Haggling @ knifeshows...

Ebbtide

Ebbtide

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 20, 1999
Messages
7,954
Is this a no-no for you custom makers?
I'm not much of a haggler, but I was wondering what the protocol is...
TIA,
Ebbtide out.
 
i have been making knives about three years and from my exsperance if someone wants to offer a deal on two knives i may discount up to 15% depending on the knives, and if the person seems like someone who is genuine and might be a long time customer. if their just a grinder forget it!

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When I price a knife I put the lowest possible price on the knife to give my customers the best value so there is simply no where to go by haggling. I suppose I could double the price and haggle but if two customers compare prices one of them comes away feeling that he has been charged too much. No ....too much possibility of offending customers so the price on the knife is what I sell at.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com


 
I agree with George. I price my work based on what I must have. Maybe I'm not as savvy as some, but I do think that providing a quality product, at a fair price is the "right" thing to do.
One thing that has always bothered me is when someone wants "quantity discounts" on hawks, flint strikers, or things of that nature. I often hear "If I buy 10, what kind of a deal will you give me?" My thought is that if I put as much time and effort into making #10, as I did #1, why should there be a discount? I suppose if I were mass producing, that might be something to offer, but on individual, handmade items?

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Ed Caffrey "The Montana Bladesmith"
ABS Mastersmith
www.caffreyknives.com
 
Well - as far as "protocol" goes, ask - all they can say is no.

But George brings up a good point - should you haggle, or set your lowest price from the start?

I set my prices low - but I do leave a little wiggle room, just in case.

I have seen a bunch of people at shows that expect, and will not buy a knife, if they do not get "something" off the posted price. I have been wondering what to do about them myself - and one idea I've come up with is to give them a discount on their next knife from me, as long as it's within one year.

I'm not sure if this will work, but it might be worth a try.

Take care,
Bob

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R.J. Schmidt
http://kukri.itc.virginia.edu
 
As a knife collector, I have Never asked a maker for a discount off the price marked on the knife. I don't want to haggle over a hand made piece of art. The makers price is either reasonable and fair at the marked price, or it's not. I have had makers offer me discounts before, trying to make a sell. But that is Not my intent.

I think Ed and George have the right idea. They need to get a price that reflects their time, experience, and knowledge. I think it must be very hard to sell custom knives. I am reminded of a story about the artist, Gauguin, who was short of money and needed to sell a painting. He had refused a very nice offer. When asked why, he said something to the effect that 'if I sold him the painting, I would Only have his money. And He would have my painting.'

Bob's point about offering customers a discount on future knife purchases makes some sense, but customers that think they deserve or Need a discount on a custom knife are silly. Since they are not mass produced, and the price is determined by many many factors like the quality of work, the style of the knife, the materials used, and the reputation and credentials of the maker, I think haggeling over the price is an insult to the maker.

The price as marked either makes sense to me for a particular knife, or it does not. If I walk away from the table, and the maker offers me a reduced price trying to make the sell, I Might come back. But at that point, the absolute cost of the knife is irrelevant to me. I either want it or I don't.

The general price range is an important consideration for me when buying knives. I need to budget my funds just like almost everyone else. But the exact price is pretty low on my list of important factors in choosing whether or not to buy a knife.

Paracelsus
 
Depends on the situation. If a maker has a blemished knife, say with a scratch on a satin finish, or a ding in the hilt, I'd be happy to buy it at a discount, and reaching that price might include some haggling over the amount of value the damage takes off the piece. If I saw other people haggling and getting good discounts, I'd expect to do the same. But I also wouldn't want to be a pain in the ass to someone who's charging an honest price for a knife.
 
I do not mind as a maker if someone asks about a discount I can always say no. As a buyer in general I do a bit of haggling but almost always on high end customs and usually not purchased from the maker direct.
Dave Ellis, ABS, M.S. http://www.mastersmith.com

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As a collector I pretty much stay the route of Ellis and Para. (I do not haggle with a maker). I am not a "rich" guy, but there have been times when I have felt and told makers that they should charge more considering the quality and the amount of time.

Depending upon the situation and what I know about the work I there have been times that I haggle with a third party.

When I set up at a show and sell knives from my collection (factory mainly) I set fair prices and that is were they stay. It has not been my blood and sweat that created the knife so it does not bother me when people ask.

 
I usually just say "sold".

However, as a show winds down, and I'm trying to find one more knife to slip under my purchasing cap (The actual one after calling all the credit card companies and the bank - not the one I set before the show), I'll sometimes ask if a knife that's relatively close can be brought down.

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AKTI Member #A000832

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you."
 
Last year I was visiting with a mastersmith and he told me that he didn't think it was a good idea to drop your price to sell a knife. He was at a show where one of his fellow knifemakers had a knife on his table that just would not sell and that maker had dropped the price on this knife through a couple of shows. The knife had started at about $1000 and dropped down to about $800 and was still not selling so this particular mastersmith told the maker to raise the price up to $1400 or $1500 and it sold at the higher price at this show. This mastersmith said that he doesn't discount his knives. If somebody wants a discount on one of his high end knives, he would be willing to knock off 10% for cash.
Sounds like this may be a reasonable way for both seller and buyer to be pleased with the deal.
Chris
Top of Texas Knives
www.toptexknives.com

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[This message has been edited by ToTKnives (edited 07-13-2000).]
 
Thanx for the responses.
I would prefer to live in a 'haggle-free' world. I was a t a show here in NYC a year or 2 ago & a fellow was trying to get a maker down in price. The maker( who has since retired) seemed very put off, although polite. I've wondered about it since...
A discount for cash isn't a bad idea though...not necessary, but not bad
smile.gif

Thanx again, Ebbtide

[This message has been edited by Ebbtide (edited 07-13-2000).]
 
I don't ask the Ivory or Pearl dealer for a discount, If he has a volume discount he will tell me about it. By the same token I don't discount any of my work. If the buyer wants X number of the same knife over a period of time then he and I will agree up front for a volume price. I'll relate an instance of a particular haggler who at several shows tried get me to drop the price on a particular knife style. (All the while these knives were selling well) When he hit me again with "Can't you do a little better on that knife" I said "Sure can" and raised the price $25 (I didn't tell him that I was going up on them anyway due to the cost of the Stag) He got the message, and I haven't heard that frome him again.

biggrin.gif


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old pete
 
As a buyer, i dont even consider it. Ive lost enough finger nails (yes plural), had enough skin burned off my body, had enough cuts, nicks, and pokes to know this aint an easy living.

The makers i focus on buying from usually have a pretty good wait, and usually you have to hit there tables at a dead run if you want anything at all (sometimes that dont even work).

So to sum it up, i dont think it will hurt, but i can also say that any of the makers i really want knives from (Crowell, Connor, Dean, Fisk, etc....) Would say no, and probably not apprecaite being asked the same question twice.

Matt.



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" The true way of the sword is the craft of defeating the enemy in a fight, and nothing other than this" Ibid

www.lameyknives.com
 
I (almost) always make an offer on a piece. For example, if someone has something I really want for, say, $200, I`ll see if they`ll take $150 for it. Sometimes you you have a maker that just doesn`t want to carry all their knives back home with them, so they take my $150. Sometimes they`ll take $175. Sometimes the price is as low as it`s going to go. But you`ll never know if you don`t ask. Especially with makers, who have complete control over their own pricing, I think a bit of friendly haggling is to be expected. It`s never my intent to insult a maker. As far as I know, no one has ever taken offense at my asking. I think it`s just part of the "knife show experience".

 
I hesitate to enter in to this conversation for obvious reasons....but I have found that the solid well known makers have plenty of buyers for their knives and therefore dont even have to consider a discount. But that certainly isnt a hard and fast rule... I would imagine that the longer a makers waiting list the less chance of a discount, and also the more financially secure a maker is (there are a lot of guys out there who are retired and really dont need the money) the less chance of a discount...just an observation.
 
I think Tom pretty much hit the nail on the head.

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" I am continually reminded of the rewards of dealing with custom knife makers and the custom knife community." Jeff J.
 
I enjoy Dickering once in awhile but realy depends on the customer ,if they have a bad attitude or no sense of humor usualy I start going up ,but that's just me if a Man has bought from me before and did so with out queston I will knock 10 to 20 dollars off his next purchase and tell him what I am doing so he can be happy about the deal and next time I just give him the best price I can right now about 75% of my bus is repeate
bus. so I must be doing something right sometimes anyway

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TbarK Custom Knives
http://vip.hpnc.com/~tbark Therefore I erge you brother's in view of God's Mercy to offer your body's as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship Romans 12-1
 
Asking for a discount is really walking a fine line. One way of looking at it is "If you dont ask, you dont know." On the other hand, you dont want to offend anyone.
 
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