sorry to dredge this one back up, but I had another angle on the topic of the aftermarket being in the toilet;
So, yeah, it's possible that lots of people are going to liquidate their knives when times get rough, but here's the thing. I'll bet that a lot of knife folk really value their knives and will wait until the absolute last minute before they part with their knives- which are relatively liquid if you're prepared to take a loss.
Since most who sell in the aftermarket are looking for a profit, and to whom taking a loss is unacceptable, it follows that once the panickers shed their possessions for cash, the aftermarket might just dry up, since the hardcores will find other ways to make ends meet instead of selling their stuff at a loss.
Another way for the aftermarket to go down the toilet is for it simply to vanish, (for the most part) as opposed to values simply decreasing from an investment standpoint, which was what I initially was thinking about at the start of this thread.
This in itself could be a very good thing for guys and gals making knives, as there could be less competition from the aftermarket.
Does that make sense, or am I off my nut?
you just could not let this one fade away huh?
funny, the biggest prophets of doom seem to be people who have never spent more than $1000 on a knife....