I work at a knife store... please let me vent

Actually the "Bicycle Shop" approach has boosted my sales at the shows latlely. I have actually taken more stuff from underneath the "glass" case and put it on top of the table. This would mainly be knives that retail for "under" $100. Sebenzas do not sit on top of the table, but some $$ fixed blades will sit on the top of the table(Reeve,Busse...) I have found this makes customers feel more at ease and more welcome to pick up and handle the knives. Now this certainly makes me have to be more aware of people and sticky hands, but I confine most of it to 1 area on the table, and I also am fortunate to have "FeverDoc" come and hang out quite a bit and he is done making rounds! So far, no knives have walked away from the table yet :)

We really strive to make people feel comfortable when they come by the table and help them "not" to be afraid to handle or ask to see a knife in the glass case.
 
I'll refrain from mentioning the name of the knife store. I rather wouldn't bad mouth them publicly.

As to the bike shop thing:
With all due respect that would be a horrible idea. We are not at a gun show where adults come in and watch after their kids: we are in a mall. Little kids frequently get away from their parents and wander in to look at the scary stuff. If they could just pick up a knife off the counter and play with it there would be certain disaster. Not to mention the amount of people who would steal the knives. As it is right now, anything we have on display is slowly stolen as time goes on such as photon lights. We have display knives sometimes that have dull edges. They are attached by welded steel cable... they are stolen!

When I notice a customer's pocket clip I mention it. Sometimes they appreciate that but some of them give me a look like I've violated their privacy or something. The other day I noticed a guy with a spydie clip. I pointed him in the direction of the spydercos and he gave me attitude and said "I already have a spyderco." I politely replied, "I know sir: I saw your clip. That's why I thought you would be interested in our selection of Spyderco." He was not happy.

parisifal,
I understand how you want to buy online but guys like you still make it hard for us. We have to assume you know nothing about knives because 99% of our customers don't. I don't know about other stores but we will match internet prices as long as it isn't more than 25% off of our price. We spend a lot of time showing people knives and trying to help them. When they walk out the door and buy off the internet they have just wasted our time. We should have earned that sale but we don't get the money for it. I have to sell a certain amount of merchandise: when I don't get a sale that I've earned that really sucks for me. That internet company doesn't have to pay the extreme rent prices we do, they don't have to hire salesman, and they don't have to spend any time showing you products. Your statement about supporting the B&M stores by buying online because you're still supporting the industry is BS. You are still supporting the companies who make the knives but we get screwed. If everyone bought online then we would not exist and you would not be able to handle your knives before you bought them. I know that you work hard for your money but don't forget that we do to. In fact, I often have to work my ass of for a sale which just goes to the internet. If you know you're going to buy somewhere else please don't waste my time.
 
Originally posted by averageguy
rdangerer almost has it right - except those idiots he's referring to actually vote republican. The republican party is full of low IQ AJ types too stupid to realize that they are supporting a party and philosophy that do not benefit them in any way.
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Averageguy

I'm a bit surprised that nobody has replied to your comment. I really didn't want to. This thread was not politically oriented, but I just couldn't stand it anymore.

What the hell are you babbling about?? What kind of data do you have that supports your statement that Republican voters have a low IQ?

Republican philosophy generally leans towards hard work and self sufficiency. Republicans are less concerned with what the government can do for them. They work hard and stand on their own two feet.

In my own little political survey prior to the presidential election I found that when really pressed, many of those voting Democrat had family members on welfare and were concerned about Republicans cutting back on government handout programs.

Those "low IQ" Republicans you were talking about DONT WANT!! government benefits. They would like to see less of their tax money used to support those too lazy to work.

Hey, it's just my opinion. What do I know? I'm a stupid Republican.

Mike
 
In any case, let's not let it detract from this thread. averageguy, if you want to mosey on over to the Political forum I'm sure you can find more than one person who'd be willing to discuss this idea with you.
 
Matriculate -- very entertaining and I hope, for you, relief-providing post! Thanks for some good laughs.

Personally, I wish all who would inject political BS into such a fun thread would take a hike to the Political forum.
 
The on-line knife business is a real trip too, just in a slightly different manner.

Examples of (extremely)frequent email issues:

C: Where's my knife ?
ME: Who are you ?

C: My grandfather gave me his knife. He's been carrying it for 20+ years(we've been in business less than 5). It's one of your schrade Old Timers. One of the blades is broken, I want you to replace it for me.
ME: We're not Schrade.
C: Oh.

C: I ordered a knife from you last night at 2:38am, order number 987456452. Did you get my order ?

C: I ordered a knife from you last night at 2:38am. Shouldn't it have been here by now ? Assuming your company is not a sham !

C: I emailed you, and you haven't gotten back in touch with me and it's been 3 hours. I want my order cancelled and I'm reporting you to the BBB.

C: I ordered a knife from you 10 days ago and haven't gotten it from you yet !
ME: you chose to pay by check and we haven't received it yet.
C: Whoops.

C: I'm from Yugoslavia, and I want to buy $1000s from you with "my" credit card.
Me: you bastard !

C: I know you guys make a killing off these knives. So, I offer $25 for a benchmade 710.
Me: (i'd never do this) ok, i'll take it !
C: let me check around and see if I can get a better deal elsewhere.
ME: thanks for making America a great place to live.

C: You've deceived me ! You represent that you have everything listed on the site in stock !
Me: no i didn't
C: that's what I assumed !
Me: do you have any idea how expensive it would be (let alone that it couldn't be done) to adequately stock every one of the thousands upon thousands of models that are listed on the site ?
C: If you can't make enough in your business to do this, you're in the wrong business.

Competitor: If price is the only thing you have going for you in this business, you will fail.
Me: of course it isn't
Competitor: We now have the Kershaw Chive for $28.99 !

Enough venting,

John
 
Bugs

I agree with you. I was enjoying the thread myself until I ran into his political potshot. Oh I'm sure ignoring him might have been best, but I'm getting tired of his kind of crap.

Mike
 
Mike, you could not let that one go.

But hey, I'm just a Republican knife nut with a 180IQ
 
Originally posted by Cumberland Knives

C: I ordered a knife from you last night at 2:38am, order number 987456452. Did you get my order ?
Click to expand...
Or, even better - "Sir, that's not one of our order numbers, are you sure that you ordered from us?"

Competitor: If price is the only thing you have going for you in this business, you will fail.
Me: of course it isn't
Competitor: We now have the Kershaw Chive for $28.99 !
Click to expand...

Aren't special's grand? One of the nice things about not just relying on price on <b>everything</b>, you can run a sale or two now and then, and use your other features like good customer service, a detailed website, multiple phone lines, an 800 number, a knowledgeable sales staff, accessory sales, a wide selection, etc to actually be the beginning of the sale, not just the end. But then, that's part of running a <b>business</b>, instead of operating out of a garage, right?

Enough venting,
John [/B]
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Indeed. The Knife industry is a wonderful one, full of interesting times and nice people.

My favorite calls are -

Customer: Hey there - I want to talk to you for 30 minutes on your 800 number, about this knife, can you explain it's features to me?
Us: Sure, it's great, it's made of yadda yadda, and you should have it for these reasons, want to go ahead and place your order?
Customer: Well, I'll think about it, I want to see if someone else has it for lower.

Customer: Can you match this price that this Distributor-selling-as-a-Dealer has it for?
Us: No, it's under our cost, we can't do that. However, we do have it in stock, and we can ship it today, and we'll sell it to you for this...
Customer: Nah, nevermind, I'll buy it from them.

Customer: Do you have a catalog?
Us: No sir, our catalog is on our website, it allows us to keep our prices reasonable & current and bring you the latest items quickly.
Customer: What do you mean you don't have a catalog - US Cav has one, Brigade has one, Store X has one, why don't you?
Us: Well sir, if you want to pay full retail, I'll be happy to send you a catalog...

Customer: I got this knife from your competitor in August of last year, I want to return it! I don't have the box or the paperwork, or a reciept, but I'm sending it back in a paper envelope...
Us: Sorry, we can't accept it back sir...
Customer: What a rip off!

Us: Hi there, we're calling to let you know that your extremely difficult to get, special order item came in, and we'll be sending it out today. BTW, we tried to charge your card and it declined.
Customer: Oh, well, cancel the order then.
Us: great..........

Customer: What do you mean my credit card declined - I just sent in a check yesterday!

Us: Hi, we're calling to confirm this order - you selected Next Day Air Shipping ($25) for a bottle of White Lightning ($3.99), are you sure?
Customer: Yes, go ahead and send it
Us: Ok then, you sure you don't want to get something else to help spread out this shipping?
Customer: No, go ahead and send it.
Us: No problem, have a great day.
-30 seconds later-
Us: Hi, we're calling to let you know your credit card declined....

Good time.

Then again, there are the customers who truly make this job wonderful, like

Customer: Hi, I just got a knife from you today, and I'm so happy with your service I'm ordering 30 more for my buddies...

Customer: Hi, I want this knife, can you get it out today?
Us: Sure, what flavor would you like?
Customer: You mean you have them in stock? Wow, um... gee no one else I called actually had them.

Customer: Hi, I want this knife, can you recommend anything like it too, and some accessories?

You take the good with the bad...

Kevin
 
Originally posted by averageguy
rdangerer almost has it right - except those idiots he's referring to actually vote republican. The republican party is full of low IQ AJ types too stupid to realize that they are supporting a party and philosophy that do not benefit them in any way.
Click to expand...

Yes, by all means, come on over to the Political Forum, where nice guys like me will be more than happy to discuss your baseless political theories at great length.

Truly stupid people vote for political parties that destroy individual liberties.

Truly stupid people participate in a knife forum while supporting a political party traditionally hostile to civilian-owned arms, including knives.

If, in fact, one chooses one's party on the basis of who will benefit, then of course a Modern Liberal party is for you -- since the political philosophy behind such a party is to take from those that produce and give it to those who do not.

Oh, yes. Please visit the political forum.
 
It's like the postal customer complaining that he wasn't informed at the time of mailing that the letter that never got to it's destination needed the CORRECT address in order to be delivered. Can you imagine how long the lines would be if every customer needed to be informed that they needed the CORRECT address. " Oh! You mean I have to know the CORRECT address for you to get this there?"

This really happened (more times than I care to think about)

Going Postal - Terr:D
 
Lifter and Ouch,
Thanks for the support.

I have both sides. Remember, Most of the people that want to work at a knife store are the same people that frequent them.

Some of the things out of my clerks mouths are too funny. None of the guys that work here have ever hunted...listening to them try to explain a "gut hook" was amusing! :D

Did you guys know Claymores use to weigh 75 pounds! :barf: (It took 2 articles and finally copies of pictures from a museum to stop that one.)

I had one(very former)clerk that kept trying to show off with the swords...scary stuff! He didn't last long!!!

I give out "Whinney the Pooh" Bandaids to add insult to injury! It took forever to get the clerks to ALWAYS be careful.

Customer side:

"Are the swords real?"

"I turn 18 in two months, can I buy a knife?" (Come back in two months!)

Where do you get all of these? (like I'm going to tell you my sources.)

"Is this a real dragon skull?" (this question wasn't from a child.) :confused:

"I need a knife for self defense." (I point them to the pepper spray.)

Local Cops: "Butterfly knives are illegal."
Me: (I pull out my copies of State and Local knife laws and a Blade magazine article on a butterfly knife court case in VA). "Excuse me officer, please show me where?" "I talked to the State Attorney General's Office before I opened the store to make sure everything I sell is legal."
Local Cop: "Well I just moved from Ohio, they're illegal there."
Me: This isn't Ohio.

"I want to hunt deer with this sword." (Deer aren't stupid enough to stand still while you try to get close enough to swing it.)

We occasionally have to kick out customers.....
If they make jabbing motions at friends or too much violent talk.

I had to kick out an otherwise nice old man for insisting on testing how sharp the knives were by using his tongue. (YUCK)

I'm having too much fun to ever want to do anything else. I truely enjoy the knives, the swords, the customers, and even the hassles... everyday. Hopefully it will always be that way!

Pam
 
Originally posted by averageguy

rdangerer almost has it right - except those idiots he's referring to actually vote republican. The republican party is full of low IQ AJ types too stupid to realize that they are supporting a party and philosophy that do not benefit them in any way.
Click to expand...

Too funny!

I rest my case on the irony provided by the "handle" of the poster. :D :rolleyes:

Slam-dunking the basketball offers a certain satisfaction.

The truth can be painful, but here is the pain: Many, many studies have demonstrated that the average IQ of a Republican voter is substantially higher than a Democratic voter.

This is an "average" thing, and describes the average voter, and if you know anything about even basic statistics and bell curves, I don't need to explain that it doesn't mean there are no intelligent people voting Democratic, or that there are no idiot rednecks voting Republican. blah blah blah.
 
Originally posted by alchemy knife


1. I give out "Whinney the Pooh" Bandaids to add insult to injury!

Customer side:

2. "Is this a real dragon skull?" (this question wasn't from a child.) :confused:

3. "I want to hunt deer with this sword."
Pam
Click to expand...

Pam, I laughed out loud at 1 & 3. Hilarious. The Pooh Bandaids are a very thoughtful touch, and very funny. Hope the customer's get the joke!! :D
 
They get the joke...I make sure to tell them!
Unfortunately, I learned how to harass customers at ren-faires and I haven't learned to stop....Fortunately the customer seems to like it (they keep coming back for more!):D

Pam
 
very amusing thread... as a computer geek, i deal with those sort of people all the time too :) i'll have to post some personal horror stories tomorrow :)

"The store is at Apple Blossom Mall. It is off I81 at exit 313. "
as i read that, i saw i81, forgeting the interstate part of it, and thought "oh, wow! right down the road!" :) oh well, my next trip down the coast, maybe :)
 
Originally posted by Matriculate
Then I get the jerks who want to handle every knife over $100, get their dirty fingerprints all over it, flick it open as hard as they can and basically abuse the S**T out of it in the few minutes I let them hold it. They never buy anything of course. After handling a thousand dollars worth of merchandise they humoursly mention the fact that they have no money and then leave. THANK YOU FOR WASTING MY TIME AND MESSING UP MY MERCHANDISE.
Click to expand...

Sounds like me last month in a certain mall knife store. But at least I bought a bm torx screw kit afterwards--for $15 + tax I might add. Of course, I would buy a knife or two from that store from time to time, if their markup wasn't msrp, it's ridiculous--I ask why a certain knife is $120 overpriced, I get a snooty response back saying they, "need to pay rent." Well Sh*t, so do I. On top of that, I have to pull teeth from the store clerks to get any info on their knives; I get simple/one-sentence responses. If they hate their job that much, just do us both the favor.

Anyways, I almost always buy online. Thanks for letting me vent :p
 
Gee, I hope I never aggrivate salemen like that. Although when I'm waitin on a new knife I have the tendency to call alot...heh my fav stores number in programmed into my cell phone. When Gary sees me, he gets all happy. He has knives waitin for me. Lets me monkey around and give feedback new "saftey" features. I bring toys for him too. Digi cam/GPS..anything thats fun to play with. He has figured me out tho, he shuts up when I'm on the verge of purchasing an item, I guess my eyes glaze over, could be the drool too, I dunno.
 
Heh, no kiddin' - I see similar stuff at my local gun shop, your classic newbie who'll pick up a .22, not have any clue what the fudge he's really doing, with your classic "moron" hold (i.e. finger on trigger and usually pointing at dealer), then the real goons will go ahead and dry fire it without even askin'...
Dealer: "Yknow it's bad to dry fire rimfire cartridges"
Idiot: "Oh really? I didn't know that"
What I'd like to say: "You would know if you friggin asked you fool"
But instead I just kinda quietly shake my head and go about my business.

For whatever it's worth, I tend to fondle most everything that even vaguely appeals to me in a knife store, however, the reason I do this is i'm looking for the one that wows me, and I always make sure I can afford it.
 
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