My grandfather is a very wealthy man, made a lot of money drilling for oil. His net worth reaches into eight figures. His house is pretty big, but with a relatively small yard. He became a pretty skilled mechanic in his youth, and so he could fix a lot of things on drilling rigs while he was still establishing himself.
Here is the thing. He could easily mow, fertilize, and weed his own yard. It would maybe take him half a day. Instead, he pays someone else to do it. I don't know what he pays his grounds keeper, maybe 15 or 20 dollars an hour, maybe more. At any rate, if Grandpa were to do the same work, it would literally cost him maybe hundreds of dollars an hour because, you see, he could instead be working on his LIVING, instead of on his yard. He would be losing money by mowing his own yard. I wish I was in the same situation.
Now, apply this to Ernie. I read somewhere it takes around eight hours to make a knife, from beginning to end. Ernie still sells his customs for around $400 or $500 dollars, equating to round $50/hr for his work. I have paid $70/hr to mechanics who screwed up my car even worse than when I dropped it off. If a mechanic is worth that, Ernies time easily is.
So now his emphasis is on his production company. I would bet that his time would be well better spent focusing on the company than the customs, because the company certainly has the potential of a greater payoff than fifty dollars an hour. Plus, he does some occasional seminars.
Frankly, I think he loses money buy making customs and doing seminars because his time could be better spent focusing on the production knives.
See how that works? I can only assume it is to reward the loyalty of his fans that he continues to make customs. If I were him, I think I would auction them at the shows, highest price wins!
To people who criticize the quality, blah, blah, blah, of his customs, remember this, they are in FACT $400-$500 knives from the maker, quite in line with the tactical folder market at large.
As for those who criticize the secondary market prices, I guess they have never dumped money into a stereo system, bought a mug of beer in a restaurant for $3.50 when they could go to a grocery store and buy the same amont for a lot less, or "gone out" for dinner instead of cooking food they already had at home.
See how that works? See, see, see?
Of course, I guess I am mostly preaching to the choir.
Sometimes my finance degree IS worth something!
------------------
-Scott
Usual Suspect, Junior Grade
Here is the thing. He could easily mow, fertilize, and weed his own yard. It would maybe take him half a day. Instead, he pays someone else to do it. I don't know what he pays his grounds keeper, maybe 15 or 20 dollars an hour, maybe more. At any rate, if Grandpa were to do the same work, it would literally cost him maybe hundreds of dollars an hour because, you see, he could instead be working on his LIVING, instead of on his yard. He would be losing money by mowing his own yard. I wish I was in the same situation.
Now, apply this to Ernie. I read somewhere it takes around eight hours to make a knife, from beginning to end. Ernie still sells his customs for around $400 or $500 dollars, equating to round $50/hr for his work. I have paid $70/hr to mechanics who screwed up my car even worse than when I dropped it off. If a mechanic is worth that, Ernies time easily is.
So now his emphasis is on his production company. I would bet that his time would be well better spent focusing on the company than the customs, because the company certainly has the potential of a greater payoff than fifty dollars an hour. Plus, he does some occasional seminars.
Frankly, I think he loses money buy making customs and doing seminars because his time could be better spent focusing on the production knives.
See how that works? I can only assume it is to reward the loyalty of his fans that he continues to make customs. If I were him, I think I would auction them at the shows, highest price wins!
To people who criticize the quality, blah, blah, blah, of his customs, remember this, they are in FACT $400-$500 knives from the maker, quite in line with the tactical folder market at large.
As for those who criticize the secondary market prices, I guess they have never dumped money into a stereo system, bought a mug of beer in a restaurant for $3.50 when they could go to a grocery store and buy the same amont for a lot less, or "gone out" for dinner instead of cooking food they already had at home.
See how that works? See, see, see?
Of course, I guess I am mostly preaching to the choir.
Sometimes my finance degree IS worth something!
------------------
-Scott
Usual Suspect, Junior Grade
