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Buying knives on Ebay

Ebay has many dealers that are authorized and private sales of legit knives. They also have some that aren't, not that hard to tell the difference. Selling there is a gamble because of their policy of siding with the buyer. A buyer can return anything for made up reasons and send you back anything and ebay will refund their money. We used to sell there, but have mostly stopped due to a couple of bad buyers. Also, ebay and paypal are going to charge you right at 14% combined.

I totally agree. Now that eBay charges you more than 10% per sale - which is ridiculous - I try to steer clear. Plus the buyer is GOD.
 
eBay is as a good place to buy / sell. The protections for the buyer nearly eliminate any chance of getting ripped off.

Selling: Start the auction at $1 with no reserve and let it sell. Good pictures and good descriptions will pay enormously.

Buying: The most important thing about buying is understanding what the seller is "not" saying. Don't get bogged down in a bidding war; use a tool like phantombidder and just put your bid in days ahead of time so you don't get "excited" or give any shill bidders a chance to play with your bids.

The fees are not excessive compared to any other auction; although I would a lot rather they be in sub-10% area. But these fees will generally be recouped when you find more than one person that really wants an item; or in the event that you don't really know a good value for an item.
 
I noticed something odd on one I was watching. Take a look at the bidding history:
q8U_26g25OAXnQD8a1u18ECpaARKAnt6G8O4AnBZxnhbDDm2izKwuONd21I3cUipVGVayBqOm-5sSPKEsAs0n22vdzPiikFWvVDtNW4Ejy2aI2qbGKzAoi-brAiX4vtBKFsZSt1AvCvTFrDjll8yzvCc7rI1DXJEpBJ1a25Hm3W_vTegfzxE4R5F8rPiILVnTWvSZLXc35J0cEPCOXISCXr57x0XES4oStyG9NW8PJ90r3et95t_CfmlXGV6zniGsoN0SZyLofp3KnXzelepwHbEXEw7DCwVd_PjT5PLEQV6MWeh0NtpiypRbF0HTz00SfIYiNa54Nn2ueXPMvBcmYtb60KJ1PfkuftBP_lXDsQ0nFEBvNJQgpI5gxdLGyYy_7JFJ1ilmLBB-fUDVUwE9oP1sG4BqmzaG35bgvfQtbgwzVDkzjmuLACXRu55c0zvM6J9H-06PzLhhY1eVImT4OWTAv-7yUj6tX4XhkYrw4c4OHafHaz1RiHg3CXOawrc7NLnTk8h3O1TS9Yu2nwZymss--BmBQE530ebyaPUgWYkCO8Ou8uUXcBHbtd-uhTJTVp0TKsXJrQcRqV7xxpzHfR3zApO0sebKrIor_k5TTXZWiP0ftv-eiXf5Y_W3dux=w743-h701-no


Notice how it appears that in several places the same bidder is bidding multiple times, without anyone else bidding between them. Is that shenanigans, or is that part of how Ebay works?

If I didn't know better, I'd swear the seller is having his buddy bid on the item to drive the price up.

ETA - did some reasearch and that might be responses to "automatic bidding".
 
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Although your image is not showing for me - I see that all the time. I think it is just a glitch with eBay bid reporting as many times the same person will show with the exact same bid - that is not even possible.
 
I have bought a lot of knives off of Ebay only 2 problems both were corrected in a timely manner. I'm also a member of AAPK and there is a thread that on page 2 of the thread is a list of trustworthy sellers. You can find it HERE
 
Although your image is not showing for me - I see that all the time. I think it is just a glitch with eBay bid reporting as many times the same person will show with the exact same bid - that is not even possible.

I found out it's people responding to the auto-bid system. They are basically bidding against the system in real time. If I had clicked "show automatic bids" you would see what appears to be a back-and-forth between the systems.

Personally I don't understand bidding more than a few hours before the auction ends, at the earliest.
 
I have actually had fairly good experiences buying knives on e-bay but you need to know what to look for and have an idea of what a fair price is for a particular product. I have been pretty successful acquiring good quality knives at very favorable prices. That said, if you can find a knife that you are interested in on Bladeforums or one of the other collector sites, I think that is the safer way to go. Fellow collectors are normally more considerate of each other. I landed two CRK Sebenzas and a vintage Case stag Hobo knife all in near mint condition that way. Look closely at the pictures and ask questions. If someone doesn't answer in a reasonable time, move on.
 
Yep, stopped selling there when a buyer made up a story and refunded their money. They side with the buyer.

I quit using Ebay period when they charge super high rates, and make me wait 21 days after the buyer gets the item to get paid, and I do no returns and have a perfect seller rating.

Ebay is worthless imo. Plenty of places and aps to sell stuff without bs.
 
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I only buy on eBay - never sell. As I pay with a credit card, there is little risk. It arrives as describes or I contest the charges - successfully.

It is THE market for the old Boy Scout knives and puukot that I pursue.

99-100%eBay sellers very often give wildly inaccurate descriptions as the identity of knives (at best, WAGs) and no meaningful information as to condition of folding knives. (Multiple times such "excellent" folk fail to mention totally missing blades on folders.) I don't bid where the seller cannot bother to describe how the parts work and show that all the parts are present. Other "fish in the sea."

A list of descriptive words misused on eBay by "excellent" sellers would be a long one, starting with "antique." I passed on one "German, Swedish puukko machete bowie knife sword."
 
I've purchased dozens of knives on eBay...new as well as vintage. I've never had a problem. Most sellers are professional and honest. My favorites are bargains sold by non-knife people who don't know what they have. If you're too lazy to do a little work and research the value of what you're selling I'll happily take it off your hands for the pittance you ask. I've never sold anything because as others have said, eBay favors the buyers in disputes.
 
An old adage applies to buying anything on eprey --- "if you don't know jewels, know your jeweler".

Same applies to buying knives.
 
One seller gave as the "length" of the knife (khukuri) its circumference = length x2
+ width x 2. :confused:

EBay ruled for seller (years ago)(on the sole grounds that the seller said his measurement was correct), but Discover, which initially ruled in seller's favor ("Our customer reports his measurement was accurate.") was pounded into reversal.

I stopped using Discover.

Then there was the "excellent" Scout pattern that was rusted solid. It was a lesson on requiring good pictures or pass it by.

eBay meaningless word of the day: "rare."
 
Hey,

Your first sentence says you are considering 'selling' a few knives, but then you're asking buyer type of questions.

In case you want top sell:
I use eBay to sell the knives i don't use or need anymore with no problems so far. I use eBay because i live in Europe and it is not worth it for me to sell something back in the US, after the customs and the shipping i've paid, because i would lose a lot of money.

Some points to consider: eBay charges you 10% on every sell you make, and you also pay the PP fees.

If you lives in the US, i believe you should go with Blade Forums and cross list on Reddit Knife Swap as well, wwhich i've found to be another good knife community.

In any case, no matter if you buy or sell, always read the reviews and go with your gut. Whenever i was uneasy about a transaction but decided to proceed anyway, there was always a complication, not serious ones so far but still.

Hope it helps,
Christos
 
One seller gave as the "length" of the knife (khukuri) its circumference = length x2
+ width x 2. :confused:

EBay ruled for seller (years ago)(on the sole grounds that the seller said his measurement was correct), but Discover, which initially ruled in seller's favor ("Our customer reports his measurement was accurate.") was pounded into reversal.

I stopped using Discover.

Then there was the "excellent" Scout pattern that was rusted solid. It was a lesson on requiring good pictures or pass it by.

eBay meaningless word of the day: "rare."

Sounds like someone doesnt have the sense to buy things they cant hold, and has a lawyer-ly disregard for (obvious) problems with a listing. Sort of like you knew what you were getting into before you jumped, but jumped just to see if you could litigate your way back up the cliff.

Ebay is fine if you aren't blind or retarded. Or feel the need to screw people on your sales..
Now, it's not real economical for the typical '#lookatmetooalso! internet knifer what wants the latest insta-fad or assdrop feces every week, because sales fees will eat your lunch real fast there as a seller, and those are the types of things that folks sell fakes of to the #lookatmetooalso! blind, greedy masses.. (The scoops are coming! THE SCOOPS ARE COMING!...lol)

If you have a couple users to sell or are looking for the same to buy, ebay is fine. Axes? Ebay. Old folders? Ebay.

I've been 'got' 3 times as a buyer. Only once could I blame the seller. (Since they were a 'power seller', ebay just laughed off my misrepresented item claim, because "buyer is gawd", right?) The other two times i could have avoided, I went on the desire for the item instead of the meager sale listing info. It happens, especially in the antique market. I figure less than .25% of my ebay transactions going "bad" so far. Must be a terrible place.

90% of my buys and sells are knives, the rest gear. Maybe its the items and the crowd that buys them, but I haven't had any issues as a seller there either.
It's also quite convenient to not have to keep spending money on something when you aren't using it. You pay for that convenience, surely as any, but unless you're making this a business or a "self sustaining hobby" (also a business, as far as the platform used for your flipping should be concerned..) it won't damage you to sell things on eBay occasionally.
 
Although your image is not showing for me - I see that all the time. I think it is just a glitch with eBay bid reporting as many times the same person will show with the exact same bid - that is not even possible.
if you bid 10 and someone bids 9 and you decide to bid 14, eBay shows it as another bid of 10 in the Bid History. "Glitch"?
 
if you bid 10 and someone bids 9 and you decide to bid 14, eBay shows it as another bid of 10 in the Bid History. "Glitch"?

I don't really understand the scenario; do you have an actual link? But, I don't know what it matters if it shows your bid of 10 one time or fifty as long as you owned the bid and did not outbid yourself.
 
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