the length of time your knives are kept...

Here's a good one that happened to me last fall. I donated a knife to a local group for a raffle. I was there the night they gave it away. The old man who won the knife promptly brings it by my table, asks me what it's worth and when told $200, he asks me to give him the money instead of the knife. Needless to say he walked away with the knife. It makes me wonder what he eventually did with it.

Marcel
 
Marcel J.B. Morin said:
Here's a good one that happened to me last fall. I donated a knife to a local group for a raffle. I was there the night they gave it away. The old man who won the knife promptly brings it by my table, asks me what it's worth and when told $200, he asks me to give him the money instead of the knife. Needless to say he walked away with the knife. It makes me wonder what he eventually did with it.

Marcel
Click to expand...
Wow, what an @#!1-hole.. :barf:

Some people just don't apreaciate nice things I guess...

Personally I'de be thrilled to win a $200 knife :D
 
Nick and Russ are hotly traded on the aftermarket. Why? Because they don't make that many knives to begin with.

Nick's prices are fair, you can make a bit with them, but not a killing, not in most cases. Say he charges $850 for a damascus fighter, on the aftermarket, might be able to get $1,000, maybe a bit more. The part of it is, and the reason it gets moved (because I know a lot of the guys buying on the aftermarket, and so does Nick for that matter), this is a community, and we try to take care of each other. If I have 3 knives on Nick's books, and one coming due soon, and my buddy, Joe Collector is just getting into knives and Nick has a 3 year wait, well, hey buddy, I'll take that little premium, and you get your knife without the wait.

I have been lusting after a particular Russ Andrew's stag bowie for a few months, and my friend who owns the knife, said that he would sell it to me after he got his next one, this is for a very small markup in value, like $50.00 over what he paid for it. Well, something became available on e-bay, that was the deal of the day, and since my friend can't hang onto everything he owns, The knife became mine. He's happy, I'm happy, I am sure Russ will be happy.

What is funny to me, is that this collector is somewhat of a newbie, (albeit, one with excellent taste) and his "castoffs" are total keepers for me. ;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
ddavelarsen said:
We do put a lot of our soul into our work, so it's reasonable to feel a bit of a twinge when our customer apparently loses his attachment to it. Keep in mind that the customer doesn't have as much of his personality in the purchase as the maker has in its creation. Certainly he's invested his hard-earned money in it, but money is a commodity. QUOTE]

Very well said Dave! You put it into great perspective!!!


Marcel- Similar thing happened to me. I donated a hunter as a door prize. This guy that sets up at the shows and sells junk, walks up asks how much, and then went and put it up for sale with a mark-up. At least he made some money :)

Thanks for your thoughts on this Steven, that's a great post :)

-Nick-
Click to expand...
 
Nick: At least your guy realized he had something of value, even if he personally didn't want it.
 
Not that important Nick -if you did your best and sent it out there. I know about having to sell knives- whole collection of knives I loved sold because of sudden poverty due to divorce Needed to eat more than carry a knife I loved and had made just for me. So... when that person comes back to order another...know your work was important to him.
stevenH
 
At some point, and at some levels, collecting is an expensive 'disease'. It shares aspects with other addictions, and has negative repercussions. Financially a buyer can commit to more than he can afford. One commits usually long before the delivery and payout. There is emotion that is in this building and anticipation. This is the 'thrill of the hunt', and it is a staple in ALL collections, be it stamps or automobiles.

After paying, there are other committments upcoming and one has to make a value judgement. Fortunately, for you and Russ, the sale of your pieces is nearly a sure bet to regain the initial cost. Truth be told, both of your knives are smart investment knives that will not and should not be users. This way they WILL retain return value. (Don't get me wrong about "should not be used". I am discussing collection mentality--and thusly commodities--not usefulness.)

I don't think you are at all out of place in your initial reaction. ESPECIALLY if the instance happens relatively soon. Problem is, that is the 'window of opportunity' to sell also, as the newness and value is palpable.

You have involved yourself in a craft that will ALWAYS have diseased addictive collectors purchasing your wares. So, you need to get thicker skin.

I am sensitive about this as well, and I now own a BUNCH of expensive knives from ALL good makers. I've kept 'em. But, someone is going to get their heart broke soon.... That's the way it goes.

Coop
 
Thanks for your thoughts Coop!

I appreciate you collectors coming into this thread very much. I like to see both sides!

Often, I am utterly amazed that collectors buy knives at all. It is a huge financial leap to buy a custom piece of bladeware. So I would be a fool to think that one would never need to move a knife in order to get another, or even something as simple as pay their electric bill that month.

I count myself extraordinarily fortunate to live in a country/world that not only allows me to do what I do, but people out there to keep it going.

Yet still, the original theme of this thread runs through my mind now and again. Not just with my own knives, but other makers as well.

Thanks again to everyone that has shared their thoughts!!!
-Nick-
 
Some of us collectors are just sickos with addictive personalities, that have to constantly have something new and exciting. A lot of times, it simply boils down to that. If you want something new, or need money for a bill or something, one of the toys has gotta go. Having a wife that does not understand the need for more than even one knife, makes it really hard to buy knives. No money from the family funds can be spent on knives, so for me, that means trading and sometimes selling to get new toys.

Other times, friends will see one of my knives and absolutely fall in love with it, and will offer me deals that a sane person couldn't possibly turn down. That happens more often than I care to think about. Sure, the profit seems nice at the time, but I do have a lot of thoughts like, "man, I sure wish I had that knife back!" Sometimes, I have dreams about the ones that got away. :(
 
It's human nature to always assume you screwed up. High end knives (in my mind, $500+) are very frequently investment pieces, not users. Investors/collectors buy, sell and trade like they have baseball cards out on the playground! So, I would think that the higher end stuff changes hands quite a bit. When you see one of your $850 knives sell for $1,000 on the aftermarket, though, to me that means you should've charged $1,000 for the piece to begin with! ;)
 
As acollector, I haven't sold any of the knives I purchased from other makers, yet. However, I have several of one mkaer's and a couple of another maker's knives for sale and will sell them on my table at the next knife show(s) I have a table at.
It isn't liking the knives less. it is money tied up in these particular knives and that I don't have them out to look at and appreciate enough anymore. Someone else ought to ge the chance to own them and appreciate them.
I bought one maker's as examples of supreme fileworking and awesome fit and finish to study as I learned in this knifemaking craft.
The other 2 were purchased as fine examples of strong highly well fit gentlemen's tacticals.
All 6 have served my needs well, they are still in perfectly as new condition, and, frankly I purchased them back when the investment markets were high.
Well now to add inventory to my knife making business, even if it is buying some supplies in greater quantity than is reasonable (excuse is quantity discounts), I feel more comfortable selling my knives or knives from my collection to spend where I might not feel right in doing so from "out-of-pocket" funds.
Sorry....I do chatter on....
 
Hey Nick,
Think of it like this too.....

I sold a knife to a forum member and about 6 months later I saw that it was traded for something else. I though Damn!!! What did I make it for then??

BUT - I got a phone call and an email from the new owner who was just as excited as the original owner so in a way I got 2 happy customers with one knife :thumbup:
 
Danbo said:
Other times, friends will see one of my knives and absolutely fall in love with it, and will offer me deals that a sane person couldn't possibly turn down. That happens more often than I care to think about. Sure, the profit seems nice at the time, but I do have a lot of thoughts like, "man, I sure wish I had that knife back!" Sometimes, I have dreams about the ones that got away. :(
Click to expand...

I have been on both sides of that equation, as Danbo well knows. :) Russ, Don and Steve pretty much said it for me. There was a thread on another forum on the importance of the secondary market that would probably blend in well here. I think the fact that a maker's work CAN be sold readily on the aftermarket is a real positive sign for that maker. I can think of more than a few occasions where I have sold a knife from a given maker to a fellow collector, immediately re-ordered another (or had a few on order anyway) - and had that fellow collector also place an order with the maker, being ever so pleased with the one I sold him. Not a bad deal at all for the maker in question.

Roger
 
When they're gone they're gone.

I love to make knives. I simply love to do it. That said, (the obvious) for me it's the making that's of intrest; the crafting, the testing, the artistic element.... when (in my collective life as a bladesmith) I can look at one of my blades and be happy with the outcome, I'm content to let it go and get on with the next one. This satisfaction is something no one can take away from me, something I have no real desire to share with others (save yaw'll of course) as it would be pointless at best. I'll leave the collecting, pricing, hording ect... to someone else.
When I sell a knife, it's gone, sold... I don't care if they gold plate it, use it for a tomatoe stake, or nail it in a tree for a deer blind step. It's their knife now, not mine.

"That blade must stand on it's own now without speaking a word: in the end it's up to the knife... "

A few years back I sold a cowboy shooter friend of mine one of my Bowies... I found the very knife of a table at the Houston gun show some time back and lo and behold, it was priced at $425.00. I asked the fellow at the table if he knew of the maker: "Oh he's a good'un alright... lives over in Montgomery" well duh!, that's what my stamp says! I'd never met the fellow and chose not to take him to task over this, I'd sold that knife for $250.00 not a year earlier: so much for pricing... Of course, I'd like to hear that it cut through a steel Mac truck door (driven by a serial killer, of course!) to save a kidnapped orphan from a Catholic boarding school but I'll settle for pealing tomatoes if that's all there is to do.... There's beauty in the mundane.... we've but to have a look. Oh, and when folks ask about a "guarantee", I tell'em my knives are "gAronte'ed" to cut the shi* out'ovem if they're not careful how they use'em. :)

m.
 
Mitch-

A really well known MS told me his feelings about 5 years ago on the secondary market, and they were the same as yours.

I think that's great you can feel that way, but I sure don't.

After all the work I put into a knife, the idea of somebody throwing it in a ditch makes my head hurt. :mad:

-Nick-
 
I sometimes think that making knives is a bit
like raising kids.
We do the best we can for them while they're with us, knowing
we'll have to let them go, yet also understanding that letting
go dosen't mean we stop caring.
 
Nick,

Buddy, your knives are safe with me. For now, the ones I own of yours are all users and would never be worth nearly as much to anyone else as to me. Sentimental value maybe? Feel better now? :D
 
I don´t get bothered by this at all, even though it would piss me off when I started makeing knives.
People will sell or trade your knives for too many reasons - they did not like it much from the start but did not want to tell you, they liked it a lot but are interested in another knife, they had a good offer, they needed money for an emergency and so on - and most often you will never know what´s going on, so I just concentrate in making sure my customers wil receive a knife as good as I can make and from then on, is up to the owners to decide what to do with it. If I could choose, I´d like my knives to go to the hands of people who will use them, not store them in a drawer or safe but, as I said before, it´s up to the customers to decide what to do with them.
 
As a collector, it's not easy for me parting with anything I've gotten my hands on... Yes, I have traded once or twice (Danbo knows how to get to ya! :D ) and I've sold one or two of my production knives...

But to tell you the truth, I find it especially hard to part with anything I've gotten from an artist when I dealt directly (or indirectly via the 'net) with them - it becomes personal, so the object holds greater meaning to me - and from the way you interacted with me on the one commission and the one on your table (that he wouldn't even take money for until he "sanded out the scratches" folks! LOL!!!! ;) ) well... the knife becomes so much more than just a tool, piece of art or investment.... And there are several of you makers reading this thread who I feel the same way about- you took the time to deal with me and make it possible to realize the goals of my hobby - your work means that much more than the inherent value of a fine product...

I also have to say that I don't feel quite as strongly about knives I've gotten on the secondary market - I don't have quite the emotional attachment to those objects... I may never part, willingly, with some of them, but I would feel less distress at their parting than I would if I had gotten it straight from the source... However, I also have to admit that I can't meet every maker I would like to have render a piece for me, so obviously the secondary market is one of my primary resources for finding knives I like to collect.

Nick, I can only tell you that there is probably nothing personal in anyone's reselling one of your knives... As so many have stated previously, sometimes either tastes or circumstances change - and then you let 'em go ... and should take pride that there are so many out there who want your work, so many more than you can make - and those of us who do get to experience that knife, well, it adds to the cachet, I think, as each new chapter in the life of that knife opens upon reaching the latest set of hands who appreciate it...

Keep Hammerin', Nick... not all of us will keep every knife for ever, but know that nobody would be unappreciative of owning the product from the likes of you and the other makers I've run into for even a short period of time... :cool:
 
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