Buying direct from the maker or not?

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That's one aspect (feeding more people) of looking at things Nikos.

I have a different perspective backed by my experience, a few times rather. Ime, artisans are more flexible in accommodating customers requests or complaints for their customer base is lesser and more valuable to them. Unless I am looking at an assorted shipment, I prefer to buy from artisan directly.


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I prefer to buy directly. If any issues arise, you don't have to deal with a 3rd party. When I think about how difficult it must be to design a razor and go through all the trouble of manufacturing, I feel like the artisan should get 100% of the profits. Plus the artisan also takes all the risk. Look at what happened with Stirling's initial run of razors.
For simpler things like soaps, I don't have much of a preference as dealing with shipping/customer service can be a lot of work so makes sense to go through a reseller.

As a maker, we would prefer selling you direct. We can stick extra goodies in the box and get to know you better that way and of course, do better financially.
But bottom line is a reseller like Amazon puts our products in front of a lot of people that would never see us otherwise.
We appreciate both.


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As a maker, we would prefer selling you direct. We can stick extra goodies in the box and get to know you better that way and of course, do better financially.
But bottom line is a reseller like Amazon puts our products in front of a lot of people that would never see us otherwise.
We appreciate both.


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Agreed. I for sure won't expect an artisan to compete with something like an Amazon, but in my opinion, a little bit of marketing cost can surely help you guys scale your business reach. It's about expanding your new customer acquisition since the older ones are more than likely to buy from you again.


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As a maker, we would prefer selling you direct. We can stick extra goodies in the box and get to know you better that way and of course, do better financially.
But bottom line is a reseller like Amazon puts our products in front of a lot of people that would never see us otherwise.
We appreciate both.


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It's about expanding your new customer acquisition since the older ones are more than likely to buy from you again.

It's true that marketing is not the strongest asset of most artisans, but it costs 5 times more to attract new customers than to retain your already existing customer base. This is the reason why artisans must take care of them with discount codes, samples, small freebies and others. Forums have given them access to a very large base of customers. I don't believe it's feasible to do more than that. I'm talking especially about the small scale artisans, not those few that sell hundreds of products at every release and have the budget for a costly marketing campaign with adverts on magazines etc.

'Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door,' So said Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century philosopher. 

I've bought directly from a couple of straight razor artisans, Robert Williams, and Bruno of Snail Forge Razors. In both cases I did develop a relationship which was a benefit in both better prices, and in having specific one off designs not ordinarily offered.

OTOH, I've usually gone through the vendor middle man. I'd say it depends on the situation and the item.

In the years I've purchased in every way humans know.
Now, most of the times I prefer to go direct.
Better with a group buy project.
Mine or not, I don't care.

I don't care either way. We wouldn't have retail partnerships if we didn't want you to buy from them.

Something that buyers should note is that purchasing from a retailer means that your order is subject to their return policy and not the maker's. So keep that in mind.

I buy from whoever gives me the best deal, assuming I never had a negative experience with said seller/company before.