Neil,
The benifits of working with a "known" dealer are endless.
By known dealer I am referring to someone who is established. All makers encounter the "I have a business card, there fore I am a dealer" types. Their main calling card is, "what is the best price you can make me on this One Knife".
Dealers Can Provide you with the following:
*Advertisment that costs you no money! This is done by getting your knives on the cover of magazines, getting magazine articles for you, mentioning your name when interviewed for a magazine, doing press releases on your knives. Being involved in projects that get a lot of press such as LDC and Vanguard.
*Taking your knives to parts of the country or world that you will never go to.
*While at shows, displaying your knives and talking about them in a favorable light. While it is considered arrogant for a maker to tell a customer how great their work it. Dealers are expected to do this. After all if we didnt think they were great, we wouldnt buy them in the first place.
*Dealers, more so than anyone else in custom knives, acutally know what is going on in the market, TODAY! Magainzes are anywhere from 4-8 months behind on their information (not their fault, just the nature of publishing).
Makers feel they know whats going on, but once your delivery time gets out there past 6 months. You are starting to lose touch with the market. Dealers can help with this problem by ordering knives that keep on pace with the ever changing market. This is one of the reasons that established makers who have over a year wait sell to dealers. We help to keep them out there and current.
*Websites. Look at KnifeArt.com, Arizona Custom Knives and Robertson's Custom Cutlery.
Between just these three dealers we average over 4,000 hits per day! For many makers that may be your total for a year.
My Banner Ad on this forum for instance, takes you right to my site. Neil, I dont think I remember seeing one for you. If you have one, then great. If not, if I had your knives on my site, then everyone could see them in just a few clicks with their mouse.
*When you are not making knives, you are not making knives! When this happens, you are not filling orders and making money to pay the bills. While you enjoy the customer interaction and could talk about your knives all day. Doing this continues to push your delivery time back.
Part of my job is to discuss with customers and potential customer, the merits of your work. This is especially important with those who are just making an initial inquiry.
Time off the phone, means time making knives.
The down side to working with dealers:
They can misrepresent you and/or your work
They can tell a customer this is a rare one of a kind, misrepresenting the knife.
They can tell customers personal things about you that are not true. Example, he is getting divorced so these will be the last knives he makes, because his wife is getting all his equipment.
Neil, there can also be problems working with a knife maker. If you are going to be a business man who makes knives than you need to do your part as well.
Delivers to the dealer must be on time. This means that you have to be a professional. You have to learn how to schedule your work to meet your forecasted delivery times. Sadly there are more makers than I can remember that I stopped doing business with, as I tired of their excuses.
The knives must be what the dealer ordered.
You have to willing to try new things, designs, materials, etc.
Basically, the maker/dealer relationship is a partnership. As each provides the other with a necessary service. If either is not willing to do their part, or acts in a unprofessional manner. Then there is no reason for the partnership to exsist.
Neil, I can assure you that dealers are not the scum of the earth that some makers will tell you we are (generally, these are makers that dealers are not working with or have stopped working with them for reasons listed abover). As you can see, established and professional dealers do much more than just get your knives at a discount and make money off of your sweat and labor.
Hope this helps.
Les
