Do any of you fellow knifemakers have to deal with this? *are these people serious?*

Status
Not open for further replies.
Dave Behrens

Dave Behrens

Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
924
On more than one occasion, I have posted a knife that I made in the For Sale forum and someone contacts me through PM, VM, email or even a post in that thread, and asks me if I will severely alter a finished knife, and sell it to them for a fraction of the asking price.

Mind that there is nothing wrong with the knife, the grinds are good, so is the edge, sheath, point, handle etc.

I have been asked to remove elaborate graphic coating that took 2-3 days to complete, completely change the geometry of the knife i.e. drop point to clip, remove swedge etc.

Someone actually requested that I basically strip a finished knife back to just a blank and sell it to them for a quarter of the price. Which would have involved removing the handle and pins, stripping the entire coating(6 layer)and replace with satin finish, regrinding the profile to a different shape and switching the full height convex grind to a flat grind, add a re-curve.

Are these people *blanking* serious? How the hell do their minds work. "Oh yeah its so easy, and ruin a finished knife as sell it for next to nothing, " as we just pull these blades out of thin *blanking* air.

I have been getting bombarded with these idiotic requests lately(more than usual), how do you other makers deal with this? I have resulted to just flat out ignoring most of them.

Not to mention the seemingly increased level of severe low-ball offers, or trade offers even though NO TRADES is listed in the thread, not to mention if I wanted to trade I would have posted in the For Trade *blanking* forum.

RANT OVER!!!
 
I am surprised, I had a few ask about alterations and I would offer to make another knife for them, I don't believe I have ever heard back. I have had some offers but I think they were all fair and some were accepted if the knife did not sell.
 
I think the more appropriate route would be to tell them "No, I will sell this knife as is, but I will commission a project targeting your specifications for [Insert Price Here], and you can expect a fit and finish similar to the knife you're looking at, but I can't guarantee it will be exactly what you're expecting. If you're interested I expect [Insert deposit amount here] by [insert date here] and you can expect a finished blade by [insert timeframe here]".
 
A Justice said:
I think the more appropriate route would be to tell them "No, I will sell this knife as is, but I will commission a project targeting your specifications for [Insert Price Here], and you can expect a fit and finish similar to the knife you're looking at, but I can't guarantee it will be exactly what you're expecting. If you're interested I expect [Insert deposit amount here] by [insert date here] and you can expect a finished blade by [insert timeframe here]".
Click to expand...

that how i handle it but i hardly ever get asked
 
That's a new one to me. I do sometimes get requests for huge knives with premium materials and every option imaginable, with a budget of under $100. I suspect the average age of such folks is somewhere between 13 and just plain dumb.
 
Sounds like you are being trolled brother.
 
A Justice said:
"No, I will sell this knife as is, but I will commission a project targeting your specifications for [Insert Price Here], and you can expect a fit and finish similar to the knife you're looking at, but I can't guarantee it will be exactly what you're expecting. If you're interested I expect [Insert deposit amount here] by [insert date here] and you can expect a finished blade by [insert timeframe here]".
Click to expand...

That is just my point though, if someone asks me if I can make a similar piece for with a few alterations, and their price request is reasonable, I will oblige more often then not. That is different than requesting I destroy a finished knife and sell them the blank at a 75% markdown.
 
AVigil said:
Sounds like you are being trolled brother.
Click to expand...

I wish, I could accept that more than a totally serious request like the ones I have described. A troll can be ignored, these outlandish alterations, trade offers and super low offers just insult my intelligence.
 
I don't get that here, but I don't sell here.


Try putting anything on kijiji / craigs list doing some housecleaning - 20 BS offers to the serious one.

They all want it for a fraction of the asking price (which is already fraction of the new price) and they want me to deliver it.




All I can think of is that they want if free to resell it, they are 12 with no money or car, or it's just plain entertainment and they don't really want it.

Negotiation is sport for some people,

I hate those people.



I just skimmed the last couple of pages of your for sale ads and it looks like you do lots of regrinds and painting of cold steel knives

If you are known for those mods, maybe some of those requests are reasonable to expect, not rework the one you have for sale, but that's just describing the way they want it

I for one wouldn't care for a blade painted up in seven layers of paint, but a bead blasted coating strip might appeal to me.
 
Last edited:
I tell them that the knife costs what it costs and any further work just adds to the price. They go away never to be heard from again.
 
1) I think your rant was a little too long, cut it down by about a third
2) punctuation was a little off, so make some adjustments there, a little cut down towards the end, round the argument out on it's sharp edges.
3) I feel like the 'style' of the blade, I mean your post, wasn't really exactly what I was looking for, so you should change up some of the tenses and maybe streamline the paragraphs down to a fully convexed point.

then you've got yourself a rant my man. a rant I'd buy. for 1/4 to 1/3 of whatever you are currently selling it for.

let me know.
:)


I keed, I keed. we all have our idiots. yours are just coming in bunches right now. it'll pass.
 
That's happened to me a couple times. I don't know about the rest of you, but I like doing twice the work for half the money.:rolleyes:
 
Dave Behrens said:
as we just pull these blades out of thin *blanking* air.
Click to expand...

I believe that this is a big part (if not all) of the problem. I have no idea what it takes for you, or anyone else, to make a knife, but I know what it takes for me. I would probably be inclined to tell that person, but I've dealt with a lot of knuckle heads, and like you, I know it's not worth the effort.

I had two custom knives made recently. I had my choice of many different handle materials, steel type, grind, thickness, basically anything you'd expect in a custom knife. Over the couple of months that it took to make them I questioned some of my decisions and wanted to revise some of my original choices. Of course I didn't. I wouldn't do that because it's not right! It's also not right to ask for a heavy discount. Honestly, I don't know how some of you continue to take orders. There's no way I could do that.

Maybe ask him to make a knife, then get back to you. Of course he won't, but if he did, he'd see just how rediculous his "offer" is.
 
While there is no cure for stupid

PLEASE NOTE: this knife is offered for sale (no trades) at the price listed. Additional work can be done to change the knife for an additional fee.
Click to expand...
 
Ask them if they think Michael Angelo would put a mustache on the Mona Lisa.
 
I like to ask them to take the handle off, add a more expensive handle material, then cover that up with grip tape, round the spine, but add aggressive jimping, and then offer 1/10 the asking price.



For some reason I don't get any knives this way..........................
 
I was a 'special order manufacturer' in the jewelry industry for 30 years. And in those 30 years I had to
fire some customers due to outrageous requests for modifications after the customer had 'approved' the design. Any slight modifications would be done at no charge. It was myself that determined what was a slight modification. Anything that required more that 1/2 hr work on my part took the modification out of the "slight" modification" and would be charged for at a 'wholesale' dealer price.

If it was my screw-up, all additional work was at my expense. This included materials also.

One case comes to mind that had a surprising result. Lady designs an UGLY ring with multiple stones. I tell her that the design won't work, but she was a 'Doctor's wife' with a lot of money and a standing in her economic community. I made the ring, she picked it up and said she loved it. A week later the problems started.

She returned asking me to switch stone around and make the ring two-tone. When I told her the charges, she went ballistic claiming to tell the world and ruin my business. I ended up throwing her out of my store. A short time later, a friend of hers comes in and says I am being bad-mouthed by this women---but that I shouldn't worry about it because 'everyone' knows what a beeach this women is and nobody takes her ranting seriously as SHE has a bad reputation of 'bashing' people. I felt much better.
 
Dave Behrens said:
On more than one occasion, I have posted a knife that I made in the For Sale forum and someone contacts me through PM, VM, email or even a post in that thread, and asks me if I will severely alter a finished knife, and sell it to them for a fraction of the asking price.

Mind that there is nothing wrong with the knife, the grinds are good, so is the edge, sheath, point, handle etc.

I have been asked to remove elaborate graphic coating that took 2-3 days to complete, completely change the geometry of the knife i.e. drop point to clip, remove swedge etc.

Someone actually requested that I basically strip a finished knife back to just a blank and sell it to them for a quarter of the price. Which would have involved removing the handle and pins, stripping the entire coating(6 layer)and replace with satin finish, regrinding the profile to a different shape and switching the full height convex grind to a flat grind, add a re-curve.

Are these people *blanking* serious? How the hell do their minds work. "Oh yeah its so easy, and ruin a finished knife as sell it for next to nothing, " as we just pull these blades out of thin *blanking* air.

I have been getting bombarded with these idiotic requests lately(more than usual), how do you other makers deal with this? I have resulted to just flat out ignoring most of them.

Not to mention the seemingly increased level of severe low-ball offers, or trade offers even though NO TRADES is listed in the thread, not to mention if I wanted to trade I would have posted in the For Trade *blanking* forum.

RANT OVER!!!
Click to expand...

There are always Pin Heads or children that really have no intention of buying that just want to yank someones chain.

When I was a child the prank was to call a Cigar store and ask them if they had Sir Walter Raleigh in a can? The would say yes, and we would say, Well you better let him out now and hang up!

You are getting the modern day version of phone a prank.:D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top