Selling Knife Designs (Help me!!!)

T

ThornsofTime

Joined
Dec 23, 2012
Messages
5
Heya Bladefourms, I am in serious need of some professional advice.

A smart fella once said "We don't know what we don't know.", and I find myself in this predicament...

The Story: I love knives. I fondle them, I carry them, I use them, I collect them, I study them, I design them. The last on the list I have gotten fairly serious about in the last few years. It all started a few months back, when a regular customer at my 9-5 "Just Over Broke" made mention that his company was going to bring a specific knife design to market soon... He had the general idea in his head, but no way to shoot it up in CAD. I did this free of charge, with the stipulation that the blade carry my name when it came to market (I got to collaborate with a writer for BLADE magazine!!! There is talk of it actually getting a write-up fairly soon!!! I'm excited beyond words.).

Okay, so I worked with a company to produce a design that will actually be brought to market. This company actually had a booth at Shot Show 2014 (last month), and got me in as a designer... they wanted me on hand to talk about the design and help drum up interest in the product. Sadly, when I got to Vegas, my prototype was nowhere to be found. There were some CNC machine issues that held up the process, and my knife never showed. I was devastated, but decided to enjoy myself none-the-less, and maybe try to do a bit of networking (cant "talk shop"/drum up interest without a product!).

Interesting Side-Note: I run autoCAD 360 on my phone (a galaxy note 2), and without it, I would have been wasting my time... Lesson learned: If you're a nobody, have a solid portfolio ready to rock and roll... and a fun presentation method isn't bad either.

I made a few connections, got a few business cards, and had a helluva good time playing with all of the new toys.

I emailed some of my work (dynamic screenshots only, no actual design details/measurements) to a few of the companies that seemed most interested in working with new designers. Lo-n-behold I got a bite. I now find myself in the position of being about to make my first design sale... and have NO idea how this market works...

Obviously, I'm not Ken Onion, Kit Carson, Andrew Demco, R.J. Martin, etc... and do not command the same compensation... but I'm seriously at a loss. I don't know if I should be asking $5 bucks or $5million. I don't know if asking for a percentage of sales is appropriate... or if royalties are something that would be on the table... I just don't even know what I don't know.

Anyone with ANY advice or experience selling designs to knife making companies... I would truly appreciate some direction!

-ThornsofTime-

TL;DR- I'm a 'No-Name' knife designer about to make a sale and have NO idea how to handle the financial aspect of said transaction... Any help would be appreciated.
 
Looks like you leaped before you looked.

I suggest you contact Mike Snody and speak with him. He has actually been active over the years with several knife companies selling his designs. You can find him on youtube and he will give you his telephone number to call him.

Beware of taking advice on this matter from people who actually have never sold a design to a knife company.
 
Sounds like you are in a prime position to get screwed.
Other than that I'm a bit confused. So, did you MAKE a knife?? Is this just a CAD drawing and hasn't been made or tested?? I have had products at SHOT and beta test for several large companies. And in my experience with that they don't like stuff at SHOT that isn't at least nearly finalized, tested six ways to Sunday and ready for market...


Thinking this belongs in the production knife forum...


Good luck with your design. Sounds interesting. Just watch your kiester. Big companies like to screw the little man.

-Eric
 
@AVigil- I totally leaped before I looked :)
Its a bit of an awkward position to be in though... Knife companies are in no way interested in paying top dollar, and Knife makers/designers are in no hurry to share info to a potential competitor! The $nody contact recommendation is spot-on though. Good idea!

@ LucyCustomKnives- I'm talking pre-production CAD designs (3D renderings and 2D design plates, exploded and dimensioned). Yes, I have made knives, but no, none of the potential sale designs have been prototyped yet.

The company I designed my first piece for would prefer that I not talk too much about it until it has come to market... but I will say that the design was thrown back and forth a few times via email twixt my self, the company owner, and the BLADE magazine guy (they're friends, and this project was a brain-child of theirs) before being prototyped in plastic... The story I got at SHOT SHOW was that there was an issue with a CNC machine that went down (hence no knife in-hand).

Ill admit that I probably should have asked for some type of monetary compensation, but it was one of those "I knew the guy/I liked the guy" type of situations. Plus he got me into SHOT SHOW (big deal to me), and seems to be holding up his end, keeping my name on the blade. I looking at it as a foot in the door. Something I can cite when a big name designer/company asks "Who are you??". Gotta start that resume somewhere! :)

My sincere apologies if this is posted in the wrong section! I picked the forum that looked to best fit... may have botched it...
 
I doubt you are going to get paid on this job, you have to negotiate price before giving anything away.


You will have to have a portfolio of work to show your skills, but whatever you show or send as a promo, or prelude is already gone once you show it
I think you have got to have the killer sell-able designs in your back pocket, or you come up with something based on specs they set out.




unless you have signed a NDA with penalties in it if they violate it Before you show it to them.
you have no leverage


How many drawings do you think they get sent every year ?



If you chose to get paid on a royalty basis, how will you determine the sales figures?

Have an independent audit done to determine those numbers yearly but have them pay the audit bill.




You may have to be on the losing end and work cheap to get your foot in the door,

popularity, profit, prolific
 
I was stating the production forum as there are some manufacturers over there that can probably help you out. Most custom makers handle design, fabrication and sales all by themselves. Even when going 'mid-tech' as Ken Onion put it.

I wasn't stating you haven't made knives per se, but just asking if you had THIS one in a physical form. Not trying to be rude, but until a knife is in the hands of an accomplished user and tested, it is just a drawing.

The knife in my avatar was made for a friend, and turned into a big project with tons of testing and lots of tweaking. Ultimately personnel from some well known companies have had their hands on it... I have had offers for the design, all of which I have turned down so far. The reason being they want to cut you out of the process as much as possible, even if they keep your name on it...

The other reason I asked if there was a finished blade, SHOT is all about going there to put hands on the products. If these distributors/manufacturers/developers/customers just wanted to see pics, they'd do that from their home or office. The fact that your buddy didn't have a working model for SHOT is why I wonder about his ability to do what he has told you he can do. If he has you come to a show and leaves you out in the cold holding your wiener, figuratively speaking, I would question his motivation and abilities.

And like Count said, if there isn't some form of agreement before the first designs start flying you might as well have given them the design.... And when dealing with these industry guys and talking design, you have to be assertive and sure of your design and your abilities.

I wish you luck, truly. I hope that your friend isn't running you over with the bus, but something from your description of events smells funny. When it is appropriate to do so, I hope you'll share a pic with us. Can you state what type of knife it is?

-Eric
 
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Not meaning to be a noodge, but any discussion of sales for registered users in inappropriate... right?
 
Is this guy on staff at Blade, or did he just sell them a story once, or even once in a while?

If he really has a "company" with the ability to get a design to market, why don't they have the ability to do a drawing ?
 
The best advice I could offer is to find an attorney qualified in intellectual property law. And quickly...
 
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