How to proceed.

[Chambers]

So I am in an odd situation and I'm not sure exactly how to move forward. There are three players in this situation names changed to protect yadda-yadda. First me- average dude part time knife designer. Second- knifedesigner A: Professional knife designer who's been doing business successfully for over 15 years and is a very highly recognizable name in the industry. Third- Knifemaker B: Professional knife maker who's been doing business for roughly 10 years but is an unknown.

Now here's the situation. I have been tinkering with designing knives and having random knife makers produce them one at a time for my personal use for 6 years or so? I have worked with 3-4 different makers over the years until I finally got in touch with Knifemaker B. long story short, I love this guy his work is flawless, I only ever want him to do my knives ever again etc. Now I have been working with Knife maker B for almost 3 years now an we've produced some reallly great collaborations at what I consider a fair price for me. What I mean by that is when I purchase a knife from him I feel the price is fair for the craftsmanship, and delivery time. Now a while back I showed one of my designs to Knifedesigner A who immediately offered to put it up on his website for sale. This makes me schoolgirl giddy happy. I then show him several of my other designs and he goes from wanting to put 1 of my designs on his webpage to 3 of them. I squeal like a piggy. Scratch that. I am excited. I tell Designer A that money is a bit of an issue for me and I can't at this time afford to have all 3 knives made and delivered to him, so he offers to pay for one of the three to be made which is totally awsome, we then discuss cost of the knives which is where everything comes to a grinding halt.

The gist of Knifedesigner A's argument is that Knifemaker B is charging me retail prices for his knives and that at these prices we (desgner A and I) will be unable to turn around and re-sell them to make any sort of profit. Now I am not a business person, I like knives, I like to twiddle with them, work with them, sharpen them, sketch, draw and design them and I know next to nothing about business but even I can see that Knifedesigner A has a point. Retail is usually almost double what wholesale is and if I'm perfectly happy with the prices Knifemaker B is charging me now there is no way I could justify doubling them right?

So my connundrum is; I can't see asking knifemaker B to lower his prices when they seem fair to me. I can't see trying to resell them at the price Knifedesigner A is suggesting they must be to make profit. I also don't particularly want to see my designs in the hands of another maker which is something else Knifedesigner A has offered. I know I'm going to have to do one of three things that I don't like and I'm looking for alternatives. I do not want to tell Knifedesigner A to bugger off as he is a successful businessman he obviously knows what he's talking about and he would be a hugely influential factor for me to get my designs out there.

I do not want to ask Knifemaker B to lower his prices because I think they are fair as is and unless I am selling mass quantities of his knives then he has no reason to lower his prices right?
I do not really want to pick up another knifemaker because he/she is not going to be knifemaker B that I'm really happy with you know? That guy gets me, and my designs and I like working with him.
So I'm just trying to figure out how to move forward here or other suggestions. Thanks

 

[jnich005]

Such is business. You will always have to give a little and make compromises. I don't see any way that you could turn a profit buying one custom knife at a time and reselling. You really don't have much of a choice, if you really want to make money, buy in bulk. Now if you just want your designs out there, then thats a whole different thing. I wish you luck and wouldn't mind seeing some of your designs.

 

[Big Mike]

I bet your knifemaker will get the cost down If the knifes are ordered in batches.


One off's will always be more expensive.



Big Mike

 

[USCGGM]

I see a forth option...go to knifemaker B and tell him your venture idea; see if he will get on board with a selling a collaboration knife (your design/his manufacture) on knifedesigner A's site. If A's got a good rep, it might help futher B's career and bring him into some well deserved spot light. This way, he makes a knife at cost, you get a cut for the design and technically B isn't losing anything because he makes up retail on A's site.
Of course, I get one of the first ones since I just solved your problem!

 

[Chambers]

I see a forth option...go to knifemaker B and tell him your venture idea; see if he will get on board with a selling a collaboration knife (your design/his manufacture) on knifedesigner A's site. If A's got a good rep, it might help futher B's career and bring him into some well deserved spot light. This way, he makes a knife at cost, you get a cut for the design and technically B isn't losing anything because he makes up retail on A's site.
Of course, I get one of the first ones since I just solved your problem!

You might just be on to something there, thanks!

 

[Cougar Allen]

Give your current knifemaker the first offer to make the knives at wholesale in quantity. If he doesn't want to do it then you can talk to other makers or manufacturers.

You might want to consider offering the same design in both an inexpensive factory version and a custom handmade version using different steels and handle materials. That has worked well for some other designers.