Murry says it well. If a maker has a website and wants to reduce time spent on e-mails, it doesn't hurt to post current price for a like piece in photo galleries. It provides prospective customers with an estimate of what the maker would charge for the knife the prospective customer has in mind. It is then up to the prospective customer to decide if he/she wants to communicate further with that maker.
I also agree with Murray's last statement. I don't understand why more makers at shows do not put prices on the pieces they have for sale. Most prospective customers do not have open pockets that they can spend on knives. Most operate with set budgets. At shows, a maker's table can get crowded or the maker may be away temporarily from his table. I can't tell you how much time I have spent waiting to discuss a knife with a particular maker only to find out when I finally can talk to him that the price is far outside of my budget. This is time I could have spent better with another maker whose posted prices were within my budget.
Why don't all makers post prices with the knives they have for sale?
Paul
I think you've answered you're own question. As much as I hate to admit it, as an amateur knife maker myself, there are lots of excellent knife smiths who are real jackasses. For instance, the Moderators of knifeforums.com. I was recently banned for pointing out how hypocritical it was of them to insult my work when their own rules prohibit such comments. i didn't expect them to say, "Ooohhhhh, that's a great knife", but they didn't have to call it a piece of crap. Point is, just because a person is good at what they do, doesn't mean they are a good person.
Now, so far, my experience with bladeforums.com has been nothing but positive. I suggest that anybody who wants a custom knife order should work with the people who are here and not some hack who doesn't want to get to know you and your needs.
As someone who's worked in customer services, I can tell you, the most important part of any business is customer relations. Even more important than product. you can have an AWESOME product, but if the customer doesn't want to talk with you, there is no way in hell you'll get a sale. But if you have a decent product and a great customer relationship, you'll be making sales left and right.
From what I can tell however, the problem is too many orders. if you want to get a knife quick, you may want to go with a lesser experienced, but still talented maker. They'll have less on they're plates and will charge less to boot.
