[Marco Danelli]

Hello there people, I'd like your opinion.
I've made this one last month, it is meant for historical fencing so the blade in this case is blunt, though soon there'll be sharp blades for all the models.
The specs are:
Weight: 1390 grams
Lenght: 109 cm - 43"
Blade lenght: 91cm - 36"
Blade width: 4cm - 1"3\4
PoB from quillons: 11 cm - 4"

So here's the question, what for you should be the price of something like this? Because I started to feel that in proportion to other models I have a weird high number of requests on schiavone.

[Jeffrey Faulk]

Marco,

I think you get a lot of requests for schiavone because people know you're very good at that kind of sword!

From checking your website I see your basic price for a side sword or rapier starts at 300 euro, I imagine schiavone naturally cost more because there is much more work in the hilt so perhaps 400 or 450 might be a reasonable starting point. You know more about the trade than I, of course, so if that is too low then by all means feel free to point that out!

[Roger Hooper]

There are some productions schiavone around, more than one might think. You can find many at Kult of Athena, where they try to put as much of a discount on them as the maker will allow.

Del Tin - DT5173 - $693.00 at Kult of Athena. I have this sword its quality is OK, but not great - overbuilt.

Darkwood Armory - $675.00 - this is a version made for reenactment. I think the models from Darkwood are the ones most comparable to yours, though there doesn't seem to be a thumbring on theirs.

Fabri Armorum - $410.00 at KOA. - a munitions versions for reenactment by a Czech company

Armour Class - $531.00 - a stripped down version with no thumb ring.

Armory Marek - another Czech maker, don't know the price.

Vladimir Cervenka makes a schiavona. I don't know what he's charging these days, but one of these models was sold in the myArmoury classifieds for $800.00 in 2005. This sword is somewhere on the border between production and custom.

There may be others.

Judging from the above prices, I think a price of at least $800.00 is justified. I believe that right now you are charging around 750 euros.

[Marco Danelli]

Thanks guys, it really helped getting an idea of quality and prices on the market. I think it shows how little I know about the other colleagues.
Roger yes at the moment is 750€ for a type2, probably will push a bit more for a type2b, I don't know about all the others, some look being laser cut, but shaping every single piece by hand takes me a lot of time and even at those prices it's not really economically worth it but I didn't chose this job to be rich but for the passion

[Christian P.]

Hello Marco!

Maybe you receive a lot of order because your Schiavones look very good and they seem right. I have been looking at this type of sword for a wile. Yours are more expensive than Darkwood but they have a better finish and also have a thumb ring. I almost purchased a Darkwood before seeing yours here on this forum. Very happy to learn that you will be offering live blades. I am on the waiting list for march and the price you quoted me was very reasonable even with the exchange rate for Euro to Canadian dollar.

I am always willing to pay for good work. Artisans need to have a correct living, no just survive from their work. The problem is that your field of business is relatively small and in the luxury market. There is also competition from cheap country. A sword is not a first priority purchase these days Maybe the best way is to offer a basic price a little higher to cover your time correctly and charge more, profit wise, for options. A little like you did with me. That way, your business stays afloat and everybody is happy. I hate it when a maker shut down because he doesn't have correct wage.

[Jeffrey Faulk]

Well looks like my original estimate of 400 euro was a little too low! If 750 is your average then by all means stick with it, if people are paying then it works

A thought if you want to reduce costs. Do you fabricate both the blade and the hilt? You could save some money for the customer by offering to fit the hilt to their blade, or to a common bare blade such as a Darkwood or a Hanwei Tinker. For example, the Hanwei Tinker Early Medieval single-hand blade could work fairly well although it's not quite the right type.

Of course if you already do this then don't mind me