Great Eastern Cutlery has exploded in popularity in the last few years, and in turn the demand for their knives has skyrocketed. This growth in demand has made it difficult for some to purchase the knives they’d like to when they’re released. In this article, as a companion to the video below, I’ll give you some tips on how to successfully purchase GEC knives in 2021 and beyond.
First off, I understand the frustration that comes with buying GEC knives. If you don’t reserve them as soon as they’re announced then you have to go the route of a “drop”. A drop is when the knives are released for sale on a dealer’s site either randomly or at a previously announced date and time. Either way, the knives often sell out within minutes of being available. Then, if you can’t get the knives on the primary market, they’re invariably significantly more expensive on the secondary market. This past year I have missed out on some of the knives I’ve wanted, which hasn’t happened much until recently. So I really understand how unpleasant it can be to feel like you don’t have access to the knives you want.
That said I don’t think GEC or the people who run it, in particular Bill Howard, are intentionally restricting supply to increase demand as some have suggested. Great Eastern Cutlery is a small company that works on a modified lean manufacturing style. That means they produce small batches of high quality products in a wide variation, with little inventory and only the raw materials necessary for upcoming batches.
Why do they do it this way instead of making huge drawn out batches of the most popular patterns? Well, I can’t speak for GEC’s management, but I can give you some of my guesses. I think that these small batches allow for higher attention to detail on each pattern. I also think smaller batches allow GEC to offer a much wider variety of pattern types. Even if they did focus on large batches, I’m not sure they’d be able to fill demand for the hottest patterns.
So, if they’re not likely to make enough knives in the sought after patterns to fill demand, whats the best way to ensure you get the knives you want?
First, you need to know what knives are coming out well ahead of time. If you don’t know about a knife until it’s for sale at dealers, it’s not very likely you’ll be able to get one. GEC puts out a production schedule on their website at this link. However, news of upcoming knives often comes out elsewhere before it is officially announced by Great Eastern Cutlery. For a long time the best place to hear about upcoming knives first was on BladeForums in the Traditional Knife Subforum, and specifically in the Let’s Talk GEC thread. Recently, news of upcoming releases has come out just as quickly on traditional knife Facebook groups. In particular, I help administrate the Great Eastern Cutlery Club group and I think it’s one of the best places to discuss GEC in general. News of upcoming patterns is usually the hot talk, so just follow along with one or both of these channels and you’ll be ahead of the curve.
Once you know of an upcoming knife you’re interested in, the best way to ensure you’ll get it is to reserve one with a dealer. I have been reserving knives by email for years through various dealers, and it usually is a relatively easy process. I’ve had positive experiences with many of GEC’s dealers but I most often reserve from Blue Creek Cutlery or CollectorKnives. Blue Creek Cutlery, like several GEC dealers (a list of which you can find at this link), does reserves by email. CollectorKnives has their own system that uses an app called Telegram to notify followers when a new knife is up for reserve. While those are the dealers I most often reserve knives through, I suggest contacting any you’ve purchased from in the past. If you haven’t purchased from any yet, just reach out to several dealers and start a correspondence with those who seem to fit your style.
If you’re not able to reserve a knife, the next best option is to try to snag one on a “drop”. As mentioned previously, these drops tend to sell out quite quickly. There are a relatively large number of dealers, so each only gets a small number of each knife. The exact number depends on the overall run, but recently it’s been between 5 and 25 (if what I hear is accurate). So you won’t be able to randomly stumble upon the knife on a dealer’s site; you’ll have to have the purchase planned. That said, there’s an argument to be made that drops are more fair than reservations because it does away with the possibility of long term or high spending customers receiving preferential treatment. If I have to go the route of a drop, I most often buy from KnivesShipFree or Tradtional Pocket Knives / C. Risner Cutlery. I am most familiar with them and have always gotten great service, but there are a lot of good dealers who use the drop system. Whichever dealer(s) you decide to give it a shot at, I highly suggest you know when the knives will drop ahead of time by subscribing to their email lists and following them on social media. Even if you know when a knife will drop and get there just when they do, the dealer sites sometimes get bogged down in the massive traffic and it can become impossible to get through the checkout process. That said, it’s better to get a knife in a drop than to have to go the secondary market route.
If you miss out on reserves and drops, the last option is to buy from an individual rather than from a dealer. No matter how you go about this, you should be prepared in most cases to pay more than the price that dealers charged. Many GEC enthusiasts have decried the secondary market and so called “flippers”, or people who purchase knives with the sole intent to resell them for profit. Certainly there are people out there who purchase knives without much interest in the knife itself and with profit as the goal. Still, I think there are more people who purchase a knife because they think they’ll like it, then for whatever reason decide to sell it and follow the market price. That said, lots of fair deals can still be found. For a long time the BladeForums Exchange was the place to find those deals, but that has changed somewhat in recent years. Now I think the best place to find reasonably priced knives on the secondary market is in Facebook groups, like the previously mentioned Great Eastern Cutlery Club or others like it. Aside from keeping an eye on the groups and BladeForums, every now and then a knife can be found on eBay or Instagram but much less frequently. The best things to increase your chances of finding a good deal on a secondary market knife are vigilance and patience.
I understand the frustration many feel when attempting to buy GEC knives, and I hope this article is helpful. In the last few years I have seen the massive growth in interest and demand for Great Eastern Cutlery made knives, and I have felt how it can sometimes dampen the enjoyment in trying to get those incredible knives. I want to help make it easier for people to get the knives they want, and to lower the learning curve for buying these sought after knives. Here’s hoping you get all the GEC’s you want in 2021 and beyond!
