Difficult customers and pricing knives.

T

TheNuragicForge

Joined
Nov 26, 2025
Messages
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Hi everyone, I'm new here! ( But no new to knifemaking)
I've always struggled a bit in pricing my knives, especially when I'm building them for people I know or friends.
I've recently built a knife on request to a work mate, and even if he accepted the price he was shocked (maybe believing the knife would have cost less...not sure).
It's a tanto blade, convex and concave beveling in 1095 ( normalised twice, heat treated and 2 cycles of temper for about 61/62 HRC) , rust blued.
Ebony scales,brass and g10 micarta liners.
Brass pins (the blade pin has is 3mm with a 5mm brass insert in the wood)
The selling price was 180 £

I do believe that my price was an undersell already, but I'm still disappointed.

How do you price your knives ?

Bear in mind that I'm not a full time maker but it's just a hobby.

Thanks to everyone

Here some pictures https://files.fm/u/vrs3vmk9nq
 
Welcome Nuragicforge. Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you. By your forum name, I have a guess where you are.

You aren't supposed to discuss prices and sales here unless you have a Knifemaker Level membership. You can discuss how to price them and such, just leave out specific sales related info. Prices and photos of a knife would basically be free advertising. We aren't really militant about it here, but wanted to let you know before this thread gets too deep into sales.

In answer to your question, it really depends on who you are and your level of experience. A European hobby maker could make a really nice kitchen knife and maybe get 100 to 200 euros for it. Benjamin Kamon could make the same knife and get 700 euros for it. Price your knives so they at least repay your materials and some small return on the equipment. As a hobbyist, don't try to factor in your time. Don't expect to make much profit in knifemaking. The saying is, "If you want to make a million euros making knives ... start with 2 million euros."

Knives for friends and family are even harder to price. I have found it is simple to gift them than to sell them to these people.
If selling to a coworker or other person you see regularly, but don't have a close relationship with, about half what you think it would sell for to a stranger is a good starting place.

You asked, so I'll be honest - I would think 180 euros was way too high for that friction folder.
 
Note. I don’t take commissions, only finish a couple knives a year now, mostly for me or as gifts, and changes to UK law make it practically impossible to ship knives internationally, and hard enough domestically that I have lost interest in trying.

Exactly the same situation as I had with a family friend over 15 years back. He had been nagging me to make him something, and when I relented (because I knew I didn’t like doing commissions) he wanted something like a Kabar…because that was what he had had. He had no real need or purpose, said he just wanted one I had made. I told him I had no experience with stacked leather, threaded pommels or fullers, and could offer a hidden tang Bowie style with a double guard, stacked spacer and cocobolo handle, which was still somewhat outside my norms. Still is. He was an accountant, and a long range target shooter, and I thought he understood the price of a custom knife. I did him a what I though a good mates rates deal, think it was £150…and he was shocked, he was expecting about £70m including the custom leather sheath!

His expectations were based on the premise that as a sole craftsman I had no staff wages, expensive tools or overheads like a manufacturer would! I explained cost of tools, materials and consumables, which I had already added up, plus the number of hours doing something stood in a dingy cold garage that he had nagged me for over months. He was given the opportunity to back out since I could sell elsewhere for more.

The situation was set up in part by a knife build for a cousin who was just as vague on spec, saying the same thing about wanting something I had made…but who was thrilled with the knife and glad to pay.
Lesson learned.
Set price expectations at the start! Don’t assume that even if they are in the knife world or a parallel one, that they know the cost of what they are asking for. Especially important for friends and family!

Pricing wise…it’s a comparative thing. What does your work look like compared to others on the market, and what are people charging, and are they or you selling at that price. Find some European makers, there must be forums other than Edgematters in the UK…there are bound to be Instagram pages and individual pages with prices.

In the UK I think the market has changed an lot over the last 10 years. The professional makers are selling fairly simple working knives (albeit very well made) for £325-£650! When they were selling for £250-£400, as a hobby maker I used to be able to sell similar or slightly fancier stuff through forums for £115-£180. Recently I had a nice RWL34 knife sit unsold for months until I ran into someone who took it for £160. meanwhile two O1 knives went unsold till I stuck them on a bring-and-buy stall and knocked them down to £100. The buyers are not on the forums, and I think that makes it harder for the occasional hobby maker to reach them.

Chris
 
Another thing to pay attention to, please don't undercut the market too much. I run a metal shop that has a number of makers and artists, and there is often a temptation for some craftspeople to charge less than the piece is worth in order to have the $ in hand. However, this can set the public up to expect lower prices for hand crafted items.
 
someone once said that it's easier to lower your price than to raise it
 
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