Does anyone have luck selling knives (those big bulk lots)?

J

jredmond3

Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
3
hey,

newb here but i was watching that goofy late night cutlery corner show and while alot of what they sell seems sort of bad they've also got those bigger deals of like 200 knives for $200 that seem reasonable. there's a nearby flea market and it seems sort of like it wouldn't be that hard to make some money on those at like $3-5 a piece, and maybe more for some of the bigger ones.

i was just wondering if anyone had any luck with that. i was just thinking that it wouldn't be too bad of a gig to go on weekends for 4-5 hours and maybe make a few bucks. i haven't been there in a while but i don't remember too many people selling them though (it's mostly just bootleg DVDs they sell)
 
While it would be a good deal for those selling junk knives at Flea Markets I suppose a lot of people aren't too into that whole thing. Though there are several selling cheap frost knives and such for low prices. They're likely getting much more than they paid.

I personally wouldn't do this. I'm into quality knives and wouldn't feel right selling people junk at inflated prices. Although that's how a lot of people make a buck these days.
 
I did this years ago before I got into decent knives. I think I spent $240 on a metric s-ton of crap and it was a HORRIBLE decision.

I went to 3 or 4 different swap meets and sold like 3 knives! I was charging less and less. I traded the lot of them for a few decent knives. Sat on those for a few years and traded them for some really nice knives.

Overall I really recommend against it.
 
I use to be a dealer selling at the flemarket. I recorded one of those knife shows. I went and check my prices against there prices and found out I could do the same as them. I wanted to sell name brand and good knifes. not scap metsl made into knives.
 
Strigamort said:
I did this years ago before I got into decent knives. I think I spent $240 on a metric s-ton of crap and it was a HORRIBLE decision.

I went to 3 or 4 different swap meets and sold like 3 knives! I was charging less and less. I traded the lot of them for a few decent knives. Sat on those for a few years and traded them for some really nice knives.

Overall I really recommend against it.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Cutlery Corner type stuff?? Just wondering, most of the stuff they sell is junk in my opinion. "This one here is such&such bone" even though there is no such thing?? :D I wouldn't try to buy or sell. BUT there is the occasional well thought out one that is worth the money you pay for it. I'll sell a few occasionally, usually not trying to sell them. Occasionally I'll barter for them. I have a few folders right now I'm planning on taking up to the local pawn to turn into a decent fixed blade.
 
Strigamort said:
I did this years ago before I got into decent knives. I think I spent $240 on a metric s-ton of crap and it was a HORRIBLE decision.

I went to 3 or 4 different swap meets and sold like 3 knives! I was charging less and less. I traded the lot of them for a few decent knives. Sat on those for a few years and traded them for some really nice knives.

Overall I really recommend against it.
Click to expand...

I went to a couple of shows over several months where a trader did something similar. The prices were $15 - $50 at the first show and down to $5 - $20 at the second show. It looked like they had about the same number of knives both times. A couple of months later CL had someone trying to unload a bunch of knives @ $4 each. By the time you pay for your table, gas, etc. you loose money. Now if you are doing it to get out of the house and meet people then it might be worth it.
 
?
Bo T said:
I went to a couple of shows over several months where a trader did something similar. The prices were $15 - $50 at the first show and down to $5 - $20 at the second show. It looked like they had about the same number of knives both times. A couple of months later CL had someone trying to unload a bunch of knives @ $4 each. By the time you pay for your table, gas, etc. you loose money. Now if you are doing it to get out of the house and meet people then it might be worth it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think the only way to really do it and make money would be to use craigslist, but I would assume at some point you would saturate that market. Every person I've ever seen try it ends up with a boatload of junk knives left over.

I saw in my Smokey Mountain knife works catalog where you could buy 15 different "tactical knives" for $29.99. Doesn't seem that hard to at minimum break even but is it worth the hassle?
 
My time is worth more per hour than I can make buying cheap knives in bulk and trying to flip them to an uneducated knife buying public for profit.

Paying for the tables, gas to and from, time value of money - just not enough juice.

Also - like others have said here - I would rather deal in higher end knives with a more educated buyer. After all, it's a hobby for me, and I haven't been successful yet trying to turn something I enjoy doing into a profitable business venture.
 
I thought about that as well, but there were at least two other vendors doing the same thing at the flea market I frequent and most of their knives had been sitting so long outside on display that the handles and logos had been severely faded by the sun. I also thought about the fact that if I had only spent about $1 per knife, the retailer that sold them to me must have made a profit and what does that say about the knives I would be peddling? Between quality/material build concerns and the lackluster condition of the unsold mass of knives already there, I figured it probably wasn't worth it.

Not to mention my conscience in selling those kinds of knives to an uneducated public.
 
I have saved a few buddies some dissapoinment by putting together a business plan for their easy money ventures. No offense to your idea. They quickly realized how fast they would be losing money and be stuck with merchandise they could not unload. You should do the same to really understand what you are getting into. Its a really simple, fast, and cheap way to determine if a profit is to be made and the numbers don't lie.

Now spending endless hours supporting the sale and marketing of goods that you have a high interest sounds like fun. However, it will soon turn into at best a hobby that costs you money or worst a reminder of how much more you would be making if you spent the same amount of time at a part time job.
 
I bought a lot of 400 knives for $250 bucks online a few years back, and got a booth at a flea market. I sold them for $3 each, and made a very nice profit. Sold out pretty fast.
 
Zemapeli said:
:thumbup: Cutlery Corner type stuff?? Just wondering, most of the stuff they sell is junk in my opinion. "This one here is such&such bone" even though there is no such thing?? :D I wouldn't try to buy or sell. BUT there is the occasional well thought out one that is worth the money you pay for it. I'll sell a few occasionally, usually not trying to sell them. Occasionally I'll barter for them. I have a few folders right now I'm planning on taking up to the local pawn to turn into a decent fixed blade.
Click to expand...

Yup, exactly that. :)

While it was a bust, I do have to admit that I still had fun. In the end those knives turned into a new Southard and a new Contego so I can't complain.

I did make a good bit of $$ selling used books around the same time, but that's not the topic at hand. ;)
 
Thanks for the info and opinions everyone.

BePrepared said:
I bought a lot of 400 knives for $250 bucks online a few years back, and got a booth at a flea market. I sold them for $3 each, and made a very nice profit. Sold out pretty fast.
Click to expand...

That was my line of thinking as well. I think I'll check out my local flea market again and see what's going on. If there's already a table or two with the similar idea I'll scrap it. Last time I checked though all of the tables were either people selling complete junk (well not that the cutlery corner isn't, i mean like used stuff you'd see at a Salvation Army) and the majority are people selling bootleg DVDs. My line of thinking is that a well presented table set up with some knives would likely stand out amongst the other stuff.

I don't buy into any of the get-rich type stuff it's just something I thought I could make a few bucks on without too much effort. If anything it'll be an experience to draw from for the future. As long as somebody doesn't stab me with my own knife. Although I guess that would be an experience too if it doesn't kill me.
 
Last edited:
jredmond3 said:
I don't buy into any of the get-rich type stuff it's just something I thought I could make a few bucks on without too much effort.
Click to expand...

Tying up your money by investing in junk knives is not a good one. There are far better ways to make a few extra bucks without the risk involved in trying to peddle low quality goods.

I find it funny how you ignore every post telling you it's a bad idea, but quote the ONLY post that said what you wanted to hear. LOL
 
I would not personally spend my time that way. I was a CRK dealer though. Nice knives, nice profit.

Only problem was supply / demand.

CRK could not keep up with my orders, I could have sold 10x over what they could ship me.
Now so no one takes this the wrong way, KUDOS to CRK. They decided quality over sales was the way to go.

I am contemplating a Star Tac Umnumzaan and Star Benza because they decided to keep quality their main focus.
 
Raining said:
I find it funny how you ignore every post telling you it's a bad idea, but quote the ONLY post that said what you wanted to hear. LOL
Click to expand...

I was actually going to mention that in my response, honestly!

Truth is I just really want the Katana from the set so I can slice up water bottles and various fruits.

Worst case scenario is I'll have a cache of junk knives, and whenever the idiom "there's more than one way to skin a cat" can be used, I can point to my Cutlery Corner knives.

I have had worse ideas at 4 AM.
 
I bought 100 folders from cutlery corner for $100.00 and the bonus "Katana" I received from them...didn't even have an edge on it...

almost like my beloved Striders..;)
 
jredmond3 said:
Truth is I just really want the Katana from the set so I can slice up water bottles and various fruits.
Click to expand...

Careful with those cheap katanas! :eek:

[video=youtube;KKInefbBljU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKInefbBljU[/video]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top