Kitchen knife Makers wanted!

Greenberg Woods

Greenberg Woods

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
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Hey guys, hows your summer? I was wondering if any kitchen knife makers would be interested in a site I am helping a very good friend of mine set up. The basic idea of the site is something similar to chefknivestogo. If you have ever visted the site its full of hand made japanese knives, and that's about it.

My friend has been buying and selling knives for some 6 years now, and he has really gotten attached to the real made in America hand made stuff, as a lot of the Japanese makers are unwilling to associate with him to much "he is very white." He has also noticed the inclusive nature and secrecy that surrounds the knife making culture in Japan, where it seems no one else should be able to know how they do what they do.

What we want to build is a site that sells a variety of Hand made chef knives, but make it more about the process. Each maker would have their own section, a description of their process "you choose the level of detail" as well as a short bit about your personal philosophy when it comes to making knives "are you trying to simply make the best knife? Make new kinds? follow tradition?" We are hoping this can be something to help boost sales and expose a new group of people interested in the craft who might not otherwise find great makers who simply arent the best at self marketing and advertising.

Does this sound appealing to any blade makers here? I would love to hear your thoughts.
 
Ben,
There is always room for another well thought and executed custom knife website. Stop by on Sunday if you can and We can chat a bit if you don't mind a few interruptions as I grind & sharpen.
 
So kind of like an Etsy but specializing in low volume kitchen knives? Seems like something both makers and buyers would love, but the devil is in how the rent gets paid. And of course Etsy already has knife makers, though the way you describe the site sounds a lot more appealing to me.
 
Color me enthused. It would be nice to get something like that going, I know I'd sure have stuff to contribute. I'll stay tuned for the discussion.
 
I tried Etsy but there was simply too much, i dont know, sensationalism? It was all about vintage or reused, not about the craft itself. We are looking to make basically Etsy thats about the craft itself. We both want makers to not just get their name out but also who they are, how they work and what they deem the most important parts of a knife.
 
zhyla said:
So kind of like an Etsy but specializing in low volume kitchen knives? Seems like something both makers and buyers would love, but the devil is in how the rent gets paid. And of course Etsy already has knife makers, though the way you describe the site sounds a lot more appealing to me.
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We were thinking about that. We could either act as a simply hosting forum the way Etsy does, Or we could physically buy the blades and resell them. One of the tricky parts.
 
hellspawn415 said:
We were thinking about that. We could either act as a simply hosting forum the way Etsy does, Or we could physically buy the blades and resell them. One of the tricky parts.
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It may work to do both. That would open markets for makers that wish to sell both ways. Start as a hosting forum site and then as you add makers you could buy straight out as well.
 
Do you guys think a sign up fee and listing fee would make sense? or would there be an on sale commission? And I do want to keep it low. Honestly the more people get exposed to hand made knives the better it is for all of us who do this.
 
Sounds like the idea has potential. As some have mentioned, some similar things are being done on a small scale on the interwebz. Getting the word to to folks who are not part of the serious knife collecting community or the existing high end kitchen knife community would be nice. Upsetting the typical Global customer and such might be a market. Some makers, like a couple of the folks from Brooklyn, have been getting some mainstream attention in the last few years.
 
I think it'd be awesome. I'd love to visit the website often.

I really wish all the talk a few months ago about a dedicated business forum for craftsmen would have panned out. This is specifically what it would be useful for. Paid membership only access would have been something. [emoji57]
 
I am interested, really only make kitchen knives and would be willing to contribute content and put knives up for sale. Keep me posted.
 
I'm definitely interested. I started making knives because I grew up hunting and wanted to make hunters but now kitchen knives are probably my favorite type of knife to make. Keep us posted.
 
I once tried to do something similar to this about 4-5 years ago. I wanted to make the platform for other people to use to set up sites like this though. Sort of like micro Etsy sites but for specific crafts/interests like this kitchen knife site. My thought was that you screen/control who can be on the site so that the quality is high but let the makers handle the content and inventory. Alas, I didn't get very far as I had neither the funding or programming skills to bring it to life. I think the platform would be much more valuable than the site itself.
 
Good points. Some of the other sites that people like us use, like Custom Made, seem to require a bit much like signing up for some PayPal alternative that you have never heard of, etc. Of course, that makes it easy for them to collect their commission, perhaps with fewer charges than Ebay, but that is not my problem. I figure that I am actually THEIR customer not the buyer/end user, so I am always right. ;)
phorizt said:
I once tried to do something similar to this about 4-5 years ago. I wanted to make the platform for other people to use to set up sites like this though. Sort of like micro Etsy sites but for specific crafts/interests like this kitchen knife site. My thought was that you screen/control who can be on the site so that the quality is high but let the makers handle the content and inventory. Alas, I didn't get very far as I had neither the funding or programming skills to bring it to life. I think the platform would be much more valuable than the site itself.
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