makers: how do you decide how much to charge?

S

SkaerE

Joined
Sep 9, 2001
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428
do you use any kind of formula? ie, combination of material's costs and time spent?

is it generally what the market will bear price-wise?

i would have no idea where to start, those of you who do sell your knives, how do you decide how much to sell them for?

thanks
 
If I was to price my knives by cost of materials and time spent nobody could afford them. The last one I made took me 26 hours and around 100.00 in materials, shipping, heat treating. I list it for around 300.00 but it was a gift for my wife, and it wasn't perfect so I really wouldn't sell it. So that leaves me with about 7.50 per hour. I guess I'll have to be rich in other ways. But seriously, I look at what is comparable out there and subtract for not having a name yet.

Rick
 
Sounds like I'm in the same boat as Baumr.

You can get a better knife at a better price from http://mountainhollow.net than you can from me. And I tell my friends that. However, they still want one from me. I think there is an appeal to people, simply because they know the maker.

They don't want a great knife. They want a custom knife that they can tell friends "My buddy made this for me from scratch."

I've had enough requests to keep me busy all next year. I started at $100 and now charge $200 for a tricked out knife. One person wants a plain kitchen knife, so I'll probably just charge about $75. If my friend is well-to-do, then I quote $200 and use the best materials I can get my hands on. If their income is more 'common', then I lower the price and will quote them something with diamond wood.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want to do a favor for friends, have fun making it, and make enough money that my wife won't complain.

I'm gonna guess that the trouble comes when a maker runs out of friends and friends of friends. That's when pricing will be a problem. Then it's all based on marketing. Winning shows, making a name, trying to sell that 200th knife and all.

I'll bet the prices from the big boys have more to do with collectability than quality. For instance, there are probably some small makers that produce fantastic knives that sell for less than the same quality knife from a big name.

All that to say:

If you are selling to friends then pick a price where you both feel good about the deal. I tell them my costs and how much time I take. When I tell them I'm into a knife for $50 in materials and 20 hours of labor, they don't blink at $200.

If you are selling to the general public - you've got a real problem on your hands. When I was last at a knife show, one guy had a picture with a gun to his dog's head. The caption read, "If you don't buy a knife, the dog gets it."

Steve
 
This is my own thoughts for me myself,

Regardless of what it is for sale, it is always a matter of the most you can get. Start as you feel you want to give it for and learn from that point on. Proceed with confidence but latitude in order to finally reach the level you want in pricing. A name and reputation must be recognized in order to acheive top pricing. I am currently giving them away and pricing them at almost nothing by comparison in order to become recognized and to learn how to make excellent knives. If I am not making them I am not learning how to make them. I have to learn before I can sell and therefore it is best for me to get them out there. I will sometime soon get very good bucks for my knives because I listen to those who do know. As Chuck Leake told me not very long ago: "I am still in school and don't worry about it until you prove yourself". I have considered that to be very good advise and am happy with it - for a little while longer.

Roger
 
I've posed this question several times, both here and other forums. The best response is here in Steve Johnson's forum at CKD. The great Lloyd Hale also chimed in. Hale is one of the heroes of my life, naturally what he says is gospel to me.

What it all comes down to is what people are willing to pay for your work. [I've been extremely fortunate that I have a single superior customer who buys nearly everything I make, who allows me full creative license when he orders a knife, and who is very specific on orders when it matters, so that I don't waste my effort. He (George Harrison of Straight River Knife) is the single most influential person in my knifemaking. He's the one who convinced me - by putting up his own money - to start making again after years of dissatisfaction messing with armor and useless sculpture. Do I sound loyal? You bet, but George has earned every bit of it, and he's always looking for a new talent to promote - it's how he makes his living.] Eventually, as has been said, you'll run out of family and friends; that's where the rubber meets the road.

For myself, I look at the prices other makers charge, compare my work to theirs as best as is possible from photographs, and reduce my price for mistakes in workmanship. I have never been far enough ahead in production to display at a show but that's next on my career agenda. Most of my knives are around $200; the ones under that are much easier to sell but it's hard to make something worthy for that price so I try not to get caught there.

I keep good records of my costs, lame estimates of my time. With my first few knives I made about .50c per hour; now it's up to $7 - $10. I like doing the elaborate stuff but make more per hour on the straightforward work. The costs you must cover include direct materials but also all your abrasives (much greater cost than I think most makers realize) and tooling - and the cost or value of your shop space.

Any time someone comes up with a good objective way to price their work, I will be permanently thankful for it. So far it's just charging what I think I can get away with - it must be a little low, I sell everything. I think next year I'll start pushing it to see if I can build up some inventory. :)
 
after 20 odd years of knifemaking I have come to the conclusion that it is probably best not to need the income from knifemaking. The better my work becomes, more and more is expected. More and more time is required to finish each succeding piece. The reason is, that I'm learning to apply increasingly sophisticated techniques and methods of production, carving , engraving, pattern development, etc. and more and more time in each new work, with no end in sight. However, it's great fun to learn new things, and turn out work you can be truly proud to present, I just haven't figured out a way to get around the fact that I need to take a long time to make just the knife I want to make. In fact some are now taking 5-6 weeks to complete.on average. You do the math. If I didn't have "multiple income streams", it just couldn't happen. What am I trying to say here anyway? Just this, make the very best knife you can, always going for a bit of a stretch each time, just concentrate on making some bad ass knives. You can in my experience, charge anything you want, that price sticker can look like a tel#, you will get it - if the work supports the digits. Not needing the income means you won't get nervous about longer turnaround times on your work. Now, go make some great knives!
 
Besides charging for materials and time there are other ways to charge for your work. You can compare it to the work of other makers and see what they charge, well known or not. You also judge your pricing by the best knife you have and the worst knife. The best one gets the highest price, and the worst one gets the lowest, you price the ones in between accordingly.
 
There are 7,95000,37699. Bucks, Schrades and myriad of others out there. Right now there are about 7 with the Blind Dog logo on them. I seek a discriminating customer and have little problem finding them. Price according to your values. If after a time you discover you still have knives and nothing to show for them, re-think. Just don't sell yourself short. There are always those who will say "I can buy a knife a K-mart. My responce is "yea you can, it wont have my logo and signature on it. Terry
 
It definately ain't easy. However, if you look at your knife and evaluate the craftsmanship as honestly as possible. then, compare the styles you make with the average price of other makers knives. Then, look at your name and reputation....where do you fit in ? Are you highly sought after or unknown ? A potential customer is more likely to become a customer when you are unknown if the knife isn't too expensive. It is a risk the average custom knife buyer will take for the right price. Then, make a check list of all the materials and their costs per knife. Say you have a model 1 knife...you make about 20 or them. Then break down/divide the cost by 20. Then factor in labor. How much was it worth to you ? How much blood sweat and tears did you poor into those 20 knives ? How many hours per knife did it take ? I have a couple of models I make regularly that someone else actually priced for me by accident. After that and seeing that they sold rapidly at that price, I kept it at that price and it has been fine and quite lucky for me. Now I make a couple other models which I priced on my own by comparing them to other prices on high end factory and low to mid range custom knives. So, the price sees fair so far. Now, think like the typical business owner who buys something for whole sale and sells it retail. Your profit margin should fall between 30% and 100 % Some of the well known makers out there, if you look at the materials and know the cost of them obviously are charging several hundred percent more than cost. That is because of name and demand by the knife buying public. Is it right ? who knows really. I guess if there are people to buy them and they are selling, than it's alright. If it ain't then no body would buy em'. You need to have a decent profit margin though as you need to make money to be able to continue making knives. You need that $ to put back into knifemaking, not into your pocket. If you get lucky on your first good batch and make enough money, then you buy more steel , maybe another machine or tool to help make the process easier and faster. Buy more handle materials and epoxy, buy more belts...whatever you need to complete the next batch. It definately ain't easy because you go through the doubting stages of your work and wondering whether or not it's good enough to sell at all. Atleast I do..:rolleyes: Good luck buddy....RDT
 
In my opinion some of you that posted here has some really good points. I too would vote for keeping the day job.
If you want a quick answer with a real dollar figure, contact and ask either Les Robinson or Amy with AG Russell and ask if you can send them a couple to see what they would sell for. Ask them would they preform this service for you for a designated amount of money for their servies. I dont think Les does that but either he or Amy could look at it and tell you right quick what you would be able to get for it simply because they see so many knives during the year. My opinion.
jf
 
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