North American Bladesmith & Blacksmith Directory / Marketplace

[Lorne W.]

 

 

Updated 2023-08-26  (this is a work in progress..)

 

Note: The website is under active development and you may notice some colors and layout are not quite right, it is fine to use.

 

About Smithlist

Smithlist was started by myself and Lando Novak in January 2021. It was created in the hopes that we could make finding smiths, suppliers, schools, and related services in different areas easier. It also gives smiths and related services an opportunity to have new eyes on them, and hopefully help their shops or business in that way.

 

It was up until a few days ago only for Canada, but I have now opened it up to North America (USA and Mexico to start). With that also came the move from the .ca domain to the .net which I completed a couple of days ago.

 

I originally had planned to add more features as well as a marketplace, but alas Murphy had other plans, so for the last two years I have only had to time to maintain what was already built...... until now.

I finally have the time to take Smithlist where I has always envisioned it being, lots to come!

 

What is Smithlist?

Smithlist is a searchable online directory where blacksmiths, bladesmiths, farriers, schools, and related suppliers can list themselves free of charge and those interested in their services can search and find them easily. A integrated marketplace that will allow people with listings (called "places" on the site) to add and sell their items is currently in development and will be ready in the next 1-2 weeks.

Also planned are live streamed video interviews for those with listings and stores on the site, as well as live streams of smith and farriers doing their work.

 

Why Use it?

 

The more people that add listings and stores, and talk about it the more use and traffic it will get which is good for everybody involved. I have been getting some feedback from people that have listings currently and the directory is working. They are getting new eyes on them and sales that have come from Smithlist, and it should only increase from this point forward.

 

Here are some of the things you can currently do on Smithlist

 

• Add your shop or business (called a "place") which will then be searchable based on location or map. Some people do not want to add an address, that is fine, it is not a requirement. You can add links to your social media, website, email, phone number, as many pictures as you like, and videos.
• Your customers can drop reviews on your listing, these reviews will show up on the front page.
• Post events on your listing, these are displayed on a calendar visible on your listing page.
• Submit blog posts and guides related to smithing or farrier work.
• Tickets - Sell tickets from your listing, could be handy for classes and the like.
• Marketplace - Full fledged marketplace (opened on 2023-09-15)

 

More cool stuff coming to Smithlist in the next couple of weeks

 

• Facebook connect - You can connect with Facebook as a login to Smithlist. Once the marketplace is live you can also import any items from Facebook by simply inputting the URL.
• Full fledged marketplace which is integrated into your listing. Sell any smithing related items, chat with customers, configure shipping as you want, allow customers to follow your store, and much more.
• Auctions - Full auction system. Something I have seen work well in the past is live stream the forging of an item, it can be a series of stream if needed. You then auction off that item.
• Custom Orders - For the marketplace, will allow sellers to allow customer to build custom items based on materials and other conditions. Customer should be able to build a custom knife, receive a price instantly and order.

 

 

https://smithlist.net

 

Edited September 16 by Lorne W.

[Alan Longmire]

For the record, if anyone thinks this is a good idea we can add a subforum for advertising local smithing guilds, regional smiths, and so on.  Let me know if you want it.  It'd be a good thing to have with the Teachers' Directory, especially since that subforum is not one that people can reply to or ask questions on.

[Stuart Samuel]

Thanks, Lorne, much appreciated! (Not a bladesmith, but a professional metalworker, so plenty of overlap. )

This might seem like a small thing to our friends to the south but Canada is a) Uh... pretty big, even with most of us crowded down near the border, and b) Not... always the most popular shipping destination from the US. Being able to order something that's already in the country saves the headache of tariffs, and watching the cost of an item double when shipping is added.

[Lorne W.]

1 hour ago, Stuart Samuel said:

Thanks, Lorne, much appreciated! (Not a bladesmith, but a professional metalworker, so plenty of overlap. )

This might seem like a small thing to our friends to the south but Canada is a) Uh... pretty big, even with most of us crowded down near the border, and b) Not... always the most popular shipping destination from the US. Being able to order something that's already in the country saves the headache of tariffs, and watching the cost of an item double when shipping is added.

 

 

Happy to help and give something back

 

 

[Jason Crichton]

I've really struggled to find Canadian sources for materials so this could be really handy.  Thanks!

[Luc Verrette]

Good Stuff.

[Lorne W.]

I'll be making a new thread about the list, finally after two years I have the time to take it to the next level, lots of features and updates coming to the list. over the next 1-2 weeks. Here are a few key points:

 

- List is no longer just Canadian, it is expanding to include North America (USA and Mexico to start)

- We will be doing regular live stream interviews of those willing that are listed on the directory

- Fully integrated marketplace. Your listing will also become your store where you can sell your wares (0 fees)

- New theme, better map and locators, auto address fill

- Autosave searches and create a list

- Blog featuring regular guides on smithing

..... to be continued

 

Edited August 26 by Lorne W.

[Alan Longmire]

I see you figured out you can edit the thread titles now. 

 

Want me to move it somewhere more prominent?

[Lorne W.]

5 minutes ago, Alan Longmire said:

I see you figured out you can edit the thread titles now. 

 

Want me to move it somewhere more prominent?

 

 

Yeah, not sure how I missed that, I will blame the kids or the dog though. Ah I think you gave me the privilege for it, thanks

 

Sure, much appreciated!

Edited August 25 by Lorne W.

[Lorne W.]

Marketplace is getting close to ready, as is project blackout (taking the theme to the darkside).

 

I have added bladesmithforum.com to "Friends" in the top menu.

[billyO]

Hello Lorne.  Is this up yet?  I tried registering and nothing happened.

 

[Lorne W.]

23 minutes ago, billyO said:

Hello Lorne.  Is this up yet?  I tried registering and nothing happened.

 

 

It is, yes. You should have received an activation email with a link to click.

 

If you did not, can you DM me the email you signed up with so I can have a look please.

 

Note: When entering password on account creation it needs to be shown as "Strong" or it wont will be accepted. I have added a note on account creation about password strength.

Edited August 30 by Lorne W.

[Lorne W.]

Ticket sale system for events is now live. It needs some prettying, but it is functional.

[billyO]

Thanks @Lorne W.  Great site!

[Lorne W.]

18 hours ago, billyO said:

Thanks @Lorne W.  Great site!

 

Welcome, glad you like it.

 

I have made a short video of how to get the most out of a listing, and why.

 

 

[Lorne W.]

Smithlist has hit 150 listings, and continues to grow daily!

 

Marketplace I am hoping to have ready for mid next week.

[Lorne W.]

A post on the free stuff that Smithlist offers to the community.

https://blog.smithlist.net/basic-smithlist-directory-guide/

[Lorne W.]

The marketplace is now open, Smithlist does not take any fees, there are fees for using the Paypal gateway which the seller pays. These fees are:

 

2.9%+ flat fee of $0.30CAD (per transaction)

 

In comparison here are Facebook and Etsy fees:

- Etsy: 9.5% + flat fee of $0.45 USD
- Facebook: 5%. If sale is less than $8 USD you pay flat fee of $0.40 USD.

 

Here is a short demo video  of the seller dashboard:

 

 

[Lorne W.]

A few updates:

 

1.) "Friends" page has been created (bladesmithsforum.com) is featured there. This page is for saying thank you to individuals, organizations, and communities that are helping let people know about Smithlist.

https://smithlist.net/smithlist-friends/

 

2.) Badges - When creating a listing additional questions have been added depending on categories you select. For example "Bladesmith" category now has four possible badges: 

- ABS JS 

- ABS M.S.

- FIF Contestant

- FIF Champion

FIF standing for Forged in Fire.

 

3.) Custom map markers that better represent different categories have been added.

 

4.) The blog is now live.

 

5.) The dark theme is about 95% complete. User profiles have more information and easy access to places, events, and the marketplace.

 

Edited September 29 by Lorne W.