It's that time of year again judging by all the emails I am getting asking me to visit this booth or that event!  It's time to gear up for the 2012 SHOT Show in Las Vegas!

As usual we will be there covering the event firsthand and you'll be able to keep track of us on Twitter and Facebook, as well as get our updates and more detailed information on our forum at Multitool.org!  All of the information you need to keep track of us is below:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edcsource
Facebook: Grant Lamontagne
Events Forum at Multitool.org

In exactly one week from the time I write this I'll be sitting in the airport complaining that my flight is late- and you don't want to miss that kind of excitement!

It's that time of year again- no, not the Holidays, it's time to start thinking about the 2012 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoors Trade Show, known affectionately as SHOT.  Each year the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) puts on SHOT as a place for Law Enforcement, Military, hunting and general outdoors manufacturers, dealers and media can get together!  As usual this year we'll be at the Show and updating the forums with all the news and photos you've come to expect from our previous years' coverage.

Last year we started Twitter, Facebook and forum updates right from the Show Floor as things happen.  It was a huge hit last year, so this year we are adding LinkedIn and Google + to the list!  If you aren't following us on the forum(s), Google +, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, all our info is listed below- time to fix that!  After all, a good idea becomes great when more folks get involved!

Multitool.org Forum

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Google Plus

Something new we are doing this year is our SHOT Show Sponsorship Program- now your company can get some serious exposure from the show floor without having to take time out to attend!  Check out all the details- Sponsorship is available now!

As usual, any questions, comments or ideas, feel free to contact me at admin@edcsource.com!

Usually I post things about the site here- upgrades, specials, other projects and so on.  This time all I'm doing is sharing a reaction I had to a situation, and asking you to think about it.

One of the ways Canadians remember the veterans who fought for freedom is with a poppy:





All the info on why we use poppies can be found at the Royal Canadian Legion's Poppy Campaign page.
 
Every November members of the various Legions (and other volunteers) set up tables at stores, in malls, at events and pretty well anywhere else they can.  They accept donations, and usually when you donate they give you a flimsy little plastic poppy pin.  These little poppies are as cheap as pins can get, but everyone gets them, wears them and respects them, because while the pin may be unimportant, it's what it stands for that means more to us than we could ever say.  Each year I buy between five and ten of them- every time I see one of the tables, I empty my pockets into the small cans and get a new one.

Today, as with many other times the Legion member pinned a cheap poppy to my lapel (my hands were kind of full since I was in the grocery store) he thanked me for the donation.  I had given him the dollar and change I had gotten from my purchase, and it seemed to me that [i]he[/i] shouldn't be thanking [i]me[/i], [i]I[/i] should be thanking [i]him[/i], which of course I did, and it wasn't because he was nice enough to pin the flower on me.  I told him that donating some spare change was the least I could do for a man who had put himself in harm's way for the benefit of me, my family and my country.

While I try to help veteran's organizations year round, November is always the time of year when it gets to me the most.  Maybe it's because I was raised in a military family and was taken to Remembrance Day ceremonies as long as I can remember, and even participated in a few with my school, scouts or other organizations, or maybe it's just because I understand what freedom is and how important it is to me and the people around me, I don't know.  I do know this though- he, and all veterans deserve my thanks a lot more than I deserve his, because they gave a lot more than a pocket full of spare change.

Here at EDCSource we have been proud to do our part for various organizations, whether it be helping out the Colorado Hire Patriots or the Rocky Mountain Veteran's Alliance through Bob in the Pock-Its store, or hosting the banner and helping to raise awareness for the Navy Diver Olympics, we are proud to help those who have served in the past, honor those who serve now, and respect those who will serve in the future.

To celebrate my birthday, I have a little surprise for everyone- I'm giving away a pretty special knife!



This is a special reissue of an old Remington Boy Scout knife manufactured by the fine folks at Bear Cutlery.



It's 100% legitimate- in fact, I purchased it from the Big Bear himself, Ken Griffey, and Bob (J-Sews) witnessed it in case you don't believe me.  Anyways, more pictures:







Did I mention it is brand new in the box, with all the documentation, including the original Certificate of Authenticity?



So what do you have to do to take a stab at getting this beauty?  Simple- pretend you like me enough to leave me a birthday wish on the Multitool.org Forum and I'll pick a winner at random in 24 hours or so.  It doesn't get much easier than that, does it?

So, happy birthday to me, and possibly to you too!

                Now that we have made it to our second anniversary, we have proven that we are not a fly by night organization, and we have shown that EDCSource can be successful.  We’ve covered a lot of ground over the last couple of years, and we are stronger than ever, and staying open for business.  Because of this, I’ve put together five reasons why you should consider bringing your business to EDCSource!

1- Software:  When you make the decision to branch out on your own and start a small business you get buried in ancillary details like what software to use, how to populate it, site design and so on.  This can either be an ineffective solution if you do it yourself or it can be an expensive solution if you hire someone to do it for you.  Either way, you will end up spending too much time or money on software updates, hosting solutions and domain names that would be put to better use supporting your business rather than your online presence.  By using EDCSource as your Point Of Sale you get an easy to build storefront and the rest of the software worries are taken care of by us- no worrying about updates, patches, bug fixes, hosting bills and so on, meaning you can put more energy into your business and less into the side details.

2- Group benefits: (Advertising & cross traffic)  One of the hardest things about being a small business is getting the word out about your business.  Most advertising sources cost money, and the better the outlet, the more money needed, meaning you have less available for stock.  EDCSource regularly advertises in major places such as on various forums and in trade magazines (currently running a 1/3 page, full color ad in Tactical Knives magazine from Harris Publications) so your company will benefit from large scale exposure that you may not be able to do otherwise.  Additionally, there’s the benefit of cross traffic- while you are promoting your business others are promoting theirs, and their customers will visit you as your customers visit them.

3- Targeted audience:  Unlike the other guys, we deal exclusively with the hunting, shooting, prepping and tactical communities.  Because of this you know that your targeted keywords are likely to get direct results rather than similarly named items that have nothing to do with your business or products.  Why is that important?  This excerpt from the forum at Multitool.org sums it up nicely:

This is perhaps not the best advertisement for your products and/or services, and proof of why a targeted audience is much more effective.

4- Social Media: We have both Facebook and Twitter arrangements (and others) and we do live feeds from certain major events.  This allows us to provide a significant amount of interest to help draw customers into the various groups, giving more exposure to your business.  And, again it is a targeted audience as these are people that have an interest in the types of products or services your company provides, from General Outdoors to more specific activities, as well as an exceptional way to have some personal contact with said customers, and a more relaxed method of communicating with them. 

5- Cost:  EDCSource is perhaps the most cost efficient method of running your own business there is.  The fees are a fraction of what the “other guys” charge and there are no listing fees, meaning if you don’t sell anything, you don’t pay anything.  At EDCSource we only succeed when you succeed, so we are motivated to help you get ahead.  And, as if that wasn’t enough, items under $50 are always free- there’s only a fee for items selling over $50, and it’s only 5% so if you have a bad month (it happens) you won’t be stuck paying for the bad months with the profit from good ones.

 

I know this is called “Five Reasons,” but as I wrote this I thought of one more good reason to add in as a bonus, because let’s face it, EDCSource is growing and there are always going to be bonuses!

6- Personal Service:  I own EDCSource, lock, stock and barrel.  While I may have to check with our nuts & bolts guys to see if anything can be fixed, changed or upgraded, it’s always a simple process.  There’s no board of directors, no partners, no bosses, supervisors or other committees to discuss things with, so if you have specific needs, let me know and I promise we’ll do our best to accommodate you.  That’s my personal guarantee to every user, and it will be in place as long as my name is on the door- figuratively speaking of course, since there’s no “door” on EDCSource!  I can be reached at admin@edcsource.com with any questions, thoughts or comments you may have, and I speak perfect English- no overseas call centers here!

 

                There you go- Five (plus one!) Good Reasons to use EDCSource to help grow your business.   Any questions?

 

Grant Lamontagne

www.EDCSource.com

Hey everyone,

 

I apologize for having the site shut down for the last couple of days, but it had to be done, and in keeping with my Open Door Policy, I am going to tell you the whole sordid story.

 

In short, we were hacked. 

 

The good news is that it appears that the hacker installed some phishing software, using our server as a base for trying to get info from people.  Our database is intact, and it doesn't look like any information, personal or otherwise was taken or tampered with.  The other upshot is that it turned out to be SAKWiki that was hacked, not the entire server, and SAKWiki holds very little information about users, so even if they had accessed the user database, they wouldn't have gotten much, so anyone concerned about their personal info can relax.

 

The bad news is that we were hacked, and the company that owns the server we use was very obstructive and accusatory when the illegal software was discovered, and as such we are looking for a new home on a new server, owned by a new company.  I firmly believe that an error only becomes a mistake when you fail to rectify it, and our server company seemed to be more interested in suggesting we were responsible for the illegal activity than in working with us to fix the problem.  This of course means we are looking at more downtime as we migrate from one server to another, but that won’t happen for a little while, and we will give some advance notice when that happens.

 

For now all the sites are running again (except SAKWiki for the moment until we can properly remove the offending software) and they are once again safe and open for business, and we apologize for any inconvenience that may have resulted from the site going down.  I would like to toss out a HUGE thank you to Esteban and Micah who worked so hard to get things back online, and especially to Esteban who gave up his entire Friday night to get the server back online somewhere around 3 or 4 am.

 

If you have any questions, as always, feel  free to email me and I will do my best to respond as quickly as possible. 

 

Grant Lamontagne

If you are just joining us after seeing our ad in Tactical Knives magazine, welcome to EDCSource!  I think you'll find that we are a site like no other in that we cover all kinds of items that other auction sites don't want to be associated with.  Here you'll find custom knifemakers, charities, military contractors and pretty well anything else that has to do with military, law enforcement, outdoors, knives or tools for folks who believe that you can't do it right if you don't get your hands dirty.

If you have any questions, send me a message at admin@edcsource.com and I'll do my best to help you out.  If you are a knifemaker or other small business, ask me how we can work together for mutual benefit, because here at EDCSource, we don't succeed if you don't succeed!

First off, let me say I'm sorry for using such a corny old phrase like "Here We GROW Again!" It may be kind of lame, but it certainly fits with what's going on. As usual we have a lot going on behind the scenes, but here's a quick recap for everyone.

We are bringing in more dealers, but that shouldn't discourage private sellers- EDCSource.com is open to everyone! Dealers with established stores provide a nice mainstay that keep people coming back, but there's still lots of space for individuals to sell items as well. In fact, read on and see that there's some more incentives to try out EDCSource.com coming up!

Dealers and knifemakers should also contact me at admin@edcsource.com for details on how they can set up a store here, and indeed, why they should even consider it!

Most excitingly however, we have completed our ad to go into a major publication- It'll be on newsstands in less than a month, and I'll let you know what magazine you'll find it in shortly- in the meantime, here's a look at the ad itself!

I just wanted to draw some attention to a couple of new sellers we have here on the best knife, tool, tactical and outdoors auction site- EDCSource!  Bob from Pock-Its has finally gotten around to opening the store he's been planning for months, and his associate Joe at Stun Tech Self Defense Products has also joined our roster.

Check out these new sellers and others in the Stores menu at the top of the page and see what items you may be missing!

Some of you have been wondering how to use the Account Credit here on EDCSource, and to be honest, there's been enough confusion that I am seriously thinking about removing it.  That's not to say I don't want to give out some incentives, but simly because I think it's complicating the experience here.

In a nutshell, account credit is for paying site fees, something we have very few of, which means it's only useful for selling, and can't be applied to purchases.  If you were to list an item for sale and select some additional selling features like Bold, Highlighted or extra photos, then you could pay for these things with your account credit, meaning your first few sales are "on the house."  When you buy something, you cannot use your account credit to pay for the item, as any account credits go to the site (EDCSource) and not the seller.

If you have any thoughts on this, or any other item, please feel free to send me an email at admin@edcsource.com and let me know what you think.  After all, if this site doesn't work for you, then why are we bothering to run it?

Hey folks,

I'm sitting in the airport waiting for the flight that will take me on the first leg of my trip to the 2011 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoors Tradeshow (SHOT Show), sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).  I'll be posting as much info as I can as fast as I can in the evenings, and I'll be at the show all opening hours all four days.  As you can imagine, that will be a lot of pictures and a lot of info!

There will be a thread in the forum HERE that should have links to all the new info I'll be posting, or you can follow us on Twitter at the usual address (www.twitter.com/EDCSource) or add me (Grant Lamontagne) on Facebook for up to the minute updates of where I am and who I'm talking to!

It's going to be a lot of work, and it'll also be a lot of fun (as always!), but it's always worth it to be able to say you heard it here first!

Nothing too special or exciting, just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone out there!

There are a couple of vendors here that are taking a few days off for the holidays, and packages are a bit slow with overloaded post offices, so please be understanding if things don't get where they are supposed to be this time of year.  Stay in contact and I'm sure all will be worked out.

Happy (and safe!) holidays to everyone and we'll see you in the New Year!

    Here we are at the end of another year- the holidays are upon us and this year's SHOT Show is right around the corner.  It's a good time to look back at the past year and ask yourself what opportunities you may have taken hold of.

    If you don't have a good answer to that, now is a good time to take another, closer look at EDCSource.  I've often thought to myself how great it must have been to be one of those people that got in on the ground floor of the Big Guys' site, back before they instituted gigantic fees and lots of rules, legal fine print and other nonsense. 

    That to me is as good a reason as any to look into how EDCSource.com can work with you.  If that doesn't convince you, here's a few more reasons:

Low (and in many cases free) fees for sellers
Exposure- we are partnered with numerous related websites
No hassles- We have very few rules, meaning it's a free marketplace
User input- we are small enough to listen to the people using EDCSource

    In addition, EDCSource.com can function as an eCommerce solution for your business- use EDCSource instead of your own store software and save money/hassle by not having to pay for software, updates and tech support.  Plus, benefit from traffic being generated by other sellers as well, in the same way as a mall benefits from a multitude of stores under one roof.

    With numerous Search Engine Optimization (SEO) options, individual store branding, domain targeting, communal traffic, Social Networking and lots of other buzzwords, EDCSource.com is a great way to sell your products to folks who know what they want.  Contact me at admin@edcsource.com with any questions, comments or suggestions, and lets put EDCSource to work for you!

Well it's hard to believe, but as of October 1st, 2010 EDCSource has been open for business for one whole year!  It's been an interesting year while we've changed around things trying to hammer out what we initially considered to be the best setup into what actually does seem to work!  We've managed a giant software upgrade which meant an almost complete redesign of the site a couple of months after we opened the doors, and we survived that, we changed servers and we survived that, and it's been an uphill battle to try and bring a new site like this to the public, but we've managed that too!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the guys who have been here since the beginning- guys like Tim at Felinevet, Howard at Professional Safety, Neil in the Hive of SAKtivity and a few others.  And, I'd like to welcome the newer folks we have joining us!

Last but not least, let's all look forward to great things happening in the coming year!

You read that right- maybe it's too much tequila, maybe I have an undiagnosed brain..... thing..... but the result is that there are no longer any listing fees on EDCSource.com!  There are more changes in the works to make the site more user friendly, and I welcome any thoughts any of you may have on the subject!  Drop me a note at admin@edcsource.com if you have any thoughts or ideas you think may benefit EDCSource and the communities it serves!

I've noticed a few cases and packs were listed and yet they don't seem to have a section of their own, so I just created the Bags, Packs and Cases section!

Remember, if you have any other section suggestions, contact me at admin@edcsource.com- after all, we are trying to build this site to support all of you!

We've added support from a few new forums here, and I wanted to take a moment to welcome folks who may have come across us through them.  We've been connected to the members at Multitool.org since the beginning, and Messenforum.nl signed up shortly afterward.  A few weeks ago we added UKBladesforum.co.uk to the list of supporting forums, and now we have the granddaddy of them all, Knifeforums.com to the mix!  That's right, the biggest knife related forum of all is now a supporter of EDCSource!

If you are coming from one of those sites and are interested in giving EDCSource a shot, send me an email at admin@edcsource.com and I'll give you a 30 day free trial.  No obligations, no fine print, just like everything else here on EDCSource.com!

Hi folks,

Just a short note to let you know that in the next couple of weeks there may be some slight service interruptions here on EDCSource.  It seems we've grown too big for the existing server company to host us, and so we have to move to a new server somewhere else.  Things should go smoothly, but if it's one thing I have learned about software upgrades and transfers over the years, it's that nothing ever goes as planned!

With any luck we will be out and back up before most of you notice, but if not, at least you'll know why!  As usual, if you have any questions, comments and so on, drop me a note at admin@def-it.com and I'll do my best to answer!

Grant

That's right!  No fees for the remainder of 2010 if you open an e-store on EDCSource.com before March 31st!  The size of your store is immaterial, the number of items you put in it doesn't matter- open a store before March 31st and pay no store fees until January 2011!  That's over 11 and a half months- almost a full year from the time I write this!

This also applies to stores that are already open for business, so don't think that since you have been here all along we are going to forget about you!  As usual, if you have any questions, contact me using the HELP menu at the top of the page!

I just wanted to take a moment to send out a festive message to any and all visitors and site users- it's only been a few months but the site is coming along quite well, and we do have some cool new stuff to add in the New Year- features, products, stores, you name it!  EDCSource can only go up from here!

From all of us at EDCSource.com to everyone reading this, I hope you all have a safe and happy Holiday Season, regardless of which holidays you are celebrating. 

We've just upgraded to the latest version of the software, which should streamline the way you buy and sell on EDCSource.com!  Bear with us as we configure all the little bits and pieces that need to be put in order to make the site fully functional!  If you encounter any problems, contact me at admin@EDCSource.com and I'll do what I can to help.  And, feel free to contact me if you have any ideas or suggestions on how to make EDCSource even better!

All sellers please revise the shipping settings on your live auctions as this has changed substantially. Note that you should now be able to create invoices to combine shipping on multiple items.

So many of you out there are seeing this site and maybe looking at a few auctions and might be thinking to yourself, why bother?  I've signed up at enough sites, and I get enough spam and I really don't need anything else.  And, there's nothing here that I can't get somewhere else, and as a seller, that huge auction site sees a lot more traffic.  Well, if you said any or all of those things, I can answer it.  My personal history online is fairly well documented.  I took a amall, hidden sub forum on the largest knife discussion site and turned it into the third highest trafficked sub forum, despite it being hidden.  I then branched out with that sub forum and created the world's largest Swiss Army Knife collector and enthusiast group.  Then, I created the only multitool information and resource site available, and it stands today as a very respected site both among manufacturers and users.  I have a proven track record in building and successfully marketing sites, and with the growth we've seen so far, I see no reason to doubt this site's potential.

As a seller you will benefit from knowledgeable customers- people who know your products almost as well as you do, know what they want and are willing to pay for them.  That other site might have more traffic, but how much of that traffic is aimed at you?  Here you can be assured that everyone who visits has an interest in what you have to offer.

As a buyer you know that sellers are on the level- items will be as described and genuine, because the sellers are collectors too, and serious about what they do.

And, as a member, whether you buy or sell or both, you can rest assured that as long as I'm at the helm, your email address is safe.  while I may send out the odd bit of potentially interesting info, I refuse to sell, trade, loan or otherwise abuse any of your contact information.

EDCSource.com- one of the last refuges of the honest person!

As I am certain anyone who visits this site has seen, Felinevet has listed a number of auctions with some great items and some excellent prices.  If anyone is not yet familiar with Felinevet (aka Tim) then it's about time you did.  I've worked with Tim for years now and I have never heard a complaint about him- not even the slightest hint of a problem, and anyone who has spent any time online knows that there's someone somewhere that can complain about anything!  Tim also has extensive eBay experience and deals in custom, rare and hard to find SAKs, so you know that he knows what he's talking about!

Welcome Tim!

That's right, only one week left to sign up and be eligeable for 30 Days FREE!  Offer ends on October 31st, although if you sign up before then you get a full 30 days with no fees for Bold, Highlighting, extra photos as well as no listing or store fees!  Every option on the site is available absolutely free!  Remember, there's just one week left to take advantage of this offer, so if you've been holding off for any reason, now's as good a time as any to sign up!

Just to let you all know, we have a new supporter listed here- in fact, they have been with us from the beginning, but we finally managed to get their banner uploaded in the last few days!  Please take a moment to check out Messenforum.nl and join me in a HUGE thank you to Robert for helping us out here!

Due to an unfortunate accidental setting, I have set the software here at EDCSource to give members 30 days with no fees, not just no fees in October- what does that mean?  It means you get thirty days of no fees from the day you sign up, regardless of which part of October it is!  It's a great opportunity for new users!

Also, if you don't see a category here that you think would be great, don't forget that you can suggest new categories- this is as new to me as it is to all of you and as amazingly brilliant as I am (!) even I can't think of everything!  Log in and look in the Seller's Menu for the Suggest a Category option, or follow this LINK!

That's right - EDCSource is free of fees throughout October!  List items for sale and make use of any or all of the various features here and don't pay a cent throughout all of October, 2009!  Simply list and sell your items absolutely free!  Sign up today and support the auction site that supports your online community!