Impact of forums on knife sales

[bflying]

Over the years, I'd say I've spent thousands more than if I wasn't "hobby reading". @Spark should solicit brand name "impression" click$ from manufacturers. Everytime a brand (or branded model name) is mentioned....chaching.

 

[afishhunter]

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?

Sources for information: Various BF threads, online research, and retail management.

High End knife that I've bought? Honestly, I doubt few, if any, will consider them "high end":

2018 Blade Forums (traditional sub-forum) Forum knife; Buck 301 stockman with Spey/Budding blade delete, long pulls on the clip point and sheepsfoot blade, CPM145 blades, and Elk covers.

SK Blades The Gentleman Buck 110; Nickel Silver bolsters a liners, black G10 covers, and CPM154 drop point blade.

SK Blades Smoke Jumper Buck 110LT.; Red FRN handle, CPM154 clip point blade.

SK Blades "Lil' Jack" Buck 112; Nickel Silver bolsters and liners, D2 clip point blade.

"High End" steel, but by no means a "High End" knife: (SMKW) Marbles MR431 D2 Sow Belly stockman; Has D2 blades, and black canvas micarta covers.
(The "Marbles"/"Marbles Outdoors" brands are currently owned by SMKW.)

Sorry, but my budget/income since I had a stroke a bit over a year ago is almost enough for a new Rough Rider/Marbles/(BTI) Schrade/Old Timer/Imperial if I save up a month or two for it.

Received as gift from forum members; not bought:
Case Amber Bone CV Canoe.
GEC 852211 Northfield UN-X-LD (numbered) Harness Jack with burnt stag covers. (1095 blades)

GEC 610211 Northfield UN-X-LD (numbered) "Half Congress" with Green Briar Jigged bone covers. (1095 blades)

August 2020 Buck 110 Web Special; Brass bolsters and liners, Ebony Covers, and clip point S30V blade.

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.

Yes, I do know the difference between fact and opinion.

Question for you:
How many of your friends and kin who are not "into" knives (if any) regularly visit a knife forum?
None of mine do/or did while alive.

Question for you:
How many threads have you seen in the last two months started by a new member, that starts with words to the effect "HI! My __ recently passed ... I inherited some knives, and I found this forum trying to find information on them..." (and what they are worth) more often than not?

I've seen at least 4 or 5, and I've no doubt missed some.

Question for you: Do you personally belong to a forum concerning a subject you are not now, nor never have been, interested in?
I'm not, and I don't know anyone who is.

I'm sorry, Grateful , that you find my posts insulting or offending.
Suggestion:
(a) Add me to your Ignore List. Then you'll never see another post of mine.
(how that works, I don't know. Is my post a blank in a thread? does my post get skipped and the post count in the thread goes for example "19" then jump to "21" if my post was number 20?

 

[Rykjeklut]

Traditional forums? Probably not all that much, in this day and age.

I'd put good money on that Instagram is WAY more influental than what forums are.
Instagram and the knifesubs over on reddit have more activity than we have here on BF. Granted, the quality of discourse is worse over there, but the average knifebuyer prefers something simple, which IG and reddit is.

 

[Grateful]

Yes, I do know the difference between fact and opinion.

Question for you:
How many of your friends and kin who are not "into" knives (if any) regularly visit a knife forum?
None of mine do/or did while alive.

Question for you:
How many threads have you seen in the last two months started by a new member, that starts with words to the effect "HI! My __ recently passed ... I inherited some knives, and I found this forum trying to find information on them..." (and what they are worth) more often than not?

I've seen at least 4 or 5, and I've no doubt missed some.

Question for you: Do you personally belong to a forum concerning a subject you are not now, nor never have been, interested in?
I'm not, and I don't know anyone who is.

I'm sorry, Grateful , that you find my posts insulting or offending.
Suggestion:
(a) Add me to your Ignore List. Then you'll never see another post of mine.
(how that works, I don't know. Is my post a blank in a thread? does my post get skipped and the post count in the thread goes for example "19" then jump to "21" if my post was number 20?

None of your questions have much if anything to do with the opinions and inaccuracies that you posted here and regularly elsewhere. So I won’t even comment on your questions. And I would never unfollow you. It’s just to much fun following your wise old pappy shtick and laughing at your wise wisdom and facts.

 

[Quiet]

Sources for information: Various BF threads, online research, and retail management.

High End knife that I've bought? Honestly, I doubt few, if any, will consider them "high end":

2018 Blade Forums (traditional sub-forum) Forum knife; Buck 301 stockman with Spey/Budding blade delete, long pulls on the clip point and sheepsfoot blade, CPM145 blades, and Elk covers.

SK Blades The Gentleman Buck 110; Nickel Silver bolsters a liners, black G10 covers, and CPM154 drop point blade.

SK Blades Smoke Jumper Buck 110LT.; Red FRN handle, CPM154 clip point blade.

SK Blades "Lil' Jack" Buck 112; Nickel Silver bolsters and liners, D2 clip point blade.

"High End" steel, but by no means a "High End" knife: (SMKW) Marbles MR431 D2 Sow Belly stockman; Has D2 blades, and black canvas micarta covers.
(The "Marbles"/"Marbles Outdoors" brands are currently owned by SMKW.)

Sorry, but my budget/income since I had a stroke a bit over a year ago is almost enough for a new Rough Rider/Marbles/(BTI) Schrade/Old Timer/Imperial if I save up a month or two for it.

Received as gift from forum members; not bought:
Case Amber Bone CV Canoe.
GEC 852211 Northfield UN-X-LD (numbered) Harness Jack with burnt stag covers. (1095 blades)

GEC 610211 Northfield UN-X-LD (numbered) "Half Congress" with Green Briar Jigged bone covers. (1095 blades)

August 2020 Buck 110 Web Special; Brass bolsters and liners, Ebony Covers, and clip point S30V blade.


Yes, I do know the difference between fact and opinion.

Question for you:
How many of your friends and kin who are not "into" knives (if any) regularly visit a knife forum?
None of mine do/or did while alive.

Question for you:
How many threads have you seen in the last two months started by a new member, that starts with words to the effect "HI! My __ recently passed ... I inherited some knives, and I found this forum trying to find information on them..." (and what they are worth) more often than not?

I've seen at least 4 or 5, and I've no doubt missed some.

Question for you: Do you personally belong to a forum concerning a subject you are not now, nor never have been, interested in?
I'm not, and I don't know anyone who is.

I'm sorry, Grateful , that you find my posts insulting or offending.
Suggestion:
(a) Add me to your Ignore List. Then you'll never see another post of mine.
(how that works, I don't know. Is my post a blank in a thread? does my post get skipped and the post count in the thread goes for example "19" then jump to "21" if my post was number 20?

I still don't see any facts or statistics that back your assertions, though I'd love to see the results of your "research".

Frankly, that you have been a member for six years and personally seen the hundreds if not thousands of posts in this very section with titles that are some variation of "Suggest a Knife for Me" and dismiss the impact these forums have had all these years is....well, politely, it's baffling.

 

[craytab]

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,

.
The vast majority of knife buyers won't even go hunting, much less skin a deer. Your assessment is way off, in many ways, some just factually incorrect and easily disproven. Sorry.

 

[mendezj]

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?)

Sorry, I didn’t mean to respond to this comment.

 

[mendezj]

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

Excellent comment. Thank you.

 

[Buellrider]

If you have ever tried to purchase a highly sought after Spyderco Sprint Run knife you will know that the forum does indeed influence purchases. The majority of them sell out within minutes. I also agree with Quiet that the impact of forums is more than what people might think.

 

[soc_monki]

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?)

Can you at least spell Spyderco correctly?

 

[22-rimfire]

I think forum or online info sites have a substantial impact on sales, especially higher end knives and sprint runs. I don't know about most of you, but I don't visit online retail sites even once a week and what people say here has a significant impact on my sales site visits and eventually actual sales.

I generally wouldn't even know a new knife model came out from say GEC or Spyderco without the forums and if it is popular, it is pretty much sold out before I know about it. So, knife knuts impact sales. I would venture to say about 25%-35% of sales are because of online information not provided on retail sales sites.

The online sites have a profound impact on handmade knife sales.

Instagram.... never once visited.

 

[skyhorse]

I believe there are two distinctly different knife consumers . One is the average person merely wanting just to purchase a knife .
These consumers will most likely purchase anything that catches their eye on sale at a discount big box store or possibly something online that looks like deal and happily go about their life. The second type would be those interested enough in what’s considered mans basic tool to take an interest and search for the best option that suits there personal needs and higher expectations .

 

[22-rimfire]

I believe there are two distinctly different knife consumers . One is the average person merely wanting just to purchase a knife .
These consumers will most likely purchase anything that catches their eye on sale at a discount big box store or possibly something online that looks like deal and happily go about their life. The second type would be those interested enough in what’s considered mans basic tool to take an interest and search for the best option that suits there personal needs and higher expectations .

There is also the lazy knife consumer who likes a good knife but really doesn't care what steel is used or a lot of the other characteristics discussed here regularly. The steel choice thing is fun, but it is mostly pushed by online chat and really makes little significant difference to most people, even folks here who are more interested. Hence that is why folks like Benchmade stick to a medium grade steel choice for the most part. With MAP the cost difference between many large retailers (Bass Pro and so forth) isn't that significant.

The lazy knife consumer might well search on a particular knife that catches his eye, but won't really participate much on forums like this.

 

[jlauffer]

All of the dozen or so customs I've bought were a direct result of this forum. But can't really say it's affected my purchasing of production knives.

 

[22-rimfire]

All of the dozen or so customs I've bought were a direct result of this forum. But can't really say it's affected my purchasing of production knives.

My first customs came from gunshow exposure. There was no internet then. And I agree with you about the handmade stuff in terms of online exposure. I would not even know about many handmade knife makers if it wasn't for the forums.

 

[22-rimfire]

I have been attending the Blade Show since 1990 about every other year. You certainly get exposure to the custom makers there but frankly it all becomes a big blurr after a couple hours between all the makers that are there. If there was no internet, I would probably be buying most of my knives from AG Russell or that big knife store in Sevierville TN. There would be more knife specific shows however. The internet has impacted that significantly.

 

[skyhorse]

If you have ever tried to purchase a highly sought after Spyderco Sprint Run knife you will know that the forum does indeed influence purchases. The majority of them sell out within minutes. I also agree with Quiet that the impact of forums is more than what people might think.

Picked up a Spyderco Stretch in Super Blue steel thanks to hearing about it on the forum . Outstanding knife !

 

[Hackenslash]

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.

Traditional forums? Probably not all that much, in this day and age.

I'd put good money on that Instagram is WAY more influental than what forums are.
Instagram and the knifesubs over on reddit have more activity than we have here on BF. Granted, the quality of discourse is worse over there, but the average knifebuyer prefers something simple, which IG and reddit is.

Both of these posts hit on a truth; People posting on a BB forum will be far more likely to believe BB forums influence knife sales. It's where they hang out to find out about knives. This question probably should have been couched as "impact of forums on knife sales vs. other social media outlets".

This question is similar going to a German Shepherd Fan Club and asking "Hey, who likes a German Shepherd?". The OP's question was posed to the target audience and that skews results. This question won't reveal any surprises.

BB forums are one of the oldest, original forms of social media. As forumites, most of us don't realize how popular Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and even Twitter are with many knife makers and manufacturers. I generally despise all forms of social media and enjoy the old school BB format but I don't think this is the way of the future. The old avenues of forums and email are being replaced with faster, more socially interactive options. New knife makers are flocking to Instagram. In some cases, that's the only way to acquire a popular knife.

I'd be curious to see what the age breakdown demographics are of Blade Forums vs. an Instagram or Reddit knife group. I think we'd find that all the crotchety old farts are here and the kids are over there.

Not that I'm calling anyone a crotchety old fart, but I am.

One of them, I mean.

 

[mendezj]

Both of these posts hit on a truth; People posting on a BB forum will be far more likely to believe BB forums influence knife sales. It's where they hang out to find out about knives. This question probably should have been couched as "impact of forums on knife sales vs. other social media outlets".

This question is similar going to a German Shepherd Fan Club and asking "Hey, who likes a German Shepherd?". The OP's question was posed to the target audience and that skews results. This question won't reveal any surprises.

BB forums are one of the oldest, original forms of social media. As forumites, most of us don't realize how popular Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and even Twitter are with many knife makers and manufacturers. I generally despise all forms of social media and enjoy the old school BB format but I don't think this is the way of the future. The old avenues of forums and email are being replaced with faster, more socially interactive options. New knife makers are flocking to Instagram. In some cases, that's the only way to acquire a popular knife.

I'd be curious to see what the age breakdown demographics are of Blade Forums vs. an Instagram or Reddit knife group. I think we'd find that all the crotchety old farts are here and the kids are over there.

Not that I'm calling anyone a crotchety old fart, but I am.

One of them, I mean.

You make a good point regarding the implicit skew in the question, or not. The question could well be referred only to forums. In any case, it’d also be interesting to open the spectrum of the question to all social media.

That said, evidently some smaller production brands (Microtech, Hinderer, etc.) depend greatly on social media for sales than older, bigger, more established brands (Buck, Case, etc.) It’d be interesting to have statistics, though.

 

[Lee D]

Based on the beads, prybars, cap lifters, and fidget spinners that all seemed to gain ground (no matter how ridiculous the price) in the edc market, I feel it’s safe to say social media has an influence on what people drop in their pockets everyday.