How to act at a real knife show

JB There are ATM's and Bank branches all over the place around there.
Betting at least 10 within a half a mile of the complex.

Plus I hear Tom is a walking ATM machine. :eek: You hand him watches and nice guns he hands you cash and knives.
 
I Think that in general it only polite to ask if you can pick up a knife. If only to let the maker know that you want to handle the knife and if you ask permission that is kind of like saying that you are not going to steal the knife. But at all the knife shows that I've been to, I've always been blown away by how nice the makers are. When I browse a table, I'm almost always greeted with a "go ahead and pick it up!". I don't think that I've ever hand to ask permission but I do think it would be the proper thing to do. I'm always amazed at the number of really nice knives on the tables and their combined values and the open atmosphere. I would think that with the value of the knives a maker would keep them under lock and key. But that's one of the things that I like about the knife community. They seem to be a nice group of people. At a show, I assume that everyone's got a blade and that to try to steal one would be like suicide. But I can see that with all the people, the relaxed atmosphere and the openness of the knives and the makers busy talking to customers and showing different knives to different people and the high value of the knives, I can see the temptation. Retail I believe has about a 2-3% loss on inventory (shoplifting and employee pilferage). I imagine that at knife shows that it is way less than that. And from a business standpoint, (as reprehensable as it is) theft is a cost of doing business and is also tax deductable.
 
Originally posted by Scott Dog

And from a business standpoint, (as reprehensable as it is) theft is a cost of doing business and is also tax deductable.
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I'm not sure about that, if you bought it for resale maybe.

but making yourself to sell?? then it's a
different ball game with the IRS.

If I do labor on my shop to fix it up I can deduct the materiel
I put in to it but not my labor(I didn't pay any labor to collect.)
   and if you could do a claim as a loss it's only the tax difference
you'll get back, be it what ever tax bracket your in
could be 28% so you'd loose anyway from any theft.
 summed up, if you claim a loss of $100.00 you get to pay $28.00
less in tax..a loss of $72.00 on a hundered.

it may be different in Canada.
 
Tax dedeductable or not the looser is the maker or owner and it is a substantial loss in my book.

A thief is out of place at a knife show and we should all do what we can to legally convince a potential thief that they are in the wrong place. I refuse to be complacent to that thought.
 
I posted comments along this line earlier today, but don't see it in the thread. If it happens to show up, please don't think I am trying to say the same thing twice.

I take knifes to a show so folks that are interested can see them. I don't care if they get finger prints on the blades, wipe them off with a dusty rag, or what ever. I and they are there to share thoughts about our ideas about knives. don't be bashful. I can get to know a lot more about a knife by feel than I could ever get by eye. Can knives talk, yes if you can hear them, the sound may enter through the eye gate, touch gate or by talking to the maker. You are welcome to explore all you wish to know about my knives at a show. Except bend and chop cement, that is my job in my shop and yours if you buy one, try to leave them in good enought shape that if someone buys one they will get a pretty new knife.
 
I'm with you ED! Please, handle my knives. They are not un-touchable prcious objects but tools first and aesthetic artifacts second. (Prolonged rubbing with loving fingers can only improve the patina :))
The car salesman strives to get you in the seat behind the wheel, the knife sales man (and that's what we become at shows whether we like it or not) needs to get his knife into someones hand. But different folks have different ways. just my take on my stuff.
 
I feel the same  Feel her up BUT
still,don't wipe the blade down on your ?? whatever..
at least use my cloth..
I have no problem with feeling it all over.
  but if you don't buy it and happened to put a good old scratch
in it, then another guy or lady
buys it that way you
both are going to be upset if you don't catch it,
and if you do catch it,
well
if it were me, I'd lose the sale because
I don't think I'd want to
sell it that way, do you? to some out there
it makes no difference
but for some they want to sell all they can while there.
Of course there is some difference in user
and collector knives..if your a maker and get a scratch in a
mirror polish you know as well as I
how long it can take do get it out.
 This thread is do's and don'ts, if you have
dough Don't, to be safe..
or at least ask..:confused:
this is the way I look at it
and may be only My opinion.
  Test drive that car and get into a fender
bender and see what happens,
You will have to dig your wallet out.
 
Im with you Graymaker it just aint fair to the one who does purchase the item. Heck I dont want pay good money for any thing thats "new" and it already be pre-scratched all up. Now we have a scratch and dent sale huh? I, like you Graymaker have pulled them from the table and took them home to tune them back up. Thats what hurts me and the customer who may have been out for that item only. Been great yall come. GenO
 
I guess what it comes down to, just have respect for others, I think I rember dad instilling that with the belt. How those lessons last!!
 
Originally posted by GenO Denning
I guess what it comes down to, just have respect for others, I think I rember dad instilling that with the belt. How those lessons last!!
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I think Geno summed it up. All we have to do is say have fun and make a point to meet and get to know the people behind the knives and that will be about all she wrote.
 
I would never consider picking up a knife without permission from whoever is behind the table. When I do pick uo a knife I try to be as careful as possible not to get prints all over it. If I do, I hand it to the maker and mention the finger prints so that he/she can clean them up. If they hand me a cloth and ask me to clean the blade, I am more than happy to do so.

The only time that I consider it OK to interupt a conversation that a maker is having with someone else is if I want to pay the maker for a knife. If all I have are some questions, I figure I can wait until the maker has freed himself up. I am not an impatient person and I do realize that during a busy show it might take a maker a while to get to me. One thing that will upset me is if the maker finishes with someone and then starts talking to someone else that got there after I did. It may just be that the maker didn't notice what order people arrived in, but even so I do find it very irritating. When I work consumer shows and I have been to busy to notice the order that people arrived I always ask, "who's next". Those two simple words always seem to work.

If I am interested in buying a knife, the price that is on that knife is usually part of the reason that I am interested. What I mean by this is that if I see a knife that I like (or love) and the price is right, then I am interested in buying that knife. If the price is higher than I would pay then I look elsewhere. I will not haggle over a few dollars. If I think a maker is way out to lunch on his prices, I just pass him/her by. What I tend to see more often though are knives that I think are under priced. Especially from the newer makers. I hate seeing someone trying to get a better price on an already fairly or even possibly under priced knife.

At one small show a few years back I noticed a guy haggling with a maker on the price of a knife that was obviously exceptionally well priced as it was. The maker was a relative newcomer and looked like he was not enjoying the negotiations. I really liked the knife so I walked up and interupted by saying that if this gentleman did not want the knife that I would be very happy to have it for the asking price. The fella gave me a dirty look, but decided to that he wanted the knife and payed the maker the original price. When the guy that bought the knife left the maker gave me a big grin and said thanks. He had another knife that was very similar to the knife he had just sold. I bought that one.
 
For buyers...be polite to the other folks waiting in line to get the maker's ear, and if you aren't buying, then take a break from flapping your gums and let a potential 'buyer' step up to the plate...

And don't be rude by holding both the other guy and the maker hostage while you ramble on pedantically.

For sellers...recognize that while shooting the breeze with some old chum may be a great way to pass the day, it's rude to potential buyer's to ignore them.

A look in their direction, a wink, or a comment like "I'll be right with you, feel free to pick up whatever you like...", should do to hold the potential buyer's attention for a few minutes...

At that point, if the 'gum flapper' doesn't get it, you can always smile at him, say 'riiight', and then start answering the questions of the new perspective buyer...

But, if both you and the 'gum flapper' don't 'get it', I'm walking...

Mel
 
I won't be at Blade this year, but I still have a smile on my face from last year.
May you all have a wonderful time. For you buyers, wear a bibb, it's not nice to drool on the knives and don't cut yourself on someone else's knife. For you makers, I hope you get to use Keith's line a lot, "Who's Next?" ;)

I don't as a rule touch the blade of a knife I'm just looking at. I do study the grind and how the whole knife comes together. I do remember a knife I bought at a show where I tested the edge after I bought it. I asked the maker, "Can you put a keener edge on this?" He looked at it and said, "Sure". He took out two Spyderco flat stones, (white and grey) gave a couple of strokes on each and handed me back the knife. That's all it needed. He then asked me, "Do you have those stones?" I told him no, he said, "Keep 'em".

Ya gotta love Knife Makers.
 
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