Buying at a discount.

S

severtecher

Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
3,179
How many of you shop for the cheapest price or do you shop your regular online suppliers?
I am almost 70 and told myself and my wife I am done buying knives. Anything I buy is being funded by selling my other knives.
That being said I have purchased 5 EDC knives since October. (Shhhh)
I have save 41% by shopping around. I bought from 4 different Bladeforums vetted suppliers so I use that for justifying the purchases.
I will carry all the knives so they aren't just safe queens.
One was $21,down from a $52 MSRP. Sorta got that just because it was so cheap.
The last one I bought I have had on my wishlist for 2 months. It goes everywhere for about $190. I sold a blade on the forums last Thursday for $180 then looked on one site where the price dropped to $142
overnight. I applied a coupon code from a YouTube reviewer so I paid $128. Good karma I figured. This one I told the wife about so she said get it now before it goes back up. I did so and the next day the site said the item was sold out. Lucky me.
Tell us about your smokin' deals.
 
I "shop around" but most of the knives that I want to buy now are exclusive, limited, discontinued or custom made. So, generally, if I want it, I'll just buy it w/in my set max of $500/knife because there aren't many (if any) other sources for it.

BTW, If you're an LEO, 1st Responder or Military (active duty or retired), Spyderco will give you a 50% discount on 10 knives/yr (use to be unlimited until people kept abusing the policy) under their OpFocus program. Check it out, if you're eligible.
 
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I’ve found buying on the secondary market is the way to go, specifically here on the exchange. Especially when buying midtechs like crk, Hinderer etc because you can get them at a discounted price and they’re quite often near mint condition. I really like that they will hold their value in case I don’t like them or sell to fund a another purchase.
 
severtecher said:
How many of you shop for the cheapest price or do you shop your regular online suppliers?
I am almost 70 and told myself and my wife I am done buying knives. Anything I buy is being funded by selling my other knives.
That being said I have purchased 5 EDC knives since October. (Shhhh)
I have save 41% by shopping around. I bought from 4 different Bladeforums vetted suppliers so I use that for justifying the purchases.
I will carry all the knives so they aren't just safe queens.
One was $21,down from a $52 MSRP. Sorta got that just because it was so cheap.
The last one I bought I have had on my wishlist for 2 months. It goes everywhere for about $190. I sold a blade on the forums last Thursday for $180 then looked on one site where the price dropped to $142
overnight. I applied a coupon code from a YouTube reviewer so I paid $128. Good karma I figured. This one I told the wife about so she said get it now before it goes back up. I did so and the next day the site said the item was sold out. Lucky me.
Tell us about your smokin' deals.
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"I bought from 4 different Bladeforums vetted suppliers"........I am brand new to this forum and shopping for automatic knives. Is there a place on this forum that lists those vetted suppliers? Always looking for a bargain.
 
miqie said:
"I bought from 4 different Bladeforums vetted suppliers"........I am brand new to this forum and shopping for automatic knives. Is there a place on this forum that lists those vetted suppliers? Always looking for a bargain.
Click to expand...
They are not "vetted" as such...but dealers who have paid to be able to list their offerings here.

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I like waiting for sales from well known, authorized online dealers (so i don't get fakes) that don't have sales tax.
 
I shop around and try to find the best deal from reputable dealers. If its a legit dealer, best price gets the sale. For example looking for a k390 version of the delica, most everywhere was 120 plus but Midway had them on sale for 103 I think it was.

I am very concerned about counterfeit products, especially buying spydercos as I've heard they are a highly counterfeited knife. So no buys from the 2 Day shipping online conglomerate from me or the online auction website. It's very hard to distinguish between a real and counterfeit knife if fit and finish is good. But you cannot verify blade steel or heat treat, so to me the only way to verify is buying from reputable vendors.
 
Sticky said:
I like waiting for sales from well known, authorized online dealers (so i don't get fakes) that don't have sales tax.
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Let's not go down the road of identifying businesses based upon sales tax practices. This forum does not promote any activity which does not follow state or federal law.
 
miqie, When I said vetted I was actually referring to the "FEEDBACK The good, the bad, and the ugly" section ". I always refer to it when I see a site unfamiliar to me.
 
Blues said:
Let's not go down the road of identifying businesses based upon sales tax practices. This forum does not promote any activity which does not follow state or federal law.
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Understood Sir & I'm not naming names but that is a huge deciding factor in my purchases. Depending on location, there may be no tax laws broken anyway.

I generally always buy "New". That's probably why I always lose $$ when I decide to sell, lol. It's really hard for me to buy someone's used knife. I mean it has to be pretty flawless for me to consider it. With that said I do my best to find deals but sometimes, when I see something I want I just get it.
All in all, Good-standing dealers I have dealt with before, with great cust service + competitive prices(+ the no-tax thing) + free shipping >after a certain amount spent, are all deciding factors for me.
 
I think I've only paid full price for a knife about 3 times in the past couple years. Right now I'm abstaining from watching the secondary market because it seems like I find a really good deal on a knife I want, almost every time I look. I've realized that if I just don't go on the different knife exchanges, then I won't be tempted, and can appreciate the knives I have more. That said, I have got some very good deals, both of the exchanges and a few from dealers. Some off the top of my head include a used Bugout for $25 in a package deal and a Microtech Socom Elite for $150 new from a dealer.

I used to bet on a knife raffle thing very often and won some insanely nice knives. Knives that I would never ever pay the money for if I had to buy them outright. I really came up on some cool knives that way. However I also paid quite a bit betting on them. I've come out ahead so far and stopped betting completely for a few months. I just started dabbling a tiny bit again the past week and just won a Sebenza 31 magnacut unique graphic friday 😮
 
I have certain dealers that I tend to stick with. I don’t mind spending a few extra bucks if need be to support the people who I’ve come to trust over the years. That being said , I have no problem trying a new dealer if they have in stock what my regulars may not. But I always start with my 4 faves.
 
Some manufacturers have a minimum advertised price (MAP). Authorized dealers are allowed to sell things below MAP, but they cannot advertise things below MAP. An advertised price that is below what most dealers are advertising is often a sign of a scam.
 
I purchase knives because I like them and can afford most of what I want if I budget for it. I prefer to do that over hunting out a deal. I get those that price shop, and that's fine. For me, as a small business guy, I tend to just pay what they are asking. It irks me when my place of business gets the screws put to it because someone can get something somewhere else $4 cheaper. I can come down the $4, but that's $4 off my family's plate. $4 I don't have to give to raises. $4 I don't put toward the insurance we provide for our staff.

I am lucky to have a LKS where the owner is a customer of mine as well. Good guy, fair prices, and the only dealer with 100 miles of microtech. I could shop around, but he has never done me dirty and I know profit margins on knives are razor thin (no pun intended). The same could be said the handful of times I shopped at Spark's shop in Louisville. Once I find a place for my higher end purchases, I stick with it.
 
sgt1372 said:
I "shop around" but most of the knives that I want to buy now are exclusive, limited, discontinued or custom made. So, generally, if I want it, I'll just buy it w/in my set max of $500/knife because there aren't many (if any) other sources for it.

BTW, If you're an LEO, 1st Responder or Military (active duty or retired), Spyderco will give you a 50% discount on 10 knives/yr (use to be unlimited until people kept abusing the policy) under their OpFocus program. Check it out, if you're eligible.
Click to expand...
Same here. I need to thin the herd, so I'm going to let go of some Damascus Mnandi's as soon as I get off my butt and write the ad. I'm keeping my customs for now.

At 74 I'm only going to buy a super-grail (a Lochsa or Borka or Herman micro-sting). I want to make it easy for the wife to sell my knives when I ascend to whatever non-physical realm exists. I'd tell the wife to bury me with my knives but I'm getting cremated :eek:.
 
I tend to go to the places when I am shopping for knives and pretty much anything else online.
 
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