Flavor of the month

Sonnydaze said:
I read somewhere that "a fool and his money are soon..." Forgot the rest.
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A fool and his money were lucky to have ever met in the first place.

Yeah, I prefer to stick with proven builders or companies. New guys that are really good will rise to the top without Instagram.
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I take the opposite approach. I bought a custom one off Tom Mayo before he got big/name recommendation. Wouldn't have been able to afford that knife later. I also bought an H.A. Martin before he began selling his knives exclusively through Green Top in Richmond. My Martin knife is of same quality but cost me about half what it would now. I recommend buying handmade knives or custom knives from makers before their names get big (IF[/if] they ever do get big). You'll be able to tell the quality by handling their knives (rather than by recognizing their makers' marks).
 
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leghog said:
I think every knife maker should sell his products for as much as he can get for them. Whether the knife is his first or his thousandth. No one has to pay his price, but if people are willing to pay it, more power to him.
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Making knives is not about profits for me. As long as I break even, I'm happy. I want everyone in our community to be able to afford a CM Tanto that is entirely handmade and freehand ground.
 
Charlie Mike said:
Making knives is not about profits for me. As long as I break even, I'm happy. I want everyone in our community to be able to afford a CM Tanto that is entirely handmade and freehand ground.
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Yup. You set the price for your own reasons. Same with the guy who sets his price for as much as he can possibly make. Nothing wrong with either approach.
 
stabman said:
Seems like it.
Then again, people buy modern art, some of which is not good at all.
I went to a gallery where some of the pieces were plywood that was spray-painted, glued onto a spray-painted plywood background.
Simple paint colour scheme too...nothing complex.
That will be $4500 please. :eek:

These were not really well-known artists either, just folks with the balls to charge that kind of cash...
I might have to go make some art! :)
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I think this is a really good analogy for this phenomenon. A friend of mine does beautiful, realistic paintings. Mostly old west or modern ranch type subject matter. Last I knew she was only getting a few hundred dollars for them, not much at all considering the amount of time one takes to paint.

In contrast, I saw a pic of a painting selling for HUGE bucks in a gallery. Literally just a canvas painted red with two vertical lines painted down it. Anybody with access to masking tape could have made it in a day. Drying time included. Someone had convinced enough people really worried about impressing others that others would be impressed by that particular guy's work to skyrocket the price though. It's only real value is telling people how much you paid for it in order to awe them. Has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the finished product.

I think the same thing is happening with the uber-expensive blades. I constantly see much nicer knives on the custom exchange on here than most of the flavor of the week makers do for far less money. But, their business is making beautiful, well designed knives, not impressing upon impressionable people how much their stuff will impress all those who need impressing. Hype always seems more profitable than actual talent.
 
Some new makers would probably consider using social media to publicize a few "amazing deals" and ridiculous prices that "people pay" for their product as a matter of "creative marketing campaign on social media". I would take it all with a grain of salt or simply ignore. But that's just me I suppose: I never spend much time considering how truthful any particular commercial might be, for the general lack of curiosity I guess.
 
Sosa said:
It's not hard to fabricate an imaginary alternate universe online.
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Ha!

That's the thing about "social media"

I am not sure what the original idea was, but that's what it's turned into more often than not.

I have never used any kind of "social media" but I have seen enough through other peoples accounts to realize that it's one big ego stroke.

I really don't understand why nobody seems to be able to be comfortable in their own skin and in what their life is.
This race to be heard, to be more, to be "relevant" in everything must really be distracting from where the real beauty of life is....

I don't know much, but I am sure that life will always be happier for those who can see the importance and beauty in the simple things that are all around us everyday.
 
Not on Social media myself other than Face Book, but that's just mostly with friends that I actually know.

The rest of all that stuff I have no idea.
 
I agree with you CM and I also buy from established makers pretty regularly. Not to say I haven't purchased, and really liked, something from a "new" maker, but not in that price range.

Regarding that particular little cleaver, the asking price is outrageous--to me at least. And I would be confident in saying that once the Instagram hype dies down then good luck reselling it down the line for that price.

A lot of this has to do with the acquired (perceived) "status" that goes with it: "Who got that several thousand dollar knife?" Then the buyer says, "...I picked it up yesterday" Then everyone is saying how they wanted it and how lucky the buyer is for getting it. Ooohs and Aaaahhs ensue. Insta-trolls build the buyer up and he or she sits back and basks in the fakeness of it all. Then the new owner sees blade-play in the "one - off" supposed work of art. Reality comes crashing down. Now the buyer feels bad and the only remedy is another "one- off" to relive the glory days.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
JR88FAN said:
Ha!

That's the thing about "social media"

I am not sure what the original idea was, but that's what it's turned into more often than not.

I have never used any kind of "social media" but I have seen enough through other peoples accounts to realize that it's one big ego stroke.

I really don't understand why nobody seems to be able to be comfortable in their own skin and in what their life is.
This race to be heard, to be more, to be "relevant" in everything must really be distracting from where the real beauty of life is....

I don't know much, but I am sure that life will always be happier for those who can see the importance and beauty in the simple things that are all around us everyday.
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You just posted on a kind of social media and one of the oldest kinds a BBS
 
There are a lot of flashy knives out there that cost 10x more than they should for no good reason. I just bought my first high-end (for me) folder from Andrew Demko and while I think it is definitely worth the price paid, cannot in good conscious ever see myself going over that amount. Heck, I still really love my Kershaw knives that cost less than $100.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
This has been happening on IG for years the first notable one that I distinctly remember was Jake Hoback then, Ramon Chavez, Frank Fisher, Ferrum Forge and now RAD. They prices get hyper inflated because it is the "cool kids" knife and after about 6 months or so the hive-mind that is IG moves on to the next "Big Thing".

I will never understand how these self proclaimed knife people who spend this kind of cash on the in thing of the moment do not even reallize for the going price of one field cleaver they could easily buy two or three Emerson CQC 6's arguably the gold standard in custom knives.

And as to the specifically mentioned IG person in the OP he is in fact responsible for most bigger new makers out there right now weather people realize it or not.
 
Yup... He's like that guy wearing a sportcoat and jeans (with a ponytail for street cred) who signs your band and then makes you tour for years while he cashes in.
 
One thing about that cleaver: the blade hole is where a real cleaver's would be, to hang it on a hook. Not where any one would put it, considering it is a folder.

These forums are the only social media I use, & I'm never going to spend $1000+ on any knife. Some kind of personality cult seems to be in operation.
 
My problem is that you dare point this out, and you have 1-10 fanzees get hysterical.

It's why Knifehaters is so funny to me, and why the knife community seems to have some of their heads up their rectums.
 
Charlie Mike said:
I agree. I been doing this almost 7 years and I made my first $400 knife early 2015.
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25 years and I still haven't broke the $500 mark yet... I hear ya. sometimes ya gotta shake your head at what people put out there ...and worse yet, what people will waste money on.
 
Charlie Mike said:
Making knives is not about profits for me. As long as I break even, I'm happy. I want everyone in our community to be able to afford a CM Tanto that is entirely handmade and freehand ground.
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I'm the same way... I don't make $10 an hour at this. I'm trying to get as many people playing with and using my stuff as possible so I can get the most honest feedback I can. On the other hand... if some wing nut wants to spend $10,000 on a completely useless knife by some other no name maker, who am I to stop them?
 
GermanyChris said:
You just posted on a kind of social media and one of the oldest kinds a BBS
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Agreed, veering off topic a bit I use various forms of social media and it's not to stroke my ego. I post what I want if people don't like it too bad. It's mostly a way to document daily events and share my small slice of this vast world.

Any way back on topic, it all comes down to the old adage, "It's worth what someone will pay".
 
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