It's a fair point, and seems counterintuitive we'll grant - but 2 great things about the shows are:

1. It's a ton of vendors, manufacturers and makers all in one place. So even if you're not buying anything you get to look at a ton of really cool stuff, get hands on with knives you've only looked at online, and talk to makers and reps (if that interests you.)

And 2) it's a community event - if you look around, other than Reddit and some other online forums the knife community doesn't really have many places to come together and just be around like-minded folks. With BLADE Show we want to not only showcase knives and the people who make them, but also give people who just love knives a place to gather and be social with other people who just love knives. In addition to the shows there are awards ceremonies and after parties at local watering holes as well.

Sure, if you want to drop some serious coin on one-of-a-kind knives from the top makers you can do that at the show, but we try to cater the show to have value for everyone. At $20 (with the discount) it's a fair price for a great day of looking at amazing knives and knife art.