ebay - a vast wasteland?

C

copper

Joined
Mar 1, 2000
Messages
79
Wow! I just got the courage to try out ebay to shop for some knives and got a rude awakening. Holy frijoles! Is anyone in there NOT a dealer selling at full retail. EVERTYTHING I was interested in had a reserve or minimum bid that was at LEAST what I can find new on the 'net. I won a bid on a Nimravus but was under the reserve by $3 dollars, so I didn't get it. Later, the (dealer) got my e-mail address and sent me an e-mail stating that I could have it for three more dollars plus shipping. That sux and I gave him explicit directions on where to "deliver" that Nimravus. Am I so naive? I expected to find a deal on something somebody wanted to get rid of, and that I wanted.
And while I'm on the subject, half of the stuff I wanted had some phony-looking emblem like "Navy Seals" painted on it to jack the price up. Nobody even bids on this stuff at these prices. I just watch them run out of time with no bids. I must be some chump. Whew! I feel a little better now.

Anyway, what advice or opinions do you have on ebay? Should I just quit looking?
 
Copper, it seems that a lot of BF members do sell on ebay and they set their reserve at full retail, so you're unlikely to get much sympathy here. In fact, I have gotten some minor flak for discussing this matter on the forums. Try BF's 1SKS or www.knifeoutlet.com or www.discountknives.com , they sell for well below retail, sometimes as low as 30 % off from retail. But let me add my voice to yours and say why would anyone pay full retail for a used knife and no return policy while one could purchase for as much as 30% off from retail and get dealer support?
 
I've got to believe that at some point the whole theory of "supply and demand" is going to kick in over there on eBay. I too shake my head at some of the prices being asked for non-collector, in production type items. The only thing I like about that place is that they give folks the ability to rate the seller (and the buyer for that matter) once the transaction is completed.

------------------
Semper Fi
 
I agree with Bronco. If it sells, it sells. What's funny is you can check out the latest closeouts in SMKW and then watch them sprout like mushrooms on eBay.

I have, however, gotten some deals I felt pretty good about from eBay. But they were neither mainstream, in-production items nor highly collectible (like Al Mar or Randall).
 
Spyderco's go cheap on Ebay. How about NIB g 10 Harpy for 35.00 and a full seration Endura NIB for 29.00. Just gotta now when to look.
 
I sold factory knives on Ebay from Feb-Jun of last year. Then you could get a real good deal if you kept a watch on them, but around June, my sales fell off big time and I found out why. My loyal customers told me they were sick and tired of wading thru all the trash to find a few quality knives. Someone, Smokey Mountain Knifeworks maybe, flooded Ebay with Pakistani and Chinese garbage and destroyed what was a good knife trading market. It stinks, but theres nothing we can do about it! Take care! Michael

------------------
Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!
 
You find the best deals on ebay with unusual items or badly listed items. Sometimes a lister will forget to put the word "knife" in the description of an item with an unusual maker. I got a lockback with a D2 blade for $32.00 searching through bad descriptions. The seller described the knife with an obscure model name, no maker name, and didn't call it a knife in his description.

If you don't hunt the same way as everybody else you can get better deals. I agree that high reserve prices are stupid. Eventually people will learn that they aren't making any money NOT selling things.
 
Of course we do have the auctions right here. Give us some time and they will grow and you can bet the quality of the merchandise will be higher.

------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
Show Your Support -Visit Our Sponsors - Click On The Banners!
Visit www.onestopknifeshop.com
All sales from 1 Stop Knife Shop help support this site!
 
** And don't forget one of the biggest selling factors is 99%.9 of all the Knives being sold are cheap F-ing honest to God JUNK.

------------------
Thats a Good ONE
 
Mickyd--I think you're way off base when you say that 99.9% of the knives on ebay are junk. In reality only 50% of them are junk. Looking at it the other way, 50% have reasonable value to someone verses your estimate of 0.1%. By your estimate out of a typical 20,000 knives listed on ebay only 20 would be valuable. I would estimate that 10,000 would have significant value to someone.
 
Thanks for your replies and information. And for listening to me whine (now where's my cheese?) I go into the world a little wiser, and a little better at searching on ebay. With all of your advice and a little work I have actually found a couple that I'm watching. And by the way, Mike, you can bet your hinnie the first place I went to when I had no luck with ebay was back here. I watch the BF auction like a hawk. I've got a bid in there waiting to win. Wait, no I don't. There's nothing over there. Don't even bother to look.
Seriously, I too believe it will take off soon. I feel much more comfortable on the BF auction. I even search thru stuff I don't want just to browse. At least I know it's the real goods.

Thanks again everyone.
 
Think the classifieds here will ever look like ebay????
frown.gif


Take care,
John Johnson
 
NO way..Right now there are 19,643 (Nineteen Thousand)Knives on Ebay...31(Thirty one) here.

[This message has been edited by Spim (edited 06-08-2000).]
 
Ebay can be a goldmine for collectors. But, if you're looking for current production knives such as the Nimravus, then most of what you'll find on Ebay is dealers mining for e-mail addresses.

Another little-known fact: you often don't need to be the high bidder to get the knife on Ebay. Consider, for example, a dealer who is auctioning off one Nimravus. The high bidder wins it for $162 (full retail price). Of course, he gets the knife. But wait... there's more... more Nimravuses (or is that Nimravi?) that is. The dealer has a whole case of 'em. So, he's gonna e-mail back the second bidder who bid $160 and offer him one for $162. If that buyer turns down $162, the dealer will probably e-mail him back offering him a special deal of $160, his bid. If the buyer rejects that, the dealer will probably e-mail back making one last special offer ("we don't usually do this, but because we like you so much and we want to introduce ourselves to you and win your business blah blah blah...") at $155. Now, because this second sale takes place outside of the auction, the dealer doesn't have to pay Ebay their fee. Meanwhile the dealer is making the same amazing offer to bidder #3 who bid $155, bidder #4 at $150, bidder #5 at $145, bidder #6 at $140, bidder #7 at $135, bidder #8 at $130, and bidder #10 at $125 (the going street price). This savvy dealer might sell eight or ten of these things at an average price per knife that's well above the street price.

It's a dirty business out there.



------------------
Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
For better or worst I have found more collectable knives on EBAY in two years than I had been able to find during the previous 20 years by searching antique shops, and gun and knife shows all over the country. And The prices actually average lower than my local antiques dealer.

The negatives on EBAY are the flood of junk knives, and the number of misrepresented items on the site. But, if you know what you are looking for, you can usually find it.
 
Use the search function to winnow out the garbage. Search for your favorite maker, a price range,or region if you want. You can even use words to exclude items.
I've found a few items, some I won some I didn't.
Most of all you have to know the prices or know what you are willing to pay. It's easy to get caught up in the thrill of the chase.

------------------
~~TOM~~
 
There's a lot of junk on eBay, but a lot of good stuff too. The proliferation of garbage often makes the good stuff harder to find, hence- less bids. I've got some great deals on eBay, e.g., I just won an auction for a BM812s miniAFCK for $55, way below the $93 1SKS charges. Often net knife shops will have better prices, but not always. If you've got the patience to browse through hundreds of POS knives, you will find good ones as well, half the time at low cost.

Some tips: before you bid on anything check the seller's other auctions, often there will be the same item with lower bids or ending sooner.
If the seller's website is listed or linked, check it out before bidding, as sometimes the item will be cheaper from the website than from the auction.
Check the seller's feedback profile before bidding, this has saved me the trouble of dealing with people who've ripped others off.
If you're outbid on an item you still want, email the seller and see if they can get you another one - this is against eBay rules, but I won't tell if you don't.
wink.gif

Just like webstores, look around before you bid/buy, I bought a dagger for $7, and later saw it listed for almost $50!! I bought another (different) dagger for $30 and later saw it listed for $10.
Know what you'll pay and bid that - if you win, you win; if you lose, you lose. Watching an auction and upping your bid every time someone outbids you is a great way to end up spending more money than the item is worth, often more than you could get it for elsewhere (it's a psychological/competition thing).
The closer to the end of the auction you bid, the better.
If nothing else, it's a great place to window shop, just like blade auction is. If you see something you might like, you can always play with one at a store and buy from wherever is cheaper.

I know people have been ripped off by dishonest sellers, but I haven't had any problems after about 40 transactions.

Though, once the BF auctions start to take off, I'll probably shop here for better quality knives, better quality people, and to support BF.

Jason

------------------
"I have often laughed at the weaklings who call themselves kind because they have no claws"

- Zarathustra
 
I think that the worst thing about e-bay is that you have to wade thru a bunch of pos tinselsticks to get to anything decent,e.g. its hard to winnow out the crap. also they only have page up/page down. You can't selectively pick page #'s

------------------
The thorn stands to defend the Rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict
 
I remember when ebay had way under a million items and almost everything was a deal. I agree that besides the POS, you rarely find that good of a deal. And to boot, you never know exactly who you are dealing with.

Not to mention the current investigation of ebay members for shill bidding, fraud is the term I believe.

smile.gif
Brandon

------------------
I've got the schizophrenic blues
No I don't
Yes I do...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top