Busse secondary market

on_the_edge

on_the_edge

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Jan 31, 2006
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It seems "dead" to me. And I don't think the economy is the main cause. Of course, it does have some impact, but that impact is likely the same on the "straight from Busse" market as it is on the secondary market. From all indications, Busse Knife Co. appears to be fairing a bit better than the secondary market in terms of blades being sold. Still, the latest Ganza, for the first time that I know of, did not cause BFC to shut down.

I have my theories about why the secondary market seems dead, but I would be curious to hear intelligent, thoughtful responses from others here as to why they think the secondary market is dead, or even if they do think it's dead.

Let's see if we can keep this civil please with a minimal amount of cynicism and sarcasm. :)
 
I think it's just about the whole knife market in general. I've seen the prices of Hinderers drop quite a bit in the past year.

I just wish it would get a little deader so there wouldn't be as much competition when something I want goes up for sale. :D
 
Just a lot more Busses on the market now than in the past. Plus recent offerings have been posted a long time, I think the TGLB and LBAA have been up for a year if not a little more.

Plus recent offerings have also "killed" some classics. To a lot of people, the extra .5" of a FBM isn't worth a secondary market price compared to a NMFSH when ordered direct.

The last ganza mistress though was just pretty expensive, I think a lot of people are cutting down on their $800 safe queens

And knives in general have gone down, like Bobby said the price of production Hinderers have came down (customs are still doing good).

I just wish the price of the older stuff would come down, I'd love to pick up another SHBA for $300 or less :D

People are just watching their money closer, or they're recuperating from buying guns and ammo during the first third of the year
 
I think in earlier years a lot of people looked at Busse knives as a type of an investment meaning if they didn't use or like the knife they could often sell for a profit once it was out of production. To a degree this is still the case but I am seeing more and more people having to drop the prices to take a loss. So now you don't have as many people trying to make profit off the knives and people who do sell them are selling them for what they paid or less.
 
For me, I took a 24k a year pay cut to become a Police Officer. My buying came to a screaching halt and was only able to get a few blades due to some hogs working with me by accepting payments. That was also the last time I bought direct from Busse till recently ( the card they had on file expired in 2009) since then, I've had to sell a few to pay for my kids first trip to Disney World and a few trips out of state to see some old Army friends.....and a couple had to go for day to day expenses. But all that was expected when I took the job to be happy ....and broke.
 
IIRC, somebody around here once stated that they had accumulated a lot of Busse knives and that their knives were in fact their college fund for their kids. :eek: Not an envious position to be in given the market. I have also seen some folks boast that they have never sold a Busse knife below what they paid for it. Also, at least one person whose name will not be mentioned seems to make a living (though I confess it may not be a good living) selling Busse knives, Hinderers, and a few others at extremely high mark-ups.

It used to be that one could sell almost any Busse they had for some amount close to what they paid, at least if what they paid was reasonable from the start. What that allowed was a "feeding frenzy" of sorts where you could buy a knife to try it out and see if you liked it with little risk that you'd be unable to resell it if it wasn't your cup of tea. Folks were not driven by the profit motive so much as they just wanted to try out a new knife.

I don't the the motive to acquire has changed that much, but now--and this is my opinion only--it seems like there is almost an expectation on the part of the buyer that if they cannot get something for the bare bones minimal price, then it is simply not worth it. It seems like folks also might have a harder time understanding or appreciating some of the old school stuff. Why get an SHBM when you could have an FBM? INFI is INFI, right? Or is it????
 
Busse blades seem to be selling very well, when one goes up on ebay or this forum it's is almost always sold and usually fetching a nice price, I never hesitate to buy a busse I want because I know I can at the very least get my money back, even if its used. So I'm not sure what you mean

With that being said, busse is not a well known knife to the general public , knife enthusiast's like you and me know them well and wouldn't settle for less
 
I feel that Busse has done such a good job of producing what most people ask for at varying price points (Busse, swamprat or scrapyard) that many people have filled the niche they were looking to fill and then some.
 
Seems strong to me.

If anyone has a MOAB they are looking to be rid of, I've got $300 with your name on it :D
 
without a doubt a big part of it is the economy.ive been scared away from most of my hobbies due to the uncertainty of my job.
i havnt been able to buy a busse in over a year.I know a lot of guys who lost there job or were put on part time.its bad and not getting better imo.
the other part of it is busse producing more and more models lately.
 
Mikeynyc said:
Busse blades seem to be selling very well, when one goes up on ebay or this forum it's is almost always sold and usually fetching a nice price, I never hesitate to buy a busse I want because I know I can at the very least get my money back, even if its used. So I'm not sure what you mean

With that being said, busse is not a well known knife to the general public , knife enthusiast's like you and me know them well and wouldn't settle for less
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I just checked the FS forum. There are still posts on the first page from three days ago. Of 24 posts, 8 haven't even gotten a nibble (as in no replies at all). That may be a strong market to some, but I don't think it is anything compared to how it use to be in the old days.
 
Definitely the economy. Two years ago, I could pick up a couple extra shifts of ot & have that dough sittin' in the bank by the time I got the email from Amy-0 that whatever it was I got in a ganzaa was ready. Nowadays, I barely get any ot at all. Wife's in the same boat, and well, we don't make much for base pay. The only kin I've bought in well over a year was a dog dagger.
 
Imo most just depends on the model. Older stuff, customs(when buyin 2ndry) & the ergo line is certainly a buyers market. Fusions, sfnos(nms), aks, gladius, snakeskin, moab, always a buyer for those.
 
dericdesmond said:
Imo most just depends on the model. Older stuff, customs(when buyin 2ndry) & the ergo line is certainly a buyers market. Fusions, sfnos(nms), aks, gladius, snakeskin, moab, always a buyer for those.
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Absolutly, price as well, some people are asking to much sometimes , and if the knife used with a high price it isn't very desirable
 
I got into Bussekin about 2-3 years ago. Bought so many blades that my wife had to limit me to what will fit in a backpack (1311 sure do make things tough). I added up what I spent and it's right around $5,000. Yeah I have a few for sale but only so I can make room in my bag for some others I have on order. I can't say I know what it was like more than 2 years ago but I have been able to sell a bunch-o-blades without much trouble. Sure I have a few sitting on the exchange but I'm not trying to clearance them out either. I for one am glad some people have been letting them go cheap. Got me a BMe for $355 the other day. Saw an M9 LE for $225 which is well below original price. There is a line of people wanting that one. Who wants to put up a NMFBM or KZ2 for below original cost? I'll take both!!!
 
I wouldn't agree with "dead", but I do think that there's a few issues that are slowing things down for the moment. It's summer, family trips & plans take a front seat to knife buying, gas is on the rise for the foreseeable future (short term until end of summer or whenever Egypt resolves their political issues...or the oil co.'s stop using that as the latest excuse... :rolleyes:) so trips & commutes will take a bigger bite out of paychecks and bank accounts, and for those who spent for firearms at inflated prices now know that they won't sell for the same at this time. Not to mention that it's Summer, and many are out & about rather than watching the X for a deal, or knives on their want list to be listed right now. Pretty sure once Fall arrives, the market will revive a bit and pick up some momentum towards winter. :)
Of course these are just my quick thoughts on the issue, & YMMV. :)

As for Hinderer production models, IIRC, this has always been Rick's plan to produce more so that those who want to carry and use one have a better chance to get one at or somewhat near his price. As was said, the customs haven't slipped, so obviously the value of those hasn't changed much and are still highly sought after by fans & collectors willing to still pay to play.
 
I feel it a combination of factors.

When I compare the exchange here with when I first found Busse, it just seems like there are more options for sale.

I believe that Busse sales are higher direct than they were years ago.

The economy plays a role, but also people amass in waves. You get new blood that plays catch up, and over buys, reaches a financial glut and has to scale back.

Seems like a lot of the new blood gets into it thinking they will turn a profit, so they buy what ever they want, only to realize that they might not be able to flip and make money.
 
Seems things always slow down in the summer. The economy is IMO not improving and that is taking a toll. I also took a big pay cut when I took this job plus 25% of my pay goes to health insurance. Not having but one 2% pay raise in 5 years and that being more than taken away when the Bush tax cuts went away really hurts. Hope things do improve. I would really like to have a little disposable income again at some point,I would not make enough for my basic bills if it wasn't for my Para cord items I sell.
 
All valid points.

Another factor would be The Walking Dead, I guess that only someone form Busse could confirm this, but my guess is that there was more TGLBs made than any other model to date. And they have been up for sale for a year or so.

Also you need to look at US$ going up, last year we in Au were paying pretty much dollar for dollar, now it's about 1.2.
For me, there is a few more past models I am considering, but I know what I want to pay for them (been around the Busse/Kin for 2 years now).

Another thing is that Ganzas seem to be a lot more directed at direct sales than limiting number of non-LE knives.
 
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