My Reasoning for Not Taking Orders

Having taken advantage of the period where orders were accepted by the Forge, I can say that I miss the old days. There was something fun about having a hand in the design of a knife. It felt like a bit of a collaboration with a talented team and that made it a bit special.

I completely understand the stated reasons for the current business model. I do wonder though: are there customers out there who you may be missing because they'd prefer to place an order to match their tastes vs. waiting for a random knife to pop up? The Friday Madness is a bit of a bother as well. Choice knives are snapped up before potential customers have a chance to cry out "I'll take it!"

In fact, I suspect I'm less likely to buy another Fiddleback because I'm usually late to the Friday party--hey, I'm on mountain standard time and I work on Fridays. My bad luck. If it works for Fiddleback, fantastic. And KSF does have some nice examples in stock, true.

I've been on Rod Garcia's wait list for two years now. There are some days when I wonder if I fell off the list. I have no idea when my SBT will be made. It's part of the process and keeps it interesting. I ordered a knife from Rick Marchand a few years ago; I'm fairly certain I got dropped from the job list. No worries, happens.

It sounds like you are enjoying the current model, and that it makes practical sense. I'm not asking you to change what you do, I just miss the old days.
 
I have really enjoyed reading this thread and hearing everyone's opinions. I think I may have a solution:
How about if I order a Scandi ground woodsman in 1/8 A2 with orange and natural liners......just to see how things go[emoji41]
Oh...and a matching fighter with the swedge sharpened up real nice like[emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][emoji12]
 
Fiddleback said:
Can you imagine a 4 or 5 year wait. Hell, that much of a wait and I'm not even interested anymore. I know makers with this kind of list. When I quit taking orders I was a year out. I felt like that list owned me. Horrible idea.
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I know what you mean. Sitting on a list for FIVE years waiting patiently, I can really only think of one knife I'd keep track of for that long....poor guy probably lost track of the list... Can you imagine?
 
I actually did wait five years for a "real" Ernest Emerson CQC6, just like the Rogue Warriors. It was nice. I kept it a week or so, then tripled my money. Sometimes we just move on. But its good to have an insurance policy for when we do.... :)
 
Rotte said:
In fact, I suspect I'm less likely to buy another Fiddleback because I'm usually late to the Friday party--hey, I'm on mountain standard time and I work on Fridays. My bad luck. If it works for Fiddleback, fantastic.
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I'd be happy to try to snag something for you, just let me know what your after. I'm not the slowest of the lot... at least I don't think I am!
 
Every business owner has choices to make & in most cases they make the right choices because of the fact that they have more insight on how things might work in their business model.
I think FF has made the right decision not to take custom orders as clearly Andy has mentioned that is not one of their strong points. Custom orders also negate the rarity factor. The way the sales is structured is amazing, ingenious & works very well for 90% of the customers.
I would not get stressed about seasonal downturns in sales as it is almost universally the same for all businesses.
I also see that Andy & the crew are listening to the customers and producing knives that they want. Last Friday for example.
What amazes me is how you achieve just the right balance producing a fair number of knives and still keeping the 'rarity' factor alive. If it were me I would not change a thing except adding more stainless to the custom mix which will open a whole new customer base.
Good luck & count me in as one of your loyal customers.
 
TxSportsman said:
I'd be happy to try to snag something for you, just let me know what your after. I'm not the slowest of the lot... at least I don't think I am!
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Rotte, I would also be happy to try to shark something for you. I have a pay it forward due from Necrolicious who sharked that sweet F2 for me last Friday. I'm still pretty new to the Friday gig, but I think I can compete.
 
Jack, you know you can call or e-mail us my friend. Used to have no knives in 'stock', but nowadays, we keep a nice backup, just in case I get sick or hurt.
 
I like the current business model, I would never think of even a quarter of the combinations that you guys come up with even if I wanted to custom order something. I'm also a fan of the aha moment on fridays where you get to see what is getting unveiled. It's a great model and it works.
That being said, I do wonder at putting one or two guys on custom work part time? There is/would be a lot of interest in that I'm certain. It's certainly a revenue option I would explore. Even if it was limited in scope, 5 or 6 models and a dozen handle options to keep it from being a logistical materials nightmare.

I run a list so I can sympathize with that being buried feeling. I learned to micro manage the days to squeeze every second from them to keep within the lead times and still have a day or two off without feeling guilty about it.
 
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