Any knife dealers out there notice less sales from gun shows since last year?

I can't get past 8-15$ admission to go pay the same price as I could at CABELAS! Last 4 gun shows I went to had no deals. Everything priced higher than local gun shops and actually right around Cabelas prices. Which in my opinion is terrible. So I now don't go to any.
 
A lot of junk and conspiracy wacko stuff at the one I went to in Lexington Saturday, but there were a couple of good vendors. I spent 30 minutes with one explaining to me about all the John Primble knives he was selling, and he also explained a lot about the Primble I had in my pocket (it turns out it is way older than I thought, from the 1940s). Then I went to another vendor who wasn't pushing me to buy anything, was super responsive to all my questions, showed me any knife I asked about, and offered me internet pricing on all of his stuff. Ended up buying two Esees and a TOPS from him. Really nice guy.

Then there was the guy who tried to sell me the folding knife shaped like a handgun, mixed in with about a million tables filled with cheapo pistol grip shotguns and mp-5 clones.

More bad than good overall, but it's a fun way to waste time and look at what's around. Sometimes it's fun just to see how shitty some of the stuff is, and overhear all the "experts" spouting their completely book and internet-learned opinions.
 
The economy as a whole is faltering. Unfortunately it has to get worse before it gets any better.
 
As mentioned before, I have never seen a good deal on a knife at a gun/knife show. I traded an Endura that I had "waved" plus a little cash for a camo Millie once, and was happy with the trade.
 
Haven't been to a gun show in a couple years. I used to attend a couple a month and travel up to 500 miles to attend. Shows are still crowded from what I gather, so I guess somebody is buying something.

I have purchased a number of handmade knives at gunshows, a few Randalls, and a few SAKs. The custom guys might have a table. I view it as much advertising as them trying to sell there. This is especially true of relatively new knife makers.

This year I have attended two knife shows and no gun shows. Kind of shows where my interests are moving. If I go to shows now, it is mostly for something to do or a day's activity. In the past, I really looked forward to certain gunshows.
 
The Gun & Knife Shows in my area did well during the ammo & powder shortage. Fetching premium prices. Now, that large retail out lets are stocking these items the demand is lower. And show prices have not adjusted accordingly. Then to compound matters, cities offer several shows a year. Thus, attendance has dropped. Patron's are thinking, 'no problem, I'll make the next one.' DM
 
^^^this^^^

Compounded with the idea that gun show sellers are attempting to compete with big box stores at a ridiculously low price points, but yet touting "support local" while slinging imported junk. WHY?
 
Quiet said:
I haven't EVER seen good deals at gun-shows or flea markets (or at brick/mortar stores).
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You have not been looking to hard or are looking at a very limited selection of goods! Perhaps you are looking at just new knives?
 
Personally, I have found some good deals from time to time at area gun shows. It is a great avenue to look at all types of guns, knives, etc. I think the key is you have to shop around and talk to the folks. I always enjoy that part. And really for $8, where are you going to get 2 hours(or more) of entertainment? I often go into the show not really looking for a specific thing; but a good deal - you would be surprised what you can find. Knife prices vary by vendor. Some high some not. Again shop around.
 
Knife only shows have dropped off dramatically. I set up at 2-3 shows a year, and if it is a 2 day show, the attendance on the first day is pretty good. The 2nd day it is nearly dead. The problem is everyone seems to be tire-kickers, they all want to hold the knives, and then walk away. It's not just my stuff, I talked with other vendors and it's pretty consistent. Actually, most of the sales seem to be dealers buying from other dealers. The only hot sellers are the under $20 junk table knives.

Gun shows are a whole different story. I've quit even buying a table for them, they sales hardly ever covered my cost.
 
I used to attend a lot of gun shows but have cut way back for many of the reasons stated. I tend to travel to only larger regional type gun shows now.
 
I'm gonna agree with everyone. I'm not sure it's been said, but concerning flea markets I think the opposite of gun shows has happened. Now that everyone has access to the internet, they can all easily, freely, and quickly check prices on their products. The problem is, the internet is full of collectors like us. So when a flea market vendor sees that we will often pay high prices for vintage traditional knives, they then Mark up every traditional knife no matter how abysmal the shape or questionable the origin to a ridiculous degree.

To the OP, I'm in the Pittsburgh area. If you tell me where you display, and have good prices, you might have a customer.
 
I have a local knife maker and "wholesaler" whom I go to the shows to see from time to time but there are only 3 or 4 knife tables and I have all of the guns that I need/want covered. That being said, it is fun to go and handle some merchandise. I have seen the same thing at coin shows lately mostly dealer to dealer transactions unless you know them.

The thing that I really want to emphasize is get to know your local dealers/players, I get good deals from them because they know me and I do business with them. They buy a LOT off knives at 40-50% of their resell value and you can get them priced right if you take a little time to get to know them and they consider you a buyer. YMMV

I do consider the $10+ entrance fee ridiculous but it is worth it if you take the time to get to know the players.
 
I've noticed that some dealers at local gun shows have been offering some great deals on Benchmade and Kershaw knives. I'm more into slipjoints and bushcraft style knives these days, so I didn't oblige. Looked like they were moving on to the Mtech and other junk brands instead of the high end stuff.

I see a lot of disgusted faces when they find out the price of a knife at a gun show. Someone walking down the aisle with a $1500 sport rifle, will balk at buying anything either than a super knife or gas station knife.

Of course there are dealers that won't budge, some dealers think they have gold, you could have the exact same knife in the exact same condition and they'd call it a dog turd. I can think of a few dealers that actually carry high end knives and will make a deal, but I have bought from them in the past.

I used to travel the gun shows, trading a ton of knives. Trading knives for guns is crazy. One year, I sold knives to a couple dealers at a show in December, they were buying their Christmas presents from me after selling a ton of ammo, guns, gun parts etc. I bought myself a rifle for Christmas. Right now, ammo and surplus firearms seem to be the big sellers. If I had any available $, I'd be looking for good deals myself.
 
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acphillips3 said:
I can't get past 8-15$ admission to go pay the same price as I could at CABELAS! Last 4 gun shows I went to had no deals. Everything priced higher than local gun shops and actually right around Cabelas prices. Which in my opinion is terrible. So I now don't go to any.
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I refuse to pay an entrance fee to spend my money! I will not pay for the opportunity to spend my money, just seems ridiculous.
 
knifehunt said:
I refuse to pay an entrance fee to spend my money! I will not pay for the opportunity to spend my money, just seems ridiculous.
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I understand, some of the promoters can get crazy with the entrance fees. I sold a few knives at a recent VFW show, and got to see some buddies I don't normally see outside the shows. If the entrance fee is being given to a charity or a VFW, American Legion, Moose Lodge etc, I'm all for it. However, at a gun show, I am there to see prices, have a good time, and if I find a great deal on a gun, knife or gear, I jump on it. It's more of a social experience for me. BTW, the prices are coming back down. You can't haggle at Cabelas, you can at the shows.
 
The entrance fees are sometimes the only thing benefiting the club or department hosting the show. My local rod and gun club does this. They host a show, but the regional promoter takes most of the table fees from the dealers so the rod and gun club makes money from the entrance fees. The club however also sells raffle tickets....and with every raffle ticket bought, you get in the show for free, so it makes it a good deal to spend the $10 at having a shot at winning a gun and getting in for free rather than paying the flat $7-$8 charge just to walk in the door.

Now on the subject of knives at these shows, they're mostly all cheap overseas made crap that no one really cares about because they all understand that a $12 liner lock is much more useful as a paperweight.
 
BubbaGump said:
At gun shows, there is also always someone sellIng beef jerky so nasty looking that not even Grizzly Adams would eat it.
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This really made me laugh! Earlier in the year I was back in Texas and went to a gun show for old times sake and was amazed at the amount of beef jerky for sale. I know a lot of folks in the last few years have jumped into knife making thinking it's a Get Rich Quick thing. Now it looks like they are moving into Beef Jerky too.

Is there some "How to make Beef Jerky and Sell it at Gun Shows and Get Rich" blog out there? If so it must start out with "Steal a real old, slow cow..." because a lot of that jerky looked like it came off the set of The Walking Dead.

Gun shows are not like they used to be in the late 70s when I lived in Dallas ... did I ever tell you about the time I was at a gun show in Market Hall when some guy a few aisles over picked up a rifle off a table, aimed at the ceiling (thank God) and pulled the trigger, firing off a round? Really echoed in Market Hall and that guy sure did have funny look on his face. Ah, them were the days...
 
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