Do Custom makers hurt themselves..

Aaaagh, good old supply and demand

The forums here are only a microcosm of the knife world. Case knives for instance probably have more collector interest than any other brand in the world, but they do not generate much interest here.

BF/KF tends to be more oriented to the "tactical" and "outdoors" crowd and not to traditional pocketknife or art knife collectors. The relative interest a knife generates here should not be taken as the sole authority of its popularity. I remember a Richard Rogers pearl knife being for sale here recently and it was not "bought immediately." His knives are very much in demand nationally and he seems to win the Blade show "best handmade knife" award every year now. The fact it sold slower than say a Steve Ryan or Ken Onion would here only means that Ryans and Onions are more popular on BF...

I will agree with you though, there are makers whose output seems to outstrip interest in their knives. Part of that could be design related or quality related. You can not rest on your laurels in this business. Overproduction can also be a cause.

The question posed by "underdogizhere" is a good one. If a custom maker has a quantity of the same knife floating around (10, 25, 200?) what determines its secondary value? Well, if it is a series of 25 and there are 26 eager buyers than the price will be good. The larger the production numbers are of the same knife mandates there must be a corresponding increase in the number of eager buyers to maintain its value. The use of manufacturing aids (CNC, lasers etc) throws another wrinkle into the equation

The maker must balance his needs to make a living with the long term (ie higher resale prices = higher demand = more long term business). There will always be a temptation to produce more as custom makers only make money when they first sell a knife. Secondary prices are important to the wise maker, but that does not help him buy food, shelter, and clothes now.

The last thing to consider is that the prices of knives (or any collectible) are highly volatile and can be easily manipulated. The world price of pearl handled knives was driven up by the collecting habits of one man and his death "crashed" that market. What if a collector was faced with a sudden financial crisis and was forced to sell off his collection of 20 Ryans, 20 Emersons, and 20 Onions all at once? Would this have an impact on secondary prices? Something to think about.

Good thing I buy knives as "users"
 
Of course the amount of knives a maker produces will affect the secondary market pricing for those knives. In some cases, very high production has not stopped the knives of a maker from attaining high resale values. As an example, look at Cooper knives. Cooper probably produced more knives than any other maker, maybe ever. Today, his knives are highly collectable. Even saying this, if he had made less knives I am sure they would have a higher resale value.

Ken onion actually produces quite a few knives. It is just that they are so highly in demand that he is years behind in filling his orders. That will always mean a high cost in the secondary market.


Edited because forgetting one little word changed the whole meaning of my post.
 
This is one of those questions that is easy to answer but hard to reason why.The obvious answer is yes, but why is a little tougher to answer.I read something similar to this on another forum.For one thing there is no book that tells us what to charge.You generally have to read magazines, study the forums,go to shows,and talk with makers,collectors and anyone else that will listen.Some veteran makers say charge an hourly rate plus materials, overhead,etc., but with makers coming up that just doesn't always work.Newer makers can rarely put out a knife as quickly as a veteran.Newer makers also very seldom think about secondary markets as selling the knife in the first place is of primary importance.Veterans who have a 4 or 5 year backlog or who go to a show and sell out in an hour can charge what the market will bear at that time.
Sometimes charging a low price can generate sales but also can ultimately lead to the demise of the maker by loading him with a bunch of orders that he is making virtually no money on.Part-time makers can live with this not full-time.
I wish that this was easy to answer,but the fact is all makers did knives for basically free at one time until they have spent time in this endeavor to learn how to make money doing what they love to do.
For those who think that becoming a knifemaker is the road to riches, you had better go to the gas station and get a new map.Money can be made but the trip can be a long one.But I for one will not give it up even though I make some knives for free.IMHO,Dave :)
 
As a knife collector and user, I have noticed that in some cases,not all, that makers that team up with High Production knife companies seem to have a drop in value of their custom pieces on the secondary market. If it is because their name is stamped on $35.00 knives or not I cannot say for sure. It is something to think about. I take my hat off to the makers who did get into the big bucks but, I often wonder if it would be worth it in the long run.

Greg
 
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