Poll, gauging satisfaction on pre-orders

Are you satisfied with our pre-orders? 1= no not at all, 5= yes very much

  • 5

    Votes: 86 66.7%
  • 4

    Votes: 16 12.4%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I have never done a pre-order with you but I want to

    Votes: 26 20.2%
  • I have never done a pre-order with you and I don't want to

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Total voters
    129

Nathan the Machinist

KnifeMaker / Machinist / Evil Genius
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
15,579
I'm trying to decide if we should open a pre-order for the DEK1. There has been a fair amount of interest in it and we're running low on stock. I could simply order more materials and start another run but this approach requires I pursue conservative standard offerings and quantities. Or I could also add on a pre-order to the next run which gives me some wiggle room to safely build some customizations into the production process and also better tune the size of the run.

We've been doing these pre-orders in the past in order to address frustrated buyers and having pretty good luck with the process. I didn't particularly want to do pre-orders because I wasn't having a problem simply building and selling our regular offerings without them and a pre-order does add some additional complexity to the process for Jo to keep up with. But, in retrospect, it not only allows folks who don't enjoy the Friday sales format to get what they want, it also gives me breathing room in the manufacturing process to build customizations that wouldn't be practical to incorporate blindly into a regular generic run.

So, with past runs moving smoothly, I've been in a groove where we have one pre-order ramping up while another winds down. Generally a large knife and a small knife. At the moment we have no open knife pre-orders and a K18 sword pre-order clogging up the works. Looking out a few months I can see the K18 starting to come off the machines in a few weeks on the auto grinder and a few more weeks on the big green Mori and a few more weeks after that on the NV5000 Mori. As we get closer to machines opening up I need to have materials on order and we need to crystallize our upcoming production schedule and this would normally include the next pre-order. <--- normally

But maybe not this time? I'd always said that pre-orders are fundamentally a bad idea for knife makers and knife buyers in general and I'd stop doing them if we were running into hiccups with them and that has finally happened on this K18 project. We're substantially late on it. They will ship, but at least 6 months late. So, with that blemish on our track record now should we continue with pre-orders? If I'm going to, it's time to start one, but I wanted to gauge folks opinion on it with a satisfaction poll.

In general, how satisfied are you with our pre-orders?

Please vote and share your thoughts below.
 
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Have not done one yet, but haven't had luck scoring a DEK1 yet, so would definitely be interested. Didn't get in on the K18, but I think those who did realize it was a challenge, and probably wouldn't consider it a blemish. With the DEK anyway, you've already been making them, so that would help avoid any issues, right?

ETA: Had to change my vote to 5...forgot I got my Behemother via pre-order.
 
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I have to say if not for your pre-orders I may have given up and missed out on your knives after several failed attempts to get in on Friday sales due to slow internet living in the country.

I think you have shown that buyers can get in on your pre-orders and have faith they will receive what they pay for. I have been completely satisfied with your pre-orders.

I did not get in on the K18 orders, but I understand your frustration with the K18 causing delays, and it's IMHO you have kept everyone updated throughout the process which in my book matters greatly.

So I would be happy to see pre-orders offered if it doesn't put too much on you, Jo, and the crew.

I think it gives many new customers a better chance to get their first taste of CPK too.
 
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Honesty compels me not to vote in this, as the only preorder I've done with CPK is the K18, and while I'm not dissatisfied with it despite the delay, since it's not complete I can't really say how satisfied I am with that process. (... though if it tells you anything, I've bought six CPKs since then despite not having my K18!)

I am pretty darn fast and can score most every time I try, so mostly I'd be interested in preorders for nonstandard handle or blade configurations, which I know you've done in the past. I would also be supportive of it in general for the people who aren't fast, as there seems to be a lot of pent-up demand for DEK1s in particular.
 
I strongly support pre-orders. I've done several in the past and it was a smooth process.
It's difficult to win the Friday sales "battle", even more so when you're on the other side of the pond and suffer from additional network delays.
I would be VERY interested by a DEK1 pre-order!
 
I just found you guys this past April. In the short time that I have been here I've developed an immense appreciation for what you guys do and have 100% faith that I will get what I payed for.

Having not been in on a pre-order yet and although I missed out on the K18 I cant imagine that I would be super upset about not having it yet. It's not like I would need it for work or anything, at least until the robots take over:p

I would certainly be in for at least 1 pre-order DEK, which I imagine will turn into at least 2 once the options are available
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
I have "won" two out of the three times I've tried on a Friday, but it is a pain in the ass lol. I loved having a pre-order option for my HDFK. I'd rate it a 4 out of 5, for the simple fact that I'm not the biggest fan of paying up front, but I am willing to do it for you because
a) I trust you and your team
2) I think you put out a superior product
III) who can say no to that pretty face?
 
I won on my first Friday sale for a UF as the demand was dwindling last year, but these DEK sales have been very very frustrating. I was very happy with my FK2 #badidea preorder and would be happy to buy the majority of my CPKs through preorders. I’d sign on to a DEK preorder day one and be happy to wait as long as it took, especially if it meant I could get one in D3V and one in AEBL with swedges on both.
 
Edited: You and NinJo and the entire CPK team have NEVER Disappointed me on a Pre-order:thumbsup:Just keep doing what you are doing. If people do not want to pay upfront for a knife, (that's their decision)

Enough already with these Polls Edited

pvX_od.gif
 
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Nate, I haven't been shy to share my opinion about preorders. In general, I think they're too risky

that bein said, you don't lack scruples, (some would go so far as to say you're scrupulous) and you sincerely care about your customers and your reputation

while I won't say 'go for it', I will say that if anyone can be trusted to engage in a preorder model, it's you
 
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