Tenure

[Keith Montgomery]

Should the amount of time that a maker has been doing his/her thing have something to do with the price they charge for their knives?

My view of this is simple. The longer a maker has been around the better the knives being made should be. If the knives are improving then that is the reason that a maker should be able to charge more for their knives. If the quality of the knives has not improved in many years then the only price increases that are warranted are to make up for increased costs of living and of doing business.

 

[simmonsk]

Hi,
About the only thing that should increase due to longevity is hair loss.
Do old farmers get more for their corn? Sometimes artisans forget that we are subject to the same free market influences as the guy who makes fence posts. Charge too much and I buy my fence posts somewhere else. Go to a large show like blade and after awhile most of the toys look shiney and nice. And I hate to say it, but similar, especially to the new folks walking in.
All these theories of how we should price and what our work is worth ultimately come down to the moment when the customer opens his wallet. If you cannot line up your prices to meet the customers expectations or educate the customer to accept yours, no open wallet.
Hence the art of negotiation. In a few quick seconds a PERCEPTIVE customer AND seller get the chance to figure out what is really important and decide if they can agree.
An older maker will most likely have the experience to sense what needs to be done to either make the sale or have the customer leave looking forward to what he will find on the table at the next show.
I think it is that ability which leads to longevity, better prices, and sometimes a group following.
Enjoy, Ken

 

[george tichbourne]

Tenure is probably a bad concept to use,I know of some very good experienced knifemakers in little backwater towns that do not attempt to promote themselves or learn from others in the trade. These people charge what the market will bear.

Individuals who spend a lot of time and money to promote themselves and attend shows to learn from others also charge what the market will bear.

Net result is that the buyer will decide not the maker what any knife is worth. The only difference is that if more people hear about a maker the larger his backlog will be if his pricing is within the limits of the market.

 

[RL]

Originally posted by Keith Montgomery
Should the amount of time that a maker has been doing his/her thing have something to do with the price they charge for their knives?

To the extent that the maker has spent the time building his reputation, I would say YES! It may very well be that a brand new maker can produce something as well as, say, Terzuola but their knife "ain't a Terzuola". There is more to buying custom knives than the physical quality of the knife itself (is a Moran knife REALLY 10-20 times better than a Fisk to warrant the price differential??)...apart from the "mystique" aspect, a knife from an established maker is more apt to hold its value on the secondary market than a knife from a new maker, even if the quality is equal...shouldn't that warrant a higher price? That's my example of the free market

RL