First, I have to admit that I have not read the entire discussion. Please forgive this, my days during softball season are structured by the minute. And, as an aside, I've always been this way about the phone, so please pardon this as well. I have a few things to say about the Fiddleback Fridays, and have copied a few posts from the beginning area there that I think highlight the problem well. First, I'd like you all to know that I can feel the folks that have been around a while getting the squeeze. I'm very uneasy about it. This is the folks that supported me and helped me build this company.
When I hired Ken I was worried on two fronts. First, can I/we make the knives? We needed to go from 18 to 30 a week and it is no small feat. There is a pace, like someone jogging while having a sandwich around here. This first stress for the most part falls on Ken. He keeps the company up with me, again, no small feat, and the reason I thought I could justify a Ken. Ken is a special craftsman and his levelheadedness offsets my volcanic personality. Second, can I sell the knives? I prayed a lot about this, and still do, thanking God for the pace.
But the pace is the problem too. I think regulating it is firstly, not going to work, and secondly, going to drive away more customers than it saves. The FF posting is an absolute nightmare to manage and sort out. Folks get angry if I get it wrong too. The thing is that I have had no luck at all implementing any of the ideas you've had below. For weeks now there has been a line in the FF posting about copying the whole description. Ken and I are still having to scroll up to find the # for the red bushfinger. So I am torn on it. The only way to make it 'fair' would be to cancel the Friday Fracas, and just put them for sale on the net, or through the dealers exclusively. I still enjoy the FF's and I think it draws customers just to play in the surf.
The other option is to get out our economy slider and adjust the price until the demand is tamer. The 10% adjustment last week was a cost based adjustment after three years of price stability. It had nothing to do with demand. This option absolutely terrifies me. I think it would be super touchy, would drive me out of the user market, and would still squeeze out a lot of the old familiar faces. This option is not on the table. I make user knives.
Andy I have a suggestion, I think that in fairness to everyone it would be best if people would copy and paste the entire description of what they want.
(2014 0314 002 Wasp, Model Standard Knife, Maroon Linen on natural canvas with a white g10 pinstripe, Tapered Tang, Convex on 1/8 thick 3D Spalted 01 steel - $295)
It's very difficult to know who has what if someone posts I want the Bushfinger and there are three Bushfingers that week.
Also I am not a fan of the dragnet fishing, " I want the Duke, if not then the Hunter if not then the Wasp and so on". That makes it extremely difficult for those after that post to figure out what has or has not been taken.
I like both of these suggestions just to make it easier to manage. BUT then, what is the 'penalty' and who enforces it? I have to do this.
"Nope, Pal W D$, you don't get shit cuz you didn't follow the rules. Piss off with your hard earned $."
Now, everyone knows I would never say it that way, but its how it comes back at a guy either way. Take your $ and go. Yikes! Thats a bad option. I already have trouble enforcing rules like the no editing rule, and have lost a customer almost every time. It hurts to loose a customer and I don't feel happy when it happens. As a business owner, you can feel it happen. You know that person has decided to move on.
I think the dragnet thing should stop only because of where it seems to be going. It's quickly going to be impossible for Andy and crew to figure out who won what:
I'll take the camp knife but if that's not available I want the Asp AND the hiking buddy. If the hiking buddy is gone I don't want the asp but if the asp is gone I'll take the hiking buddy but can you confirm it's SFT because it looks tapered in the picture. I also want the Green and white KE bushie if the white and green KE bushie is gone.
This is where we are going...
Those posts are incredibly hard to decipher. I would like for that to cease as well but again, how am I to accomplish this. Please understand guys that a lot of the new customers are not 'forum' savvy. They don't know your etiquette rules. Quite a few of them are from overseas and are translating as they go. They aren't reading the original post. Some of the new folks are not very good with computers and have no idea how to copy and paste. My dad is one of these. He can't figure out how to sign in so he can see the pictures. I cannot turn away folks because of these kind of handicaps.
I think copying the entire description is helpful, but if there is only one Wasp and someone says "I'll take the Wasp," I think it's pretty easy to see it's is gone. Or if there are two Wasps, but only one has maroon linen, and someone says "I'll take the maroon Wasp," still pretty easy to see it's gone. What confuses me is when people just put the numbers (e.g., "I'll take 2014 0314 002") because I pay no attention to those.
As for the dragnet fishing, it appears I'm the only one guilty of that today. Did not do me any good because both knives I was interested in were gone before my post. Some may find the strategy inconvenient, but it was the only strategy that made sense to me today based on how quickly the knives have been selling in general and on how hot certain patterns are. These Fridays have become insanely competitive. Half the knives are gone in the first few minutes. I think any strategy that can get you what you want is a good one. Frankly, I don't plan to pay too much attention to what people ahead of may have posted. I'll have interest in certain knives. If someone calls dibs on one of them ahead of me, I'll still call dibs because maybe after all of the carnage that person will have changed or withdrawn their dib (not the best approach) and I will be next in line.
If Andy or the community thinks the dragnet fishing is not appropriate, then let there be a rule and I certainly won't do it.
Kirkwood has been around a while guys, before the boom. Thank you for your purchase K, it was good sharking IMO. Please don't copy the pics into the post though. That threw me off real bad.
I'm very happy for Andy's success and I have all my Grails (something might get me tempted though
) so Fridays are calm for me. I can understand how it might be frustrating or intimidating for newcomers. Shopping from dealers or on the flea market is calmer and easier so is probably less frustrating.
IMHO it is up to Andy to set the rules for Fridays since anything that might curb his sales would be a bad thing. Guidelines might be good to avoid confusion though
My strategies to help with the pace of the sharking are the dealers and the secondary market and Ken the Kindhearted. We made 42 knives last week which was a Fiddleback Forge record. I put 20 on the FF posting, kept 6 back for Blade Show, sold 10 to a dealer, and Ken the Kindhearted quietly moved the remaining knives back of house style. We have absolutely been selling out, and I am so proud of this team, and you, our customers. Thank You all. Then there is the secondary market. Which, I am told has been moving briskly. I've not been checking in on it, but I've noticed folks in the after discussion talking about selling knives to make room for new knives. I hope this is helping y'all get pieces you have wanted as well.
Again, I don't think it is possible to 'regulate' Fiddleback Fridays into anything it is not. I remember Yangdu having similar issues. I think there is a lot of knives being created this week, and I promise to work out how to increase and improve, as always. I would love it if folks would copy the description and item # of the knife into their post with the phrase, I'll take it. If buying multiples gets out of control, like one guy buying up a batch I will look at some kind of limit. So far the most anyone has bought at once has been 3. I think 3 is acceptable. This enthusiasm feeds 5 families! Its a touchy thing to regulate and I am not quick to tamper with the formula.
Thank you all for your support. It means the world to us. I promise to continue to make knives until my arms fall off. I promise we will continue to improve the product, and back the warranty, and improve efficiency each week.