Why do some makers remove prices for sold knives?

[David Sharp]

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.

I've had it happen, and I definitely don't make the same knives I did early in my short career. So my pricing gets removed if I sell anything online.

 

[daizee]

I think it's weird to remove the price. After all, that was the ASKING price.
If the buyer and seller reached another arrangement, that's their business. The asking price was up there publicly, why does it suddenly become 'private'? Totally mysterious logic to me.

If I make a knife for a buddy and sell it to him at a discount, it's not going up on the forum with a price anyway.
I've only posted a few for sale here so far, but as a rule, I'd only ask a price I'd be satisfied to get for the knife from any buyer, with no misgivings. I.e. If my best friend insisted on paying my 'retail' price after being offered a discount, I wouldn't feel I'd cheated him, or would I worry he'd feel he'd been had.

I have no qualms about letting anyone know what I was asking publicly for a particular piece at a particular time. Anybody who can't read timestamps and has no understanding of changing market conditions, improved quality, developing reputation etc. probably isn't a knowledgeable customer anyway. Pricing for craftsmanship is a complex equation. If someone wants to argue with your asking prices as if you're a high-volume manufacturer, maybe you don't want to sell to them anyway. If someone remove the price because they think they can do much better next time for the same piece if the buyer is uninformed, that would leave a sour taste in my mouth. Discovering the market price balance is part of the cost of doing business.

OTOH, perhaps I have the luxury of being retentive about this because it's not my full-time job.
My $0.02. There have been spirited discussions around the house on this topic recently.

-Daizee

 

[Remyrw]

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.

+1 Drives me nuts. There are reasonable arguments both ways, but it's annoying to me. I know I've been guilty of replacing the price with "sold" a few times though, just in a hurry and not thinking about it... I like to get a feel for what's selling at what prices, and can't be checking constantly. I'll browse through and see what sold quickly and at what price point as a way to get a feel for the market.

 

[hardheart]

What's sold is sold, and it serves no purpose for the seller to leave the sale price visible.

Going with the notion that another one like it will never be sold again. If you have a dozen blanks you made in a batch, and sell the first one online, you remove any and all indications of price that would let someone know how much it would cost to order a blade made from one of the other eleven? To remove the price immediately? Do prices change every week, every quarter, every year? How often do prices change that a little housekeeping through subscriptions to the makers' own sales thread at the time prices need to adjust is a burden? Deletion of the entire contents of the thread would seem more appropriate.

The point the thread becomes nothing more than pics and specs, it belongs in a gallery and not in a sales forum, since the thread now lacks one thing actually required to sell here, and that is a declared price. When I see more than one thread for the same knife pattern with possibly different scale color or material, yet there is no indication of price for something that appears to come out of the maker's shop on a regular basis, I don't understand it at all.

There are makers' sites with information like X steel adds $$$ to the cost of a knife, exhibition grade Y adds $$$, Z pattern starts at $$$, kydex vs leather costs $$$. If someone is going to use an excuse as untenable as "I saw other vendors do it", then I would just ask them to see those pages and ape that kind of practice instead.

 

[Salem Straub]

I leave my prices. I like the idea of full disclosure and total transparency with customers. There's no shame in my game. If I sold a given knife for say $300 last year, and it costs more now, that's because prices went up on materials and associated costs, or because I gave myself a raise. Either way, I'm comfortable explaining that to customers- and it's far more common that prices go up than I get a raise. If a customer saw a price from even 6 months ago on a given knife, chances are it would cost a bit more now- prices are getting nuts out there. If he wanted me to "honor" that price, I'd simply tell him no- and he'd either understandingly pay the new price or we would amicably agree not to do business at the time.

That's how I see it, communication skills are paramount when dealing with customers, and I'm confident and articulate enough in my pricing and reasoning that it's really pretty easy. That said, I wish I could raise prices enough to truly compensate for inflation and still remain competitive with what's out there...

 

[tryppyr]

Going with the notion that another one like it will never be sold again. If you have a dozen blanks you made in a batch, and sell the first one online, you remove any and all indications of price that would let someone know how much it would cost to order a blade made from one of the other eleven?

There's no point in diving into speculative discussions of this sort. Even if someone has a dozen blanks, who's to say they won't finish each individually and uniquely? Why would the price of one necessarily have anything to do with the price of another? Why do you feel they owe you that information?

Honestly, your attitude is coming off as very opinionated and somewhat rude. You seem to just be venting, so I'll leave you to it.

 

[daizee]

Even if someone has a dozen blanks, who's to say they won't finish each individually and uniquely? Why would the price of one necessarily have anything to do with the price of another? Why do you feel they owe you that information?

Then price them individually and uniquely, as appropriate. As long as the pricing model used is consistent, potential customers will be able to understand and send their business where they want to, given the value they place on their money. IMO, the maker should be able - and willing - to explain to a prospective customer why knife X costs 50% more than knife Y, even though at first glance they are similar. This is how customers become educated, and it benefits the entire community.

By removing the price, it gives the customer reason to be suspicious that there is a game afoot. And it's not idle speculation that customers think about these things, as evidenced by this thread (are we not all also customers at some point?). Removing the suggestion or appearance of impropriety, regardless of how ethical your practices in reality, is a purpose that DOES serve the maker.

-Daizee

 

[hardheart]

There's no point in diving into speculative discussions of this sort. Even if someone has a dozen blanks, who's to say they won't finish each individually and uniquely? Why would the price of one necessarily have anything to do with the price of another? Why do you feel they owe you that information?

Honestly, your attitude is coming off as very opinionated and somewhat rude. You seem to just be venting, so I'll leave you to it.

Sorry, I don't know why I would expect a seller to feel that they owed a buyer the information as private and secretive as the price.

If I seem rude to you, it's because to me you seem to deserve it. Thread closed.