Just curious I was wondering for those of you who make and sell knifes, axes,swords etc.. where and how do you sell your items. Do you have a booth somewhere, a website, etc... I ask because someday I would like to be able to open a small business selling my knifes and other items i make. Thanks for any replys

There's varying degrees here. I do small shows and trade days. That market is made up of people who aren't avid collectors and generally don't have large sums of money to drop on a custom knife. Since that is my market I make knives that they can afford. It isn't a buisness that I can make a living at, but a hobby that pays for itself. I had a customer who was nice enough to set up one of those "free" web sites. People I meet at shows can use it to contact me for future projects. For a living you'll have to talk to the ABS guys.

I sell at local fairs and festivals. Most do not like you to sell knives and swords unless it has a theme that they would fit into such as a medieval festival. Check with the coordinators and their rules first. You may ask them if you could have some to display and make the transactions outside of the venue.

ok thanks I was, hoping to eventually start off small such as at a flea market or such then work up towards possibly a website or even a store.

Fleamarkets are usually *NOT* good venues for hand forged items as it's full or folks trying to get stuff as cheaply as possible, (like me!)

You need to find a venue where there is an expectation for spending money for handmade goods.

If I was going that route I would talk with our local western wear store and see if I could get a small display case in it. People willing to shell out a couple of bills for a top of the line hat or pair of boots might be willing to buy a quality blade as well.

Good point, might consider that when the time comes

There sure are a lot of knife and /or gun shows around. Plus their rates are better than the craft fairs. They run from $50 to $200 for a 6 - 8 foot table. So no booth to set up and it gets to the people you're looking for.

Maybe an etsy store would work?

I sell on ebay and craigs list.

I have free website built myself, along with paying to be a vendor/dealer on a few knife and gun websites. Flea markets are not good venues for custom goods as mentioned. And taking custom orders will make you about 2-3 times more on a project than building stock and selling it. I stress unique custom orders. Also I do sell a few stock knives at a local sharpening place. A lot of people there already have an interests in knives and are willing to pay for quality customs.

Yeah I have thought about a website down the road my buddy is a graphic designer/computer programer and he builds sits all the time..But to start off I think I might try ren fairs or gun and knfe shows

I sell Etsy. Art and Craft shows and a local Farmers market in a good area. plus a few galleries. Once off the back of the truck after they flagged me over. I,ll at time s make knives or letter openers but price the mod. to high. If you are going to sale knives check the rules and do not sale cheap ones.
Marc

I started selling my stuff at local farmers markets. Which got me connections to diffrent shows and trade fairs. They are cheap or free and there is little commitment but always make sure you have pics of all your work and cards for people to take.

I forgot to mention, In spokane there are areas in the city that have huge yard sale weekends and i have set up and solt stuff out of my friends driveway that live in those parts of town I sometimes even set up my forge and anvil and pound on metal. It really draws attention to all the people driving around and alot of them stop to check it out.

hildenmw,

 

You say that you sell stuff on Etsy... Is it worth your time spent? Do you sell much on Etsy? I have seen the website and thought about selling on it, was just wondering if it would be worth the time.

 

Thanks

 

Lord Calidan

Ben Catterton

Imho, Etsy is a crap fest. I don't know what they have for categories now but my short stint there (circa 2008) was over run with poorly made metal objects. I tried to get a new category made for blacksmithing or forged work ,to step away from welded and cold worked items, but you get lumped in with everyone providing whatever your selling as long as its metal. I received zero traction on a new category so I took my hammer and left. 

 

I think it was a good thought, I still think it could be something special for the hand crafted community. But at the moment it's more crap oriented and

I'm not so sure that a good part of it isn't STRAIGHT from China. 

I don't sell knives but I've recently opened an Etsy shop (ArtisanIronwork), had two sales in the first few weeks, and a special order for a fire set, which is in progress. That was way better than I'd hoped. I wouldn't use it as my sole outlet, I have numerous places that sell my work but I thought I'd try it out as an online platform.

 

I do see a lot of work on there that leaves much to be desired, and there is a heck of lot of beautifully made work on there as well. There are hundreds of thousands of items listed though that it is very easy to get completely lost in it. They suggest having minimum 100 listings to be "seen" there. Also you need to do a lot of self promotion to make it work for you, it's just a platform for sales really. It can work, but you have to work at it!

 

 And there is a huge amount of stuff that is clearly not handmade but passed off to be, I think the site is just getting too big to keep track and I imagine the etsy shops that are selling the low cost high volume items probably pay a lot of fees so I wonder if that's why they just ignore them. 

 

Good luck whatever you do!