25th Anniversary Woodlore Knife
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Mate, if you want to see greedy, how about a company selling something that is not meant to be used, but is just a cynical exercise in making a quick £50,000 quid profit?
I very much doubt woodlore pay more than £100 each for these - complete. That's a cost to them of £25,000 for 250 pieces. They sell em for £300 each, that's £75,000. Subtract the cost from the gross and you have the profit. Not bad for just selling em on eh? They are claimed to be "forged" which is a joke. They are lumps of laser-cut, flat-stock which have been shown the forge and peened on an anvil for a few minutes. Those bevels are not forged in, they are ground in - probably on a jig. Make no mistake - these are cheap knives to make. But good on em I say. The average joe wont know the difference and prolly wont care. You can certainly buy a knife of equal quality for far less money elsewhere, or a far superior knife for the same money. People are not buying these because they are good knives, they are either buying them to speculate, or because it has RM's name on the blade. RM is not selling them to better outfit the bushcrafter, he's selling them to make money - a lot of it. The knife itself is pretty irrelevant to the equation. Can anyone even tell me what steel it's made from? Perhaps folks are so familiar with the work of Julius Pettersson (who?) that they just have to have one of his blades?
But they all sold out in a day - must be because they are all such good knives eh? What a joke. They would of all sold even without a picture of one.
If someone wants to buy all 250 of em and then flog em on ebay for 2x what they paid, good for them. If people are prepared to pay, then people will be prepared to sell. That's a free market economy and there's nowt wrong with that.
But If you want to question the ethics of it from a marxist perspective, you need to start with the retailer. The whole thing is a cynical exercise in profiteering, right from the gate, but the retailer is by far cutting the largest slice of this particular cake. You can be sure this particular gravy train wont be stopping at Julius Pettersson's house.
Mate, if you want to see greedy, how about a company selling something that is not meant to be used, but is just a cynical exercise in making a quick £50,000 quid profit?
I very much doubt woodlore pay more than £100 each for these - complete. That's a cost to them of £25,000 for 250 pieces. They sell em for £300 each, that's £75,000. Subtract the cost from the gross and you have the profit. Not bad for just selling em on eh? They are claimed to be "forged" which is a joke. They are lumps of laser-cut, flat-stock which have been shown the forge and peened on an anvil for a few minutes. Those bevels are not forged in, they are ground in - probably on a jig. Make no mistake - these are cheap knives to make. But good on em I say. The average joe wont know the difference and prolly wont care. You can certainly buy a knife of equal quality for far less money elsewhere, or a far superior knife for the same money. People are not buying these because they are good knives, they are either buying them to speculate, or because it has RM's name on the blade. RM is not selling them to better outfit the bushcrafter, he's selling them to make money - a lot of it. The knife itself is pretty irrelevant to the equation. Can anyone even tell me what steel it's made from? Perhaps folks are so familiar with the work of Julius Pettersson (who?) that they just have to have one of his blades?
But they all sold out in a day - must be because they are all such good knives eh? What a joke. They would of all sold even without a picture of one.
If someone wants to buy all 250 of em and then flog em on ebay for 2x what they paid, good for them. If people are prepared to pay, then people will be prepared to sell. That's a free market economy and there's nowt wrong with that.
But If you want to question the ethics of it from a marxist perspective, you need to start with the retailer. The whole thing is a cynical exercise in profiteering, right from the gate, but the retailer is by far cutting the largest slice of this particular cake. You can be sure this particular gravy train wont be stopping at Julius Pettersson's house.
that is exactly my own view of it all, but didn't want to say it as didn't want to upset the rm fans
also i believe the actual cost each to woodlore would be £50 per knife, as they would be produced the same way as the wrights of sheffield bushcraft knives, witch retail for £100.so an even bigger profit margin
Yeah, possibly. It's difficult to say from the pics. There may be a forged in distal taper on the tang, or some tapering to the point - though it doesnt look like it. I agree though, typically a "forged" Scandinavian blade blank retails for £15 to £25. Then a bit of time putting the handle slabs on. The sheath looks like a good one though and a posh leather box and certificate, so I factored that in, then shipping into the country and possible taxes levvied. I figure a £100 covers it with room to spare.
So, you are buying £50 worth of knife, £50 worth of sheath and box and £200 worth of RM engraving on the side. The knife itself wont be any better or worse than any of the bazillion other clones out there.
Nobody is buying these because they are good value for money, well constructed, fit for purpose from a well known and respected maker. They are buying em either cos they are RM fans and RM is flogging em ...or cos they are speculators.
Or you could buy one use it for six months sell it on for more than you paid and buy a knife from Bernie.......... Slightly more ethical as Bernie needs beer and pie like everyone else.
Or you could buy one use it for six months sell it on for more than you paid and buy a knife from Bernie.......... Slightly more ethical as Bernie needs beer and pie like everyone else.
I'll second that
Good plan - free knife in effect!
No one out of pocket at all if someone is willing to pay the extra for the "collecters piece".....
and at least 2 site members profit one by a knife and Bernie by the work.
Good plan
No one out of pocket at all if someone is willing to pay the extra for the "collecters piece".....
and at least 2 site members profit one by a knife and Bernie by the work.
Good plan
If I remember correctly, the smith that makes them uses a tormek grinder for his bevels.
I'm hoping that none of my mates have bought one to use....
I think it's common and traditional for a lot of the Scandinavians to use some sort of large wheel to grind the bevels. Some may use a flat stone after the wheel, but I think most have a slight hollow to the bevels from the wheel.
I think Julieus Pettersen was the chap who forged a knife for RM on his Bushcraft - Sweden episode. Could be wrong but the name rings a bell.
Yes - woodlore sell blade only knives from the same maker here:
http://www.raymears.com/Shop_Item/427-Hand-Forged-Knife-Blade/
well its going well now and still not hit the reserve
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=120201180800&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=120201180800&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002
I am totally flabbergasted that this knife is now at £800 plusI just don't get it
i'm flabergasted too, but glad i brought one
It's not a sale motivated by greed though! Remember that!
As it STILL has not hit the reserve, I think we are free to drop the reservations we had on greed motivating the sale now
It's not a sale motivated by greed though! Remember that!
Does it matter if it is?
It's a staggering amount of money to pay for a £50 knife, no question, but RM has sold 250 with a £200 profit on each one.
I just wish I'd bought 50 of em meself.
Will they command the same price on future sales though? Woodlore have stated they will be selling more, maybe the few people that want one will buy up the first ones and then the price will drop. Then again, probably not!
Spamel there will only be 250 units, they are making them it would appear in small runs of 20 or 30, until all 250 have been issued. If you sell something as a limited run you can't increase the run at a later date. Obviously you could change some minor detailing and then sell essentially the same item under a different name. As for reserve not met.......well it would seem someone has decided to test the water ie set a stupid reserve and if it sells well they've made a fortune, if not then they've lost nothing. At the end of the day some people have more money than they can spend (not me) so if someone thinks it's worth £50 quid than that's what they'll pay, if they really want it and have the means to pay then the sky's the limit. £850 quid though if it sells I might be tempted to lay off using mine for a while, that would be a new custom knife and a set of new kits worth
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