Knife Maker's Friday Five #23: How to Price Your Knives

[@CanOfBacon]

"Throw spaghetti at the refrigerator door, If it sticks great, if it falls off try something else" I've never heard that one but damn, that is a good one

[@daeroc]

Literally where "see if it sticks" comes from. Easy way to tell if your spaghetti is a perfect al dente.

[@jakemakes]

At our house its throw it on the ceiling😀

[@lucasliam8238]

If no one wants to buy your knife and it’s really good that means you’re knife is priceless.

[@shawnluebbermann3830]

Thank you so much for that information that should help me establish a reasonable yet desirable price for my knives. Thank you very much.

[@andrewtracy9134]

This was very helpful, along with many other of your videos, thank you for what you do

[@thomshere]

Thank you so much for this! I truly think your videos are the very best on the knife making subject and I would be damn proud to own ANY of your knives!

[@HalfBit360]

Hey Walter, have you done a video on working with different handle materials? I was curious on how to work with bone or horn.

[@glennmccarthy1133]

Great information and I love your one liners friggin hilarious. When I was apprentice Jeweler to supplement my wages I made a few rings and price them. I cover cost of materials and a little bit for me the ring came out at $400 I tried to sell them people and was told they were junk and not the correct material. So few months later same rings the price went up to $1200.00 they all sold within a day so go figure. But if it helps of the metal,belts,sandpaper,scales and add a little bit more for you like Walter said as your reputation increases so does the price.

[@Raysnature]

My father had the exact same experience when he started selling his paintings.

[@MrMattyord]

Mine sell for what it cost me to make them +a nice bottle of scotch lol

[@williamporter6185]

Matthew O respectable. +1 to you

[@deanomec]

Sounds like a good place to start

[@jmh211275]

Good call.

[@jimmelnyk7506]

If I throw spaghetti at the refrigerator door, I'm the one that will be cleaning up the mess.

[@docniemo4713]

Excellent video and insight! Keep-em coming!

[@PickleThanos]

You should make a traditional style kukri

[@deathofkindness]

Well done sir. .thank you

[@simonhopkins3867]

I'm a hobby woodturner. someone once told me I had to cover all costs and charge an hourly rate more than the minimum wage. pmsl. I think he felt I was devaluing his work.

[@colsoncustoms8994]

This is something that I've taken a lot of time trying to get figured out. Still haven't gotten it down 100%. My biggest hurtle is trying to get my prices as low as possible to try to compete with mass produced blades, while not compromising any on quality or fit & finish. Part of the problem with custom blades is that there is so much actual hands on work that has to be done. It is virtually impossible for me to create a "budget" blade with a proper handle for under $150, short of going semi mid tech, which isn't really an option at the moment. And that would be for a very standard compact edc style blade. A full sized tactical, camp, or kitchen blade takes hours of grinding and finish work plus more supplies and belts. Kind of forces the blades I can create towards the "higher end" stuff (not so much in the custom world), which is great, but the market is smaller for $300+ blades than it is for $100 ones, and especially less so for $500+ knives.

[@Rsama60]

Colson Customs That is your main problem. As a custom kifemaker you cannot, I repeat myself, you cannot compete with the prices of mass produced kives.

[@williamporter6185]

Colson Customs like Roland said, don't try to compete with the mass producers unless you are one yourself. I believe the knife community prides itself on being handmade, and people are willing to pay for quality handmade goods regardless of price, especially if the maker puts in the effort.

[@mt_baldwin]

I'm not a knife maker or seller but I do buy knives, a lot of them. One thing that sells me on a knife/knife maker or at least gets the ball rolling is if there is a video on it somewhere, especially here on KZbin, it doesn't have to be someone cutting up a pig carcass (though that helps) but even someone just talking about it, about its features, showing it in the hand. Dry pictures on a website just don't do what even a 2 minute cell phone video does.

[@colsoncustoms8994]

That's something I really need to invest some more time into. Pictures are nice, but you can capture so much more in video format. Just out of curiosity, would you personally put much value on a video by a maker featuring one of their pieces, or does an independent review of that same blade hold much more sway in your opinion?

[@RougemontForge]

Exactly! I recently sold a puukko knife, and I think that it was largely due to the video that I made of the whole process. I wish that Etsy had a video slot for each product, it would make all of the aspects of my knives so much easier to show.

[@sebacoyl]

Agree, I put value on knifemaker publishing video on process of how he makes the knife, but there would be value on independent review of a blade as well.

[@built2bash338]

It's funny you mentioned chris Reeves, his shop is right down the street from me.

[@lachy1709]

Just starting off, I charge materials plus a certain percentage, ranging 10-30%. Also depends on what its worth

[@tristy-popstheman7622]

this was super helpfull thanks walter

[@williamporter6185]

Like my local knife sharpener and salesman said "if you make what you love, people will come to buy it"

[@RougemontForge]

If a maker is just starting out/doesn't have the reputation, but has the same quality , I don't think that they should charge a lower price than people with an established reputation. Blades are not a perishable item, so the maker can experiment with higher prices for as long as they can keep their sanity. Now if the maker wanted to get their name out there, it is understandable that they would sell at a lower price. However, price implies quality, and if it is at too much of a deep dark discount, people would be less inclined to buy it.

[@CarlMarx]

Rougemont_Forge I think if I were to start out I'd try to get some more known, and relevant people on youtube with a good reputation to review my knifes.

[@RougemontForge]

good idea, doing collabs with other makers is also a good way to show your skills.

[@williamporter6185]

Rougemont_Forge thanks for this comment. Being a (soon to be) first time knife maker, I had to put up a lot of cash up front to make sure I got all the tools and equipment for the quality I was trying to present. Seeing this makes me feel better about not having to undercut myself for marketing.

[@TreggTheDestroyr]

Can you make a ninjoto please

[@TheMrWoodsman]

Can you get back to basics of budget knife making?

[@dougyankunas3104]

Was this guy on "forged in fire" ?

[@berzerkrobot]

Yes

[@morxmeister11]

love your videos keep it up :D

[@philochristos]

Pricing my knives has taken a lot of trial and error.

[@hate_mate7054]

why dont i get your videos as a suggestion anymore ? (subscribed)

[@Ed.T]

Rule of thumb is that the end cost is 4x material costs. Want more money? Lower your cost, increase your production or do something (marketing) to create the perception that your knife is worth 5x, 6x or more... Sure, there are people out there that will pay a thousand dollars for a pencil, but not many. If you don't need to pay the rent, don't give your knives away "cheap." Instead, get better at selling. Best profit margin ever: "Send money" and I'll buy a camera or write a book but I won't send you knife... I promise.

[@dzplayer0149]

i got not luck with selling knifes cuz where i live the workers dont get payed much so they are no willing to pay a lots for a knife they will not buy a knife that cost more than 10 $ :/ (example : if u work at a fast food u will only get payed 100 $ - 300 $ )

[@chrisdes2667]

One thing I do is price out the materials and that's my minimum price then I start adding my time at $10 per hour and that's what I would happy with. $20 / hour I would be ticked pink to get but maybe with time. Instagram cdknives. I am just starting out.

[@davelee6979]

red eye.... nice

[@mikemikulak676]

Horray for a lesson on free market economics first thing.

[@eliosaile1689]

Here comes the Glock haters...

[@jackspradt1562]

LOL. Glocks are junk.

[@BernieFromTheInternet]

i dont like how a master smith use the title to make their work alot more expensive.

[@kennycampbelljr5896]

Why shouldn't he?

[@BernieFromTheInternet]

@@kennycampbelljr5896 because its a breach of ethics to imply that ones work is inherently more valuable because of the name attached to it and its a slippery slope that leads to things like the forged in fire kitchen knife they sell at Walmart. A more skilled blade smith can simply make blades faster and more efficiently. A Master Smith using their name and title to make a blade more valuable implies that either, the knife community is a cult of personality where a name is more important than the content, or that the level of quality in a product that was made by someone with the title master smith cannot be reached by someone without the title, making the product more valuable than it would be otherwise.

[@prone_wolf8871]

@@BernieFromTheInternet make a master class dagger..........there is a reason why master smiths are ....MASTER smiths.........and it deserves to be recognized...... if your a knifemaker that can make a knife as well as a master then join the guild and in a few years you can charge the same...... Short of it is a "master smith" is not an easy title to earn....