Supply and demand

Buffalohump said:
You wanna talk Sibert?

I had a chance just recently to snag a mint Pocket Rocket (that's right) at a ridiculously good price and I had to pass it up.... I just didn't have the readies when it became available. When the good stuff pops up on the secondary market, it goes in minutes.... ya gotta have a slush fund just for those 'must have' opportunities. If only I had the discipline!
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Discipline is required. You have to know what you want, and be prepared to act when it becomes available. We have seen desired knives go in as little as 45 seconds.

The best stuff is not readily available, and the readily available stuff is frequently, by not always, not the best.

A VERY popular maker told me a story recently about a newbie collector couple at a show. They waited patiently by his table for the show to open to the general public. There were other people at the table. There was a knife that was everyone's focus......the maker opened the table for sales and there was a pause of perhaps 15 SECONDS...and then the dealer standing at the table claimed the knife. I have been told that the couple no longer hesitates, but they are still collecting. Everybody learns, one way or the other.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Discipline is required. You have to know what you want, and be prepared to act when it becomes available. We have seen desired knives go in as little as 45 seconds.

The best stuff is not readily available, and the readily available stuff is frequently, by not always, the best.

A VERY popular maker told me a story recently about a newbie collector couple at a show. They waited patiently by his table for the show to open to the general public. There were other people at the table. There was a knife that was everyone's focus......the maker opened the table for sales and there was a pause of perhaps 15 SECONDS...and then the dealer standing at the table claimed the knife. I have been told that the couple no longer hesitates, but they are still collecting. Everybody learns, one way or the other.
Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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You are so Right.
It only takes seconds to lose a desired knife. If you need a minute to examine it or consider the purchase then get it in your hand.
Because IMO who ever is holding has first right to purchase. Once you put it down, it's anyone's knife.
 
OK, I'm bringing this back from the dead cos I just went to RJ Martin's site to see how long I could expect to wait for a folder, only to discover he's no longer taking orders either! :grumpy:

Practically every one of my favourite makers are now off the table...

I guess I'm gonna have to start a slush fund for when they pop up on the used market.
 
Supply and Demand -

It only takes a few well-monied buyers to order dozens of knives from a maker as soon as they decide that maker will be the next big thing, if the maker will let them. I know of a couple of guys that started piling orders on to Phil Boguszewski right before his aftermarket prices shot from the mid-$500 range to the $900 range and then to the $1500 range. I ordered two, but know of guys that ordered 10 or 15 knives at that time. To his credit, Phil is still honoring the list he put together way back when. It was a "two-year" list. I have been on the list for 4 years now and am still 2 years out from my first order and at least three years out from my second order (which I ordered three weeks after my first order).

Since many popular makers make so few knives, one or two buyers can order out several years worth of knives in one discussion with a maker, in effect becoming the sole patrons of that maker. The maker still takes knives to shows, but essentially, you can't get their knives any other way, which explains the 300 - 400% ncrease in aftermarket prices with Bob Lum and Phil B. and Charles Marlowe that only happened in the last 24 months.
 
Lets see if I can make an intelligent post.


We have gone back and forth on the accepting of orders and then stopping for a year and then resuming again. We are currently in a "no orders accepted" phase. I think it will be permanent.

Here are some of our issues that led us to the " not accepting orders". We have a back log.....I can't even accuratetly tell you how long it is, somewhere in the three years range. We don't want to be stuck making models three to five years from now that Todd has lost interest and enthusiasim for, but is obligated to fill the order.....he would like to be free to develope new techniques, explore innovative designs etc., keep on the cutting edge so to speak! We feel honor bound to offer the said knife that was ordered three years ago at the market price of when it was ordered.....but that is not good buisness as materials etc tend to go up in price and we are not recouping costs, let alone making a living. Some buyers don't understand why we have a waiting list and yet will show up at a show with the same model or newer ones.

So, for us, we are sticking to the "not accepting orders", but will honor those we have in the past. Our new format is more direct sales through our newsletter which offers knives every month on a first come first served. We direct your attention to the dealers who have inventory of our knives and give you a heads up on whats coming in the months ahead so you can save your pennies. We hope that this approach serves our collectors better and affords us the opportunity to stay creative and fresh.


p.s. If you want to be on the newsletter mailing list....email me please.
 
As much as I like the work of a few particular makers, I'm done with ordering knives when the wait is too long. The "soft spot" for me right now is arround 1 year. I used to order knives with a long wait and:
1. The wait is usually longer than planned
2. Until the order is ready, sometimes I'm no longer into that type of knife. The result is I end up buying some knives I no longer want, as I don't like to cancel an old order.
I'm still waiting on a couple of long orders but that's it.
Lately I'm buying readily available knives, from makers, reputable dealers and directly from the forums.
 
flava said:
As much as I like the work of a few particular makers, I'm done with ordering knives when the wait is too long. The "soft spot" for me right now is arround 1 year. I used to order knives with a long wait and:
1. The wait is usually longer than planned
2. Until the order is ready, sometimes I'm no longer into that type of knife. The result is I end up buying some knives I no longer want, as I don't like to cancel an old order.
I'm still waiting on a couple of long orders but that's it.
Lately I'm buying readily available knives, from makers, reputable dealers and directly from the forums.
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I feel exactly the same way, Man :thumbup:
 
I don't have too much of a problem with long wait lines but for it to work out for both party, (1) price cannot be set at time of order, (2) details of the piece must be re-discussed when the order comes up. Personally I like better the system wherebuy you put your name down for a "slot", to be discussed when your name comes up.
 
Its not really about long wait times - these guys are not accepting orders period...

Fortunately, there is so much going on in the knife world, that there is always an alternative.

Personally, I feel that knives from some dealers are over-priced. Some, not all.

Which leaves the Forums, which is where I seem to do most of my buying these days.
 
My short suggestion, just go to knifeshows :) :) and get ready with TONS OF CASH :) :)

There are some dealers ... do overpriced .. but some are not ... :). Well, myself, if I really really want certain knives and dealer has them ... I do not mind to pay $100 or $200 above secondary market price.

Honestly, the rarity and hard to get ... makes knife hunting becomes interesting and fun :) :) (talking and negotiating with people then becomes friends :) )
 
Buffalohump said:
I'm not even talking about well-established makers, they are relative new-comers to the scene.
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One thing that I can add to this discussion that I didn't see mentioned earlier is that with some of the newer makers that have gotten hot, many of them only make knives part time and have a full time job, family, other hobbies, etc. These makers can be reluctant to take orders because they do not know ahead of time what kind of time frame they can fill any potential orders in. As any maker will attest, one of the major headaches of taking orders is dealing with customers who are upset that the delivery time for an order is delayed. Therefore, to keep things enjoyable for themselves, many part-time makers just make knives at their own pace and put them up for sale when they are done.
 
Indeed....

I must confess to being a cheap bastard at heart - I hate paying more than I what I think it is worth :D
 
I admit to not wanting to take orders myself because of the pressure that it puts me under.

What I have ended up doing is splitting my product line into ready on the shelf kitchen knives, in stock ready to ship other patterns, ground and heat treated blades in stock ready to handle and lastly folder assemblies complete without handles waiting for customer specs.

Anything else will be considered but workload will be the determining factor for accepting these orders.

It seems complicated but allows me the greatest flexibility and volume of shipments simply by gaining efficiency during a longer grinding or handle finishing runs.
 
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