Follow the Sheep Horn Fighter Thread

Hi Kevin,

What you and Roger do not see is that you are towards the top of the custom knife collecting world. As such your view of things is in the 20% group.

The 80% group is thinking "For the cost of a couple of those made to order sheaths I could get another knife."

Just two different points of view.

WWG
 
Hi Bob,

You are using the "B" word with application to the pricing of knives. Stop that.

You have to love "newbies". See you are using the left side of your brain. Stop that. You have to use your right side. Let the artist in you go free!

Yes, most makers see what other makers are doing and base their pricing on that.

All joking aside, pricing is one of the most difficult aspects for makers to do. The odd thing is (as the sheep horn knife thread has shown) so many collectors know exactly what the knife should sell for. Why is this? Because they study the market and have a very good understanding of the makers position in that market.

With this years new MS class there will close to or over 100 Master Smiths. So being a MS and $1.00 will now get you a coke (fill in your favorite soft drink).

Imagine in 5-10 years how many MS and JS makers there will be. It will be like being a "Voting" member in the Knifemakers Guild....isn't everyone???

This is why you have to do your homework. You need to determine what knives from a particular maker should sell for. By doing so you increase your chances of buying knives that on one hand appeal to you and on the other hand will maintain or possibly gain in value. You cannot expect the makers to do this.

To me pricing knives is simple. But then again if I were to try and make a knife Im sure makers would tell me "why are you having such a hard time with that...its simple." And they would be right.

Things are simple when you have years of experience doing something.

W
 
I agree that hunters should come with sheaths. I have a many large bowies priced well over $1,500.00. I don't care about sheaths for most of them. The exception would be Morans with wood lined sheaths or a style like a dogbone or dagger with a metal sheath. Jim Treacy
 
Hi Jim,

There is always that 20%. Such as a sheath for a Moran. Oddly enough with some older knives especially Military knives, the sheath can be worth as much if not more than the knife.

W
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
This is why I go out of my way to let people know I don't carry:

...

Any knife with Giraffe Bone

...
Click to expand...

Is this is a newer policy? I know of at least one pice, a nice J. White bowie, with a giraffe handle...

...wonder where that one eventually ended up ;)
 
I guess Mr. Williams' knife has actually appreciated and the fluke price drop was just due to large institutional investors dumping inventory on the (Exchange) market. :)
 
Hi Gaussian,

Are you saying I sold you a White with a Giraffe bone handle? Was that an order?

I just double checked my web site, I don't see on there there.

W
 
Hi Joss,

Mike @ RCK has always had an interesting "slant" on pricing. Give it a week, the price will come down and then the knife will show up on Ebay.

W
 
Hi Gaussian,

That was an order for a client...I put it on the web site just to show one of John's styles.

However, in light of what I have written I will remove that knife from my site.

Thanks for pointing that out. Offensive photo removed.

W
 
WWG -

I apologize if I put you on the spot. Was asking simply out of curiousity, as I'm increasingly torn on the whole GB issue. Though this is probably a topic better left for the GB thread.
 
Hi Gaussian,

No problems, you didn't put me on the spot. It was best to make clear to those reading the thread that the GB handled Bowie on my site was in fact an order.

I understand what the word "custom" means in custom knives. FWIW I don't care for "penny" guards either. But a lot of ABS makers use them and it seems this type of guard is not a "deal breaker" for a lot of collectors.

What was most important is that the client got what they wanted.

W
 
In this thread you read mild criticism of a very fine knife, and comments about the maker interms of what they did right, but with more of a slant to what they did wrong.

But when you look at the facts and figures in the thread however you see the following:

Knife has been sold 5 times that we know of:
Margin from the transactions (excluding the knife maker) = $550 across 3 individuals.
Loss from the transaction = $675
Potential future margin = $450 (max)
(based on assumptions and estimates in the thread).

So if this knife sells for the current dealer price it will have contributed $325 GROWTH to the custom knife market. If it now sells for only $925 it will have maintained the value of the market.

Also it will have made between $700 and $1000 margin for the people in this thread (excluding the maker).

I think we should be thanking Mike and getting a few more knives from him! :thumbup:

For the record Mike Williams makes an incredibly nice knife, and has an ability to forge a large blade with superb balance and speed ..... the essence of the Bowie : Most people in this thread have confirmed that. I have a knife of his in my collection that is in my top 5.

Cheers,

Stephen
 
Hi Stephen,

You are betting on the potential of this knife being sold for a particular profit.

I appreciate what you are trying to do. Just seems odd that a "patron of the arts" is looking at this with a "investment" eye.

As I wrote before, Mike is an excellent knife maker and a great guy. However, overpricing his knives have lead to his knives being slow to sell in the after market. When they do sell they are at a below retail price.

When you own your own business everything he business does, good, bad or indifferent is your responsibility.

As a maker in this very competitive and now information filled environment.
It is incumbent on the maker to pay attention to what is going on with their knives. To say you can't influence your knives in the after market is the artist speaking not the business man. Come June there will be close to 100 Master Smiths. Sorry you no longer get a particular price just because you are a Master Smith.

Stephen your "spin" on this is incorrect. Do you really think all of those people who currently have Mike's knives that they can't sell, even at a loss want to thank him?

I have had knives on order with Mike for 18 months. When I contact him there are only excuses why he can't build 2 hunters. It is at this point that the maker is telling me they have hit a plateau and will probably remain a "hobby" maker. A talented maker, but not the less a hobbyist. Perhaps I am wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

Lastly, how do you think this thread will help Mike's sales? Particularly on the sheep horn handled fighter?

The majority of the well respected forged blade buyers seem to value the knife in the $850 - $900 range. If I was a buyer thinking about buying the knife. I would have to reconsider this purchase.

W
 
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