First sale

S

Sharpe5097

Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Messages
316
How nice do your handmade knives have to be to start selling them. Some pics of first sold knives would help me gauge if mine are even close yet. I have 3 that i am finshing up and i will post pics when done.
 
A pass around would give you honest feedback if you are willing to put one out there.
 
I'm with John on this one. I gave away many knives at first to friends and family. I still give new models away if I know I will get good feedback from a knowledgeable user (for instance, a kitchen knife to a chef). I figured it was time to start charging for knives when people I didn't know well (friends of friends, or friends of family who had my knives) started reaching out to me to buy knives. They had seen my work first hand and at least handled it and thought it was worth paying for. So I started charging. My first 3.5" hunters when for $75. They now start at $120. Some of the increase reflects my increased skill, my move to Stainless, but mostly because I couldn't keep up with demand. The market bears the price I charge.
 
I sold early knives to local hunters and cooks as “testers” for material costs. I got feedback on the first 30 or 40 knives before I started selling as “real” knives. Look in the for sale section and see what is being sold, not offered, at what price. Remember, if you put your name on it, someone will see that knife next year, the year after etc. and think that is your skill level. I personally wouldn’t sell a knife that I didn’t know I had the heat treat and geometry dialed in on. Customers can’t see that at a glance, but they can see fit and finish issues, and often judge on that parameter. I also got a lot of feedback from people who received knives on birthdays and Christmas from me. Don’t rush to sell. A bad reputation is hard to break.
 
I ended up selling my second fixed blade, and continued to sell from there.

Here are my 2nd, 3rd, and the 4th knives I made. O1 tool steel, micarta, brass corby bolts. These were done on my 1x30, before I went to 2x72. I sold them for $150.

2017-05-07 03.44.00 1 (1).jpg

IMG_20170521_164623_730 (1).jpg

IMG_20170521_164453_813 (1).jpg
 
I have done about 30 knives so far, and I still have no way to mark them. It just seems like an etching setup falls short on the priority list of tools I want/need.
 
bmilleker said:
I have done about 30 knives so far, and I still have no way to mark them. It just seems like an etching setup falls short on the priority list of tools I want/need.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing, but when I finally pulled the trigger on one I wished I had done it way earlier!

I bought an Etch-O-Matic (http://www.etch-o-matic.com/) starter kit for $80 and it has been worth every penny. I highly recommend it.
Oh yeah, and a good set of stencils too. I bought mine from Ernie (http://www.erniesknives.com/knifemaker_stencil.html) and have been very happy with it too.
 
When I started to think about selling my first knife, I looked at it and asked myself if I wanted that to have my name on it years down the road. If not, it became a shop knife. Everyone always want's to get out of paying for a knife by saying 'I just want one of your old knives, or one of your screw ups, it doesn't have to be pretty." I tell them sure you can have one, just as soon as I grind my name off of it.
 
Michael Black said:
I did the same thing, but when I finally pulled the trigger on one I wished I had done it way earlier!

I bought an Etch-O-Matic (http://www.etch-o-matic.com/) starter kit for $80 and it has been worth every penny. I highly recommend it.
Oh yeah, and a good set of stencils too. I bought mine from Ernie (http://www.erniesknives.com/knifemaker_stencil.html) and have been very happy with it too.
Click to expand...
Woh! I have been looking at a Personalizer Plus. Now I need to do some more research between the units.
 
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