How do companies get your business?

12345678910 said:
There is an option to sign up for a newsletter, but no incentive/reason for me to.

Yep

Do a giveaway, people love free stuff-maybe 2 or 4 times per year

giveaway a block, something you are trying to attract attention to


Don't newsletter me too often.
Once a month is good.

I've unsubscribed to things that mailed too often.
Stuff I liked but that sent out weekly, daily , twice daily - I just dumped it because it was too much.

If you find the newsletter generates too much sales and you can't handle it all at once, try staggering out different people.

3,000 on the list ? Just do your list 100 per day over the month - more even cash flow and workload for you.
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lanternnate said:
For ordering knife stuff online I'll often order from somewhere that has multiple different things I want/need. It's just less hassle that way, can save on shipping, and gives that great Christmas morning effect when the box arrives ;) I'm not a person who can hunt around getting a little thing from here and another from there to squeak out the absolute best deals. I'm too lazy for that. For something like wood, it is nice to be able to see the actual piece being bought. This really doesn't matter as much for other materials, but wood tends to vary a lot piece to piece.

I'm just a hobbyist so I might order a piece of material to do one knife because I want it for some specific idea or reason and may never use that material again. Because of that I don't care much about bulk deals. The only "bulk" thing I personally might consider would be some kind of random assortment because I like just trying different things and sometimes using them as inspiration. Right now I go to a local place that does speciality wood for woodworkers, cabinet makers and carpenters and rummage through their shorts/cut offs/blemishes pile for things that look interesting. Usually I have no idea what it is I'm buying and have to ask a woodworker friend after what I actually have. Sometimes these pieces work for handles sometimes they don't, but it's not that big a deal to buy a dud when buying out of the cheap castoff pile.
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Kevin McGovern said:
I have been doing my own stabilizing, mostly due to having some wood that has sentimental value and wanting to use it for myself. It's difficult to justify paying top dollar for a block "stabilized by K&G". I understand that the stabilizing is generally accepted as being top notch, but never having had the opportunity to see this first hand, I have not taken the leap. I may order some from you in the future, I would just have to look at it as an R&D investment the first time. If I was as impressed as others have said, I would most likely become a pretty regular customer. Although I consider myself a hobbiest, I'm at the point where my hobby easily pays for itself, and I'm not (thankfully) desperate for work. I'm pretty loyal to a seller who is honest, and takes care of any issues, and from what I have seen you doing, you seem to be that sort.
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I added a new section here http://greenbergwoods.com/wood-information-and-articles/ with lots of good information, and i just posted an ad looking to pay someone to make a detailed tutorial on wa handles on my site.
 
Spalted said:
Kevin I have a set of spalted maple scales that were stabilized by K&G that I can send you. After cleaning them up I didnt like the way they looked so I tossed them aside. Not the best looking set but it will let you see firsthand, then you could help pay for Bens college :)
If you want them send me your address
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I messaged you. Thanks!
 
All details aside, and long story short, Integrity is what does it for me. If I get a sense that a person is straight forward and does what they say they'll do, I'll buy from them whenever I can. If someone seems remotely shady, I won't do business with them no matter what the prices are. I think you're on the right track Ben and conduct yourself well especially considering your age (don't take that wrong, it's a compliment;)).
 
Greenberg Woods said:
All of my stabilizing is done by K&G. Though ive been hearing some whispers of ebay sellers claiming their wood is "WSSI/ K&G stabilized" when its clearly cactus juice stuff. Hopefully i have enough of a reputation for quality, but at some point i might need to start showing proof of my invoices from K&G...
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What is wrong with the cactus juice stuff?
 
nateman_doo said:
What is wrong with the cactus juice stuff?
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This is something of a controversial topic, so in going to try to speak in broad bit true strokes.

First: home stabilizing is not as effective as professional stabilizing. This is simply a fact. Stacy, mark and myself have all experimented with stabilizing, I even did it with the guidance of 2 professors of polymer science. They were simply not as effective or as consistent as k&g.

But, more often than not, home stabilizing can be enough. For something like buckeye or maple more box elder, home stabilizing can effective enough for what you need. But when I say home stabilizing I don't mean some mason jars and a hand pump. I mean at the very very least a vacuum pump and a well sealed bell jar.

Why do I use k&g? Because the kind of person who wants to buy individually photographed blocks is more often than not willing to pay for the garuntee that my product was stabilized correctly. You don't have to think of I wad using a low grade of polymer, or if I didn't heat the wood enough to cure it. It was done properly and you can count on that. I ONLY sell stabilized wood if it is from k&g. Because even if it is a low chance of failure in home done product, I don't want to risk someone's product failing because I thought I could beat about the pros.
 
nateman_doo said:
What is wrong with the cactus juice stuff?
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I think CJ is not as good in some folks mind since CJ is used by home stabilizers. As such, you are more likely to get CJ stabilized pieces that are of less quality due to improper processes ( wood must be super dry, all bubbling must be done, wood must then sooak for a day or more, proper oven temp for curing is critical, etc.) And improper equipment ( Ability too hold a vacuum at 29 hg for a long time, good temp control, proper vacuum chamber). But since these folks use CJ, it gets a bad rap.
 
Cost of shipping is something that factors in. A lot of the time it's more of a mental thing. For example, if I see a great deal on a piece for 20 bucks, I won't pay 20 bucks for shipping...although I might b pay forty bucks with free shipping (odd, I know). It's six of one and a half dozen of the other but when I'm clicking around, shipping can completely turn me off to a company, even though sometimes it has no merit.

When I see a company that mentions X pieces of Y product fits in Z shipping box and costs this amount, it tells me they at least make an attempt to be efficient and will put in a little effort to get my business. It's the small things sometimes.
 
The bulk sales provisions would be nice.

I don't have a bandsaw so having blocks offered to be cut into scales for me makes things much easier.

Because many of my knives live in a state that swings from super low humidity and possible -30 temps in the winter and over 100 degrees with very high humidity in the summer I exclusively use stabilized wood. Much of what you offer is unstabilized. I understand that they are woods that may not in theory need to be stabilized but I simply am not going in that direction.

With all that said the wood I have bought from you I have been happy with.
 
TLR said:
The bulk sales provisions would be nice.

I don't have a bandsaw so having blocks offered to be cut into scales for me makes things much easier.

Because many of my knives live in a state that swings from super low humidity and possible -30 temps in the winter and over 100 degrees with very high humidity in the summer I exclusively use stabilized wood. Much of what you offer is unstabilized. I understand that they are woods that may not in theory need to be stabilized but I simply am not going in that direction.

With all that said the wood I have bought from you I have been happy with.
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I have several big boxes with K&G and im sending more soon.

sign up for my newsletter if you want, ill let everyone know when they come in.
 
TLR said:
The bulk sales provisions would be nice.

I don't have a bandsaw so having blocks offered to be cut into scales for me makes things much easier.

Because many of my knives live in a state that swings from super low humidity and possible -30 temps in the winter and over 100 degrees with very high humidity in the summer I exclusively use stabilized wood. Much of what you offer is unstabilized. I understand that they are woods that may not in theory need to be stabilized but I simply am not going in that direction.

With all that said the wood I have bought from you I have been happy with.
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I love stabilized woods, but there are some that that truly don't need it. I'd honestly be surprised if lignum would even accept any resin.
 
Kevin McGovern said:
I think CJ is not as good in some folks mind since CJ is used by home stabilizers. As such, you are more likely to get CJ stabilized pieces that are of less quality due to improper processes ( wood must be super dry, all bubbling must be done, wood must then sooak for a day or more, proper oven temp for curing is critical, etc.) And improper equipment ( Ability too hold a vacuum at 29 hg for a long time, good temp control, proper vacuum chamber). But since these folks use CJ, it gets a bad rap.
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I hate to derail the thread. I didn't realize there were people who don't use the C.J. correctly. I guess I will simply slide myself in the other category as folks who use the Cactus Juice correctly. I oven heat the part for a day prior, and right into it and sometimes keep it under vacuum for days. I have had zero problems with CJ. Love the stuff. I have never thought poorly of it, but then again, I have never purchased anyone else's wood that was cured with it.
 
nateman_doo said:
I hate to derail the thread. I didn't realize there were people who don't use the C.J. correctly. I guess I will simply slide myself in the other category as folks who use the Cactus Juice correctly. I oven heat the part for a day prior, and right into it and sometimes keep it under vacuum for days. I have had zero problems with CJ. Love the stuff. I have never thought poorly of it, but then again, I have never purchased anyone else's wood that was cured with it.
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That is my point about it. Will CJ work? Probably.

The other thing is, stabilization doesnt always work. Sometimes a block might be too oily, or to dense or something. Pro or home, it wont take. And if i have all of it done by K&G, even if that does happen, and it somehow slips through and get sold, i still used the best service available. Selling hundreds of blocks of wood, I need the chance of failure as low as it can possibly be.
 
Geoff Flato said:
I love stabilized woods, but there are some that that truly don't need it. I'd honestly be surprised if lignum would even accept any resin.
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I understand and agree with you. I'm not arguing whether some don't need to be. My quandary is which ones might I have issues with in my area? Most of my knives are meant to be used outdoors fishing, hunting, and for bushcraft.

To find the ones that are suitable I would need to experiment with different woods to see how they will act. With the amount of beautiful stabilized woods available I don't see it making sense to go through that potentially costly trial and error process.
 
nateman_doo said:
I hate to derail the thread. I didn't realize there were people who don't use the C.J. correctly. I guess I will simply slide myself in the other category as folks who use the Cactus Juice correctly. I oven heat the part for a day prior, and right into it and sometimes keep it under vacuum for days. I have had zero problems with CJ. Love the stuff. I have never thought poorly of it, but then again, I have never purchased anyone else's wood that was cured with it.
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You should check out the stabilizing FB page run by the seller of CJ. You will understand the learning curve is steeper for some than others.
 
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nateman_doo said:
I hate to derail the thread.
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Me either, but here's my 2 cents from experience with my spalted maple...
Cactus juice works best for punky wood due to the vacuum, whereas K&G's high pressure process will warp or crush softer pieces....

~billyO
 
weo said:
Me either, but here's my 2 cents from experience with my spalted maple...
Cactus juice works best for punky wood due to the vacuum, whereas K&G's high pressure process will warp or crush softer pieces....

~billyO
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K&G uses pressure only? Or vacuum then a soak at pressure?
 
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