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Hi Tourist: I'd love to see your "research" that will back this statement. Why will this be the next hot item?

HI Larry, First, thank you for your kind words. :D By in large custom knives is not a "business". It is more of an amalgamation of a collectible with some business thrown in as more of a "tolerated" evil by most makers and collectors. Over 90% of the makers out there are part timers...

Hi Marten, Yes, there are a lot of makers who are not active on the Internet. Many have learned the lesson in the earlier days of the Internet forums that there were many "experts" who knew how to build their knives better than they did. So instead of wasting time trying to straighten the...

Hi James, I wrote a book on knife collecting called "Custom Knife Buying Guide". The 7 questions are in there. Those questions were developed over several years. I suspect many other collectors have done the same thing. My questions will serve you well. However, they are not the...

Hi Jim, To me Investment grade knives can start at $100 (you buy one for $100 and sell it for $115... you just made a 15% ROI...most people on the forums don't feel this is a big enough dollar amount...the ROI is great but $15 would hardly be worth the effort). For me it is simply a matter of...

HI Marten, When I was in graduate school I took a Financial Management class. As a homework assignment we were given $100,000 (imaginary money) to invest over the time frame of the course. Almost without exception everyone in the class lost money...some lost it all. This across the...

HI Marten, The majority of knives that came up for sale were not what you would consider investment grade knives. The biggest impacts the down economy had on custom knives across the board were: 1) People stopped paying stupidly high premiums. 2) Show attendance dropped (conversely...

Hi Marten, If you are serious regarding investing in custom knives. You can expect to spend thousands of hours and Tens of Thousands of Dollars in order for it to pay off. No, you don't need to buy any of the makers listed here. But that is an easy starting place. Most collectors...

HI Chris, Like Clim, I went to SIU (actually graduated...LOL) Hi Doug, My wife is from Mt. Zion.

Amazing! 2thumbs

Hi Steven; It's been almost a month...when did plan on starting my education? Perhaps you felt it was incumbent upon me to seek out this information. Interesting sales technique...tell the potential buyer they need more information...then don't follow up and provide that information...

Hi Trent, The authors were paid for their work and possibly receive a royalty for their work. So they probably had nothing to do with setting the price. But yes it is ironic that about book about pricing seems, on the surface at least. To have an arbitrary price. However, I suspect that a...

Hi Trent, The 5th Edition of "The Strategy of Pricing...." comes out on March 8th. This from a review: This book is primarily for someone in corporate America...not necessarily a small business. The book has 352 pages...kind of long to read through unless you have a fetish for...

Hi Stephan, Just send me a nice Bowie and we can call it even! :D

Hi Cabinet, It is primarily the "Hobby" makers who suffer the lulls. Others are those whose knives are overpriced. Today collectors can just click their mouse to comparative shop. The biggest mistake a maker can make in the current sales environment is to not know what their position...

HI Steven, I like the concept of "Something Selling Its self". The truth is that is a flawed concept. There is a reason that there is BILLIONS spent on advertising every year. Kids who can't read can ride down the street in your car and call out: McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell...

Hi 1234.... The questions are found in my book "Custom Knife Buying Guide." It is for sale on my website. Cost is $10.00 Remember, information you get for free is worth every penny you pay for it!

Hi Zappa, When I do my seminar at the Blade show I get asked all the time about "Which makers are the next hot makers or which makers should I look at, etc." The answer will vary given what the market is doing. However, I always include in my answer. If you find a maker that cannot get...

Hi Denton, You are welcome. Given the current market, I think it is a mistake for a maker not to have a "plan" for any show they attend. Collectors/buyers today are better informed than ever. Many (if not all) at least consider a makers knives desirability in the after market...

I posted this in the thread about the Blade 2010. I thought it might actually be more appropriate here: I have been setting up at shows for almost 25 years. One constant truth through those hundreds of shows has been: Some makers will sell out Some makers will do ok Some makers...