Questions & answers

Andre Erasmus, a full-time knifemaker in Klerksdorp and a member of the Knifemakers’ Guild of Southern Africa. It is an independent directory: it is not the guild’s own website, and it is not a shop.

You can reach Andre on WhatsApp 084 825 4427 or at andre@andreknives.co.za.

It costs nothing for anyone: listing, your own page, your photos and every update are free. The site sells nothing and takes no commission, because nothing is bought here: every WhatsApp, call and email button goes straight to the maker.

Right now the site carries no adverts and sets no analytics or advertising cookies.

Makers keep their own pages up to date, and each page shows the date its details were last checked. Andre checks every new page before it goes live. If you spot a mistake, tell us and it will be fixed.

No, it is independent. The guild’s public member register is used to start a page for members who haven’t claimed one yet. Those pages show only the member’s name, their guild membership and any links they publish themselves: no phone number or email address until the member claims the page.

Almost certainly because you are on the guild’s public member register (see the previous question). You can claim the page and make it yours, or ask us to remove it: WhatsApp or email Andre and it will be done within 7 days. Our privacy page explains what is published and why.

• Your own page with your story, your town and photos of your work.
• WhatsApp, call and email buttons that go straight to you; you choose which ones show.
• A place in the province and speciality searches that buyers use to find a local maker.
• Prices, if you want them, in any currency, with each piece marked available, sold or a commission example, and a short video of a piece if you like.
• An “On the bench” news line that appears on your page and in “Latest from the workshops” on the home page.
• A page you control yourself, from your phone, with no web designer.

Any maker in South Africa can apply, from full-time professionals to people who have only just started. You do not need to be a guild member. Andre checks every new page before it goes live.

1. Apply online with your email address. We email you a 6-digit code; there is no password to remember.
2. Build your page as a private draft: your details, your story and photos of at least three knives.
3. Send it to Andre. He usually switches it on within a day or two.

The user manual walks through it with screenshots.

Open your page and press Claim this listing. You confirm your email address with a code, tell us how buyers should reach you, and Andre approves it, usually within a day or two. After that the page is yours to keep up to date.

No. Your page here can be your online home. If you do have a website or social pages, link to them and buyers can follow you there too.

Yes, that is how it was designed. You can take or choose photos straight from your phone’s camera; iPhone photos work too, and large photos are shrunk for you.

Up to 60 across all your work, each up to 20 MB. Add several photos to one piece (blade, handle, sheath) and visitors can flick through them. The hidden location data that phones add to photos is removed. A short video counts as 10 of the 60 (see the next question).

Yes: one short video per piece, up to 1 minute and 30 MB, and up to three videos on a page. It plays when a visitor taps the piece, so nobody is forced to download it. A video takes up room, so it counts as 10 of your 60 photos.

A one-minute phone clip is often bigger than 30 MB. Send the video to yourself on WhatsApp first (it shrinks it) and upload that copy, or film at 720p. The site cannot convert videos for you, so the video must be in the common H.264 format; the manual shows how on an iPhone. Location details are removed from videos, just as they are from photos.

Prices are optional and can be in any currency. Buyers do not pay through the site: they contact you directly and you agree price, delivery and payment between you. The site never takes a cut.

Whenever you have something new, and it only takes a few minutes: add a few photos, mark what has sold, post a line of news. If a page has not been changed for three months we send a friendly reminder once a month until it is updated. You can reply to stop the reminders.

Yes. Edits go live straight away, and History lets you undo your last change with one button. Andre also gets a daily summary of changes, so a slip is easy to catch.

You can put an “away until” notice on your page, for a holiday or a full order book. It comes off by itself on the date you choose. If you would rather step away completely, you can ask for your page to be removed at any time.

Yes. Describe your courses on your page and they also appear on the Courses page.

Anyone whose products or services South African knifemakers use: steel and Damascus, grinders and machines, forges, engraving, scrimshaw, sheaths and leather, presentation cases, knife photography, handle materials and knifemaking supplies, and courses.

• A page on the Suppliers list, in the categories you choose, found by makers looking for exactly what you sell.
• Product photos, with prices if you like, and a link to your webshop.
• WhatsApp, call and email buttons, and a link to your website and social pages.
• Makers searching by province can find the supplier nearest them.

The same way as a maker: apply online and choose Supplier or service provider for knifemakers. A supplier page needs just one photo of your products, your shop or your logo.

The directory is for suppliers that South African makers use. If you serve them from outside the country, tell Andre what you offer; the form lets you choose “Outside South Africa”.

Ask Andre. One sign-in can look after more than one page, so you can have a maker page and a supplier page that each tell the right story.

So that new members find you. People who take up knifemaking often have no idea there is a club in their town. The Guilds & shows page puts every club and guild in one place, with a link to yours. Listing is free.

The club’s name, where it is based, a short description of what it does and who is welcome, and a link to its website or Facebook page. We do not publish committee members’ names or phone numbers, which change too often.

No sign-in needed. WhatsApp or email Andre with the club’s name, area, a line or two about what you do, and your link. The manual has the full checklist.

Makers in your club can each have their own page, and your show can list the members who are exhibiting, with a link to each member’s page where one exists.

• A listing under “Coming up” on Guilds & shows, with the dates, venue, opening times and a short description.
• Your poster, shown on the listing and tap-to-enlarge on a phone.
• The next show also appears on the home page.
• Your exhibitor list, with a link to each maker’s page on this site. Visitors can see who will be there before they travel.
• Event details that search engines understand, so the show can appear in event searches.

The show’s name, dates and weekdays, venue and town (a street address helps), opening times, the entry fee, who organises it, whom to contact for table bookings, a website or Facebook link, your poster as a JPG or PNG image, and your exhibitor list if you have one. WhatsApp or email it to Andre. The manual has the checklist.

No. We show your booking contact and your status (for example “tables sold out”), and the organiser deals with bookings.

As soon as you send the details, even months ahead. A show comes off the “Coming up” list after its last day. If dates, venue or times change, or tables sell out, tell Andre and the listing is updated.

No. Listing a show is free.

Only what you choose to put on your page. For an account we keep your sign-in email address, a record of each change you make so mistakes can be undone, and your photos. The privacy page has the details.

No. Your details appear on your page, as you set them, and nowhere else.

No analytics or advertising cookies are used on the site. Signing in to your own page sets a single cookie that keeps you signed in on that device for up to 90 days.

Yes. Under Account & privacy a button downloads everything you have put on the site as a file.

Use the “Remove my listing” button under Account & privacy, or WhatsApp or email Andre. It is done within 7 days.