Why do some makers remove prices for sold knives?

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hardheart

hardheart

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Even if the actual selling price was too low as a user, experiment, or one off - a placeholder "Prices on this model start at..." or "Order a similar one for..." would be nice. Just a suggestion.
 
Would you want your wife finding out just how much you paid for a nice collectors grade piece?! :p

I do agree somewhat, but many view it as respect for the buyers privacy. A deal between gentlemen need not be made public.


-Xander
 
I agree. A simple "SOLD" added after the description and price would be all that is needed.

I hate doing research on a knife only to find site after site with all the pricing and info deleted and nothing but "sold" showing.
 
fast14riot said:
Would you want your wife finding out just how much you paid for a nice collectors grade piece?! :p

I do agree somewhat, but many view it as respect for the buyers privacy. A deal between gentlemen need not be made public.


-Xander
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Well, I never really did see that reasoning, since the knife is being sold in public to begin with, and prices on the secondary market are influenced by public opinion/demand. But one time sales are up to the participants.

Though, I am speaking specifically about the product of a knife maker's individual shop. I would figure that their business should be pretty public, especially in the case of letting potential customers know what kind of price range their product is.
 
Contact the knife maker and ask how much he charges for that type of knife...
 
I too come along sale threads and wonder how much things were sold for... sometimes I'm just curious as to what the resale value is.
 
I wish they would leave the prices up for my reference, but I agree with the comment about your wife knowing how much you spent:)
 
RyanW said:
Contact the knife maker and ask how much he charges for that type of knife...
Click to expand...

This is my recommendation.

Most makers adjust their prices as they gain experience and ability or as price of materials increase. Some buyers looking through an old thread might expect the maker to honor the old price.
 
If a person buys one of my knives thru pm, or email I will mark the knife sold without
saying who bought the knife. I really don't understand why people delete the price.
I can repect the buyers right to privacy. This seems to happen often on the secondary market.
Ken.
 
RyanW said:
Contact the knife maker and ask how much he charges for that type of knife...
Click to expand...
Well, the reason I started the thread was to find out some reasons why the prices are not there to begin with. I currently have no positive thoughts on it. Since I am already biased to thinking the maker is trying to rapidly increase prices, lacks experience in pricing, or is not confident in their work, I do not contact them to ask about prices since I I am hesitant in bothering to find out. If there is some other reasoning I could be educated on, I probably wouldn't be so turned off by the practice.
 
J. Oeser said:
This is my recommendation.

Most makers adjust their prices as they gain experience and ability or as price of materials increase. Some buyers looking through an old thread might expect the maker to honor the old price.
Click to expand...

I totally agree.
If someone is interested in a CURRENT price for a similar knife they can contact me.
 
putting myself in the position of the seller of fine knives, I have the upper hand if i don't give out the selling price; that is, the piece sold to a willing buyer, and i am in a position to get a bit more for the next knife that is the same, or similar. If it is "all business" w/ the maker/seller, then he/she should not give up stratigic information. I know we hear some warm-fuzzies, but in most cases the goal is to maximize revenues (w/in reason, of course). After all, knife makers, in general, have a tough time making a good living if they do it full time. procurors, on the other hand, just use knives as a vehicle to exploit supply/demand. They really want to control the flow of information...............b
 
J. Oeser said:
This is my recommendation.

Most makers adjust their prices as they gain experience and ability or as price of materials increase. Some buyers looking through an old thread might expect the maker to honor the old price.
Click to expand...
+1 when I first started when I made a knife nice enough to sell if I covered my cost I was happy. Now im a good ways beyond that and don't want to sell myself short. Also never know if material prices change. Seems stabalized koa prices have jumped a good bit for example. Another reason i hate to keep prices is about 1/3 of my knives are done for charities and while most people at a charity auction etc bid differently I dont want someone seeing a old price where I sold a knife for 125$ when it was worth more and not bid nearly as high thinking that is the going rate.
 
I am so open about my prices I will even give prospective buyers the cost of materials or places to find those items. I've even offered to have the buyer get the materials and send them to me. Still, once a sale is complete I don't see the need to advertise the price that particular piece sold for. It has then become private to the buyer. No, I don't make many the same. They can be similar however and prices could be different. Frank
 
I've long been curious about this. I have nothing against contacting the maker, but doesn't that seem like an unnecessary encumbrance on both parties? I tend to wait a few days then go through the For Sale section en bloc, meaning I'd have to contact a swathe of different makers for prices if I wanted to find out. This is assuming the maker I'm asking is one who frequents the forums enough to actually be relied on to answer messages, which isn't necessarily the case. I don't really see what privacy is being afforded to the buyer, either. All that could ever really be derived is the assumption of wealth associated with someone's username. Not exactly a public mark of shame. Unless of course the customer requests it.
 
I always wondered why folks do that too.

Every now and then I look to see what pieces of mine are on the secondary, and what they are going for.
It seems retarded to have to send someone a PM asking.
 
For what it's worth, it seems to be a common practice among sellers of all types of goods, not just knives. The assertion that it's being done because a knifemaker lacks confidence in their work or their pricing doesn't hold water. I've seen large companies use the same practice on goods imported from China, second hand merchandise, and pretty much anything being sold.

If you're looking for good explanations of why it became common practice, and you're already biased to believing it's because the maker lacks confidence, then you are never going to be satisfied with any rational explanation. Here's a guess... many of them do it because they've seen other vendors do it. Whatever the reason, there's certainly nothing wrong or nefarious about the practice. What's sold is sold, and it serves no purpose for the seller to leave the sale price visible. Heck, I think even my wife's dinky little online store hides the prices after the sale (we sell the collectibles we no longer treasure). In that case, though, we don't really have a choice... it's just how the software works.

- Greg
 
J. Oeser said:
This is my recommendation.

Most makers adjust their prices as they gain experience and ability or as price of materials increase. Some buyers looking through an old thread might expect the maker to honor the old price.
Click to expand...

That's about the best explanation I have for why I do it. Also, I thought that it was a common and even encouraged practice here, like locking the thread after the item is sold.
 
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