Collectible Knifes that increase in value?

Which may increase in value ?

  • Total voters
    17
Sidehill Gouger said:
I've seen it way too many times. A guy buys customs he thinks are investments. He passes on unexpectedly and his family starts trying to sell his collection. Sharp eyed "knife traders" (I want to call them something else) call as soon as the news gets out and cherry pick what they have. The family then finds no one even remembers who the other makers were let alone wants to pay big bucks for them.
Buy knives you like and don't worry about their investment value. You will be happier in the long run.
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You don't even need to die to forget who the makers are or were. ;) Another issue is the steel that is used by the custom maker.... steel preferences change and that impacts value especially if the maker is still making knives. The blacksmith type bladesmith's (forged versus just getting a knife made by mostly cutting and grinding/material reduction). I think the the knife forgers have a longer following especially if they are considered very good at their craft. And I agree with the last statement above.
 
Not long ago there was a Todd Begg prototype for sale on eBay for $3,000,000. Most consumable items depreciate, that's why I use what I buy and buy what I'll use.

As far as the knives listed, I'm not sure any will appreciate.
 
Out of the ones on the ballot, I’m betting the Sebenza will by far hold its value better than others. Also:

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make for a very poor investment unless you get a whole sh!tload at a steal of a price and sell when in high demand.

It’s the wrong hobby to “invest” in, but a great one to simply enjoy. Kick back and buy what you like.
 
AntDog said:
Out of the ones on the ballot, I’m betting the Sebenza will by far hold its value better than others. Also:

image.jpg
make for a very poor investment unless you get a whole sh!tload at a steal of a price and sell when in high demand.

It’s the wrong hobby to “invest” in, but a great one to simply enjoy. Kick back and buy what you like.
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Damn skippy. I agree 1,000%
I buy what I like. The last thing I want to do, is worry what other people think about what I bought or worry I won't be able to get every penny back that I paid for it, much less it appreciate!
Shucks, it's like ya say, it's just a good hobby to kick back and enjoy.
Although, the way I look at re-sale is pretty much what the market says. And, if I buy a new Hinderer, keep it for 3 months, then loose $75 - i just try to think of it, as I rented it for $25 per month. - just an example. I just don't get upset over it.
 
Not among your choices, but pretty much any GEC sells for more (sometimes not a lot more) on the secondary market than when first released.
Some, but not all, out of production Case, and vintage pre-war Remington knives.
All the US made Schrade family of knives (Schrade, Old Timer, Ulster, Camillus, Hammer Brand, NYKC“ sell for considerably more now on the secondary market than when they were new, should you find one at a yard/garage sale or estate sale for cheap.
A Randall fixed blade will cost you a small to medium fortune, but I doubt you'd lose any money on one. Worst case, you'll (probably) break even.

As another poster has stated, buying knives for an investment is not a "good" idea.
I'll go further and say "Buying a knife for an investment is almost as bad an idea as buying a "classic"/vintage/antique vehicle, or a house or other building that has to be moved."
 
Noob82 said:
Do you think the CKF fif20, satori, snafu, Rotem designs collaborations will increase in value once sold out ?

which knifes increase in value over time??
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By increased value, do you mean a positive change in the face value as our currency continues to be debased. The knives we purchased 30 years ago for $100 may be selling for $200-300, but the $300 will still buy you a smaller basket of goods than your original $100 did at the time of purchase.

Also, you should consider your ability to sell. There are good sales people who can sell just about anything at a profit; but, most of us don’t have the skill nor infrastructure to make that happen. There are costs to selling, and those costs in time, risks, shipping and marketing need to be added to the original price of the item, before you can calculate your profit.

For most of us, knives are entertainment, and as such, it is a good form of entertainment since it allows us to recover some value. It is much harder to think of it as an investment. Have the orders you placed properly time the market? How much should you spent on storage and maintenance? How about sales fees, consignment or auction fees? Is your goal really to become a knife dealer?

n2s
 
Unless you're willing to treat it like a second job, my answer would be don't worry about it. To make any real money at it, you've constantly got to be eyeballing trends, and trying to find deals here and there. By the time you calculate the time invested, etc.... it's :(.

Whenever folks start thinking about knives as investments, I tell them to buy a stack of knife magazines and books from the 80's, early 90's, look at who and what was hot then price them now. For every Loveless or Al Mar, there are dozens of once popular, very fine knives that can be picked up for much less than their original sales prices.
 
P.S. - Also, while it's boring work, if you plan on keeping a big collection, journal your buys for later identification with pictures and a description of what they are, and a honest price range (update this every few years). You might know what you have, but to 99.9% of the regular world, they're just "knives".
 
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History says the CRK Sebenza will likely increase in value to at least some extent, but over a pretty long period in most cases unless you are talking about extremely rare models. Certain Sebs are going to increase faster than others, as certain ones are in higher demand. A plain Jane Classic Sebenza that is 10+ years old in brand new condition can easily sell for more today than it did new...but you would have had to hold and carefully maintain the knife for a decade to make at best a few hundred bucks profit, which when you factor in inflation and selling costs you really aren't making as much of a profit as it seems.

A Classic Sebenza with discontinued inlays or discontinued damascus blades will easily sell for a good bit more than it did new. If you go back further, BG-42 Regular Sebenzas sell for a lot more than they did new. Super rare CRKs like the zebra damascus knives sell for thousands more than they did new. As to which CRKs are going to see the greatest increases...well, it depends on the buying preferences of people of the future, so who can say? Further, that's just based on historic trends, so a lot of other factors could impact whether values increase (or change course and decrease.)
 
Noob82 said:
Do you think the CKF fif20, satori, snafu, Rotem designs collaborations will increase in value once sold out ?

which knifes increase in value over time??
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Of the ones you mentioned I would say none. You may get lucky every now and then and have a discontinued model that someone is willing to pay a premium but that's blind luck. Buying any collectible with the idea that you may get appreciation is a very challenging endeavor. To be specific in knives your best bet is to have a name that is universally recognized so the ones you mentioned do not fit this criteria. An example that will hold and or increase in value and has been proven as such would be Randall Made Knives. Even with Randall you must keep to what is widely sought after and avoid paying a premium on the initial purchase. Randalls also have the benefit that they can be used (not abused) and this usually does not detract from value and often will increase it. I have made money on knives but I rarely buy for that purpose and never for that purpose alone. I do buy on occasion with that in mind if first, I really like the piece and I feel I might sell it later for a profit. I don't ever do this because I need the money, I do it because it makes the hobby more fun and can in some ways justify and self finance the hobby.
This to me makes it more likely I won't fall into the trap of having bins full of knives that I can get only 1/3 of what I paid and viewing the whole thing as a waste. I don't want that so making money or breaking even on a knife every now and then helps keeps the hobby fresh for me. I will give a couple examples of knives I bought and sold for a profit. One was the very first Mean Streets model by Busse knives, I owned the knife for years and just enjoyed that part of it then later sold it for more than five times the original price. Another was a military EOD knife I bought one day for $150 and sold several days later for $300. Another was a full custom tactical folder by Pat Crawford, this one I bought and carried for about 3-4 years then sold for about $100 over what I paid. Why did the custom hold it's value you might ask as many customs don't. The reason was this was a very popular style by a known custom maker. It was a tanto blade, bolstered, CQC6 inspired folder of very large size so it had lasting widespread appeal. So my suggestion is try to keep an eye for something you really like and you may own for a while and sell for a profit. IMO it will make the hobby more enjoyable for you in the long run.
 
Correct - don't buy knives as an investment. But, when one has limited $$ and can only buy one of the several knives that are of interest, it is wise to pick the one that holds value better than others. That's why I voted Sebenza.
 
If you are into buying and selling (aka collecting without attachment to the knife), I would suggest if you do acquire a knife that you know doubled in value, sell it and buy another for the next round. This way the knives turn into cash profit and you re-invest the profit into your chosen collecting preferences. Gun dealers do this..... their whole purpose is to make money and not necessarily save things long term. Let others do the long term thing. The price you pay matters little as you sell them for more soon afterwards and repeat the process.
 
The intent for me of the thread was to understand in general if there are "knives" that do appreciate as they are collectible and can help in justifying some of the high prices should you need to sell. I do see a lot of the knives as pieces of art and like art if rare, hard to obtain and desirable can increase in value.

It would be nice to know that should I receive a knife and decide it’s not for me I can still move it on and continue the endeavour into the hobby and so feel comfortable in dropping $500+ and not fear of it becoming a paper weight. As a few stated earlier making $100 isn’t life changing or the intent, but consistently losing hundreds can make the ability to try different knives difficult.

All great points and a good discussion, interesting stuff!
 
If you assume you will get about 60% of the price you paid retail and you're comfortable with that, than you can buy and sell. Generally speaking, it is a loosing game and for most of us it's a hobby and we're not buying with the purpose of resale overall.
 
I’ve got a couple of BG42 Sebenza’s that I bought many years ago that are probably worth twice what I paid for them as well as a bunch of old school Vero Beach MTs that are the same. Never bought them as a investment, it just happened. Never, ever look at your hobby as a investment, it’s happens, but it’s rare
 
ArchVV said:
Honestly, I would buy multiples of popular GEC and Northwoods models and slowly sell them off. These have a very low initial price and can be sold for up to twice or thrice their base value. You see this happen very often on the traditionals sale exchange. If you have something even remotely desirable, it will be gone within minutes (nearly regardless of price) of posting with very little or no haggling.
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Yep. All the comments of "Take" as people struggle to be the first to claim it.

Then you see some of them on Ebay days later.
 
I don’t buy the new color Alox Vic they release every year, but I think they wouldn’t be a bad investment. Sure you’re not gonna get rich, but I have seen them sell higher than what they originally cost.
But yeah, in general knives are a bad investment.
 
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