- Joined
- Jul 24, 2014
- Messages
- 328
I just noticed the "119 at Walmart" thread. There is a Walmart in my town but I almost never go to it & so don't know whether they stock the 119 or not, but I have bought a number of 119s (and sheaths) recently and observed something that has me a bit perplexed. [I have read 300Buck's strictures and shall strive to avoid breaking them]
It all started as I mentioned in another thread when I discovered the after-market sheath-makers on eBay. I liked the 119 for hiking but never liked the sheath because the knife would rattle in it. So over the years I bought a number of non-Buck knives looking for the perfect hiking knife, but after discovering the after-market sheath-makers I returned to the 119. I had a 119 in good condition, a Buck, 119, USA built around 1980 I suppose. After getting an after-market sheath for it I noticed that eBay sellers had declared knives built around the time I bought mine as "vintage." I next purchased (not from eBay) a brand-new 119 and noticed it had a different shape than my old Buck-119-USA. I found this matter interesting and sought to acquire other 119s of different periods on eBay to compare to the ones I had -- maybe work on them a bit to see how well they can be resharpened and how well the handle and pommel material can be improved.
In the course of doing that I discovered a strange thing. Ebay sellers were almost uniformly asking more for their older and used 119s than one could buy a brand new one for from Amazon, Walmart, KMart or other stores mentioned in the referenced thread. I can see spending extra for an exotic handle or a limited specialty run, but I have seen 119s less than 10 years old offered for significantly more money than one would pay at the aforementioned stores. Why is that? What must these eBay sellers be thinking? Did 119s used to cost a lot more than they are being sold for today?
Maybe the fact that the 119 has been so successful has made it possible for Buck to sell them for less than they used to be sold for -- I don't know. The 119 is the best-selling fixed-blade knife at Amazon. None of the other Buck fixed-bladed knives come close (if I remember correctly); so perhaps because Buck sells so many they can afford to take less profit on each one, and maybe that wasn't always the case. That's the only explanation I can think of for the fact that eBay sellers think they can get high prices for this knife.
Lawrence
It all started as I mentioned in another thread when I discovered the after-market sheath-makers on eBay. I liked the 119 for hiking but never liked the sheath because the knife would rattle in it. So over the years I bought a number of non-Buck knives looking for the perfect hiking knife, but after discovering the after-market sheath-makers I returned to the 119. I had a 119 in good condition, a Buck, 119, USA built around 1980 I suppose. After getting an after-market sheath for it I noticed that eBay sellers had declared knives built around the time I bought mine as "vintage." I next purchased (not from eBay) a brand-new 119 and noticed it had a different shape than my old Buck-119-USA. I found this matter interesting and sought to acquire other 119s of different periods on eBay to compare to the ones I had -- maybe work on them a bit to see how well they can be resharpened and how well the handle and pommel material can be improved.
In the course of doing that I discovered a strange thing. Ebay sellers were almost uniformly asking more for their older and used 119s than one could buy a brand new one for from Amazon, Walmart, KMart or other stores mentioned in the referenced thread. I can see spending extra for an exotic handle or a limited specialty run, but I have seen 119s less than 10 years old offered for significantly more money than one would pay at the aforementioned stores. Why is that? What must these eBay sellers be thinking? Did 119s used to cost a lot more than they are being sold for today?
Maybe the fact that the 119 has been so successful has made it possible for Buck to sell them for less than they used to be sold for -- I don't know. The 119 is the best-selling fixed-blade knife at Amazon. None of the other Buck fixed-bladed knives come close (if I remember correctly); so perhaps because Buck sells so many they can afford to take less profit on each one, and maybe that wasn't always the case. That's the only explanation I can think of for the fact that eBay sellers think they can get high prices for this knife.
Lawrence
