How to get my knives out in the market

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Dave Behrens

Dave Behrens

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Feb 25, 2011
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Hello everyone -
I am new to this forum. Seems a little late, but hey. I have been making knives as a hobby for about 7 years. I started selling some here and there about 4 years ago online and privately. I am now making knives full-time and I am wondering how I can get my knives out there more, since I am producing much more. There are no knife and gun shows w/ in a 50 mile radius of my home(that I am aware of) so that is pretty much a no-go for now (Sacramento, CA). Any advice is welcome. Thank you.

P.S. Should a show come up nearby what is the process of securing a spot to "set up shop", and what are some general "Standard Operating Procedures" for most knife shows.
 
Can't comment on the shows. I move all my knives either through my website, through my mailing list of past customers and interested folks, and occasionally on some hobby-specific forums. Work the internet forums like this one. If your knives are good, you've just got to put them in front of people either virtually or in person.
 
On Bladeforums you can first introduce yourself by filling out your profile so people can get a better idea of who you are and where you live. Giving your location on the open forums also helps to give you identity. If you want to sell knives purchase a knifemakers membership and use your actual name on the forums.
Take pictures of your work and paste them on the knife makers gallery. Its a good place to show your work. If you have a knife makers membership it allows you to sell knives in the for sale forum.

Give the people that purchase knives here a chance to get to know you and the kind of work you are capable of; you'll do fine.

Fred
 
Tribal,

I'm in Sacramento too... there are typically gun/knife shows at Cal Expo several times a year. I've also heard of some others in the outlying areas around here. If I come across anything, I'll let you know. The guys at various outdoors stores/gun shops around here are also a very good resource for information about these things.

Welcome to BF!
 
Tribal, What evryone said, and your local gun stores will be a good start, up here we have a gun show every month or it seems, ive gone and shown my work in conversation to dealers and been invited to display at their stores, sounds like your ready.. how about an add in a publication? Either way seven years of building 4 years of some sales im sure youll get it dialed!! Sactomaniacs are scary!!! GHaile
 
Thanks all for your advice, I'll look into all of it. I've was lucky to find Arizona Custom Knives a few years back and do all online sales through them and they have been just awesome people. Thanks again for all of the advice.
 
Another question just came to mind. Patenting/ Design rights. How important/effective is it. Is it necessary. How difficult is it to patent a fixed blade design. I have a stamp, just my name that I put on the blades. Thoughts, opinions, interesting stories?
 
IMO patents are a waste of time unless you are selling or liscensing a design to a manufacturer. Chances are your design or something very similar has been produced by someone already, and will be again in the future, regardless of any rights you claim. Pursuing a lawsuit against someone over a knife design is going to be a losing proposition unless you stand to make a lot of money from the design.
 
Thanks Justin. I've thought that as well. I looked into how to obtain patents, and it appeared to be a very lengthy, tedious, difficult, and confusing process. Did not seem worthwhile to me, but I was curious to hear other's opinions.
 
I personally think it would be ethically questionable also, regardless of how abused the patent system is. All knife work is built off the fruits of many past labors. If you invent a metallurgical or material process, some clever new piece of equipment for knife making, etc. That's what the patent system was created for. It wasn't intended to protect every minor variation of imagination however, and unless you create some unique function with a knife design, that no other knife has, it's not an invention. It's just a design, art. Trademark-able perhaps, but even that.... questionable imho.

You can't patent a painting, you shouldn't be able to patent a knife design. Now, whether or not the patent office will issue you a patent? Who knows, but the patent system is currently one of the most broken mechanisms in existence. Just ask any software developer.


Just my worthless opinion.
 
Check out some of these links. Maybe some of the shows are in your basic area.
http://www.google.com/search?q=gun+...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

http://www.americangunshows.com/GunShows/CA-GunShows.htm

If you want to get your knives out there, go ahead and drive the 50 miles to the shows. If they have a website, contact the show organizers and ask about a table. Go to the shows that take place in areas where there is hunting going on in Cali. Make a fishing knife? Sell close to the coast. You may have to drive a few hours to get to the shows.
 
It may be worthwhile to put a couple knives in a gunshop/tackle shop etc, on a consignment basis. Along with a stack of business cards and/or flyers. Doesn't cost the store anything but a couple feet of counter space and puts your work in front of people who are out to spend money. They can actually handle it and get a feel for the balance and so forth, not just a picture. The typical arrangement is to let the store owner pocket 10% of the retail price, for using their space. Think of it as a permanent show without table fees or travel costs :thumbup:
 
james terrio said:
It may be worthwhile to put a couple knives in a gunshop/tackle shop etc, on a consignment basis. :
Click to expand...

I wish there were more Ma-and-Pop shops around Sacramento that would go for this kind of arrangement... if they had, I would have been purchasing handmade knives long, long ago. There are one or two gun exchange stores (River City Gun Exchange, if I recall) that may do a consignment for handmade knives, although their fee may be higher.

This is not to say it wouldn't work or to be discouraging -- I think it's a great idea. The issue is that, in my experience (lived here my whole life), the only stores that aren't corporate are in outlying, low-traffic-type areas.

Tribal, keep us posted! As a brand-new maker, I'm interested to hear what you find out in case someday I ever decide to sell my knives (a loooooong way off, right now).

Good luck, man! BTW.... have a site where your work is posted? I'm sure we'd all like some pics! :)
 
Thanks guys. I appreciate all the advice. I will post some pictures of some current work soon, a lot of my older work is on arizona custom knives under artist name Dave Behrens.
 
you ever sent one of your knives to a publication/magazine?
 
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