About the SBG Sword Store
When I first started to create Sword-Buyers-Guide.com in February 2005, I had no idea that eventually I would be selling swords myself...
...Sure, I had hoped of getting a few good sponsors to help pay for my (rather high) expenses. But actually selling swords? It was certainly not something I had planned...
Well - the whole sponsorship idea never quite eventuated... Yes, I WAS approached by a quite a few sword sellers... But at the end of the day there was only one or two that I could comfortably recommend as good, professional people to do business with - and who didn't want me to twist the truth to 'get a few sales'...
Then one day I received an email out of the blue by a visitor to my site (Jeff Daniels, who later posted a review of the Cheness Higo Katana on my site) asking my opinion about a new sword manufacturer and seller on the block, Paul Chen from Cheness Cutlery...
At the time I was a hardcore, never-say-die fan of the 'other' Paul Chen (from the Hanwei Forge) and his classic entry level sword the PPK - so my response was along the lines of a generic 'from what little I know, these new Cheness swords seem ok, but I'd personally stick with Hanwei'...
Over time though I started to hear more and more good reports about this little known seller. And as the word spread of Cheness Cutleries serious commitment to make the best quality/lowest price Katana blades - little by little my conviction that the Hanwei Practical Katana line were the only half decent sub US$300 Japanese swords began to weaken...
Only to be completely blown apart when I actually bought some of the Cheness swords to see what all the fuss was about!!
I was so impressed by the "price to quality" ratio and how their views on swords complemented what I was looking for in a sub US$300 price point Katana - I just knew that I had to team up with them somehow...!
The result of this collaboration was the SBG Sword Store where I can offer Cheness Cutlery Japanese swords for sale directly through my site - at the absolute lowest possible price!
My plan was/is to keep my margins as tight as possible so YOU get the best deal, and funnel what small profits are made on the sale of each sword straight back into SBG to pay for new and exciting competitions, giveaways, gift vouchers, new swords to review - and all the fun stuff (as well as numerous other day to day hosting expenses, directory fees, etc, etc) - of which until now has come straight out of my own (rather shallow) pockets...
Since then, I have continued to flesh out the SBG Sword Store, and while I believe I already have the best value for money Katana end of the market more than covered, the later half of 2007 will see the store expand to cover the best tried and tested European and South East Asian style swords...
Exciting times ahead, and I hope that you will support my site by buying one of the cool TRULY functional swords I am listing here - it really is a WIN-WIN situation.
YOU get the best value for money swords at a ridiculously low price, and I make just enough profit on each sale to keep my site going, and growing, into the future...
It's a very exciting partnership and I very am proud to be able to offer you these swords on my site! :-)
Paul Southren
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