Les Robertson AKA woodworkghost

N

nifrand

Custom Knife Forum Mod
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Please send my knives back to me.It has been 3+ weeks that I told you to send them back.Also where is the money from the sale of my Fisk fighter.
That was 3 weeks ago also.
Long story short.
Gave Les most of my knife collection to sell.Has not been going well and I want my knives back.I probably will sell them much faster than he will because he had to market them at a higher price due to 20% fees he charges.No big except I am making2 mortgagepayments totaling$3500 ea month.
Ijust want my knives back.No more not responding to my e/mails,cannot contact him by phone stuff.
Want my knives back.Told him all transactions prior to Nov25 were valid(pending)Got a check acouple weeks agofor a couple knives being sold.
Have not heard anything
Just want my knives back
Randy
 
Randy,I hope he see's this,and works this problem out.This is a bad time of year,for BS,like this(perhaps there is an explanation,for it ?).Best wishes to you, on resolving the issue at hand here,
Vince
BTT,Keep it at the top!
 
Randy,That is very inconsiderate.Any business,knives,whatever,has to have some type of a communication system.Wether it be a message,stating they are not available,or out of town,or check thier messages only once a week.....
But NOTHING,that is fustrating,and is the worst.I have dealt with Les once,he was pretty good about it.I just hope something really wrong,has not happened,for the both of you.I guess,be patient a bit more,is all one can say,at this point.
Vince
 
Hi Randy,

First, lets add a few thing to the "Short Story"

1)YOU CALLED ME TO HELP YOU. A point you seem to have left out.

2)You knew the consignment fee was 20% when you sent the knives.

3)I received a string of emails (which I answered) the last of which you asked for the knives to be shipped on the 27th of November and several phone calls from you in which you did not leave a message.

4) Randy you forgot to mention that you have already received payments of $6,276 prior to the last payment sent. That should have made a little dent in the $3500 a month.

You wanted me to ship the knives on the the 27th of November (not 3 weeks ago). The knives were shipped on the 7th of December (Not a three week delay). Why was the shipment delayed. As you know I have a 7 day return policy. Consequently I have to wait until that time has passed. I was waiting for the last two payments for knives I sold for you to come in. As one payment was delayed (because I didn't want to have to ship anther knife if it didn't sell, I chose to wait until all payments came in saving me time and you money for additional shipping costs). That has happened and your knives were shipped via UPS 3 day select last Friday. Obviously I should have notified you about the shipment that is my fault. I was caught up in family matters and had planned to use today to get caught up on my emails.

The last check went out Saturday minus the shipping charges. The check was for 2 knives not 1.

Lastly, Randy you knew full well that buying and selling custom knives is my full time job. Just like you I have fiscal responsibilities. I am not in the position to do volunteer work. You complained about the 20% only after the knives didn't seem to be selling as fast as you thought they would. In most cases credit cards were used (deduct another 3%). There were a few knives I sent out to be cleaned up you were only charged for one of those. Again take money out of my pocket not yours.

I guess you were thinking that the photography was free, the web site was free, taking your knives to the Chicago Custom Knife Show, The Jerry Fisk Micro-Invitational, the Spirit of Steel Show and the New York Custom Knife shows were free, my time selling your knives was free, shipping knives to makers to have them cleaned up so I could sell them free. As you can see each one of these activities takes a little bite out of the 20%.

Randy I think if you check with other dealers you will find that 20% is a fair commission.

The good news is you will have your knives and a check next week.

Happy Holidays

Les
 
This is another example of why communcation is so important. Les' reputation is such that I consider this lack of communication to be an anomaly that was probably caused by said family matters.

Anyway, it looks like everything has worked out.
 
Hi Randy,

Actually you didn't have to resort to "your crap". As the knives and final payment were already sent prior to your post.

Les
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
Hi Randy,

Actually you didn't have to resort to "your crap". As the knives and final payment were already sent prior to your post.
Click to expand...
I have no dog in this race, and I know neither of you gentlemen, so I'm not trying to take sides. Assuming what you relate is true, Les, and I have no reason to suspect it's not, it sounds like you were taking quite good care of Randy's consignment and doing him quite a service. OTOH: I'm assuming the unsold knives he requested returned are, collectively, worth a fair bit of money. It seems Randy's only issue was you going incommunicado on him for two or three weeks w/o notice, after he requested their return. Step back for a moment and consider: Were you in Randy's shoes, wouldn't you start becoming a bit twitchy? I'm pretty sure I would.
 
Randy, sorry to see you get jerked around like this. Very telling. I think you are quite composed considering the lack of communication on Les' part.

whitie
 
FWIW, Les has always treated me well - I've bought and traded with him on several occasions. He has also helped me source some knives and given me good advice. I know different incidents result in different outcomes, so hopefully all will be well with both Les and nifrand (for whom I have nothing but respect).

Hope this works out to everyone's satisfaction and the Christmas spirit warms us up from within.
 
It is sad when one has to sell his collection to pay the bills.

Hang in there Randy, you are a class act...................................
 
Amen Randy
I have been very lucky over the years to have good taste when collecting knives. I never had any life threatning reason to have to sell knives from my collection, but when my wife wanted us to build a house or I needed new equipment for the shop, I sold off a lot of knives to make that happen. Sure, I wanted the knives, but when you want or need a little extra cash, it is hard to look in the safe and see thousands of dollars just sitting in there that you could use instead of going to the bank.
You could have spent that money on a lot worse. You have good taste in knives and those knives may not sell quickly as you want, but they are for the most part money in the bank. I know people who would have either drank or snorted that much money and never had anything to show for it.

P.S. After my wife saw how much money I raised by selling those knives, she never complained about me collecting knives.
BB
 
I don't have a dog in this fight but part of the misunderstanding here is over a lack of communication. I find it interesting that when someone sends an email, their expectation is that the addressee is waiting on the other end of the connection, just waiting to respond. I've taken trips for a week and never checked email while I was gone. I don't think I'd get upset without a response after a week. Sometimes people are just not sitting by the computer like we'd like them to be. The internet has drastically decreased our attention span.

Les and I have had our differences of opinion in the past, but when I hear the words "family matters", in my opinion, these trump any old knife sales. Anyone who is not sensitive to someone else's family matters just hasn't had enough of them yet. ...but you will!
 
P.S. After my wife saw how much money I raised by selling those knives, she never complained about me collecting knives.
BB
Click to expand...

Mine too! She loves to see knives go in the safe!

She hates it when I buy bullets, though!

This thread intrigues me for several reasons. Firstly, Randy's collection looks/looked a lot like mine. I saw a lot of primo knives get advertised and many get sold, but I am continually reminded that if you want an immediate return, the absolute fastest way is Ebay auction, second is internet posting, third is consignment.

You will get the best return on internet posting with the greatest amount of work. Answering emails, dodging calls, taking pics, etc. I email people all the time who post ads with knives for sale and often get NO RESPONSE.

Ebay is the worst. The prices realized are usually 50-75% of what a knife may be worth.

Sorry for the thread drift. I know Les to be honorable and I am sure Randy is also. Lapses in communication can sometimes be seen as nefarious, when they are usually mere oversights. Life gets in the way sometimes for all of us.


Consignment with dealers is a great option for higher end, sought after makers. Maybe not so good for "Run of the mill" stuff.

I have had good look in the past with a few higher end pieces consigning them with dealers. I have had good luck with lower end knives on ebay.
I have rarely had good luck selling knives directly on forums.
 
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