Financial accountability and the knife collector

Les wrote: "Sounds like exactly what I did. Except the knives I bought turned into inventory..."

Well, yes, that's the downside...when your hobby becomes your business, your 'collection' by default becomes your inventory - there really is no way around that 'lil part of the equation... :foot:
 
I had a similar problem when I was collecting guns,early Winchester and Colts.

It was completely out of control. I did the same as a lot of you, just about all my free time was spent on the computer looking for guns, and going to gun shows everywhere. Almost all day long I was preoccupied with them.
It turned a fun hobby into a complete obsession. The satisfaction was in the looking, locating and buying. As soon as I got it home, cleaned it and put it away, the search was on again...
Fortunately the knife thing has not gotten as bad. I feel for anyone that has gotten themselves into a financial hardship because of their addiction.
Sounds like you are working hard to fix the problem.
Good luck, its very hard thing to do
 
Hi Melvin,

Actually, my collection is seperate from my inventory. I used the method you wrote about to put it together. Consequently while the collection is worth tens of thousands of dollars....I have none of my money in them. :D

Being the in business of custom knives allows me to really refine my skills as a collector. As I have a hundred knives a month coming in....there is no rush to run out and buy something. LOL
 
I'm guilty to a small degree. A few years ago, I thought $90 for a knife was a lot of money. Now I have several that cost many times that which I haven't even looked at except to oil for a long time.

I'm not a collecting guru; but I also have a nagging suspicion that custom knives overall are not that great an investment. I think there are some exceptions that the most knowledgeable or lucky might benefit from; but I know many sell for a loss after having them as safe queens for a long time. As the talent and skill increases in the Asian and other countries, I think the value of many custom knives will decrease. A knifemaker in China can spend days working on a knife to sell for $100 US and feed his family; while someone in the US can't. Therefore; I would hesitate to even try to rationalize a knife purchase as an investment - especially if I was using credit card debt to finance it.

I'm also not a professional counselor; but I'm not sure that one can do something just a little when a hobby becomes an obsession and an addiction. It strikes me as akin to an alcoholic just having a little drink every so often. FWIW: I would recommend selling all the knives except those you will actually (not might) use or are extremely attached to (haven't sat in the safe for more than two weeks at a time) and then going cold turkey on knives while getting into something else. Do you know how fast children learn at an early age? There is some very interesting research on that. Spend time with your kids so they turn into healthy happy adults. In my work, we deal with some pretty messed up kids and some great kids. Parents make a huge difference. Take them fishing, camping, and spend time with them. Land prices are increasing in lots of areas very rapidly. Some people are buying land, developing it for hunting and fishing, then selling it for huge profits. There are lots of interesting things that could have very positive results.
 
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