Can you make money collecting and re-selling knives?

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When I spend $1000+ on a DDR, that money is spent to build a knife specifically to MY needs. If I were to sell it, I know I will lose money because MY needs are different from most buyers.
 
I've bought and sold a lot of knives. I would have made a lot more money if I spent as much time working at McDonald's as I did buying and selling those knives. The short answer to the OP's question is "no". Technically, you may make a little bit of money, but not enough for the time investment necessary.
 
It is fairly easy to make a little money by flipping Spyderco sprint runs, as they almost always go up in value. The blue G10 Manix 2 that I bought for $125, and sadly later sold, now sells for $200+. Sprint run (as distinguished from "dealer exclusive") Para 2's and Militaries almost always go up in value. But I think that the buying and selling of these knives is best done just as part of the fun of being a knife nut. Its not a reliable way of generating a little extra cash. I often buy 2x knives from one sprint run - one to keep, fondle and use, and the other to hoard and possibly sell some day. The thing is, I love to hoard them more than sell them, so they end up staying in the Powernoodle Arsenal rather than getting turned into cash.
 
I am all about the free market. However, I consider Blade Forum to be a tight knit community mostly made up of "friends". If I was to try to do something like buy a knife just to resell at a large markup, I wouldn't do it on blade forum. To many guys here are doing nice stuff like giveaways and sharing valuable information for free. I wouldn't feel right trying to make a buck off of them.

That said, I did buy a extra BK15 because it got me free shipping. By the time I subtracted the shipping cost off the already low price of the knife it was dirt cheap. I figured I'd hold onto it for a while and then sell or trade it for something I liked better. It's the only time I've bought a knife that I didn't intend to keep or give away. I'm not looking to make a lot of money off it, I just thought it would be something good to trade down the road if they ever do get discontinued. If nobody wants it, I'll just hold onto it as a spare.
 
What this "profit" you speak of? I think that's just a myth.

On 90% of the knives I've sold, I've lost money on. That isn't a direct result of the market however. I honestly enjoy giving people good deals, and I like when my knives sell quickly. I've sold probably 50+ knives over $500 each, and I doubt if any of my knives lasted more than 20 minutes on the exchange. There's been quite a few times I could have made money, but there's no reason to. Giving someone a chance to get a really great deal, is worth more to me than the $50 bucks I'd be making.

To answer your question - Yes, you can make money. I'm knowledgeable enough to know instantly if I can make a small profit on a knife, but It's not my cup of tea. You have to be just as learned if you expect to make any money - There's usually no time to research values if you expect to flip knives.
 
I don't necessarily agree with the idea of flipping knives for profit but if I were to do it I would feel most confident in my ability to resell Jerry Busse's knives. People sell them USED at an incredible markup. If you want to make money buy some of Busse's knives and wait till they stop being produced then flip them on Ebay for almost double. Or use the hell out of them and get your money back and then some. His knives probably have the highest resale value. At least out of any of the knife makers I know.
 
There is something I think the guys saying it cant be done arent thinking about. That is just which knives you are selling. Sure buying any old production knife at retail and expecting to do anything but lose money on it is pretty stupid. But if you know the market and watch current trends in the hobby such as which knives are being hyped and which of those is in short supply its relatively easy to make money on them. You just have to be patient and have reserve funds. Most times I see people losing money (myself included) is a lack of patience. But you also need to know what to buy. You arent going to make money on a CRKT you paid full retail for. Hell you arent going to make money on it even if you got it for 40% off. But If you wait for the latest ZT Limited edition and strike when the iron is hot the second they dry up you will most likely turn a profit if you know when the right time to cash in your chips. Heck even certain full production modesl you can make a killing on because people dont want to wait for the next run of them to get one. If you are a casual buyer and seller and are moving your knives just to acquire a different one, sure you are going to lose. But if you goal is to make money you can do it. You just need to do your homework and be patient.
 
I'm definitely guilty of flipping knives, but generally the money I make just goes into other knives. I don't think you can make a good profit - maybe 10-15 bucks a knife profit on production knives, a lot more on customs if you're lucky but you can make some cash. I flip most knives not for the profit aspect but to get my hands on things I'd normally not be able to. I have zero knife stores around me so its awesome to buy a knife and play with it for a week and then sell it and not lose money. Heck, half the time I lose money but its worth it to me. Instead of reading a review for a paramilitary 2 and a ritter griptilian, I can just get both and play with them and sell one. I did that for about 2 years and played with a ton of knives. Lately, I've been trying to build my collection so I've been flipping knives to get rarer ones. I traded a hinderer for a laconico for a strider custom that I really wanted. I wouldn't have been able to find the strider normally but I had a knife the other guy wanted.. etc..etc..


Cliffs: Yes you can make some money, but its really not 'profitable' for 9/10 people, so just enjoy the knives.
 
Go to garage/yard/estate sales. People sometimes sell knives that belonged to a deceased father, husband, etc. But people don't always know what they are selling, or what they are worth, or they really just don't care.

I had a friend who bought an old Randall for $20 at a yard sale. It was sold by a woman who's father had carried the knife during his tour in Vietnam. My friend told me that he suggested that she keep it because it probably meant a lot to her father (it was in great condition), and he suggested passing the knife down to the man's grandson when he was old enough, but she expressed no interest in doing so and said she just wanted to get rid of all her fathers "military junk" as she called it. So my friend had no problem offering the $20 and walking away with the knife.

Damn lucky bastard. At least the knife went to someone who appreciates it, and it's history.
 
I used to sell knives at a table at gun & knife shows around the time the internet was just beginning but not everyone had access like today.

The only way to consistently make a profit is to become a dealer for a company or two and be able to buy them at lower prices, than sell them at a mark up. You have to mark up a certain percentage to stay competitive and in that the lower overhead the less you can sell for while still making a profit. This is the reason behind Benchmades new MAPP policy. Some require you to have an actual brick and mortar store.

Aside from that you can buy used and make a profit. The more profit you make from people the better you do. Some people love this, some aren't cut out. The best salesman I know honestly feels every penny you have belongs to him and it's a matter of getting it. This guy can make people thank him for taking their money. I personally don't want to live like that.

Buying hot knives, sprints etc. can be done but it's hard to do it at a level making a living or anything more than that. It's not even as large a market as antiques.

Best bet is to get a job and keep this as a hobby, picking off the occasional low hanging fruit from peoples misfortune:(.

Joe
 
I collect Buck 112's and know them fairly well so I know when I run into a great buy. That is the only way you can make any money or even build a great collection at a reasonable cost. So the answer is yes you can but only if you are willing to spend and invest your time in learning the market and the customers who will buy from you.
 
powernoodle said:
It is fairly easy to make a little money by flipping Spyderco sprint runs, as they almost always go up in value. The blue G10 Manix 2 that I bought for $125, and sadly later sold, now sells for $200+. Sprint run (as distinguished from "dealer exclusive") Para 2's and Militaries almost always go up in value. But I think that the buying and selling of these knives is best done just as part of the fun of being a knife nut. Its not a reliable way of generating a little extra cash. I often buy 2x knives from one sprint run - one to keep, fondle and use, and the other to hoard and possibly sell some day. The thing is, I love to hoard them more than sell them, so they end up staying in the Powernoodle Arsenal rather than getting turned into cash.
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I started collecting knives about three years ago. I've acquired around 90 knives so far. I'm thinking about putting some up for sale. I know I will lose money as these are not customs, sprint runs, or discontinued models. The few sprints and discoed knives I own, I want to keep. But when I start looking at my collection I feel an attachment to each knife and decide to hold on to them. I guess if I was pressed for cash I'd be a little more motivated. More recently I've been focusing on quality rather than quantity so selling a bunch of cheaper knives to free up some money to buy higher end models might be in my future.
 
Steven R Gerard said:
I started collecting knives about three years ago. I've acquired around 90 knives so far. I'm thinking about putting some up for sale. I know I will lose money as these are not customs, sprint runs, or discontinued models. The few sprints and discoed knives I own, I want to keep. But when I start looking at my collection I feel an attachment to each knife and decide to hold on to them. I guess if I was pressed for cash I'd be a little more motivated. More recently I've been focusing on quality rather than quantity so selling a bunch of cheaper knives to free up some money to buy higher end models might be in my future.
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You are also responding to a thread that the last post was Oct of 2016! Just saying, since you only have 2 posts . . . But welcome to the forums :)
 
Depends. Look how hard the Hinderer market tanked. Right now you'll have a hard time selling an XM-18 for $325. Most of us remember seeing them at Shirogorov prices, if you were lucky enough to find one. You'd really need the perfect specimen and buyer. Anyone who collected CRK or Micotech in the early 2000's is having a good time though. Those early Socoms and Sebenza's did pretty well I'd say.

The only company outside of those two I'd "invest" in (even the fake forum investing) for long term resale value would be CRK, Microtech and Shirogorov. Short term, there's a knife store close to me that sells ZT and Benchmade far enough under MAP that if you had the free time and motivation you could make a little lunch money or a "free" knaf here and there. Maybe $20 per knife after shipping fees and materials.
 
I did the $20 or so thing with guns, have no interest in money like that unless I just want to get rid of something. I did the gun thing at shows frequently buying and selling on the same day. That's behind me, but it was fun.

GEC traditionals are pretty collectible and right now the re-sale market is very good because demand outstrips supply.
 
Collecting and buying/reselling are two radically different things. Like others above, I’ve been involved in buying/reselling some types of items over the years. My experience is that playing the Ebay flipping game can be a route to making modest money sometimes, but you can also get your tailfeathers badly burned. All it takes is one bad buyer to start crying about how never got the item or it wasn’t “as advertised” and he shipped it back to you (which he didn’t) or some other such cockamamie lie and you can end up out the item, the price of it and with a nice big black mark on your Ebay vendor history to boot. I suspect there are a lot semi-professional bad Ebay buyers out there who probably make more money more easily and quickly by doing their thing than a lot of the vendors make by trying to be honest. Overall, I think the risk outweighs the modest potential profit for most of us.
 
Yes! You can certainly make a small fortune buying and reselling knives... you just have to start with a large fortune :D

(it helps if you skip the part about paying attention to trends that are 2 years out of date, too)
 
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