My wife I own a small military surplus store and we also sale knives. We carry both expensive and cheap knives. Our customers ask for American made knives and they are the price they ease on down to the cheaper ones. Maybe it's the area we live as we don't the higher paying jobs. Do others on forum who sale run into this?
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I think it's pretty common knowledge that your average Joe isn't willing to spend more than 20-30 USD on a knife. Go look at the knife selection at a local Walmart and that will give you a better understanding of what people are willing to spend their money on, mostly lower end Chinese made knives.
NJBillK
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Keep a few Opinels, Svord, and Moras in stock so you can still sell them quality knives at a lower price point. Beyond that, look into Becker (through Kabar), and possibly a few Spyderco, ZT or Benchmade.
With that spread, you should have knives ranging from $15-$20 up to about $150. While you may not move the few higher end knives, folks will like to see them and may end up getting one as a gift around Christmas while the bulk of your sales will be from the first 3 that I mentioned.
Becker will land you as a solid user knife that should last them a lifetime. They can take more of a beating than the first three, but shouldn't cost as much as the quality folders from Spyderco, ZT, or Benchmade. These will likely be sold to those that are seeking more than what Mora has to offer, while allowing you the potential to up sell a customer that seems like he may not know what he wants, but has a few bucks to play with.
To top it off, Becker is made here in America, which will be a draw. Spyderco has some models made in Boulder, Co. and have a more inexpensive line called "Byrd" though they are made in China, the cost reflects this but they are still fairly well made. Most of the other knives I had mentioned are made outside of the U.S. .
Best of luck.
With that spread, you should have knives ranging from $15-$20 up to about $150. While you may not move the few higher end knives, folks will like to see them and may end up getting one as a gift around Christmas while the bulk of your sales will be from the first 3 that I mentioned.
Becker will land you as a solid user knife that should last them a lifetime. They can take more of a beating than the first three, but shouldn't cost as much as the quality folders from Spyderco, ZT, or Benchmade. These will likely be sold to those that are seeking more than what Mora has to offer, while allowing you the potential to up sell a customer that seems like he may not know what he wants, but has a few bucks to play with.
To top it off, Becker is made here in America, which will be a draw. Spyderco has some models made in Boulder, Co. and have a more inexpensive line called "Byrd" though they are made in China, the cost reflects this but they are still fairly well made. Most of the other knives I had mentioned are made outside of the U.S. .
Best of luck.
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You won't be able to beat Wally World pricing, don't even try competing directly with them on price instead of quality. I buy most of my knives off the internet primarily because the closest real knife shop has 2 of the top ten worst traffic areas in the U.S. between me and it. The local sporting goods stores have CRKT and basic Kershaw models as their high end, and that just won't cut it (heh) for me. I am totally willing to pay more for a knife I can physically hold before I buy, but the markup versus what I could order it for has to be within reason. A $15 Opinel for $25 would be fine in my eyes since I would have to pay for shipping on on a small purchase anyways, and I get to walk out of the store with my new toy. What stops me from buying is when I see markups that are 200% of the online price on knives that have a higher starting price. So instead of a linear progression, it's more of a formula like: (internet cost) + (internet cost)x30% for an initial starting value IC around $50, progressing to (IC) + (IC)x20% for an IC of $100. There is a point of diminishing return on the more expensive items that makes it less likely for people like me to impulse buy.
As a consumer, I would definitely purchase the brands mentioned above, Opinel, Svord, and Mora, because the quality versus price makes it an easy choice in a brick and mortar store. But if I am there to get a few gift knives or beaters, I might get weak and pick up a Becker or Kabar.
As a consumer, I would definitely purchase the brands mentioned above, Opinel, Svord, and Mora, because the quality versus price makes it an easy choice in a brick and mortar store. But if I am there to get a few gift knives or beaters, I might get weak and pick up a Becker or Kabar.
Keep in mind that the average person, even say a camper, just want a "knife" and for it to look good and in this case US made. I know when I was younger the concept of $100 knives was crazy to me (thanks dad for that Benchmade!) when I could get a decent knife like a Buck 110 for a lot less. It's like trying to sell someone looking for basic transportation a Porsche. Even if they see the difference it isn't worth it to them or it isn't something they care about - for example blade steel, you know the average person knows little if anything beyond "stainless".
It sounds like your customers are more like average joes than knife folks, I would suggest offering them what they will buy. A good list has been given above and I do agree - have a few "halo" knives, even if they don't sell they can help pull in folks to that counter.
It sounds like your customers are more like average joes than knife folks, I would suggest offering them what they will buy. A good list has been given above and I do agree - have a few "halo" knives, even if they don't sell they can help pull in folks to that counter.
Most people find the idea of spending more than $50 for a knife to be absurd.
If you try selling Wally World knives, they're smart enough to know they can get it cheaper there. So your best bet is to sell quality knives that aren't so common for the general public. You can have a healthy selection of Opinel, Mora, Becker, Ontario, Buck, and Spyderco without breaking the $100 mark.