Dealers: What's the deal?

Yeah, Im well aware. However, Just because Jerry preferred things be done a certain way doesnt mean Spark isnt in control, ultimately, he has the final say. Not sure I get your post.
 
I guess I haven't been around the forum long enough to understand all the inner workings. It's fun learning though!
 
This is one of the pet peeves I have when i first got into Busse.

More Busse's are listed here than anywhere else,and it is nearly impossible to get a "going rate" for a knife when the prices are taken down.

I guess it's a good thing because the lack of being able to gauge price fluctuations has kept a LOT of money in my pocket.
 
Arakiel said:
dericdesmond,

AFAIK, this is Spark's forum site. It is Spark who should decide what is acceptable, not Jerry. Bladeforums would not dissapear without the support of Busse/kin. Perhaps it would suffer in sponsorship, but it would survive. It should be considered a privelidge to conduct business here, not a right no matter how much funding has been contributed. The day that Busse has the support to dictate is the day that Bladeforums becomes Busseforums and should change ownership to the latter.
Correct me if I am wrong.
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Bladeforums exists because it is paid for. When it is no longer able to be paid for it will no longer exist. Currently a portion of the funding is brought about by advertising and by membership fee's, both of which are powered by traffic, which is driven by quality forums and manufacturer forums that offer services that are not available elsewhere.

If spark disregards the quality of the experience of his supporters he is doing a disservice to them and their efforts to keep this forum alive. If he see's a situation where it is not something that he feels particularly strong about, it is in the best interest of everyone involved to ask the opinion of those who have a direct interest in the issue, in this case thats Jerry and the dealers. The dealers wanted greater visibility in the main busse sales subforum in order to keep their sales at a level that makes the higher priced dealer membership worth it, and Jerry has to deal with public opinion backlash should it occur as a result of the change.

Spark is not releasing any ownership, command, or responsibilities by this decision - he is acting as a quality owner and moderator of this forum by taking multiple parties opinions into account and looking for the best possible compromise .
 
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TheBladeMaster said:
It is rape if the victim is 17 or under even if it is consensual.

What I'm getting at here is that newbs to the forums, even after research can't find the price information on certain knives. Say your new to the site and want this custom shop knife because you think it looks sharp, you can't find a price of one anywhere so you pull the trigger and buy one from a dealer thinking that you are getting a good deal because it's from a dealer. A month later you find out that you payed a $300 markup. Not that this is my experience buying my first busse or anything...

All I'm trying to say is that if you want to make money off knives. Either become a knife maker or get a shop where you get production knives wholesale...

Or just do what you want it tis after all a free country...

No hard feelings to anyone.
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I'm sorry, but that's crap. Everyone here is an adult or at least old enough to know how to get creative on looking for the info if they want to. You had to learn how to speak read & write to communicate, right? You had to learn how to use a computer to access the Internet and this site, yes? ...Then finding info on Busse knives should be easier than any of that.

There are at least 2 Busse resource websites...
www.hogcult.com
www.bussecollector.com
...Where most models' original prices are listed. And most original prices are in this forum somewhere. Ganza prices are left up, new model's prices are discussed...Search is your friend. The only real hole in this is knives at shows...usually the one-offs...as multiples are known by more than one person, and usually discussed here at some point, at least enough to know who to ask.

Many, MANY members here are willing to help n00bs find the info and provide advice.
And, just because a member removes a price from the thread of a sold knife doesn't mean that this person won't share what it was to those who ask nicely in private...it doesn't hurt to ask. The worst you'll hear is no.

It again boils down to this:

DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

No one here is gonna hold your hand, but most will gladly show you the way. We all have to learn, not just the new arrivals.
 
Has anyone ever tried to buy a highly coveted Busse on E-Bay?

If you have, you probably know things can get outta hand real quick as far as price escalation. I think the forums here are an infinitely more hospitable way of buying/selling Busse knives.

But as a casual observer and nascent Busse/Swamp Rat fan, I will say that some sale prices are too high here, some are too low (if that's possible, whatever Randucci's cutelus sold for, it was indubitably too low IMO). But as a buyer, you ultimately get to make the call. So, if you think something is too high - don't buy it. That simple.

Me personally, I've resolved not to purchase anything from the secondary markets. Unless, it's a ridiculous deal, say a BAIII LE for around $250. Why? Because I am rather miserly. And I am very patient. The bottom line is this, JB is always crafting wickedly cool stuff, the key is you just gotta be patient enough to wait around for it to become available to the public via ganzaas and shows. If you miss one ganza, be patient and wait around for the next. And if possible, don't fall in love with any particular model.

Another piece of advice a friend of mine gave me was, buy models even if your not crazy about them on the initial run. For example, I can't understand for the life of me why there are still RMD LEs left at the Swamp Rat company store. I guarantee that in 12 months from the day they finally sell the last of them, they'll be selling at $50 to $100 over the initial asking. So, if you really want model x, but it's not available right now, buy something from the company store (especially LE models) that is available and sit on that for awhile until model x comes back or something similar to model x comes back.

I don't know if this makes sense to everyone, but this is how I see it.
 
Last Visible Canary said:
Bladeforums exists because it is paid for. When it is no longer able to be paid for it will no longer exist. Currently a portion of the funding is brought about by advertising and by membership fee's, both of which are powered by traffic, which is driven by quality forums and manufacturer forums that offer services that are not available elsewhere.

If spark disregards the quality of the experience of his supporters he is doing a disservice to them and their efforts to keep this forum alive. If he see's a situation where it is not something that he feels particularly strong about, it is in the best interest of everyone involved to ask the opinion of those who have a direct interest in the issue, in this case thats Jerry and the dealers. The dealers wanted greater visibility in the main busse sales subforum in order to keep their sales at a level that makes the higher priced dealer membership worth it, and Jerry has to deal with public opinion backlash should it occur as a result of the change.

Spark is not releasing any ownership, command, or responsibilities by this decision - he is acting as a quality owner and moderator of this forum by taking multiple parties opinions into account and looking for the best possible compromise .
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Thankyou. This clears it up for me. Spark wisely chooses not to micromanage the subforums. Gotcha!
 
The only real hole in this is knives at shows...usually the one-offs
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My first busse was a bladeshow custom 1 of 2... A dealer got me more ways than one on this knife it appears...
 
The thing that annoys me the most, and I've posted about it before, is when the price is removed.

As a seller, and buyer, this prevents me from doing research and due diligence when I am looking for a fair price to offer and ask.

At least once a week I get frustrated that a price is not left in a thread - not just here but on a lot of forums.

The only forum where it is discouraged by mods is candlepowerforums and I have always been thankful for that. They got it right.

I think I just might start a thread that has the original shop price for each model, so at least we have some sort of benchmark without having to leave the forum and do research on hogcult or bussecollector, if they even have the model listed - it might also serve the newer guys who might not even know where to find the original prices or where to start... I know it would be too much to ask to have a sticky added covering this...


.
 
TrailWolf said:
I think I just might start a thread that has the original shop price for each model, so at least we have some sort of benchmark without having to leave the forum and do research on hogcult or bussecollector, if they even have the model listed - it might also serve the newer guys who might not even know where to find the original prices or where to start...
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That would be helpful, and both of those websites lack a complete price list for all models.
 
TrailWolf said:
Thank you.

Just started getting a list together. I'll start with the bare-bones CG pricing and take it from there...
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I need to start doing research into the last 2 years worth of models to update the acronyms list as well.... so much new stuff.
 
Last Visible Canary said:
That would be helpful, and both of those websites lack a complete price list for all models.
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Yes they do (ETA: lack a complete list), but even as is, they're very helpful. If we take a few minutes to send info to the folks who update them as we find it, they will keep getting better. :)
 
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TrailWolf said:
I think I just might start a thread that has the original shop price for each model, so at least we have some sort of benchmark without having to leave the forum and do research on hogcult or bussecollector, if they even have the model listed - it might also serve the newer guys who might not even know where to find the original prices or where to start... I know it would be too much to ask to have a sticky added covering this...


.
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I was thinking of doing the same thing. I haven't yet because it is a daunting task.
Also, it occurs to me that a starting price has nothing whatsoever to do with the current market value. As always, prices on rare commodities continually push the envelope of what the market will bear. The only thing the current average price has in common with a starting point is that it is usually (but not always) chosen to maximize profit margin.
What I see when looking at the Busse phenomenon is a boatload of marketing genius to compliment a unique product. Jerry is a smart little bugger.
 
Arakiel said:
I was thinking of doing the same thing. I haven't yet because it is a daunting task.
Also, it occurs to me that a starting price has nothing whatsoever to do with the current market value. As always, prices on rare commodities continually push the envelope of what the market will bear. The only thing the current average price has in common with a starting point is that it is usually (but not always) chosen to maximize profit margin.
What I see when looking at the Busse phenomenon is a boatload of marketing genius to compliment a unique product. Jerry is a smart little bugger.
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It does, though. If you know it then you know more than you do without that piece of info. Granted that it isn't everything you want or need to know, but it is a good starting point. From there, you can take into account how long ago was the offering, how much (or little) folks rave about that specific model, were they common or rare, what combos they were in, which of those combos are sought after more, what is the X sale price that can be found of any and how long ago was it sold, etc., etc... You won't always get the full picture, but even partial info can help much in the final decision to jump on a specific knife or let it pass. :)
 
How about a sticky “This is my Busse and this is how much I paid for it”?

Personally I don’t care if a seller keeps his asking prices after the sale. Basic 7 was the only knife I paid the asking price for (the fact that the knife was sold at no profit to the seller sure helped, but that’s a different topic about knives enthusiast moving on vs. people looking to make a buck). Final prices for other Busses came as a result of bargaining with sellers.

By frequent those boards a buyer should be able to recognize a good deal from a “Sunday retail” in a short time, not to mention the pleasure of looking at often very nice pictures of Busse knives.
 
I have bought Busse knives on the forums that were tremendous bargains.

I have bought Busses on the forums that were high priced.

I have never bought a Busse that was overpriced. If I bought it then by definiition I did not think the price too high. If I chose not to buy it and someone else did, then by definition it was worth the price to him and the transaction was none of my business.

If I want a knife and am willing to pay the asking price to get it then what other identical knives sold for is irrelevant.

I have sold one Busse, and traded two. The one I sold was overpriced to me because I would not have bought it for what I sold it for, but the other guy approached me and offered a price that to him was reasonable or he wouldn't have offered it.

A seller of one knife only neeeds one buyer. If he finds a buyer that is willing to pay the asking price, then they both should walk away happy, regardless of what anyone else thinks about the price.
 
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