BHQ Lum Tanto Sell-Off

I have half a mind to find one at a good price, expect it to have problems, and just ship it straight to Spyderco when I get it--or get the seller to ship it to Spyderco instead of me.
 
I finally got mine today, after a weekend and then snow storm delay. I am very happy to report mine is great! It has none of the issues that some others have reported. As well-centered as most liner lock blades (lock bar pressure in the closed position moves it slightly off center, but only noticeable if you look closely), no blade play in open or closed position, solid lock-up, no lock stick, opens and closes smoothly, beautiful grind, everything seems solidly put together. After waiting years for Spyderco to do a run of these, I am very pleased with the result!
 
I find it hilarious the excuses from the obvious flippers who bought just to resell and try to make a quick buck. I saw some idiot on FB Spyderco group saying he "accidentally bought two" and is trying to sell one, lol. Come on dude, who "accidentally" buys two $200+ knives?
 
I don't mind flippers. Hell, on occasion I'm a flipper, and I'm not ashamed of it. Who *doesn't* want to make a buck? You think that people walk into Rick Harrison's Pawn Shop and scowl at him for flipping merchandise? And what do you think that KnifeCenter, Blade HQ, GP Knives, and the rest are? These companies just happened to buy thousands of knives and then had buyer's remorse so they sell them? No. They buy the knives at one price and sell at a higher price, which, to me, is indistinguishable from flipping. We're all just tiny KnifeCenters, but without the return policy.

If you want to complain, complain to Spyderco or BladeHQ for selling the merchandise at below its market value. If they sold the red PM2s at $220, there would be no shortages and no flippers. Flipping for profit is a direct consequence of selling an item at a cost that is below market value, leading to shortages and a secondary market. This is straight out of macroeconomics 101; the item is not sold at the equilibrium point--where the supply and demand curves intersect, the point at which there is neither surplus inventory nor shortage.
 
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Not sure how much you could get out of it if you are trying to flip it right now. The market is flooded. $25 bucks maybe? Sell it on eBay and you lose money after the fees.
 
NinjaRyder0920 said:
QC appears to be all over the map within this run. I had 2 (sold at original or less than original price), one was absolutely perfect, the other was extremely gritty and WAY off center. Centering issues, gritty pivots, loose lanyards tubes all seem to plague various specimens within this run. Not sure if it mattered, but of the two I received, the one that was free of QC issues arrived in a bubble plastic bag inside the box, where as the one with QC issues arrived in a much larger, non-bubble, thinner plastic bag inside the box. If these all came from the Seki factory, wouldn't they package them all the same way, especially for being such a limited run? Just an observation.
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Seneca18 said:
I was actually just thinking about this, i've noticed some came in the bubble wrap, mine included and was relatively free of any qc issues, and others in the larger non-bubble plastic, i'm sure we're just looking into it too much, but it is interesting.
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This is very interesting, and concerning. I think someone should make a poll to get some real data. I didn't get one though so I can't add.
 
Sharperthansticks said:
I don't mind flippers. Hell, on occasion I'm a flipper, and I'm not ashamed of it. Who *doesn't* want to make a buck? You think that people walk into Rick Harrison's Pawn Shop and scowl at him for flipping merchandise? And what do you think that KnifeCenter, Blade HQ, GP Knives, and the rest are? These companies just happened to buy thousands of knives and then had buyer's remorse so they sell them? No. They buy the knives at one price and sell at a higher price, which, to me, is indistinguishable from flipping. We're all just tiny KnifeCenters, but without the return policy.

If you want to complain, complain to Spyderco or BladeHQ for selling the merchandise at below its market value. If they sold the red PM2s at $220, there would be no shortages and no flippers. Flipping for profit is a direct consequence of selling an item at a cost that is below market value, leading to shortages and a secondary market. This is straight out of macroeconomics 101; the item is not sold at the equilibrium point--where the supply and demand curves intersect, the point at which there is neither surplus inventory nor shortage.
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I actually don't really mind flippers, either, but I don't much care for people who only come on BF to flip knives. People who come here just for the sale forums typically don't participate in the community, and seem to have poor trading ethics and etiquette more often than those who came for the community and also use the sale forums, even if it's for flipping.

On your topic, too, flipping is a hazardous game because an individual seller is paying retail but must also cover shipping and Paypal fees in order to just break even. So on a $200 knife, even if the secondary market will bear $230 for an effective discount rate of 15%, you aren't really making a profit on a single flipped knife. Even flipping a super hot commodity like a DLT or BBS dealer exclusive PM2 in the height of the craze only gets you maybe $20-50. That's a good margin, but not really worth the effort to flip a single knife. For individual knives to be worth flipping, you need to be dealing in faddish customs or super-limited high-end productions.
 
Cscotttsss said:
I find it hilarious the excuses from the obvious flippers who bought just to resell and try to make a quick buck. I saw some idiot on FB Spyderco group saying he "accidentally bought two" and is trying to sell one, lol. Come on dude, who "accidentally" buys two $200+ knives?
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I don't understand this mindset either.

I bought 6 of the jade M4 military's that BHQ did. I didn't flip a single one, I still have all 6 nearly a year later. I don't expect I'll ever sell them. They are pre-need replacements for a knife I love.

My only point is, not all people who buy multiples are looking to flip. Some definitely are though, which sucks.
 
madcap_magician said:
I actually don't really mind flippers, either, but I don't much care for people who only come on BF to flip knives. People who come here just for the sale forums typically don't participate in the community, and seem to have poor trading ethics and etiquette more often than those who came for the community and also use the sale forums, even if it's for flipping.

On your topic, too, flipping is a hazardous game because an individual seller is paying retail but must also cover shipping and Paypal fees in order to just break even. So on a $200 knife, even if the secondary market will bear $230 for an effective discount rate of 15%, you aren't really making a profit on a single flipped knife. Even flipping a super hot commodity like a DLT or BBS dealer exclusive PM2 in the height of the craze only gets you maybe $20-50. That's a good margin, but not really worth the effort to flip a single knife. For individual knives to be worth flipping, you need to be dealing in faddish customs or super-limited high-end productions.
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I'm relatively new to the knife world, so I don't know what the average return on a flip is, though I do know that those people flipping red PM2s usually cleared $100 or more, if they were the original owner. I wound up buying one from a flipper with the unfortunate consequence that, because I paid so much for it, I can't bring myself to use it, because I think, "Well, isn't my blurple PM2 in S110V good enough? The minute I start carrying 'Red,' I can't get my money back out of it. Do I really want to sink more than $200 into a PM2 when I already have one?" And so it becomes something very uncommon in my collection: a safe queen waiting for me to make up my damned mind.
 
Sharperthansticks said:
I'm relatively new to the knife world, so I don't know what the average return on a flip is, though I do know that those people flipping red PM2s usually cleared $100 or more, if they were the original owner. I wound up buying one from a flipper with the unfortunate consequence that, because I paid so much for it, I can't bring myself to use it, because I think, "Well, isn't my blurple PM2 in S110V good enough? The minute I start carrying 'Red,' I can't get my money back out of it. Do I really want to sink more than $200 into a PM2 when I already have one?" And so it becomes something very uncommon in my collection: a safe queen waiting for me to make up my damned mind.
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Did they? I missed the boat on that one, I guess. I flipped a BBS M390 blue PM2 because I bought a spare, but I only made about $25 on that because BBS pricing is high to begin with. Whereas DLT's M390 red PM2 I suppose was only about $20 more expensive than a base model S30V one. I don't recall them selling for much over $180, but I suppose I could have missed the earliest mania.
 
madcap_magician said:
Did they? I missed the boat on that one, I guess. I flipped a BBS M390 blue PM2 because I bought a spare, but I only made about $25 on that because BBS pricing is high to begin with. Whereas DLT's M390 red PM2 I suppose was only about $20 more expensive than a base model S30V one. I don't recall them selling for much over $180, but I suppose I could have missed the earliest mania.
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Oh, man, you were not watching the sales forum. :-) Those suckers were (and probably still are, I think, though they're not listed nearly as often, now) for $220 - $240. They were a slow sell at $240, but they'd get snatched up at $230 all day long.
 
AwayFromMySpydieHole said:
I don't understand this mindset either.

I bought 6 of the jade M4 military's that BHQ did. I didn't flip a single one, I still have all 6 nearly a year later. I don't expect I'll ever sell them. They are pre-need replacements for a knife I love.

My only point is, not all people who buy multiples are looking to flip. Some definitely are though, which sucks.
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That's pure intensity.

I have bought ONE spare before and ended up selling it every time. Now that I think about it, I wish I hadn't sold one of them.
 
I'm of the mindset that if I am going to be buying to resell I need to make enough money that it's worth my time. I don't see spending the effort to be online at the right time, order, get it, list it, ship it for 20 or 30 dollars. I used to see that all the time with sneakers. Even as a side gig, it's not good money especially with most people not having the disposable income to do it in volume (and many etailers setting quantity limits).

Anyway, KUDOS to anyone who can make any money on a knife sale. I lose money every time (except once). Which, come to think of it, is an even worse side gig...
 
jceckrosh said:
I'm of the mindset that if I am going to be buying to resell I need to make enough money that it's worth my time. I don't see spending the effort to be online at the right time, order, get it, list it, ship it for 20 or 30 dollars. I used to see that all the time with sneakers. Even as a side gig, it's not good money especially with most people not having the disposable income to do it in volume (and many etailers setting quantity limits).

Anyway, KUDOS to anyone who can make any money on a knife sale. I lose money every time (except once). Which, come to think of it, is an even worse side gig...
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True dat. Whenever I decide to clear out knives that are just not working for me, I spend hours taking many pictures, cutting down to just the right ones that are the perfect balance of fair and flattering, assembling picture albums, writing the narrative, and researching prices. And this says nothing of the time spent responding to offers and buyers, packing up the sold knives, and continuing to communicate with buyers. The whole process takes me hours and hours.
 
I try and make a buck here and there but I have also given super good deals too. Flippers who contribute nothing to this forum but try and milk every knife release for every red cent irritate the hell out if me.

The instagram/facebook/reddit flipper crowd basically spilling over on to us.
 
Bought 2. Intended to keep 1 and flip 1. I've never personally seen a Bob Lum Spyderco in person before so I wasn't too sure what to expect, I loved the overall look of the knife and the steel being used. Once they arrived I was underwhelmed like many others. Blade centering was no good, both knives favored the show side. Knife was a bit larger than expected & far from flickable like my Manix or PM2.

Overall I didn't feel like I bought a $232.00 knife (Thanks VA sales tax!)
 
NinjaRyder0920 said:
QC appears to be all over the map within this run. I had 2 (sold at original or less than original price), one was absolutely perfect, the other was extremely gritty and WAY off center. Centering issues, gritty pivots, loose lanyards tubes all seem to plague various specimens within this run. Not sure if it mattered, but of the two I received, the one that was free of QC issues arrived in a bubble plastic bag inside the box, where as the one with QC issues arrived in a much larger, non-bubble, thinner plastic bag inside the box. If these all came from the Seki factory, wouldn't they package them all the same way, especially for being such a limited run? Just an observation.
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Mine came in bubble and is spot on. Might be on to something. As for flippers, I have seen a few go for over 300.. not a killing, but i guess they made a lil coin for a lil work.
 
Mine came in plain plastic sleeve and was very good. Nothing to complain about. I understand the frustration of those who got a dud, but I would not make too much of the packaging.
 
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