Decent deal! Love shun knives. Got my ken onion set for $220 during xmas 3 years ago. Haven't seen a better Shun deal since!

Ginsu and garage sales, $20 and you're good for a lifetime.

lol... ginsu.... and garage sales.... I guess if you have no standard in your kitchen... I like my knifes to cut.. not just play with the ingredients. Nothing more dangerous in a kitchen than a crappy/dull knife.

Obligatory "But this is from Woot" comment.

The prices are good for what you're getting, but you may not really want what you're getting.

The bread knife is nice and the nakiri really interests me, but the other two knives in each set are confusing. A 10" chef's knife -and- a slicing knife?

This isn't a beginning knife set because no beginner needs a big chef's knife and a slicer. If I'm putting together a three knife starter set, neither one would be in it. I'd go with a santoku or medium chef's, a utility knife of some sort, and a paring knife. Fourth choice would probably be a bread knife, then a chef's if I went with the santoku earlier.

And it isn't an advanced add-on set because most of those people will already have picked up a chef's.

So the target audience is rather small ... which explains how Woot, which usually sells crap, often bags of it, ended up with enough of them to sell at discount.

About half my knives are Shun. The Classic handles aren't my favorite, but the blades are beautiful and they are a pleasure to work with. If you need the knives in either set, this is a very nice price. Too bad they didn't have more set options.

The thing I like the least about Shun is the 16 degree edge they use. Pretty much everyone else uses 18 I think it is, so when you need to put an edge back on, you can't do it yourself with a machine like Chef's Choice 120 which is calibrated for the standard used by most companies. I was told this by a friend who recommended Shun to me (and sold me his sharpener since he has only Shun). He said Shun told him this and that when he needs to put an edge back on, Shun will do it for free -- just mail them your knives and they'll sharpen them up and mail them back. It's inconvenient for those with a decent home sharpener, but a pretty cool service offered by Shun.

For those looking for a starter set, I would strongly recommend something else, like this: Shun DMS382 3-Piece Classic Internet Special Set of Knives

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Rather choose better food and lesser knives if money matters.

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@billyjimbob and OldAmazonian

Of course. For almost everyone, these are an extravagance. They definitely work more nicely than cheap knives, whether the cost is worth it is purely a matter of opinion. A fifteen-year-old rusty Honda and a brand new Porsche will both get you to work on time, but which would you rather drive?

And the other side holds true as well...I'd rather eat a $100 steak with a $2 knife than a $2 steak with a $100 knife.

I'd rather drive a Morgan, but for that I'd need to own a garage.

I have a garage full of tools that I use to make things sharp, thats why my Ginsu's are still going strong. Cut through tin (aluminum) cans, glass, porcelain, concrete, sheet rock, wood, laminate flooring, plastic, bone, meat, gristle, carbon fiber,quilts,aluminum pans, spark plugs, car frames, finger nails, ipads,ipods,iphones...Gotta love Ginsu.

Interesting comments. Surprising for 5am.

I don't have much to add. I have a bunch of Shun knives and they are definitely a superior product. But if you don't want to care for your knives, or apprecaite the high quality, then a cheap Victorianox will achieve acceptable results for a lot less money.

If you already own Shun, this is a good deal. Especially for styles not commonly put on sale.

Agree on DigitalBug's suggestion for a good starter set at a decent price, but the paring knife is a weird one, and a bear to sharpen.

Not surprised with billyjojimbob's comments. You really don't need a Shun to cut your Spam or Natty Ice. And if you don't want to wait for a garage sale, you can just tune in an infomercial. You can buy a knife that will cut that beer can, and they'll throw in a dozen more with your order plus a few sets of steak knifes. They might cut a $100 steak, but not the kind of steak you be eating if you buy that quality of knife.

And bad news billyjojimbob; Ginsu isn't the same as what you are used to using. They're actually not bad these days, but not up to the standards of Shun or other top brands. I even have a set to use when I don't want to bother washing and drying my Shuns after using them.

So, why is Woot, now part of Amazon, one of the few vendors not eligible for Prime shipping?

If bjjb had a Shun, he'd probably only have nine fingers by now...

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10% less than William-Sanoma constitutes a Deal of the Day? That's like saying milk is on sale at Whole Foods for $6/gal.

I have both Ken Onion/Shun and Wusthof Classic knives... Even though the Shun's are indeed VERY sharp and elegant, I find myself using the Wusthof's more.... These seem like decent sale prices though.

I have a Shun chef knife. The blade is absolutely gorgeous; but, I do not like the handles on these things, they are round and tend to slip too much for my taste. I find myself using a Henckel much more often. These are the ones I have, excellent blade and grip even wet. Nice starter set of more than acceptable home knives. Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star II 7-Piece Knife Set with Block

If you buy from Woot, you pay $5.00 shipping, flat fee. When Amazon puts up a Woot DOTD, the shipping is free, if you have Prime.

>>>@digitalbug: "The thing I like the least about Shun is the 16 degree edge they use. Pretty much everyone else uses 18 I think it is, so when you need to put an edge back on, you can't do it yourself with a machine like Chef's Choice 120"<<<
You are correct, and that is one of the main reasons that I returned my "Shun" Santoku purchased here last year. I'm a bit of a knife fanatic with an inordinately large and varied collection of knives of all kinds. The Shun knives are truly a work of art, and the quality of workmanship makes them, arguably worth the price. I found the handles awkward, the 15/16 degree edge they use is due to the softer steel they use, which makes them somewhat fragile, and I found myself being overly conscious of the fragility of the knife. So much so, that it distracted form the work at hand. There are many really good knives available for a lot less money that will do every bit as good a job as a "Shun". I use Henckels, Victorinox, Sabatier, Cephalon, my workhorse Dexter/Russell's, and others with great pleasure.
ADDENDUM TO ORIGINAL POST: Quote from "Chef's Choice" sharpener website;
"This Chef's Choice 1520 model is the most versatile of the Chef's Choice sharpeners. It can do Japanese-style knives with a 15-degree edge on each side (30 degrees total) as well as European-style knives with the classic 20-degree edge (40 total).
It's also perfect for those of us who want to put a sharper edge on their current cutlery. You can put a 15-degree edge on European-style knives with this unit if you'd like to do so, but they won't hold an edge for as long as Japanese knives because they typically use softer steel."

I stand corrected!

a couple of questions for anyone in the know.
1. is it safe to assume that the amazon return policy applies? i haven't shopped woot in a few years, but back then they made it difficult to return anything. not sure if that changed.
2. my existing collection is a mix of ken onion (2 - 7.5" santoku, 9" bread) and classic (3" paring, 3" utility, 5.5" santoku), so the 4pc block set isn't too bad a complement to what i already have (bread knife being the exception). but i need a knife block. anyone have experience putting ken onion knives with their funky handles in a non-ken onion knife block?

if standard return policy applies, i may just spring for it anyway.

For my money, I'd go with ANYTHING Henckels, just base it on your skill and what you want. If you want cheap, but good knives, get the $100 sets. I got one for my mother in law and it's nice. But I have the twin four stars, which are sturdy, easily sharpened, and as good as or better than any knife I've used in restaurants I've worked in. And for that set you can get a whole lot more than what's in this set. I suppose if you're going to compete on Chopped or have a fine dining establishment, these might be better, but Henckels is a pretty trusted brand for a long time and a lot of fine dining chefs use their products. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_il_il_to_kitchen?srs=2593431011&rh=n%3A1055398%2Cn%3A%211063498%2Cn%3A284507%2Cn%3A289851%2Cn%3A289864%2Cn%3A409670%2Ck%3Ahenckels+knives&keywords=henckels+knives&ie=UTF8&qid=1358949896

I used to have a set of Henkels, and the shuns I currently have make the henkels feel quite dull. The difference was definitely astonishing to me. That being said, if you are looking for a basic set of shun knives, this is probably not the set for you, since these blades are a little esoteric. I'd look for a medium chefs (or Santoku, depending on preference), a utility knife, and a bread knife. Nice to have the honing steel as well.

I was going to post that Shun no longer offers a free sharpening service. They switched to offer a discount at a 3rd party service a while ago. However, I went to check on the Kershaw site so I could post a link and I see the free service was reinstated on Sept 4, 2012 (you pay for shipping):

http://shun.kaiusaltd.com/warranty

Good to see they listen to customer feedback.

I am very happy with my Chicago cutlery set of 20 years that I sharpen with my Chef's Choice electric sharpener. Bought the set with block from Macy's along with Cusinart 7 inch Santuko knife, that is all I need.