Who is the target customer?

J

jbib

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I enjoy perusing the knife exchange and understand that the price range offered is very broad. There are many examples of very beautiful pieces over $2K. I'd be interested in thoughts on who is the target customer and if those knives will do anything other than sit in a safe? There's clearly a market otherwise it stands to reason there wouldn't be so many offerings.
 
I'm guessing a lot of it is either experienced collectors who have gotten bored with everything and want to see if something higher end will reignite their interest, and flippers looking for valuable commodities to exchange. That might explain why so many show up on the exchange despite the relatively low production.
 
I would guess that as one progresses in the hobby a couple of things have a chance to happen:

One "has enough" and leaves the hobby for another passion to spend money on.

One's income becomes limited either through salary or becoming fixed over time limiting how high someone can pay despite the desire.

One's personal Popeye threshold is met and a certain dollar amount is all they can stands before they are willing to spend more.

One's personal education on all things sharp and pointy peters out when a brand is no longer in the mix and it all about the mystique of the artist so they just keep buying what brands they like.

I would say super high end knife collectors are like any other art collector. They are highly educated and in tune with who is making what. I'm sure some do it as some sort of potential investment. The others have probably been in it so long they knew of the maker as they were rising years prior or at least know what they want is unobtainable in the production world. They understand what goes into a $10,000 knife, and the pride of owning it is worth the cost of entry. These are the unicorns of the knife collecting hobby. Educated, Cash flush, and willing to take it to the upper levels despite it being a niche market for a knife that will cut no better than a sub $500 knife. At that level, it's no longer about performance and all about fit, finish, and who crafted it.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
They understand what goes into a $10,000 knife, and the pride of owning it is worth the cost of entry. These are the unicorns of the knife collecting hobby. Educated, Cash flush, and willing to take it to the upper levels despite it being a niche market for a knife that will cut no better than a sub $500 knife. At that level, it's no longer about performance and all about fit, finish, and who crafted it.
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Definitely true for the $10k+ knives, those are usually the ones from knifemaking legends. The eye watering prices of Loveless' knives will never make sense to me, but I can understand them. They're more art than anything, and made by someone so influential that he can count the drop point among his inventions.

What I don't get as much are the knives you see in the $2000 range. These usually aren't the hand-made jewels of years past, but rather carefully constructed CNC-fabricated knives made by new names with a distinct aesthetic. I think a lot of this market got curtailed when high end Chinese companies started making very similar CAD/CAM heavy knives for under $500, but some of that market remains.
 
Tsujigiri said:
Definitely true for the $10k+ knives, those are usually the ones from knifemaking legends. The eye watering prices of Loveless' knives will never make sense to me, but I can understand them. They're more art than anything, and made by someone so influential that he can count the drop point among his inventions.

What I don't get as much are the knives you see in the $2000 range. These usually aren't the hand-made jewels of years past, but rather carefully constructed CNC-fabricated knives made by new names with a distinct aesthetic. I think a lot of this market got curtailed when high end Chinese companies started making very similar CAD/CAM heavy knives for under $500, but some of that market remains.
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I appreciate your input. It is the perspective I sought. Being a neophyte of sorts, an accumulator more than collector, this was insight I lacked. From this I assume "Loveless" is an example. Care to share some additional names, please?
 
Tsujigiri said:
Definitely true for the $10k+ knives, those are usually the ones from knifemaking legends. The eye watering prices of Loveless' knives will never make sense to me, but I can understand them. They're more art than anything, and made by someone so influential that he can count the drop point among his inventions.

What I don't get as much are the knives you see in the $2000 range. These usually aren't the hand-made jewels of years past, but rather carefully constructed CNC-fabricated knives made by new names with a distinct aesthetic. I think a lot of this market got curtailed when high end Chinese companies started making very similar CAD/CAM heavy knives for under $500, but some of that market remains.
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The thing about this is that Bob Loveless would have hated that. He always insisted he made knives meant to be used, and was adamantly against being called an artist. He called himself an artisan, someone making the highest form of a simple, practical, and common thing. Now, even back when he was alive his knives were extremely expensive. But they were always meant to be used, and I don't know that he ever really made an art knife. Even now, Loveless patterns are beautiful, but often not ornate.
 
Medford Knife & Tool. An easy $1050 for regular production. With supreme examples running $150,000.


With the fly in the soup being We Knife Co. Average price, $250.
 
Who buys the two grand knife?

I have some experience in the world of antique, vintage and high-end collectable cameras. In that realm, there are some who want to do photography with the most sophisticsted ger available. there are those wish to own the most the rarest examples of some desirable collectable with no intention of doing photography with it.

Ampong those folks is a subset that is wealthy enough that they are loking to spend more money than anyone else because they can. These folks have got to display what they have in some public way. One way is to wear the camera as man-jewelry.

In some cases, the object is so expensive that it cannot be taken out for use even if it is just to wear it. At a whole other level are the super-duper sports cars. Sure folks do drive their ALambo, but the limited edition dollar+ Mcclarrens, Ford GT and other near one-offs may never be driven more than a few miles from the dealership to a white glove clean "garag" to sit along side a few other equally esoteric cars.

The historic knife in this category in my book was/is the replica of the "King Tut" solid gold dagger made by Buster Wronski (sp?) many years go. I think it took a whole year to create and cost the collector something lover $100,000 back then.
 
jbib said:
I appreciate your input. It is the perspective I sought. Being a neophyte of sorts, an accumulator more than collector, this was insight I lacked. From this I assume "Loveless" is an example. Care to share some additional names, please?
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I'm the worst person to ask, never looked into that market much because it wasn't relevant to me. But I'm guessing Terzuola would be up there since he's considered a pioneer of the tactical folder. And maybe some makers like Jimmy Lile, Ron Lake, and Tony Bose? I know Dietmar Kressler has been referred to as the Bob Loveless of Europe, too.
 
As someone who has gotten into this threshold a bit (1 to 2K) it comes down to what I want. it's all kinda boring if I can just find it and buy it right away. I like the "hunt" if you will. Also, for the most part you will get a decent amount of money back if you sell as the ones in this price bracket tend to be harder to get.

I appreciate well-made knives - and things in general - especially if they're a bit rare. I guess its pride of ownership a bit.
 
Pretty much everyone has *something* they spend their money on. Why not knives in this range. I’ve written here before that I was into watches for years before I got into knives recently. I can tell you the idea of spending $2k on something really nice & beautiful feels almost like a bargain when all the watches you like are north of $10k.
 
^^^

I myself, have never had the resources to buy anything as a collectable for the enjoyment of owning it or for an investment. I applauded those who can.

Years ago, the Chris Reeve operation had this one-piece hollow handled line that I admired. They were pricy at the time (for me). When I was buying premium cutters for our Marne Corps son, I did find the money to get him a Randall #16-1and a CRK Green Beret instead.

t some point, CRK announced that a shift supervisor had gone rogue and produced an untheorized limited run of double edged dagger looking one piece knives. They would make no more of them. I immediately thought they would sell out quickly and just as quickly appreciate as collectables . . .and they did. Somewhat later on, CRK announced the discontinuation of the entire one piece line. I had the same thoughts and the result has been the same.

Wish I had enough fortitude , charisma and strength of will to convince my wife that I should refinance the house and take out a loan to fund a collectable knife IRA . . .and buy up as many as I could!
 
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calm said:
people who can easily afford them.
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I both agree and disagree. I have buddies with way more money than me that would think I a dumb for this (they're gear heads too, who like knives) Their Spyderco or CRK (at the high end) will do just fine.

Likewise, I am sure there are folks who are way into knives on this forum with $$$$ that wouldnt spend their money like that either (even though they could)

Then

To flip my last statement around there are folks on here who would if they could.....

Basically, imo its not a blanket statement for folks who enjoy knives.
 
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In the world of very high end collectible knives, most of them will never be used because part of collecting these rare and valuable items is keeping their resale value intact. Would Ron Lake (for example) love to know that every knife he's made is seeing regular, intensive use? I'm sure he would. On the other hand, he also knows that most people who have the financial capability to afford his products probably have very few cutting chores in their daily lives that need doing, and on top of that, most likely have other knives for actual use. The money coming into his account spends the same whether that $15,000 knife he sold is used to scrape old Loc-tite off of old bolt threads, or stored in a climate controlled safe never to see the light of day other than some photos for The Gram, you know?
 
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Chefget said:
Most custom knife collectors, myself included, find the price of custom knives much more reasonable than a 1k Medford or Hinderer 🤣🤣
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That is a poignant observation. I'm getting the idea.
 
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