Impact of forums on knife sales

mendezj

mendezj

Joined
Nov 24, 1998
Messages
993
I wonder what is the impact on knife sales of forums such as this one, percentage wise. Or how many sales result daily from people reading these forums.
 
I would say that forums will certainly influence sales.
It would be interesting to somehow figure out what percentage of sales come from users of a specific forum, which one has a higher sales traffic pattern.
I have certainly had my head turned by a few knives which I either didn't know about or found out more about on here.
What percentage of actual sales we forumites actually contribute to is probably small though.
 
In general I think many of us are influenced by what we read here, I do find that I have to account for the die-hard brand fans before I fully accept reviews. I tend to be pretty much a traditional pattern person and honestly there isn't much "new" stuff out there that interests me. I did make one purchase of a pattern I wanted based on reviews here, unfortunately I received a factory blooper that turned me off on that company so they made one and only one sale. I guess these sites can go either way for manufacturers but likely are more beneficial than not.
 
mendezj said:
I wonder what is the impact on knife sales of forums such as this one, percentage wise. Or how many sales result daily from people reading these forums.
Click to expand...
I wonder about that d2 sebenza you said you had. Haven't seen an update to your thread in the crk sub for over a month.

On topic, I've personally bought tons of knives because the were brought to my attention here.
 
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I can't think of a knife I bought in the last 13 years that didn't come from learning about it on Bladeforums.
 
I've bought based on what I see and learn here and I also give a miss to many for the same reasons. Net/net I've got to sample a ton of interesting knives before moving them along in many cases, not being in an area that has a wealth of knife shops where I can personally handle them before buying. Nothing to do with sales, but I also value the forum for what people share on metals and how they mod things which I try every once in a while, happily enough with much success!
 
Honestly?
Slim to none. Most people will never visit a knife forum unless trying to research a knife they inherited from daddy/grandpa/great grandpa.
"Knife Nuts" who regularly hang out at forums like this make up no more than 1% of the market.

The vast majority of knife buyers don't know, and couldn't care less what the blade steel is, or the differences between them.
They only want something that will hold an edge long enough to gut and peel a deer, is easy to sharpen, and costs under $10 or $20.
Some, don't even know the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel.
I read a review on another site, about/on a Böker Tree Brand Barlow that specifically stated in the description "carbon steel blades".
The reviewer claimed the knife was a "fake" and "not a real Böker" because "the blades stained after slicing a apple, and the blades rusted".
Believe it or not, there really are some not knife nuts people who don't know how to sharpen a knife, that send their existing knife to the land fill when it gets dull enough, and buy a new knif

Those who always recommend some Spiderco, or Hinderer, Benchmade, GEC, etc. make up an even smaller percentage of the market.
Taking the total market into consideration, I doubt as many as 0.05% are able or willing to spend more than $40 - $50 or so for a knife.

A good percentage of knife sales are impulse buys at the local big box stores, sporting goods, and maybe gun/archery shops.
(All the gun and archery shops I've visited in the last 10 plus years carried the same type inexpensive blister packed knives as the big three big box stores, and at truck stops -- and not just to truckers. Where and how do you think most M-Tec, Tac Force, and similar knives are sold? Yep. Impulse buy at a truck stop.

I also notice that a couple extremely popular brands here on the forums: Spiderco CASE, and GEC, to name a few, don't have a dedicated sub-forum like Buck, Ontario, and Cold Steel, do.
(Kinda tells you what Spiderco, CASE, and GEC think of us and/or how important to them we are, don't it?)
 
I think the impact of forums in knives sales varies according to the brands. So well known brands, such as Buck, being less affected one way or another than other niche or smaller brands.
 
At least for those who care to do a bit of research this is a good source. I'm becoming increasingly leery of on-line reviews at vendor sites. When I was a kid a knife usually came from the Big Box Store of the day; Sears, Montgomery Ward or Western Auto (insert whatever hardware store), some darn good knives came from those shops. The only good advice came from Dad or Grandad or from the geezers in what I call the Spit and Whittle group that usually had a sidewalk gathering spot in town, had to put up with a bit of joshing to get an answer though.
 
As a full time knifemaker for the last 5 years i lived only by selling through forums and i can for sure tell you few things from the vendor perspective. As a conclusion based on what i said above there are quite enough sales via forums to make a living BUT and there is a big BUT, the struggle is extremely tough. We only manage to live very simple and without any luxury.

As someone truly stated above the customers, the vast majority of them are not here on forums, at least 90% have no clue about how a good knife should look like and how much it should cost. The junk well promoted mass produced 'dead iron' ones are the peak of the mountain from their perspective and no more than this. It is not something to blame as each of us has different priorities and interests in life but it is the true.

On the other hand there are brothers on forums that do know how a good knife looks like and are very interested in them but do not have the financial means to go for it. Here is another good percentage that from a maker perspective is lost. Of course that with these marvelous guys not everything is lost as their so kind and encouraging comments are a precious fuel for the dusty knifemaker ;)

Now we have the last class to say like this, brothers that do like and know quality knives and also have the means and will to buy. BINGO you would say! Not quite; on top of the fact that the percentage is somewhere of max 5% from the whole market let's not forget that there are so many custom knifemakers 'fighting' on this very, very small piece of cake. Only few will get some and only here and there so an even smaller percentage :)

Now on top of this we can all conclude that knives are not goods of primary need, as food, clothes, debts, a car etc are and if cared properly will last forever so no need to replace one. The easy conclusion is that with each day the market for handmade quality knives becomes more and more saturated and the sales percentage is getting even lower.

In this 'industry' there are only two classes of professionals that are somehow safe and these are:

1. the huge mass production factories (good ones or very poor ones but with lots of money to invest into marketing and sales)
2. the top custom knifemakers that are only selling knives to the very rich class; it is easy to understand that in any financial crisis the very top class will be the last affected (just to be polite and not say not affected at all)

These classes are not on forums for sure so the final conclusion is that forums do deserve all my appreciation and are a very important source of income at least for me and my family and a very good way to promote yourself as a knifemaker and if you are lucky and your work 'catches attention' of the public you might become the next top knifemaker, and live peacefully to the end of your life, but indeed the percentage of sales stays low mathematically speaking.

All the best dear brothers, God bless,
Bogdan
 
afishhunter said:
Honestly?
Slim to none. Most people will never visit a knife forum unless trying to research a knife they inherited from daddy/grandpa/great grandpa.
"Knife Nuts" who regularly hang out at forums like this make up no more than 1% of the market.

The vast majority of knife buyers don't know, and couldn't care less what the blade steel is, or the differences between them.
They only want something that will hold an edge long enough to gut and peel a deer, is easy to sharpen, and costs under $10 or $20.
Some, don't even know the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel.
I read a review on another site, about/on a Böker Tree Brand Barlow that specifically stated in the description "carbon steel blades".
The reviewer claimed the knife was a "fake" and "not a real Böker" because "the blades stained after slicing a apple, and the blades rusted".
Believe it or not, there really are some not knife nuts people who don't know how to sharpen a knife, that send their existing knife to the land fill when it gets dull enough, and buy a new knif

Those who always recommend some Spiderco, or Hinderer, Benchmade, GEC, etc. make up an even smaller percentage of the market.
Taking the total market into consideration, I doubt as many as 0.05% are able or willing to spend more than $40 - $50 or so for a knife.

A good percentage of knife sales are impulse buys at the local big box stores, sporting goods, and maybe gun/archery shops.
(All the gun and archery shops I've visited in the last 10 plus years carried the same type inexpensive blister packed knives as the big three big box stores, and at truck stops -- and not just to truckers. Where and how do you think most M-Tec, Tac Force, and similar knives are sold? Yep. Impulse buy at a truck stop.

I also notice that a couple extremely popular brands here on the forums: Spiderco CASE, and GEC, to name a few, don't have a dedicated sub-forum like Buck, Ontario, and Cold Steel, do.
(Kinda tells you what Spiderco, CASE, and GEC think of us and/or how important to them we are, don't it?)
Click to expand...

There are multiple inaccuracies here. Also, you seem to have a strong grasp on "the market", care to share some figures or at least sources for your information? May I ask what high end knives you've purchased after seeing them here?
 
On topic answer, I would posit my personal, unsubstantiated theory that a great many smaller knifemakers* as well as those who sell knives that cost more than what Kershaw, lower-end Buck, or Gerbers cost would have a bad time if they didn't have their names and pictures of their products being spread across the internet thanks to places like Bladeforums, and many other knife-centric forums, as well as Reddit. On places like these, you can look up information on companies, steels, cutting performance, blade shapes and which is best for your needs, etc. You aren't getting quality information like that from the guy at the ammo counter at Wal-Mart. How many posts have we had where people came in not knowing anything, or wanting to know which knife they should get, who get pointed in the right direction? Millions of posts over the past 20 odd years.

I personally think the impact is huge, far larger than some might be thinking.



* Remember, most knifemaking companies we know and love ARE small companies. Look them up. Companies like Spyderco, CRK, Emerson, Medford, Koenig, Buck, CPK, Olamic, GEC, etc are all small companies.
 
afishhunter said:
Honestly?
Slim to none. Most people will never visit a knife forum unless trying to research a knife they inherited from daddy/grandpa/great grandpa.
"Knife Nuts" who regularly hang out at forums like this make up no more than 1% of the market.

The vast majority of knife buyers don't know, and couldn't care less what the blade steel is, or the differences between them.
They only want something that will hold an edge long enough to gut and peel a deer, is easy to sharpen, and costs under $10 or $20.
Some, don't even know the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel.
I read a review on another site, about/on a Böker Tree Brand Barlow that specifically stated in the description "carbon steel blades".
The reviewer claimed the knife was a "fake" and "not a real Böker" because "the blades stained after slicing a apple, and the blades rusted".
Believe it or not, there really are some not knife nuts people who don't know how to sharpen a knife, that send their existing knife to the land fill when it gets dull enough, and buy a new knif

Those who always recommend some Spiderco, or Hinderer, Benchmade, GEC, etc. make up an even smaller percentage of the market.
Taking the total market into consideration, I doubt as many as 0.05% are able or willing to spend more than $40 - $50 or so for a knife.

A good percentage of knife sales are impulse buys at the local big box stores, sporting goods, and maybe gun/archery shops.
(All the gun and archery shops I've visited in the last 10 plus years carried the same type inexpensive blister packed knives as the big three big box stores, and at truck stops -- and not just to truckers. Where and how do you think most M-Tec, Tac Force, and similar knives are sold? Yep. Impulse buy at a truck stop.

I also notice that a couple extremely popular brands here on the forums: Spiderco CASE, and GEC, to name a few, don't have a dedicated sub-forum like Buck, Ontario, and Cold Steel, do.
(Kinda tells you what Spiderco, CASE, and GEC think of us and/or how important to them we are, don't it?)
Click to expand...
You’re throwing out a lot of opinions with some out and out untruths. Do you know the difference between facts and opinions? Honest question, your posts sometimes leave me wondering.
 
Quiet said:
On topic answer, I would posit my personal, unsubstantiated theory that a great many smaller knifemakers* as well as those who sell knives that cost more than what Kershaw, lower-end Buck, or Gerbers cost would have a bad time if they didn't have their names and pictures of their products being spread across the internet thanks to places like Bladeforums, and many other knife-centric forums, as well as Reddit. On places like these, you can look up information on companies, steels, cutting performance, blade shapes and which is best for your needs, etc. You aren't getting quality information like that from the guy at the ammo counter at Wal-Mart. How many posts have we had where people came in not knowing anything, or wanting to know which knife they should get, who get pointed in the right direction? Millions of posts over the past 20 odd years.

I personally think the impact is huge, far larger than some might be thinking.



* Remember, most knifemaking companies we know and love ARE small companies. Look them up. Companies like Spyderco, CRK, Emerson, Medford, Koenig, Buck, CPK, Olamic, GEC, etc are all small companies.
Click to expand...

We also need to figure Instagram into the mix - just look at the makers/companies that have blown up over the past couple years due in no small part to their engagement there.
 
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