Difficult customers and pricing knives.

T

TheNuragicForge

Joined
Nov 26, 2025
Messages
1
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.
 
JoeBusic said:
"What's your budget, so I can figure out what can I make for you?!" After s discussion, usually people are willing to pay more than anticipated.
Click to expand...
I like that! Let them mention a price they wish to pay, then show/explain what you can make for that price, even if it's only a handle-less neck knife type if they happen to really low-ball on their desire to pay.
 
TheNuragicForge said:
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
Click to expand...
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Talking about a budget, and what they can expect is the best start of the conversation....also I think we are fortunate Here as so many people understand the value, and work going into it....

Years ago I did a charity knife with 100% of the sale going to my local humane socity.... It was for what I felt was a bargain at $300.
The potential owner grumbled about how it's so much more expensive than the rest of their knives, but they loved the look and the fancy wood handle I used.

Well, years later they confessed that now, After using it, they said they would pay A Lot more now....they just didn't know what a good knife was like, back then.
-theve come back to me numerous times since then.

So maybe there is a "learning curve" for customers?
Its up to Us to help educate them.


Also, reading people is a skill, and takes practice. I don't chase after everyone, in fact I try to stay away, most of the time......I'd rather work with people who are seeking Me out..... And the Old rule applies..... "If you are asking how much something costs, you probably can't afford it...."
-it's harsh, but true. Words I kinda live by Myself, even.... :/

Edit to Add:
I agree about how it's bad to undersell.
The maker might not feel confident in their work, and don't wanna offend the Real Makers? But, Don't Do That. You Should be selling to the comparable work.

Don't sell a $200 knife for $75. You are ruining the chances of the Pros making a living..... If your knife looks the same, quality wise. Charge the same. It also forces Them to step-up their game, to make their work outshine yours.

Way underselling them lowers the perceived value of all the Makers.

If your work can't compete, Don't sell it.
(In My opinion)
 
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Crag the Brewer said:
Don't sell a $200 knife for $75. You are ruining the chances of the Pros making a living..... If your knife looks the same, quality wise. Charge the same. It also forces Them to step-up their game, to make their work outshine yours.
Click to expand...
Another thing I explain to our craftspeople when they 'balk' at this thinking with comments like, "how can I charge similar prices as a master smith?" is, that the master probably took x-hours to make this and thus is making $75/hour, where as a novice you took 2 weeks to do something of equal quality, and so you are only making $10/hour right now.
 
For friends I assume you guestimate a price before a tool hits a piece of metal?

I mean I would accept any price in good faith. (I may not buy it because it is to expensive. But I would accept the cost is the cost)

Otherwise. I used to sell wine. And it was often how I told people. If I let on that I thought it was expensive. (Which it was) then they thought it was expensive.
 
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I don't know what to tell you about pricing except to say that you need to sell for enough to at least replace the materials that you use. Just this summer I made a chopper for a friend of mine where I supplied a pair of Sanbar stag scales that were really nice. I had them sitting around for quite some time waiting for the perfect project and this was it. I conjured up a price in my head of what they were worth and brother was I wrong. I probably can't replace those at any cost.

Regarding Stacy's comment about giving knives to family or friends, I have on several occasions given some really nice blades to people who didn't ask for them (and apparently didn't want them) and not even gotten a thank you for them. I decided that even if I sell them really cheap, at least the buyer actually wants to own what I have made.
 
one of the most important considerations that go into my pricing is the potential resale value- I do not want my work to ever have to sell for less than what I charge my patrons
 
JoeBusic said:
"What's your budget, so I can figure out what can I make for you?!" After a discussion, usually people are willing to pay more than anticipated.
Click to expand...
This is exactly how I do it with friends and coworkers who insist on paying me to make them a knife or some forged work. I do it more so so they understand how much it would actually cost. Makes everything so much more smooth.

But 90% of the time I end up just giving things away, especially at my skill level I don’t feel comfortable charging family and friends most of the time.

Giving pricing for sharpening jobs is much easier for me to do I find. Virtually nothing as far as material costs for me doing free hand. so $5, $10, $15 depending on how difficult it’s going to be and how many knives/tools are being sharpened. I just go with what sounds fair then have them pay half of that price if I’m unsure of how to price something significantly more difficult.
 
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