Bewildered

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
47,357
I posted my little ST24 over in the sale section and haven't gotten one offer on it. What is puzzling me is that, while it has not worked at a sale item, it seems to be working as an advertising vehicle. I have gotten one firm order on a cutting comp/camp knife from someone who saw the post and another inquiry on some other styles that I had posted on my website. Not that I am complaining about orders, but what's up with that? lol:D
 
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jdm61 said:
I posted my little ST24 over in the sale section and haven't gotten one offer on it. What is puzzling me is that, while it has not worked at a sale item, it seems to be working as an advertising vehicle. I have gotten one firm order on a cutting comp/camp knife from someone who saw the post and another inquiry on some other styles that I had posted on my website. Not that I am complaining about orders, but what's up with that? lol:D
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Hi Joe.
I'm not bewildered at all. As I have stated many times, and have been blasted for such; "collectors are absolutely fascinated with ordering custom knives".
That's probably to a great extent why makers waiting list are SO long or even to the point of being un-manageable for some makers.

Here's another typical example that I have already shared with a few of you.
On Saturday morning at the Blade Show, I was standing at a maker's table admiring a wide range of his models for sale (a very well known maker, who everyone always says immediately sells out at shows) when a collector approached and ask the maker if he still had a five year waiting list as he wanted to order a knife. The maker very politely said he had stopped quoting delivery times, but I have six here you can buy today. The collector seemed bewildered and quietly walked away.

Now I realize, this collector may not have had the money to purchase at that moment, or possibly other reasons for not making an immediate purchase, but my point is that it seems we are far more willing to order knives for tomorrow than to buy knives today. Some collectors have 25-35 knives on order. This is not helping the custom's secondary market.
 
Folks may be tapped out at the moment blade just finished and then you have all the dealers posting knives purchased from makers. The market is a bit flooded at the moment.

Good luck
Spencer
 
Well, I am not one that subscribes to the "collectors have too many knives on order" theory. Nor do I care to enter that debate again. Last time someone ran a poll of how many knives collectors had on order, it sure didn't support that premise.

About your knife - first of all it's a great looking piece and very attractively priced. I would hazard a couple guesses:

1) Post-BladeShow brokedness. I know that I am tapped and I know that I am not alone.

2) Moran-style: not everyone digs it. I saw a couple very nicely done Moran-inspired pieces at Blade that were still around on Sunday morning. They may have sold, but they were not by far the first to sell for given makers. If your name's not Jay Hendrickson, you probably won't make a living turning out knives in this style. This is not a commentary on Moran originals. And FWIW, I think the ST-24 is perhaps the most beautiful fighter design ever.

3) Dude - you posted it yesterday. A lot of good knives don't sell immediately and weekends are slower on the forums than weekdays.

Roger
 
Joe, for every knife I sell here on BF I generally get about 5-6 inquiries. So in my experience its a common and positive aspect of being a paid "maker" and selling a few knives here.
 
Kevin Jones said:
..............Some collectors have 25-35 knives on order. This is not helping the custom's secondary market.........
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Or the maker's primary market!
Kevin, I had a customer who "liked" about 6 of my knives and said he would have been happy with any one of them. But, he chose a blade profile from one, and handle profile from another, the handle material that was on a different one, and a guard configuration from anther one!
It didn't get me a sale at the show, but I was grateful for the order.
But you are right - "collectors are absolutely fascinated with ordering custom knives".
And you know what - I guess that's understandable.
I lay awake in bed at night and imagine this "knife" in my head. The next day, I have the opportunity to walk into my shop and start working on it. Customers have the same thing in their heads! But, most collectors/buyers/customers don't have the option of walking into their shop and making it.
So, they call their favorite maker!
No wonder there are lots of knives on order.
 
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RogerP said:
Well, I am not one that subscribes to the "collectors have too many knives on order" theory. Nor do I care to enter that debate again. Last time someone ran a poll of how many knives collectors had on order, it sure didn't support that premise.

About your knife - first of all it's a great looking piece and very attractively priced. I would hazard a couple guesses:

1) Post-BladeShow brokedness. I know that I am tapped and I know that I am not alone.

2) Moran-style: not everyone digs it. I saw a couple very nicely done Moran-inspired pieces at Blade that were still around on Sunday morning. They may have sold, but they were not by far the first to sell for given makers. If your name's not Jay Hendrickson, you probably won't make a living turning out knives in this style. This is not a commentary on Moran originals. And FWIW, I think the ST-24 is perhaps the most beautiful fighter design ever.

3) Dude - you posted it yesterday. A lot of good knives don't sell immediately and weekends are slower on the forums than weekdays.

Roger
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True about the style, although the ST24 seems to be the exception for some folks. But it had to be made! One must pay homage at some point to Mr. Bill:D Post show brokedness seems to be an issue on both sides of the Atlantic. My pals on BB are still recovering from Knives UK back in the beginning of May.:eek: STeven told me a while back that I should make more of those southwest bowies and I have two of them ordered, so point taken. The other ones that I got inquiries on were the spearpoint stag bowie and amboyna bowie on my website and the unfinished perfromance test knife. It takes a little while to figure out this whole market thang:D The fact that I am not a well establish maker and do not have a backlog of orders also makes it kind of weird in that I have to make "spec" knives some of which I get stuck with, sell cheap or give away as birthday presents to relatives...lol.
 
Joe,

I think that everyone being tapped out after Blade is definitely a factor.

I like Moran Knives and think that the ST-24 is the top of the line.

I think that you priced the knife too low. A knife like the ST-24 which has a 9 3/4" blade forged out of W2 round stock is worth more than you are asking even though you do not yet have your JS ranking. You are not yet a household name, but you are pretty well known on Bladeforums and the work that you post appears to be getting better with each knife.

I see many new knife makers who price their work too high in my opinion, but if you price it too low people might wonder if there is something wrong with it.

Just my opinion, Jim Treacy
 
Karl touched on something that is true with me a lot of times. I may like a knife, but I may also want a part of it to be different than the knife shown. For me most of the time it's the actual materials used. I've asked a maker to do the same knife but in carbon steel instead of damascus, or the same knife but with a piece of wood of my own choosing. Sometimes it comes to a minor design change too, like a single guard instead of double guard, stuff like that.
 
jjtjr said:
Joe,

I think that everyone being tapped out after Blade is definitely a factor.

I like Moran Knives and think that the ST-24 is the top of the line.

I think that you priced the knife too low. A knife like the ST-24 which has a 9 3/4" blade forged out of W2 round stock is worth more than you are asking even though you do not yet have your JS ranking. You are not yet a household name, but you are pretty well known on Bladeforums and the work that you post appears to be getting better with each knife.

I see many new knife makers who price their work too high in my opinion, but if you price it too low people might wonder if there is something wrong with it.

Just my opinion, Jim Treacy
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There is something wrong with it....I made it...lol. It's pretty tough coming inot the bladesmithing game nowadays. The bar has been set so high that stuff you would have been okay selling 10 years ago goes now ends in the garbage or the ever expanding "shop knife" drawer.:eek: Some makers have said that one way to get rolling is to braoden your market and make some users at reasonable prices. I see a lot of my pals doing that and I plan to put some ads out in the next couple of months. The problem with this "hobby" is that it is tough to leave it at that. You see what everyone else is doing and want to move up to the next level.
 
I bet it would have sold faster if you priced it 100 bucks higher.
 
Grapevine said:
Karl touched on something that is true with me a lot of times. I may like a knife, but I may also want a part of it to be different than the knife shown. For me most of the time it's the actual materials used. I've asked a maker to do the same knife but in carbon steel instead of damascus, or the same knife but with a piece of wood of my own choosing. Sometimes it comes to a minor design change too, like a single guard instead of double guard, stuff like that.
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Isn't that exactly what makes a custom knife "custom"?

Roger
 
It just sold, so disregard all previous whining.......that is all:D
 
Lorien said:
I bet it would have sold faster if you priced it 100 bucks higher.
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Good point.
I know from my experience in buying/selling classic cars that offering too low can be the kiss of death in moving a nice car. Serious collectors usually know what certain models bring and there's not many "deals" in that industry.
 
Kevin Jones said:
Good point.
I know from my experience in buying/selling classic cars that offering too low can be the kiss of death in moving a nice car. Serious collectors usually know what certain models bring and there's not many "deals" in that industry.
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I was duely chastised for lowballing by a couple of fellow makers:eek::D But then again, "what to charge" is one of the most commonly asked questions by new makers and definitive answers are few and far between.:D
 
Lorien said:
I bet it would have sold faster if you priced it 100 bucks higher.
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Theres alot to be said for the good old "$20 one-pound bags of sand will always sell faster than $5 one-pound bags of sand"

Sometimes a crazy steal of a price makes people wonder "what am I missing here...."
 
jdm61 said:
I was duely chastised for lowballing by a couple of fellow makers:eek::D But then again, "what to charge" is one of the most commonly asked questions by new makers and definitive answers are few and far between.:D
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I agree Joe, pricing is a slippery slope, and not just for new makers.

Think about it, whenever a knife is priced/sold it's has an affect not just on the maker/seller but other makers, dealers and collectors who have that maker's knives in their collections.

Here's a thread from a while back where a lot of makers weighted in on pricing theories.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=484630

Good thread.

And Joe, thanks for joining the CKCA. :thumbup: :)
 
Hey Joe i think you may have just discovered a new marketing method.... whine about your knife not selling, post a link to said knife, and there ya go.... sold!
 
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