GEC Knife Flipping

W.M.B. said:
But why is it ok for a retailer to sell something for twice what they paid for it, and not an individual? I don't think its any more or less ok for joe sixpack to do it than (insert knife retailer of your choice). Do you? the hardware store selling $50 case knives didn't pay anything like $50 for them I assure you.
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Retailers add value to the purchasing process.
Most of the major knife retailers take pictures of the knives for their site (sometimes pictures of each individual knife).
They do marketing and advertising for the knives they sell.
They do customer service for the brand.
They get bulk orders of knives and then package and ship them for individual sale.

People that buy 2 of the 2017 BF knife for 85 bucks and then turn around and list it for sale for $250+, using the stock photo from GEC, are not adding anything. They are just leeches inserting themselves into the sale in order to profit.
 
gonebad395 said:
This is a topic that gets brought up every couple of months. The longer you're here the more you will notice some are here for their love of knives and community and others are here to profit off our hobby. Watch the exchange and you can see the flippers you'll never see them posting in any forum but sales threads.
All we can do is as a community is try our hardest not to buy from them. The only problem is you have that one person that feels they need the knife so bad that pay the crazy flipper price. And so the cycle continues over and over agian. Agian you will see this sorta thread and paypal threads reappear and repeat themselves over and over. Me I avoid the flippers and anyone that asks for F&F but that's just me.
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Norcaldude said:
Retailers add value to the purchasing process.
Most of the major knife retailers take pictures of the knives for their site (sometimes pictures of each individual knife).
They do marketing and advertising for the knives they sell.
They do customer service for the brand.
They get bulk orders of knives and then package and ship them for individual sale.

People that buy 2 of the 2017 BF knife for 85 bucks and then turn around and list it for sale for $250+, using the stock photo from GEC, are not adding anything. They are just leeches inserting themselves into the sale in order to profit.
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Very well put. But we as Forum members need to stay true to our ethics and boycott these guys. Let eBay do what they will.
 
The flipping of traditional knives at high prices, particularly the Bladeforums knife, is a good reminder that for some, the comadrie of Traditional Forum members is BS. That's what hurts.

Suck it up Buttercups...it's just a GEC knife, over priced, over hyped, low end steel, buy a nice vintage slipjoint with your money instead :)
 
brownshoe said:
Suck it up Buttercups...it's just a GEC knife, over priced, over hyped, low end steel, buy a nice vintage slipjoint with your money instead :)
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Yeah. :rolleyes: It's silly for members of a knife enthusiast forum to care about collecting particular brands of knives. :rolleyes:

I agree it's not illegal, and possibly not immoral to flip knives for profit. But it is unseemly.
 
While it may seem strange to say so, I think that it is reasonable for people like you to be disgusted by the behavior and for the behavior that disgusts you to be perfectly "acceptable" behavior. The owners of these knives feel no moral or ethical obligation to sell their knives for any price other than what the market will bear. You aren't wrong to disagree with that - it's just a difference of opinion.
 
Norcaldude said:
Retailers add value to the purchasing process.
Most of the major knife retailers take pictures of the knives for their site (sometimes pictures of each individual knife).
They do marketing and advertising for the knives they sell.
They do customer service for the brand.
They get bulk orders of knives and then package and ship them for individual sale.

People that buy 2 of the 2017 BF knife for 85 bucks and then turn around and list it for sale for $250+, using the stock photo from GEC, are not adding anything. They are just leeches inserting themselves into the sale in order to profit.
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I'm not buying the added value concept here.
If the time they spent marketing a knife makes it morally ok to double the price, a flipper spends far more time per knife sold. Think about it. If you can double your money on a knife by taking some pictures, then sell hundreds, maybe thousands of knives depending on which knife you're talking about, a flipper who might sell a dozen had labored far more per knife just by putting the most basic listing together. Why a larger business is blessed with legitimacy in your eyes but an individual is a leech for doing the same thing I cannot see. But I guess it doesn't really matter much. I don't pay that kind of money for knives, neither do I sell them.
 
I think GEC wants to make knives. They don't want to be knife retailers so much.

They probably could do all the retail sales themselves, but they'd have to hire more people to deal with all that would entail which would mean raising the price of the knives they sold retail. Might still end up with a lower retail sale price than they currently have though.

GEC seems like they would have a bit of a leg up on doing their own retail sales since they probably wouldn't need to do much marketing and advertising. They just post their production schedule and maybe get a setup for early reserves like CK and away they go. But that's mainly because of their relatively low output and high demand for that low output.

But think of a site like CK. They recently redid their site and it seems to be quite an improvement. That sort of 'retail infrastructure' isn't free.
 
Norcaldude said:
I think GEC wants to make knives. They don't want to be knife retailers so much.

They probably could do all the retail sales themselves, but they'd have to hire more people to deal with all that would entail which would mean raising the price of the knives they sold retail. Might still end up with a lower retail sale price than they currently have though.

GEC seems like they would have a bit of a leg up on doing their own retail sales since they probably wouldn't need to do much marketing and advertising. They just post their production schedule and maybe get a setup for early reserves like CK and away they go. But that's mainly because of their relatively low output and high demand for that low output.

But think of a site like CK. They recently redid their site and it seems to be quite an improvement. That sort of 'retail infrastructure' isn't free.
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Seriously, Derek is a knife retailer...ever heard of KSF
 
r8shell said:
Yeah. :rolleyes: It's silly for members of a knife enthusiast forum to care about collecting particular brands of knives. :rolleyes:...
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Not silly, but it's hard to feel sorry for those who collect GEC knives and can't get the flavor of the week. GEC knives are hyped "six ways from Sunday" on the Traditional foum. When a new pattern comes, the feeding frenzy is palpable, like "Buck Fever" and I don't mean Buck knives. This is just one of many "hurt feeling threads" on the subject.

Thank goodness the new Lionsteel barlow came for some distraction :)

Maybe it's time for a GEC subforum, but who would sponsor it? GEC wouldn't participate, Internet ain't their style...but then it is, how many of you go to their site in anticipation...I really admire their marketing strategy, pure genius, & I ain't joking. Selling most GEC knives is like shooting fish in a barrel; even ugly GEC knives with no points sell like water on a hot day :)
 
W.M.B. said:
Every store does the same thing. Thats how you make a profit. I get that it seems unfair, but it doesn't bother me on things like this. Necessities, yes it bothers me there. but pricey collectible pocket knives, hey whatever. but thats just my opinion.
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Agree 100%. I'm a collector and want my investment to go up in value. Working knives can be had at a very reasonable price.
 
So this is very simple. Do you want collectibles or just a knife to use? High production knives (and other items) do not increase in value but many of them perform their intended function very well. Cheap stuff is never a bargain. GEC went into business with the intention of making traditional knives. It is a small business that employs less than 40 people. The owner knew exactly what he wanted to do. He had a plan. It worked. He is a true American entrepreneur and should be commended. He risked everything he had and succeeded. His vision came true and there is a high demand for the product. That said, collecting knives has been around longer than any of us. So has reselling them for profit. Enjoy collecting. Spend your money wisely. Plan safety into everything you do.
 
hose56 said:
So this is very simple. Do you want collectibles or just a knife to use? High production knives (and other items) do not increase in value but many of them perform their intended function very well. Cheap stuff is never a bargain. GEC went into business with the intention of making traditional knives. It is a small business that employs less than 40 people. The owner knew exactly what he wanted to do. He had a plan. It worked. He is a true American entrepreneur and should be commended. He risked everything he had and succeeded. His vision came true and there is a high demand for the product. That said, collecting knives has been around longer than any of us. So has reselling them for profit. Enjoy collecting. Spend your money wisely. Plan safety into everything you do.
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All that has nothing to do with this thread though.
 
^^^ Agreed.
What does that add to the conversation about flipping GEC knives??
 
Norcaldude said:
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are trying to communicate to me.
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Ha ha ha. I read his comment a few times too and did not get it either. I understood your idea of manufacturer to consumer direct sales would cut out a "middle man dealer" and have a lower retail $ as a result.
 
hose56 said:
Agree 100%. I'm a collector and want my investment to go up in value. Working knives can be had at a very reasonable price.
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Were you the one that sold the GEC Books on here? They were free at the Rendezvous. LOL!!
 
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NewBlades16 said:
Were you the one that sold the GEC Books on here? They were free at the Rendezvous. LOL!!
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Do you know the costs of the airfare, car rental, and lodging? Ever been a company owner, estimator, accountant, or risk manager? Ever review cost reports? I'm betting never on all of these. And yes, I'll have fries with that.
 
hose56 said:
Do you know the costs of the airfare, car rental, and lodging? Ever been a company owner, estimator, accountant, or risk manager? Ever review cost reports? I'm betting never on all of these. And yes, I'll have fries with that.
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So let me get this straight. Because you chose to take a little vacation getaway, you chose to sell the free books you got at the Rendezvous and sell them on here to offset your travel expenses? I went and looked at it as a little getaway that I SAVED for and worked for! So it makes a difference if you are company owner, estimator, accountant, or risk manager, or review cost reports? Why does it matter what profession you do when it comes to treating yourself on a mini vacation or any luxury item for that matter. You are selling a free book to people on here to offset that? Ha ha ha!! Ok gotcha.. I think that takes the cake as far as what I have seen and heard on the Forum here!!

I guess I Could have taken more free books since they let you take a book if you bought 2 knives. I bought several there so I could have taken many more. So you must have taken advantage of that. Awesome! Ha ha ha.
 
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Who cares about a few books? I'm not even going to get too worked up about how much a flipper can get for a collectable knife. Capitalism is what it is, and for some, buying and selling knives is how they enjoy the hobby.

What sucks is when someone flips a forum knife for double+ profit, when members have volunteered their labor to get that knife made and distributed. Not illegal, but sucky just the same.
 
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