Selling custom modified production knives?

G

gomipile

Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
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Say I got really good at doing customizations to a particular make and model of knife. Might there be any legal issues with me buying up a stock of that knife and opening a business and website dedicated to selling bespoke customized knives of that type?
 
My understanding is that if you legally purchased the knives, you can legally sell them ,customized or not. The only thing that you have to be carefully about is using a registered name of the knives in your business name. You can call it "Joe's Custom Knife Shop", with no problems. But, you can't call it "Joe's Custom Buck Knife Shop".

Listing the available knives by name is fine - "Customized Buck 101, by Joe Smith" or just "Customized Buck 101".

To become a licensed dealer for the company, send them an email. You might be surprised to find out how much knife companies want dealers. That way you could use the phrase, "Licensed Dealer", in your adds.
 
bladsmth said:
My understanding is that if you legally purchased the knives, you can legally sell them ,customized or not. The only thing that you have to be carefully about is using a registered name of the knives in your business name. You can call it "Joe's Custom Knife Shop", with no problems. But, you can't call it "Joe's Custom Buck Knife Shop".

Listing the available knives by name is fine - "Customized Buck 101, by Joe Smith" or just "Customized Buck 101".

To become a licensed dealer for the company, send them an email. You might be surprised to find out how much knife companies want dealers. That way you could use the phrase, "Licensed Dealer", in your adds.
Click to expand...

That sounds pretty much like I hoped and expected. I just wanted to hear it from people like those in this forum.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.
 
As usual, Stacy's advice is spot on. David and Brian Yellowhorse do lots of the kind of work you're describing. I think contacting manufacturers is an excellent idea. Maybe you could get wholesale prices as a licensed dealer?
 
One thing to consider, is any manufacturer warranty will almost certainly be voided, and you will have to warranty your post processing yourself. May not be a big deal, but if one of your knives changes hands a few times, some owner down the road may try to warranty it and end up S.O.L.. Just thinking out loud.


-Xander
 
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