Custom Knife Deposits Part 3
Deposits for Custom Knives: Yes, No, Maybe?
I have witnessed a change over the last 30 years with makers attitude towards deposits. This change seemed to coincide with the advent of the Internet. Prior to that long distance phone calls were expensive and generally not made to check up on makers. Today, those makers who take deposits have given (whether they realize it or not) permission to their client to check with them on the progress of their knife. Sometimes this comes in the form of daily emails. Often starting within a week of the order, even though the knife will not be ready for 6 months. Unfortunately, many collectors become a nuisance wanting to know about every step of their knife build along the way. Collectors, remember the more time the maker takes to answer phone calls and emails, the less time they are in the shop working on your knife.
Dude, where is my knife?
I just want to touch briefly on the shipping and paying for your knife. You should ALWAYS pay for insurance. The only thing worse than your shipping service of choice losing your knife, is losing the knife and not getting reimbursed for it. Check with those who have been collecting for a while, no matter the service people have horror stories. When paying for your knife, especially with a money order send the envelope signature required. Should payment go “missing” you will have a date and name to start the investigation with. Should you pay with a credit card you can file a charge back with merchant bank. Time frames will differ with the bank the merchant uses.
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Robertson’s Custom Cutlery is your source for custom knives from today’s leading custom knife makers. We only feature the highest quality knives at value prices. Our custom fixed and folding knife selection includes tactical fixed and folding knives, presentation fixed and folding knives, bowies, hunters and skinners, and a large selection of forged blades. Les Robertson, author and owner of Robertson’s Custom Cutlery, is also a Field Editor for Blade Magazine and an instructor at Blade University. If you have questions about the content in this article or about any knife or maker on our website, you can contact Les directly at customknives@comcast.net or (706) 650-0252.