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Howard Waddell
Industry Professional
Location: Wisconsin, USA Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Posts: 717
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 Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 8:13 am Post subject: Swords as gifts |
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Since it is that time of year, it reminded me to ask for your opnions on this.
We sell a lot of swords, but rarely are they purchased as gifts (at least not for someone else.)
Why, do you think? Is it the pricetag? Or is a sword too "personal" of a purchase? Are sword websites too daunting for someone who is not into this kind of thing to negotiate? Is there something obvious that I am missing? Would "gift registration" be a good idea?
It is puzzling, so any thoughts you have would be appreciated.
Best,
Howy
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Kenneth Enroth
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 8:54 am Post subject: |
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I think there are issues with how a sword will be recieved. Many people would see it simply as an instrument of death and destruction and would not understand why you give it to them. A quality sword is also quite expensive.
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Ciaran Flanagan
Location: Dublin, Ireland Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 9:03 am Post subject: |
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My take:
People giving others presents. Major areas:
Boyfriend to girlfriend: Girls for the most part have no interests in swords. Gay lovers tend not to have much interest either.
Girlfriend to boyfriend: Guys buy expensive presents like jewlery etc for their girlfriends. This does not work the other way around. A girl can Justify a gold necklace for $500 but cannot Justify a sword of teh same price for her man.
Birthday/christmas presents from mates: To expensive
Parents to children: Small possible market but more likly lower end stuff unless the parent knows their stuff.
Children to parents: again very expensive item
Wedding presents: Good gift if they are into that sort of thing but again, an expensive gift that is also a statement.
So I suppose that its a small niche market where you know you want it badly but its hard to find others who will appriciate it, and $500 or so for something you will fully appriciate but person your giving it to probably will not is two much to spend.
I bought my sister an A&AM gothic battle axe but I still have it.......LOL
C
(gross generalisations are made)
Ciaran
A wise man is someone who has travelled to heaven and hell and knows the difference.
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Dave Hahn
Location: Toronto, Canada Joined: 23 Aug 2003
Posts: 80
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 9:04 am Post subject: |
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| Kenneth Enroth wrote: | | I think there are issues with how a sword will be recieved. Many people would see it simply as an instrument of death and destruction and would not understand why you give it to them. A quality sword is also quite expensive. |
my fiancee is utterly paralyzed in fear that the sword she buys for me, would eventually hurt me.
but hey Howard, if you want her email address, maybe you could write her a nice letter on the joys of gift certificates.
Try not to take yourself too seriously.
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Chuck Perino
Location: Roseburg, Oregon Joined: 22 Aug 2003
Posts: 107
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 9:07 am Post subject: |
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I'll second what Dave said! My wife wouldn't buy me one either 
I'm working her on a gift donation to Chuck's new sword fund though!
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Howard Waddell
Industry Professional
Location: Wisconsin, USA Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Posts: 717
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 9:44 am Post subject: |
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| Dave Hahn wrote: | | Kenneth Enroth wrote: | | I think there are issues with how a sword will be recieved. Many people would see it simply as an instrument of death and destruction and would not understand why you give it to them. A quality sword is also quite expensive. |
my fiancee is utterly paralyzed in fear that the sword she buys for me, would eventually hurt me.
but hey Howard, if you want her email address, maybe you could write her a nice letter on the joys of gift certificates. |
Dave -- I am sure that Mike would be happy to drop her a line (you know Mike) -- but I am really just curious, not trying to drum up business.
We do more business after the holidays than we do leading up to them -- we guess that either people get money as gifts or they can finally relax and buy something for themselves after all of their gift-giving is done. We do some business in gift certificates before the holidays, but not much (though we don't really push them either)...
I know that before we started the company, Amy became too paranoid to buy me a sword as a present because I was so damn picky (even though she has great taste and a great eye for quality)...
I guess it could be like anything else you express an interest in -- people who know you will tend to buy you things (Amy has this problem with cat knick-knacks) that are "on that theme" but not the kind of things you might choose...
Still puzzled,
Howy
Albion Swords Ltd
http://albion-swords.com
http://filmswords.com
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Robert Zamoida
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 9:48 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Why, do you think? Is it the pricetag? Or is a sword too "personal" of a purchase? Are sword websites too daunting for someone who is not into this kind of thing to negotiate? Is there something obvious that I am missing? Would "gift registration" be a good idea? |
Actually Howy I think you covered everything; price is definitely an issue, especially when the person may not be sure that the receipient may not like it, and it would be difficult to return. Plus some people have really narrow interests when it comes to swords, and though, say, someone likes Medieval swords but they only like Types X-XII but the person giving the sword doesn't know a Type X from Type AB+ and they get for them a Type XVI, for example. I think your best bet is gift registration, perhaps combined with some type of payment plan and maybe links to pages that present information on swords at a really basic level; or combine all these into a page off the main website made just for the "layman". Hope this helps. 
Rob Zamoida
"When your life is on the line, you want to make use of all your tools. No warrior should be willing to die with his swords at his sides, without having made use of his tools."
-Miyamoto Mushashi, Gorin no Sho
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Allan Senefelder
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 9:49 am Post subject: |
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Hey Howard,
I don't know how you would work this out marketing ploywise but before getting together with you guys
we had this happen a couple of times around this time of year . A customer would round up the family and say
this is what I want ( talking about armour here ) and i'd like you guys to pool for this as my present .
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Harlan Hastings
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 10:19 am Post subject: |
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Hi Howy,
I think the reticence to give swords as gifts as a combination of a couple of factors. First, a good sword is not cheap (although it's probably an excellent value) and second, you may not be sure they will like/appreciate it. I have, in fact, given several swords as gifts and fortunately they have all been pleased (but then I do have excellent taste in swords!!  )
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 10:38 am Post subject: |
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There can be a problem in selecting an expensive sword for someone and picking a particular model that they don't care for. Gift certificates will be safer, though that can't beat being presented right then wih the sword you want.
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Gary Venable
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 10:53 am Post subject: |
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I would agree with the above statements. At the price point I am collecting my wife, (the only person who would spend that kind of money on me) is to intimidated and fears "getting the wrong one", and it's not just swords. She won't get me tools or computer stuff either and they fall in the same category: things I am picky about that are expensive. Getting money to spend on myself is as close as I can see me getting.
Gary
Gary
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Keith Kipferl
Location: Elmira, NY Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Posts: 41
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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I bought my fiance a sword and I can tell you one thing: she was very, very particular about which sword I bought. Maybe a gift register is a good idea, I don't know.
Good swords are as (or more) expensive as good jewelry. The jewelry, however, can be worn in public at any time without creating a disturbance. That may be one impediment to swords as gifts. They're not the usual Christmas/Valentine's gift. I think they fit better in the birthday category.
Excuse me if this is a little terse. I just sifted through 189 pages of very dry information and my brain has a cramp.
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Björn Hellqvist
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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Over the years, I've seen posts from guys who got a sword as a present, usually from a girlfriend/fiancée/wife. Their major problem has been that the sword was a wallhanger, and not what they would've picked for themselves. A gift registration thingie sounds like a good idea.
My sword site
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Steve Maly
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Along these same lines....
I remember reading something (somewhere, SFI?) about a superstition that swords (or knives for that matter) should not be given as gifts lest they sever the relationship. The sword must be paid for (even just a penny or barter) to avoid the bad juju. Has anyone else heard this or am I just hallucinating again? Maybe it applies if one gives a really crappy sword!
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." ~A. Maslow
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Gordon Clark
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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My wife bought me a A&A Henry V last year for Christmas and an A&A English Longsword for my 40th birthday.
The guys at A&A were just so nice to her - it really encouraged her return business. Fo my birthday, she decided late to order the sword and Craig and the guys got it out the door in less than a week.
I think you guys have a similar formula - Mike is great and would be good with wives/girlfriends.
A gift registry is a good idea though.
Gordon
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Taylor Ellis
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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I bought my brother a Manning Imperial type XII for his 21st. Its a copy of XII.1 from Records, with the addition of the Ellis crest in the pommel. He seemed pretty happy with it.
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Taylor, just out of curiousity what does the Ellis crest that you have look like? What sort of research did you do to determine that it was your family crest?
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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Patrick Fitzmartin
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Steve Maly wrote: | Along these same lines....
I remember reading something (somewhere, SFI?) about a superstition that swords (or knives for that matter) should not be given as gifts lest they sever the relationship. The sword must be paid for (even just a penny or barter) to avoid the bad juju. Has anyone else heard this or am I just hallucinating again? Maybe it applies if one gives a really crappy sword! |
Greetings Steve Maly, Funny you should metion this. I have a passed ex-brother in law ( thank the powers that be) that was adamant on this. He gave me some knives but always required the exchange of at least a penny based on this. I never found out where he got it from. His explanation was in the "old days", these articles had a value of their own and it must be somewhat properly compensated for to ensure faithful service. Sort of like " return the blade as you recieved it". Sincerely, Patrick Fitzmartin
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Patrick Fitzmartin
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| Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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Greetings All, I collect swords and smoke a pipe. As hard as this sounds, as my wife and I got together, I firmly informed her of the following. I am picky about my swords and tobacco. Do not buy me anything of that nature unless I am standing there going yes,yes,yes. Harsh yes, but it has avoided wasted money and hurt feelings. Sincerely, Patrick Fitzmartin
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Allan Senefelder
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Fri 05 Dec, 2003 4:54 am Post subject: |
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Hey Gents,
You spoke , Howie listened . Gift certificates availiable in time for the holidays from Albion as of last
night .
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This is a standard topic