E-Bay - good for collectors or good for dealers?

3-liner

3-liner

Joined
Feb 2, 2004
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I'm sure most of you at least take a look at knife offerings on eBay from time to time. As a newcomer to knife collecting, I'd like to know what some of you think about the impact it has on the collectible knife market. From the short time I've been buying knives, it seems to me that the prices get driven way out of line - usually by 'newbies' on eBay. Well, that's bad if you're trying to buy a knife, but I guess it's good if you're trying to sell one. Also, eBay has made 'rare' items a lot more available. Realistically, there's nothing anyone can do about it, but does this represent a real, 'free market', and has it made a big difference in prices?
 
Ebay is just another method of buying and selling but in some ways it is a bit more of a lottery. I have seen mediocre knives go for ridiculously high prices and good quality knives go for low prices.
 
EBay, just like any auction is a tool to buy knives. The key is patience when buying and knowing your items,(research your item, research your seller(feedback)).

If your selling, clear pictures and accurate descriptions.

I've bought and sold on EBay, I've made money and found some excellent deals.

In my book EBay is an excellent tool for buying and selling as long as your careful
 
Ebay is good for both sellers and buyers. If you know what you are doing as a buyer you will get many opportunities to get great deals. I have also seen lots of knives that are way overpriced, but being that I am fairly knowledgable about knife values this doesn't bother me. I just slide on by and check out other auctions.

The other day I saw a new Buck 110 go for over $80.00. New retail is $65.00. The week before that I saw a Barry Woods mk.1 swing lock folder go for $100.00. I was a little upset that I missed out on that one.

Ebay is a fun place to check out knives and to bid on a few if they catch your fancy. Just make sure that you know enough about the knives that you are bidding on that you won't be taken. I have seen lots of custom knives that are actually premanufactured Pakistani blades that have had handles put on by the "custom" maker. I have also seen lots of fake antique knives. You have to be careful, but if you are there are lots of great deals to be had on ebay.

*Edit: I just needed to clean up some sloppy typing.
 
Ebay is good for material objects:). Not for digital objects for games such as Diablo II and Everquest. I've seen "Rare" Diablo II items and people are actually willing to buy them.
 
I got my Spyderco Military for $60.00 shipped on E-Bay,brand new.Great deals on E-Bay.
 
I have bought a lot of knives on eBay at some very reasonable prices. A good many of the knives, if they had not been on eBay, I would've never been able to add to my collection - rare, limited editions, customs, etc. Even some current productions knives that an "e-dealer" is starting low hoping to make some money on, that doesn't go that high. I personally think eBay is good for the market, both sellers and buyers. The key, as has already been mentioned is to know your product. Do some research, be patient (chances are the same knife might be available again in week or two), know the current value of the knife you are looking at, and be willing to let it go if the price gets to high. That was a mistake I made when I first starting buying on eBay. I thought there would never be another knife at that price and I "had" to have it. Once I started bidding, I "had" to win. I realize now that I paid too much for some of the knives I bought.... but I learned. I only wish I had been a part of these forums back then so I could have asked for some help, ideas, and thoughts from everyone else. Oh well....:rolleyes:
 
The primary benefit from ebay is that the seller gets a higher price due to presenting the product to an entire world of buyers who can use intelligent searches to find the product they want and then bid against each other under a time constraint. For one of a kind items the buyers are pressed with a now or never decission. If a buyer fits into the typical ebay scenario they benefit by locating hard to find items, but they pay a premium price for the product.

A buyer can save money if the product is not in limited supply or if the listing is done badly. I have gotten great deals by using oddball search terms to find listing that forgot to put the word "knife" in their title. There are some items that are so rare that customers virtually never do a search on the item name. If the seller does not put in a good set of alternate searchable terms there may be no competitive bidding. I've got a Puma lockblade folder with a D2 alloy blade that only cost me $33.00 since the seller called it a "Sportec" which nobody went searching for.

PS. Always "snipe", hold off bidding until the last 20 seconds then put in your calmly determined highest limit price. You don't want to stimulate counter bidding.
 
A very valuable piece of advice there: 'snipe' your item - it keeps the price low, and doesn't alert potential bidders that you have an interest. I know who the eBay users are who always compete for items I want, and I do searches to find out what they're bidding on. I'm sure some of them do the same on my 'handle'. I can't understand why some folks seem to NEED to be the high bidder - even people who have a lot of transactions behind them.

Put the item on your 'watch list', be there at the end of the auction, and put your highest acceptable price in when there's about 20 seconds left.:p
 
Sniping is a good way to lose something you want. I used to snipe and I lost out on items because if everyone snipes at once it pretty much locks up the system for a few seconds and your last second bid does not get recorded. I have found that if you figure out what you are willing to pay for something and put that in you stand a better chance of getting it, and you won't get caught in a bidding war. If the item is something you really want then do both - put in your bid and then watch closely to see if that is good enough. If you have to, snipe up until the last second, but don't be surprised if your bid does not go in in time.
 
I've seen rare items both handmade and factory, sold at ridiculously low prices by people who didn't know what they had. Especially if they're cultural items being sold off from an estate sale.

Oh, I hate snipers. I would've won a Philippine Moro Punal for $28 plus shipping and someone sniped it 3 SECONDS before the damn auction ended. Considering what it is and the price, it was practically a steal.
 
Originally posted by Gypsy9590
...know your product. Do some research, be patient (chances are the same knife might be available again in week or two), know the current value of the knife you are looking at, and be willing to let it go if the price gets to high. That was a mistake I made when I first starting buying on eBay. I thought there would never be another knife at that price and I "had" to have it. Once I started bidding, I "had" to win. I realize now that I paid too much for some of the knives I bought.... but I learned. I only wish I had been a part of these forums back then so I could have asked for some help, ideas, and thoughts from everyone else. Oh well....:rolleyes:
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Money is a great educator when it comes to auctions, spend it too fast and you have nothing left for the good deals at the end, hang on to it too long and someone else will always get the prize, always research your items, know what they're worth, does shipping and handling add so much to the total that it would be cheaper to buy it in a more conventional format,(sports store, multimarts, brick and mortar knife stores)

I'd like to echo previously mentioned advice, patience, and knowledge will always be your best tools in any competitive bidding format.

If you really want stress try sealed bidding auctions, you get one bid, and you have to make sure you outbid everyoneone else without overpaying.
 
Not too much to add to the above. Two ways to avoid getting sniped.

1. Place the highest bid you are willing to suffer in the last few minutes of the auction.

2. Instead of entering a single bid with 20 seconds left, enter multiple bids, say 2, 3 or 4 bids with about 80 seconds left that are all fairly close in amount, but each greater than the next automatic bid increment. This will kill of "refesh snipers" that wait to refresh a screen to see how their snipe went. This will also defeat "incremental" snipers that have software bid up in increments. The only kind of bidder you can't beat with this approach is someone willing to enter a single, higher bid. I have used this method sucessfully many times. However, I tend to reserve it for things I really want rather than just getting a good deal on something I kind of want.
 
I was watching this Benchmade 705BC1HS, a rare knife start bidding at $150.00 No movement until shortly before the end. Then the price just kept on going up. It sold for $224.00 plus $10.00 shipping.

High price but someone and others wanted it and bit up fast. Some people chase things, others just let it go if it's past their target price. Discipline is good, extra money is good if you really want something, bad.

Jerry S.
 
It really the only place to see non-currently cataloged knives. For example: Discontinued Schrade Old Timers, fixed and folders.
 
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