Can you make money collecting and re-selling knives (part 2)?

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I sold off my Carothers Field knive, I bought it on the pre-order list for $250.00 and when I saw the going rate on these was around $400.00 I sold it for $350.00. People were eager to buy it and I got to spend the money on a new Busse that I had ordered. I do only sell to fund another knife am not looking to get rich lol.
 
It takes discipline, more than anything. For a while I had a side business selling used knives that I would recondition as necessary. My trick was to never buy anything for more than $20, and it had to be something I could make at least $20 on.

Call it my 20/20 rule.

It was often hard to stick to this rule, because my own passion for knives got in the way. But I did make some money. Not much. And even so, I still have dozens of knives on hand from this endeavor, partly because I don't want to part with them.
 
I don’t buy knives and guns to make money. I’m pretty picky about what I buy and only buy what I actually use. That said, I’ve been lucky enough to make a good profit from most thing that I’ve bought and sold. I’m into 1911s, HKs, AKs, sprint run Spydercos and BMs.
 
treat it as a hobby and making money is secondary. if you have the time, do estate sales and small town auctions. in small town auctions you may have $1 boxes, bidding starts at a dollar for a 12 pack sized box of stuff. have done ok filling up tool box with c clamps, hand tools, and some ok kitchen knives. a lot of the old 'country stores' are going away and sometimes these can have mint condition older knives.
 
I don't buy knives to make money -- been successful there. But I do like to give and get fair prices.

Sadly, most sellers on the forum now remove prices so that it's much more difficult, if not impossible, to establish a fair market for everyone. Bad practice. Those sellers are deliberately making it difficult for non-predatory buyers and sellers.
 
Twindog said:
I don't buy knives to make money -- been successful there. But I do like to give and get fair prices.

Sadly, most sellers on the forum now remove prices so that it's much more difficult, if not impossible, to establish a fair market for everyone. Bad practice. Those sellers are deliberately making it difficult for non-predatory buyers and sellers.
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I'm relatively new to collecting (compared to many here) and always felt like a noob asking, but what is the reason people delete prices after their knives sell? I guess I had always thought it was a BF rule...
 
Roamad said:
It takes discipline, more than anything. For a while I had a side business selling used knives that I would recondition as necessary. My trick was to never buy anything for more than $20, and it had to be something I could make at least $20 on.

Call it my 20/20 rule.
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Good rule of thumb if you buy with the intention of selling. Otherwise, I think you're wasting your time. But it's a hobby for me. The trick is recognizing the knife or knives that you can make money on re-selling. It is not always a lightly used Randall from a garage sale for $50.

I think deleting the final sales price should be a sin. How else are hobbyists able to determine an asking price for their knife if it is no longer made? But what people say is the sales price is between the buyer and seller and hence private.
 
22-rimfire said:
I think deleting the final sales price should be a sin. How else are hobbyists able to determine an asking price for their knife if it is no longer made? But what people say is the sales price is between the buyer and seller and hence private.
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I agree. Further I will add that issues arise after sales. What was the agreed upon amount? I dunno, they deleted it and no way to prove it. It doesn’t matter what is being sold. The listed price is public and should remain so. If it sold for less than the stated price then that is between the seller and the buyer but the last posted price should remain. If other agreements were made in pm, then those communications should be considered private. And how bout those rocket scientists that delete the entire post and pictures and change the listing title to SOLD. They should be excommunicated from whatever religious organization they belong to. Let me get down off this soap box or I won’t stop.
 
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I buy my knives for the pleasure in the hobby of collecting. I don't sell my knives, although I have grabbed specimens out of my collection to gift to others.
I did sell off a previous collection I had, which included knives, but it was more of a "get rid of" situation because I was getting divorced and mostly just temporarily lost my interest in the hobby.
As for making money off of them... I am certain it can be and is done, but there are a lot of variables.

Example one: You buy an older 50 to 100 year old knife. The brand/maker is known. Let's say it's one that is rare to find and it's condition is excellent to almost mint. Sure, assuming you paid a fairly low price for this knife, you should be able to sell this knife for a good profit. Only so many were made, few are found, and it's great condition is even scarcer.

Example two: You recently purchased a nice knife (new or used) that was made 20 years ago. It's in new to maybe great shape, but many were made. You paid the going rate for the knife. It's not rare, it wasn't cheaply purchased, and it's of fairly recent manufacture... So likely not a money maker there.

Too many variables to list, but I think that it simply depends on what you got, and how sought after it is.
Heck, it could have been free, you having found a Bowie type knife in the dry attic of your newly purchased house. The knife was kept in a box, and it seems to be in 95% condition. You take some pics of it, place them up on an online forum, (let's say Bladeforums), and many chime in to tell you that your Bowie was likely made during the years 1855 to 1865 in Sheffield England, and that it's a beautiful specimen likely worth a good amount of cash. You wind up getting more info on it, and wind up selling it for 10,000 U.S. dollars.
:)

Almost any knife one has today, new or old, that is in nice shape and handed down, will someday be looked upon as a "back in the day" knife. So, while you may not make any money off of them, feel content that maybe some of your great great great grandchildren will have some of your knives, and that some will be worth a pretty penny in that future time... Of course these offspring may not know what a penny is/was, lol! ;)
 
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For the most part, you will lose money over time buying knives as an investment. There are rare exceptions, but knives, to some degree, are like technology. Makers are continuously looking for ways of improving their products; be it with exotic steels, scale materials, locking/opening mechanisms, etc. Remember, with time the cost of materials goes down - even the most exotic stuff. If people want it, then suppliers will source it. When this happens, you realize that the once expensive knife with the fancy carbon fiber scales and S30V steel just isn't that rare anymore.

I see knives for sale on the secondary market with steels that used to be unicorns, but now have become common place, and these pieces don't sell. In these instances, the seller can expect to see a 30% - 40% loss. Basically, knives are terrible investments.
 
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Think about how you buy..... If someone is reselling a knife. You want good deal right. Why expect any different from someone else ?
To sell at a profit........
1 Getting the knife at price that you can't lose.
2 The knife must be unused in mint condition with box and papers.
3 The knife must have a high market want and increasing in market price. ( Not in production, low numbers made, antique, etc
4 I think a better way is trading. No worries about money and you both get what you want.
5 Anyone buying retail and thinking that they will make a profit dreaming.
You are either a buyer/ collector or in business to make a profit. Rarely are people able to do both.
 
BillZee said:
Think about how you buy..... If someone is reselling a knife. You want good deal right. Why expect any different from someone else ?
To sell at a profit........
1 Getting the knife at price that you can't lose.
2 The knife must be unused in mint condition with box and papers.
3 The knife must have a high market want and increasing in market price. ( Not in production, low numbers made, antique, etc
4 I think a better way is trading. No worries about money and you both get what you want.
5 Anyone buying retail and thinking that they will make a profit dreaming.
You are either a buyer/ collector or in business to make a profit. Rarely are people able to do both.
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I disagree. I don’t think that any of that is relevant. The key issue is can you sell? Do you have the personality and skills to be a great salesperson?

The gifted few who can sell iceboxes to eskimos, will sell anything for a profit. But, most of us lack that level of skill (ruthlessness and drive). So most of us will not make money selling knives.

n2s
 
The gifted few who can sell iceboxes to eskimos, will sell anything for a profit. But, most of us lack that level of skill (ruthlessness and drive). So most of us will not make money selling knives.
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An old friend of mine - Steve - and I worked at a car dealership in the truck sales department. Steve had a gift for sales. One day, we were standing outside in the lot just BS'ing. Steve is watching some guy walking on the sidewalk on the other side of the road. He looks at me and says, "I'm going to go sell that guy a car" & off he goes across the street. Two hours later, the guy is driving off the lot in a used car. That was back in 1984 & to this day, I'm still amazed at Steve's ability to pick up on whatever it was he picked up on.
Anyhow - to answer the OP - you can make money at anything if you have that ability.
Spark (Kevin) - the guy that runs this place has done really well for himself in the knife business. I remember him from back in the days that he didn't know anything about knives & he couldn't have cared less about knives. Heck's sake, he wouldn't probably have this place if the guy that started the forum hadn't bounced Spark's paycheck way back when!
 
It’s like asking the question “can I be President?”

well - technically yeah....you’re a citizen of the country so you CAN be President...but what are the odds...

anyone who has been collecting long enough will tell you that putting your money in a savings bond or any other traditional investment vehicle will outperform any knife investment, unless you’re sitting on a box of Loveless & Moran pieces
 
I always see buying knives are like buying cars, unless you are in (2nd hand) knife/car dealing business and you know the market perfectly well, it is almost impossible to expect the value of a knife/car to climb when you re-sell it.
 
I find myself buying... trying ... not getting that warm fuzzy feeling..... selling/trading. Then REPEAT!! But, I NEVER buy with the intent to make a profit. I make enough to keep the ball rolling.
 
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