I can't argue, I hope I can do this, I'll try.
Thanks
Crap. My apologies. The 2 previous posts were submitted before I saw this. I'm not a fast typer.
I can't argue, I hope I can do this, I'll try.
Thanks
Oh man, the only thing that would make this worse is a divorce lawyer...and that divorce lawyer was Oivind Dahle.
k.
I'm sorry but I'm rather disappointed at a lot of comments about problems with custom makers. It seems like the practice of weeks turning into months, turning into years happens way more than it should. I think the expectations are so low around these parts that people don't even expect anything to be handled in a timely or professional manner anymore and just sees it as part of the process. I think I can understand the pain of individual knife makers and their hardships of running a business. But then again we live in a real world where vendors should have some accountability about people's hard earned money.
I read the forum, all I hear is praise about custom maker knives being the buzz and how great of cutters they are. Maybe there should be more reviews on customer services and basic business practices so people have a realistic expectation of what they are putting their money into.
I thin if there's one thing to learn from this thread for people who have never ordered a custom before, is that they take time and it's easy for weeks to turn into months and months, years
Oh, also...deposits almost completely negate many of the things I've said. Once you take a deposit you are ABSOLUTELY beholden to a customer in regards to both communication and a more accurate level of scheduling. This is the nature of service once you have taken someone's money.
I totally agree with this and why i would be very reluctant to get a custom knife from someone with a 6+ month wait time that wants an upfront deposit. Too much can change in that time period.
I thin if there's one thing to learn from this thread for people who have never ordered a custom before, is that they take time.
If someone asks for a full payment or half of it upfront I would be vary however most makers with the common business practice will ask minimal deposits upfront (10-20) percent . This is to determine serious buyers , as you can Imagine 40-50 will inquire, 30 will say they will deposit something to be on the list and 15-20 will actually deposit to be on the list . From makers point if they allocate time for all the quotes their timeline won't be realistic and at the end they also need to plan how many they are going to make , if they make a specific knife for someone and there is nothing to hold the buyer against like deposit the maker will be stuck with something fully custom that they may not be able to sell .
If someone asks for a full payment or half of it upfront I would be vary however most makers with the common business practice will ask minimal deposits upfront (10-20) percent . This is to determine serious buyers , as you can Imagine 40-50 will inquire, 30 will say they will deposit something to be on the list and 15-20 will actually deposit to be on the list . From makers point if they allocate time for all the quotes their timeline won't be realistic and at the end they also need to plan how many they are going to make , if they make a specific knife for someone and there is nothing to hold the buyer against like deposit the maker will be stuck with something fully custom that they may not be able to sell .
Totally agree Mert but from my point of view i would only be willing to do that with a maker that i have a repore with and trust, like yourself. And i also have no qualms with paying for materials upfront before you start work.
It really is on a case by case basis but my primary stance is one of reluctance for a deposit until close to work is starting.
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