columbus georgia "Knife and Gun Show"

[scott.livesey]

was home in columbus for high school reunion(yes the old sailor did gradgee8 the 12th grade). saw ad for Knife and gun show. i went looking for knives and to talk with local knife makers. of the 3 dozen vendors, only a few sold knives, most of them were in the box buck or boker or spyder or super el cheapo 12" bowie with stag handle for $15. one man had very nice knives, handmade from spikes, files, and his damascus. i talked with him and he had not made a sale, this was just before closing on the first day. one other booth had a couple of nice knives, but they were consignment knives and the vendor knew nothing about them.
Is this typical of Knife and Gun show?
i would imagine it would cost several hundred dollars once you factored in food, lodging, show fees, and transportation.
would a Craft show be a better deal?
scott

 

[Les George]

Gun shows are a different crowd. I bet that if I set up at a local gun show I would sell nothing!

 

[Bgbdwolf]

I hate k & g shows, no matter the quality of handmade knives in the room.The crowd is there for guns and ammo.

 

[Les George]

I didn't see the last question the first time around, sorry.

would craft shows be better?

it all depends, there are guys out there that do well at gun show and some that I am sure do well at craft shows. We are in the business of selling things that no one really needs. You need car insurance, but you don't NEED a custom knife.

So you have to educate a customer base, show them that you are not outta your mind to try to sell them a knife for a couple hundred bucks when they can get a perfectly serviceable knife for much less. A $5 yard sale "old hickory" knife will give anyone a life time of service.

the beauty of a knife show is the people that walk in the door are usually pre educated and have a pretty good idea of what's going on. Not all of them, but most.

so to jump blue water into a place where the customers walking past the table are not aware of what we do or why things are the way they are, you are gonna have a hard row to hoe. It's gonna take many shows of not selling anything and doing lots of talking to educate people and show that you're there for the long haul.

if you're really willing to put in the time and work you can sell just about anything anywhere!