If a knife wins an award, does its value really go up?

RogerP

RogerP

Joined
Feb 28, 2002
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This is a point that I've pondered from time to time. I'd be interested in the views of any and all - makers, dealers, collectors.

When a knife wins an award at a show - Best Bowie, Best Forged Blade, Best Damascus etc... does the value of value of that particular knife go up? I realize that "value" is a bit of a shifting concept defined by the point where the "willingness" of buyer and seller coincide, but does the seller generally expect to receive more and are buyers generally willing to pay more for an award-winning knife?

Makers - when you are in the fortunate position of having received an award, does your asking price for that particular knife suddenly jump (in the unlikely event that it wasn't already sold)?

Collectors - when an award-winning knife is made available for sale, is that particular knife more desireable to you than, say, a very similar knife from the same maker. And if so, what sort of premium are you willing to pay to have it 10% - 20, 30 more?

Dealers - do you find that award-winning knives consistently command a significant premium, or does their status simply make them sell faster for more or less the same money?

For what it's worth (and I suspect mine may well be a minority view) I have always regarded knife awards as casting an element of prestige upon the maker himself (or herself) rather than upon the particular knife. The judges have recognized elements of design, fitment and finish that are reflective of the maker's talent and present in all his work, as opposed to being uniquely present in that particular knife. Put another way (and in the context of assessing value) the award-winning knife doesn't become 30% better designed, better finished or better made than it was before it received the award, so I would be disinclined to pay 30% more for it. I might well be very inclined, however, to order a similar knife from the maker, or purchase a similar knife by that maker from another source.

Any thoughts?

Roger
 
As a maker I have been very fortunate to receive a couple of awards, I was very happy to receive the awards but it did not change the price of the knife. I price all of my knives before the show with small tags under the knife or sheath. I feel that this is the fairest way as everyone gets the same price quoted to them. I put alot of thought into the pricing of my knives and try to give the fairest price to the customer while still recieving a return on my investment of time, money, material and sometimes considerable stress :). I do display the award at the show it was won at during the show and also the following years show as it seems to help getting people to stop by the table. I am not saying that this is the absolute right way to do it, it is just the way I do it.
 
I would say, yes it does raise the value. Maybe not as much as some people might think, but it does. Especially, if the knife has been pictured in one of the various magazines. Just my opinion, but I'm sticking to it. :)
 
Well, what sets the price for a custom knife? Sure, the materials and quality of workmanship do --but is the reason for a Kious engraved folder as high as it is because of simple costs+margin considerations? No -- we know who he is and he is recognized and respected. If Joe Blow were to make an identical knife (or at least one we could agree to was equal in its intrinsic value) it would demand a far lower price. Thus, the name and reputation of the maker are major factors in determing the price of a custom knife.

Now, does recognition by some body (and obviously the East Podunck Guns and Knives Show doesn't compare with the biggest and best show{which we can call BBS to eliminate any argument as to which it is}) can hardly detract from value. But the EPG&KS Best Folder won;t add much in value. The Best of Show at BBS can add a lot. Trouble is, most knifemakers already have a price tag on the knives (not literally, but they usually have a set price). Do they raise it on receiving an Award? That is a better question. My own experience is no. But they do find the knife a lot quicker to sell and the resell is more likely to go up!
 
I responded to this on another forum, but I might as well repeat it here.

I'd say that technically the true value would be whatever someone was willing to pay, but even looking at it realistically, I'd say that the knife would be more valuable to most people.

It is a one-of-a-kind, even if the winning knife is part of the maker's standard line. For example, if a hunter wins Best Hunter at the 2004 Spirit Of Steel show, it will now and forever until the end of time be the ONLY knife EVER to win Best Hunter at the 2004 Spirit Of Steel show. Accompanied by documentation certifying that it was the winning knife and possibly a photo of the knife with the award, I don't see how it could not be more valuable.

I'd think that the same might hold true for a knife featured in a magazine article, or one with a cover shot on a magazine. With signed and dated documentation from the maker certifying that the knife was the one on the cover or featured in the article, that would make it more valuable to the collector I'd think. Again, it would be a one-of-a-kind deal.

Of course, the true value depends on you the owner, or a prospective buyer if you choose to sell the knife at a later date.

Value is a strange bird. There are many who would not even consider paying me $325 or more for a small hunter. There are also those who think it's such a good deal, they almost burn the tip off their ball-point pen writing out a check before someone else can get it.

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ADDENDUM:

There was another angle in this thing that I did not address. That was whether or not I as the maker would ask more for the knife. Tough call. I am not an award winning smith. I seriously doubt that I ever will be. The shows that I attend are always attended by the big award winners. Folks like Harvey Dean, Jerry Fisk, Ron Newton, John Fitch, J.W. Randall, Mike Williams, Joe Flournoy, etc. As my skills increase, so do theirs.

If I ever did win an award, it would certainly be more valuable to me personally. I imagine that I would probably end up keeping the knife and putting on display in my house along with the award, unless someone just made me an offer that I couldn't refuse.

Now I have sold knives that appeared in articles in Blade, Knife World, Knives Illustrated, the Knives annuals, and u-m-m-m, oh shoot, that really nice French magazine. So far they all just went for whatever my going price at the time was.
 
RogerP said:
Collectors - when an award-winning knife is made available for sale, is that particular knife more desireable to you than, say, a very similar knife from the same maker. And if so, what sort of premium are you willing to pay to have it 10% - 20, 30 more?
Click to expand...

No. I like to have a little input into what my knives are going to end up looking like. Knives that are not made with a little input from me are of no interest to me whatsoever as far as my purchasing them is concerned.
 
I agree with Terry from my collector point of view. Value is in the customers mind. I have seen knives priced much higher than I am willing to pay and others that seem far too reasonable. If I really like the knife, as a package mind you , and it strikes the "sweet spot" in my brain I WILL find a way to pay for it.
I like most all of Josh Smiths work so I asked him to make me a knife based on two or three particular features on several prior pieces. He quoted me a price for a folding and non-folding version. Since i knew this would be a display knife i opted for the less costly fixed blade. I had to have it (you know the feeling) . He had a free hand in the design and I could not be happier no matter what the price.
I bought Koji Haras "Best of Show" knife in Las Vegas a few years back. I arrived late Saturday morning and was not aware of the judging results. I saw the knife and worked the action and said "thats mine!" He told me the price so I made the purchase. Same price as before the judging. It was a maker at an adjacent table who told me he it won Best of Show. Koji is much too modest. He was very happy that I liked the knife and had someone take a picture of us with the it. Many months later I got a package from Japan. It was the wooden award placque and several photos he took along with the new promotional brochure for the LVCK show, the award knife on the front. I was absolutely delighted. The knife has intrinsic value to me but the award was just icing on the cake. Plus the year I bought a T-shirt with MY KNIFE on the back. To me it is a real collectable.
 
From a collectors perspective I find a piece more "valuable" interms of its contribution to the collection if it has some story or history. In this sense I would be prepared to pay a premium for an award winning knife, but only if I liked the piece in the first place. I would not buy the piece just because it won an award however.
 
I have had the good fortune to win some awards and I have never
raised the price of the knife at that show. On a couple of occasions
the winning knife didn't sell and at the next show I have raised the price.
On the one occasion that I remember clearly, I won best folder at the Mt. Vernon Illinois knife show and it did not sell. It was originally priced at $650.
I had it at the New York knife show shortly thereafter and priced it at $1300. It sold right away.
Knives that are pictured in or on the cover of magazines seem to go
up in value a great deal more that award winners. I had a 350 dollar
knife on the cover of Knives "84 which subsequently sold for $3,000.
 
If a knife wins an award, does its value really go up?
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Here is my response to RogerP's question- from the "Dealer" angle.

I have bought several knives at Knife Shows that went on to win an award.

Often (not always), the Knifemaker was kind enough to let me have the Award as well~ for me to in turn offer to the collector.

I never marked up the knives higher than they were before the awards were handed out. Not fair, in my opinion. No maker ever did this either, as far as I know.

I can say that these "Award Winning" knives did not sell any faster than usual. Most buyers were, however, very pleased to know that this particular knife was judged favorable but it did not make a difference.

Knife collectors most always need to have a “feeling” towards a knife to induce them to buy. An award is nice, but to an experienced and knowledgeable collector, it is not a big deal. For example, the collectors respect for the Knifemakers in general is often more important.

The “Award” is certainly recognition of merit to the Knifemaker. However, it is really is only a subjective situation where, on that particular day, a group of qualified knife people got together and picked a winner in various categories.

Therefore, as a dealer, the award winning knives do not sell faster and certainly do not merit a premium.

But, I’ll tell you what does drive business- When a knife is featured on the cover of Blade Magazine- WOW- that makes waves. I was fortunate to have knives from my inventory on the May and June ’04 covers. The May issue was the Johnny Stout Dress Baron and June Issue was the Pirela/Elishewitz Helix.

The Stout piece sold within a day of the magazine going to subscribers- Johnny was nice enough to send my customer an autographed copy of the magazine.

The Helix had been long gone and sold out but the phone calls to Joel, Allen and me were incredible right after the article broke.

Take care, Neil
 
As a collector... well, a hobbyist maybe better a term... I just so happen to own one, by Nick Wheeler - it won two awards at the NWKC Show in the fall of last year...

First off, I didn't know it was going to be entered for judging;
Second off, it was a "commissioned piece" that I had ordered the year previously...

Has it's value gone up because of this? Well, if you've seen and handled Nick's work, you know he's asking a wee bit less than I think they are worth... and i let him know it... Yes, it's value has gone up in the collectibles market, but I think in this case it's due to the original low value, not neccessarily the fact that it won an award...

And I personally don't look for "award winners" - I look for what appeals to me... And if someone else likes it enough to give it an award... well, I still like it for what I like it for and not for what others think of it...

But... if I decide to turn my collection over and someone wants to offer me more because of the award... well, that's our business... !!! LOL!!! :D
 
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