The above statement made me shake my head in pity for a genuinely stupid person, but then the better part of patience came in and helped me to realize that this may well be a very smart person trapped in a stupid idea. So let me explain...
There is an extremely small percentage of custom makers who use steels or heat treatments that are unique to them. The rest use steels that are in use industry-wide, and for which the heat treatment data is published and available to anyone (if you want this HRC out of this steel, temper in thus and such a medium at thus and such a temperature, etc.). Many make use of professional heat treaters, and the others have the equipment to do it themselves, but it results in the same animal. There is NOT a man in a white coat with a "Doctorate of Cutting Awesomeness" running around the Benchmade factory floor imbuing their knives with performance-enhancing specialness which his in-depth analysis has guided them to...
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"Zee data shows zat angling zee plunge line forward five degrees vill yield a 15% increase in torsional strength!"
"Mein God, doctor, you've done it again! You heard him, everybody! Schnell!"
"..........Ummm, sir, why are we all German?"
"SILENCE! SCHNELL!!!!!"
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No, in actuality they make edges thinner when they want knives to cut better, thicker when they want them to be tougher, and put swedges, curved plunges and harpoon tips on stuff because it's cool looking, just like everyone else.
The difference is, the small maker can (and will tend to) spend FAR more attention to his one knife that's in process than a factory can or will spend on the 300 knives they have in process, and that's where the difference comes in. I've had QC control problems (in the form of guards improperly attached, folder's with serious pivot problems, and incorrectly heat treated blades) from major brand names. Buck, Benchmade and Victorinox have all allowed me the experience of their warranty services due to mistakes in construction, and all--by the way--were eager to help and resolve the issue.
For me, even if I'm starting out with a custom (or "handmade") knifemaker's own design that he has made before just because I happen to like it, I still have options within that design. I can't call up Spyderco and get them to make a Manix in M2 hardened to 64-65 HRC because I'm planning on using it purely as a skinning knife, nor give Buck a shout and ask for a 119 Special with a flat grind instead of hollow. Mass producers have to make decisions for the mass market, and generally choose materials and designs and resultant price points that they feel have mass appeal.
Will my favorite skinner from Phillip Patton outperform a Benchmade Rant as a skinner because it's custom? No. Will it outperform it because it's M4 hardened to the mid sixties (as I specifically requested) instead of 440C hardened to the high fifties? Why yes, yes it will. Have plenty of animals been successfully skinned with knives in 440A? Oh yes, certainly----and plenty of ugly girls have been impregnated too. The fact that it's possible doesn't mean I'd enjoy doing it.
So, if the price of custom knives is not in line with your level of interest in them, then by all means spend your money elsewhere; there certainly are some excellent production knives available. But abandon your notions that factory knives are inherently superior because of resident knife-physicists, and that a majority of custom makers are charlatans selling snake oil, because you're coming across downright goofy.
