Advice on how to grade used knives?

D

DeadManWalking

Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
442
I'm thinking about purchasing a Gold membership and selling off about $300 worth of various production knives I don't really need anymore.

Almost none of them have box/papers, but with only 2 exceptions they have seen gentle use. Most of them were designs I just didn't care for that someone else may like better.

I tried to search and see if there was an objective way to "grade" the knives but couldn't find anything useful. I unfortunatley do not have a scanner nor a camera so text would be my only descriptor. I want to be as accurate as humanly possible because I want to have a solid rep if I ever try to sell any more knives.

The problem is if I write an essay on each piece everyone will think that particular knife is junk and no one will buy squat :p

I have decided if I do this I will offer anyone that buys anything a week to try it out. This is because I don't have any way to show what they look like. If they don't like it they can send it back and I'll refund it.

I'm not out to make a lot of money I just want to get something out of them. They're perfectly useful knives and someone who would appreciate them more should have them. Really I could trade the whole lot for a couple Spydercos and be happy.

Any advice on how to approach this?
 
Pretty much any photo-processing place will provide you with a CD with digital versions of your pictures. So if you have access to a camera that'll get you in close enough you can take the pics and get your CD. You'll just have to make sure you can get those digital pictures to 800x600 pixels in resolution or you can't upload them. You could even buy a disposable camera, but I don't think you can get in close enough with one of those.

If you can't do pictures I'd say just give a brief description. I've always thought the percentange description thing was pretty bogus. 95% vs. 90%, not so meaningful. Maybe go with very good, average, and beat-to-sh*t, and include the worst and best features of each. Mostly, I think people on this forum are pretty realistic. And if you're offering a money-back warranty, that should put them at ease. The only time I insist on a picture is when I'm buying something that's used and costs several hundred dollars, or a custom or mod.

Who knows, maybe you live close enough to one of the forumites with a camera that you could get together for a photo shoot. Where y'at?
 
I'd prefer not to say exactly where I'm at on a public forum. Let's say somewhere near Austin Texas. I'd also prefer not to go meet in person someone I met over the internet. I love tech but there are some things even I'm not comfy with.

I do have a pretty good conventional camera. I didn't think about having a photo place "develop" pictures to CD. That may be what I do if I decide to go through with this.

The items are a mix of tactical folders and good "users" that just haven't seen much use so I think it's important to be accurate here. It's a lot of low end to mid range stuff, very practical EDC types; it's not like I'm selling an expensive custom but making it right is very important to me regardless.

Good advice Ritt. It would be a while before I actually pursue this because really I wouldn't exactly clear a lot of profit on this transaction, but I could probably score enough to get a new knife I would actually use and appreciate out of it.
 
When I'm buying a user from someone my main concerns are:

1) Edge quality - major dings or chips that you can't sharpen out.
2) Lock up - does the blade wobble in any direction and if it's a liner lock how far over the lock travels on the tang.
3) Modifications to the knife by the owner - coating removed, handle reshaped, etc...

If it's been used I pretty much expect the clip and blade to have scratches and more often than not it's going to need to be sharpened. I agree with Ritt that the percentage thing doesn't mean a whole lot. Just state the condition and the facts and you should be good to go. Photos aren't all that important if its a common knife like a bm710 or Spyderco military, most people know what they look like and if they don't pics are easy to find.

That's my 2 cents :)
 
If the pics are a bridge too far for you I don't think it's a big deal. If they aren't customs most will know what they are or can pull up a pic of the design on the web.

Sure you're honest and an honest description is fair enough in my mind. Especially, if you're going to offer them an inspection period.

Biggest advice I can give is do them all at once. Could roll them into a nice trade that way or at the very least save all those trips to the post office :D
 
I don't think anyone would be dissuaded by a lengthy description. In fact, if it's not NIB, I think you ought to describe how much it was carried or used and any visible wear, especially to the edge. No one is ever going to complain that you described the knife too accurately!
 
What Julian said. If pics of the actual knives aren't possible, describe each and every part of the knife as accurately as possible.

I've gotten away from using near-mint, ex, vg, etc... type descriptions because they are very subjective. One man's excellent is another's vg, etc...
 
blade - PE... never been sharpened... very light scratching on the blade...
lock - liner-lock allows a little side to side blade-play, but the lock does not fail under any normal conditions i've used it for... someone who knows what they're doing could take it apart and bend the liner to engage more forcefully...
handle - a couple marks from drywall on the scales, could clean out with a small pin...
clip - some light scratches and one heavy scratch from hitting myself in the hip with a car door...
overall - knife is in solid condition... everything's tight, aside from a small amount of side to side blade-play from the linerlock... blade still shaves hair... been cleaned regularly...

etc etc

just be honest, let everyone know what's going on with the knife... let them know if a blade has been reprofiled or any cosmetic/physical changes like that... whether it's a plain edge (PE), serrated edge (SE) or fully serrated etc...

that's what i like to read about when i'm thinking about buying...
 
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