Do you buy from knife dealers that don't know knives?

geegee

geegee

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Apr 26, 2002
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I don't why this occurred to me, but from a salesman's perspective, here goes. On Saturday I went to a gun show and began eyeballing some knives at a dealer's table. There were a couple of nice looking Sebenza's, so I asked the dealer what type of steel the blade was. The answer? GB -42. Huh? I wanted to say, "You mean BG-42?", but I thought better of it. This is not someone who has a few blades to sell, by the way. The customs and high end production knives may very well have outnumbered the typical productions, e.g. the BM's and Spydies. I'm talking a lot of great blades. But how can you be representing so many great names in knives, and not be straight on some basic facts? I'd be embarrassed if I couldn't do a better job representing what I sell.

There's another dealer I've bought a lot of knives from over the years, who also has made some similarly uninformed statements that kind of left me wondering if he ever reads a knife magazine to stay current. He'll talk about prices, and what's new from the distributors, but has rarely made a comment that made me think he's as passionate about knives as the folks on this forum.

Kind of makes me think these folks somehow got into their business by chance, without having any real interest in what they sell. Am I alone in this observation? :confused: geegee
 
I ran across a "cheeky fellow" at a flea market who was selling cheap imported junk. You know, the kind of rubbish found in the BudK catalogue. He had a few Master Cutlery/Tom Anderson designed folders and was telling onlookers that they were handmade. He also had cheap Chinese OTF autos and was claiming that they were Solingen steel blades and that they regularly sell for over $100.00. He did have 2 reputable knives: a Schrade Old Timer and Gerber LST (which he said were Buck knives). Talk about being knowledgable about the items you sell!! !I was really tempted tell him that he should be ashamed of himself for misleading people like that, but after I saw the idiots that were buying into his crap, I thought "Oh well." When their $8.00 "handmade" or $10.00 "Solingen" automatic breaks apart or makes them loose a finger two, they'll think twice before buying that junk again.
 
Each time I go to my local knife store I always spend about half an hour or so teaching them about the knives they've got in their shelves.

I honestly don't understand how people can sell stuff they know so little about.
Atleast they know to just let me look around without bugging me with their useless sales-talk.
 
geegee,maybe the dealer was a little confused,had a bad day,dislecsic(spl).I know when it comes to auto parts/plumbing I get confused on what the thing a ma jig is really called but when I get the parts home I do know how to fix the problem.Same thing happens when dealing with (fill in the blank) penny nails.tom.:eek:
 
deputy tom: Yup, I considered that. I guess my reaction comes from the fact that it wasn't the first time I walked away from that table with that impression (again, I guess it was just a salesman's intuitive response to someone trying to gloss over their lack of knowledge-the BS Meter went off). geegee
 
There's a knife store local to me (the same one that treated me like crap, go look up the thread in Community) that I went to the other day. I really went there to waste their time and ask stupid questions to pay them back :D, but the guy annoyed me and was stupid to begin with, so I decided to look superior. Asked him how much the Native was, and he asked me which one the Native was. :rolleyes: This happened with some more Spydies, some BM's and the Kershaws. The only knives he really knew were the CRKT M16 series.

I guarantee you that I will not buy from that store - ever.

Ash
 
I hate it when the guys at the knife shows don't know what they are talking about. Half the time when I ask to see a particular model, they randomly point to every knife in the case, asking if thats the one I want. Then they give some sad speach about how this knife is great, this steel is the best, etc and have no idea what they are talking about. Some of the stuff they say is just crazy. Then you have the dealers that try to sell you knock off knives claiming "they're as good as the real thing".

Sometimes there will be a dealer that knows his stuff...maybe 1 out of 10. I enjoy talking knives with them, and am much more likely to buy their product. Part of the reason I go to knife shows is to talk to someone who knows and cares about knives. If this element is absent, I might as well just order online.
 
Let me say I am not the first one to know knives like some of the people here know knives. :) I learned a lot from magazines, especially Tactical Blade, what little I have read on the web, and my buddy who worked in a knife store. I was lucky to even start my knife collection on a much more conservative budget because of that buddy.

Here's what was really funny... after collecting for a couple of years and gleaning what little education I could get on knives, I was starting to ask questions at my buddy's knife store that his employees couldn't answer.

Bottom line is that I was into it for the joy, passion, and enthusiasm of the subject whereby the knife store employees were just doing their job. I was motivated out of passion - the knife store employees was just trying to get through another day.

For what it's worth, as long as we collectors can keep on appreciating what we like and do best, we can continue to set an example. Possibly even enlighten those who have yet to realize what we do not take for granted.

Keep the faith. :D
 
Sure...if the price is right.

One of the local "sportsman" chain stores has a fair selection of factory knives, with decent prices on some models, but the guys behind the counter don't know squat. I just do my best to ignore their sales pitch, since I usually go there already knowing what I want and what the same knife goes for from an internet dealer (plus shipping).
 
I don't have a problem with it, I hope they have a life outside of work. I don't expect everyone to take the same interest in knives that I have, I do my own research, use the local store to handle the knife and see if I like the feel, and then I order one from the internet. It's not like the majority of these sales people are making huge hourly wages. I'd have to say that many of them are just trying to make it through the day and support themselves, what's wrong with that?
 
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