Knifemakers Membership Changes (was Knifemakers)

First I thank Spark for allowing us to voice our opinions instead of just making sweeping changes.

I am a novice who has not purchased a knifemaker membership as I do not feel skilled enough to put that by my name, but this is my opinion. I feel that the $75 touted here is not a huge amount for a year of membership. I look at it like a gym membership- you pay the price and it is up to you how much you get out of it. Do you gain recognition with the site by only engaging in conversation? Do you get sales here? Do you try to get the most out of your money by utilizing BF to the fullest with your product?

I sincerely hope that those bowing out of the $75 membership will continue to support the site in other ways. To me it seems that many are saying that they are abandoning ship if the increases go through, and I sincerely hope that is not the case- if the $75 is not worth your while please continue to support through gold or other such memberships that better suit your situation.

I must say that the 2 tiered Knifemaker membership seems the best to me, combined with a producer/dealer difference for the accessories. This would allow those only interested in talking knifemaking to display that they are makers (which I like to see in any conversation) and another membership for those that sell here (that should allow them to sell knifemaking supplies for knifemakers like DHanson-only one example off the top of my head) If you sell here you should be able to make up the extra $35 in a years time knife by knife/ product by product; allowing those producing a product to be differentiated from those who buy and stock a product (sheathmakers/lanyard makers vs wood supplier).

I will support this site as long as I can for what it has given me (every custom knife I have can be traced back here), and hope others do not go their separate ways, which IMO would diminish the community as a whole.

My 2 cents.
 
I hate to say it but if Spark ran this forum like he runs his business, the membership fees, based on IT charges would have increased incrementally each year. Instead he has tried to keep them down for us. Thank you Spark. Now it is time to pay the piper.

I have a Knifemaker membership but have never sold on here. I guess it is time to start. I only do it as a hobby but I figure 2 or 3 knives will pay for the increased cost.

As far as advertising and education goes, get real. Nowhere else can you get the knowledge or exposure you get here for the money. Unless you know it all and have more work than you can handle it is a bargain.

I too like Nathan's idea but since Spark thinks that keeping track of the commissions could be a problem how about this: Raise all menberships $5.00 per year. In addition, any member wanting to sell a few items can purchase a "Sellers Membership" for an additional $12.00 per year. This entitles them to sell 12 items over the course of the year (knives, sheaths, scales, equip, etc). A separate Dealer or Supplier Membership could be set up for the people who are always selling things on here and even some of the larger supply houses. These could all be listed in a separate section which could also include advertising from them which would also provide more income to the site/Spark and help improve BF. Note that I did not place a fee on the Dealer/Supplier Membership. Spark knows the expenses he is facing and I feel he and his business team could best come up with a number here.

Just another idea....

Kevin
 
I have all the post here. Then I had to ponder over it a while. I have been lucky, I have sold quite a few knives here. This is beyond doubt the best place to sell knives on the web. I personally don't think a charge for a basic member is a good idea. Alot of basic members buy my knives. This charge could reduce customer traffic. This is a thought for those who sell knives here. To sell a $300.00 knife on E-bay with all the listing fees and selling fee you pay out $28.00 and change. Thats for each knife. So $75.00 to sell all I can list in a year Seems very reasonable. Just the knowledge I gain and the ability to get answers to ? from some of the best makers in the country( hell the world). That alone is worth supporting. I though times are tight would keep my membership. Guys this isn't Sparks Forum its ours. We made it what it is The #1 knife forum on the web.
 
I hate to see anyone pull out too. It is a great community and we are blessed for having it available. It would worry me if there weren't increases in membership costs from time to time. I would feel like the forums were more at risk.

Fifteen years ago if you contacted a knifemaker it was likely by letter or telephone. Maybe you could catch one at a show but talking with one there is difficult at best. No method was easy. This is a great forum with a vast amount of information being passed between members, dealers, makers, and collectors and we all benefit. I thank Spark for making it available and hope that everyone will continue to support it however they can, including participation in the discussions.
 
I upgraded to Knifemaker membership a couple of years ago. I just recently put my first knife in the for sale area. Since most of my work is custom orders I really don't have that many to advertise.

I agree that this is a very good forum and I was happy to pay the knifemaker rate to support the forum even if I wasn't selling knives here. I have learned from the forums and enjoyed the connection with other knife knuts. I have also provided information that others found useful.

I don't agree with nearly doubling the fee for using the forum as a knifemaker, especially now. We are all feeling the crunch of slower sales and rising costs. I know I am re-evaluating all of my expenses and promotions including advertising and knife shows.

Yes, the knifemakers get promotion from the forums. Likewise, the forums are successful in large part due to the knifemakers being there. I am sure those who sell a lot of knives on BF see things differntly but if the cost goes to $75 per year I don't think I will be renewing.
 
I too would hate to see folks pull out of the forum because of the membership fee increase.

I have sold a couple of knives here and some knife making supplies. The increased sales I have had is well worth the price increase to me and I will continue to be part of this great forum.
 
I have been here for almost 10 years and have supported the forum about half the time. This place has done me more good in both knowledge from more experienced makers and income from some of the finest collectors worldwide. I have never advertised anywhere except my presense here. My website gets visited thousands of times because of all the people that frequent or visit here on Bladeforums. Spark is right. There is no other place that offers what we have that is knife related more than BF. Makers that are complaining are not looking at the big picture. I have my own forum elsewhere and will still support this one. This is where a good number of the collectors are. I've only sold a few knives in the "for sale" fourm but I have sold every knife I have made for nearly 10 years because of this place. Its a sorry business decision to quit just because of inflation. Nuff said, Bruce
 
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Members: 139,050, Active Members: 13,498
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This pretty much says it all. I am a fairly new maker and member of this forum. Without this forum I would not be where I am at now. Like many makers and collectors I visit the site usually a couple of times a day even if it is only just a couple of minutes at a time. I am interested in what is going on and also seeing what other makers are doing or making. I come here for inspiration as well as instruction. There are some of the most talented makers in the world who frequent this forum daily offering up advice and displaying their most recent works of art. If Sparky has kept prices the same for several years then it is probably time for an increase. I have sold several knives on here and the $40.00 a year is way more than reasonable considering the costs of other sites. I agree that a membership for selling and non selling makers would be a good idea but if the rate for selling makers go up I have no problem continuing to support this site. Many of the other sites are mainly frequented by makers or want to be makers and not as many collectors or users. Bottom line is there are other sites out there that are good but this is the biggest and best. Thanks to all for hearing my thoughts on this. -Burton
 
I will hang in there and support the site. There is another site I care not to mension and at that site you have to purchase a mebership to BUY as well s SELL.

I'd happily buy a membership if the BUYERS could view the products for free.......

I enjoy this site for 6 years now. Changes happen. I do agree dealers should have a seperate membership. Maybe knifemakers get like 50 posts in the sales area a year and keep the price where it is??

Do what you gotta do Spark. Its your playground were using :) :thumbup:
 
i run my whole operation out of here... i sell at least 20 knives a month out of my sub-forum.. lets just say... it pays for itself...........................
 
My money's tight, I'm cheap, this is still going to be a good value. It will be a good value after the price goes up, if a couple of people throw a tantrum and pull out because of it (and most of the people bitching loudest on the service thread were people who were gaming the system anyway) they are ultimately losing. It is unfortunate since they were the cause of the problem.
I will continue to support the site, I might have to actually sell a couple of knives to justify the expense (because I'm cheap) but there's no such thing as a free lunch

-Page
 
Money's tight, in a year where I've taken an 11% pay cut, i've dropped many other memberships, such as my ABANA membership and my ABS membership and the dues for those are less than 75$ I haven't yet sold a knife, but i have bought some "supplies" from other knife makers here, be it a little steel here, a few pieces of handle material there. If the price goes to 75, it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll probably never spring for knifemaker's membership. If the changes that happen mean that the knifemakers who come here and sell some of their extra steel, their spare parts, their extra handle material etc either can no longer do so without paying for a 'supplier' membership, or if those knifemakers just dont subscribe anymore because of the fee increase, i think that will make the bladeforums a worse place all together for everyone here.

The vast majority of the 'knifemaker' community on this forum almost exclusively hangs out in shop talk & around the grinder. The vast majority of the 'knifemakers' don't do this for a living, and certainly not a good living, if many of us make 12 knives a year, we're feeling productive and acomplished, and for this huge segment of people, 75$ is a lot of money for something that we dont use to make money.
 
Here is one idea (not sure if it has been mentioned):

A basic knife makers fee of 30 or 50 or whatever amount of dollars. For those who want to support the sight, have PMs, sig lines, other benefits, etc.

and

The option to buy "Buy a sales thread" for 5 or 10 dollars when you wish to sell a knife, extra supplies etc. Limitations on selling multiple items may need to be set, or perhaps extra fees for multiple items sold in that thread, etc.



I realize that may not work well for suppliers like myself, but it may work well for the knifemakers here



Mark Nelson said:
My question is about what exactly is a supplier. I used to make and sell custom micarta here and look to do it again in the future. I did not sell a huge amount here but enough to make it fun and kinda worthwhile in doing it. I buy the cloth, or whatever, buy the epoxy, have the tools needed and make a piece of micarta to order. More or less my market is the knifemakers here at Bladeforums. In theory a knifemakers market here is any member of Blade forums. So if I am a supplier I have to pay more to sell to a smaller number of people then a knifemaker at a higher price. If that makes sense. Not meaning this as a slam to knifemakers in anyway just to be clear. Would have to think hard about making and selling any stuff here if it would cost $200.
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Good Point Mark. This forum does a have lot of members, but certain suppliers (like us) are only reaching out to a relatively small portion of them.

Of course, a $200 fee can have the effect of reducing a lot of competition here. A good thing for me personally, but not so good for the knife making crowd in general. I am mixed about it, but would prefer the lower rates and the variety and competition that comes with it
 
I would pay $75 for a sheathmakers membership. I am not full time (heck, not even part time lately), but it is still worth it to me. I would love to have 'sheathmaker' under my name like the knifemakers do :thumbup:
 
The more I think about it I'd just rather pay my $75 and be done with it. Not really wanting to pay monthly. That would deture me more than anything.
 
cjpgeyer said:
I would pay $75 for a sheathmakers membership. I am not full time (heck, not even part time lately), but it is still worth it to me. I would love to have 'sheathmaker' under my name like the knifemakers do :thumbup:
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I have a platinum membership, with that you can change your tag to whatever you like
you'll notice mine says "metalsmith" and Stacy's says "Ilmarinen" (The legendary Finnish metalsmith)

-Page
 
I have no problem with $75 for a Knife Maker membership and would gladly pay it. I pay more than that on another knife forum and it's voluntary.

It's easy, if you want to sell stuff here, pay up. If you don't want to, or need to sell stuff here, just get a basic membership.

How many have spent $75 at a restaurant for an evening meal?
 
Don Hanson III said:
.... If you don't want to, or need to sell stuff here, just get a basic membership....
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I've supported this site with a membership since I joined 8 years ago. Now, this issue is more about paying for a right to sell as opposed to simply helping do our part to keep it running.
Overall, I suppose it is a good thing to see the forum grow from Shoptalk being mostly a venue for knifemakers to socialize and share technique to looking at membership as a business opportunity.
Progress is seldom comfortable to everyone.
 
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