Non refundable deposit on work?

I read in the good the bad and the ugly all the time thanks. Just because it is there doesn't mean it is written in stone. My dad used to say there are always three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth.

Common courtesy still abounds in the knife world but the GBU forum is not the place to see a lot of that my friend. You do on occassion see it there I know, but as you have probably already heard, when something good happens to someone they tell 2 people. When somthing bad happens to them they tell 10 and start a thread in the GBU forum. :-)
 
I think a deposit should not be required, unless the maker is doing something that would not be readily sellable, or the materials are extravagent (e.g. ivory, jewels, etc.) There have been and will be knifemakers who are scam artists, have personal problems, health problems, coke habits and those that just exit the business. I don't think a customer should take that risk for a knife that is readily sold elsewhere. The risk to the knifemaker, as long as he's not an amatuer, is a slow down in cash flow due to circumstances beyond their control. If a problem with receipts doesn't happen but once every few years, that's not bad. Most small businesses that are not retail brick and mortar often have cash flow problems from collection of receipts.
 
Ninety percent of the makers that I have dealt with have not required a deposit. In fact, they were dead set against them. Those that did ask were makers that I had complete trust in, and I have never been disappointed in that trust.

Maybe a deposit shouldn't be required, but if one is I look at how badly I want that maker to make me a knife. If I decide that I want the knife a small deposit is not going to make me change my mind. I know that most makers would take the chance of ruining their reputation over a $50.00 to $150.00 deposit. Sure, it can happen and has happened, but I am willing to take the risk. We will see if my attitude stays the same if I am burned one day.
 
I recently sent in the full amount mostly because I was concerned that if later it was ready, I would have already spent the money on something else, and secondly because I thought it was a good idea to commit to the project, before some other "good idea" came along. I guess those are kind of the same.
 
Allow me to add my $.02. As far as I'm concerned, if a knifemaker wants a deposit at time of my order, that's just fine. However, we're not going to be doing business. Why should my money be sitting in your bank account, working for you, while I wait six months, a year, two years, or more for my knife?

I have no objection to a deposit that's required before the knifemaker will start work on my knife. But I also think that has to be a two way street -- in return I have a right to expect a firm delivery date that's not in the distant future (30 days or less).
 
Well now that is a horse of a different color dsvirsky. I don't think we are on the same page guys.

I've never waited more than 6 weeks for any hand made I ordered before. I think there are probably some makers out there that have that long of a wait list but I don't want to pay that much for a knife just to stick it in my safe to get all googo eyed over it until I die. The big names perhaps make you wait that long and they have the reputation and name recognition to be able to say no deposit because I'm sure they know it causes problems because of time lag. It must be nice to be that busy.

On the other side of the coin are guys like me. No one waits more than three weeks for a knife ordered from me if I get an order so how much of a problem is a deposit for someone that wants a knife and gets a firm date for delivery in a couple or three weeks?

Hell, I wouldn't want to wait that long either. If they are that busy I don't need the knife that bad. By the time they got around to it with my memory the way it is I'd probably say what knife was that again?
 
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