.

Stay Safe,

A.T.
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
...Lastly most of the established dealers have certain areas of expertise over and above their general knowlege of the knife market. For the best results it would be best to find a dealer who specializes in that area. As this will be the dealer who can advise their client on the best price for a quick sale and will probably have collectors they can contact before even placing the knife on their web site.

WWG
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As someone that has spent incalculable hours pouring over every facet of the internet on knife-related sites since 1999, and as someone that has spent close to $50,000 on knives during that time frame, I would comment that whomever has the goods gets the money. It is just that simple. Getting the goods is really what the dealer has to do, and getting the knives that someone wants is not brain surgery, so I don't know quite what you are referring to as "expertise". Please enlighten me.

My meaure of a good consignment website would be the same as for a any other website. The better the photos, the easier to navigate the site (think thumbnails or by artist), the easier it is for me to give them my money. This is my first measure of a dealer. My second measure is shipping - quickness and quality of packaging. My third measure is the quality of the knife. Not the design or materials - that is the maker's purview. Rather, the quality of the knife as described. There are dealers that simply don't spend the time evaluating the knife for defects. In fact, dealers that sell both new (from the maker) and old (pre-owned) take very little ownership of the quality of the knife, in my experience.


Although I have never used a consignment site, I have bought "consigned" knives from Bob Neal and Julie at Arizona Custom Knives. Both have easy to navigate sites, although the quality of their photos is not the best out there. If someone wants to run a quality consignment site, they should look at Knifeart.com or Truenorthknives.com - by far and away the best quality photos and easiest to navigate.
 
2knife said:
A.G. Russell (the cutting edge), you might try Northwest knives. One thing some of the sites will do, if your knives do not sell they reserve the right to lower the price in increments. If you want to pull your knives off the site because they don't sell, you might get stuck with a fee. Depends on who the maker is, I would investigate WHERE that maker has a market and try to tap into it first. There's always ebay.

David
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Thanks for mentioning the Cutting Edge, are you aware that each month when we post new knives on our http://cuttingedge.com web site we notify 60,000 of our people that they have been posted.

Are you aware that we are once again mailing catalogs , now all in color?
 
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