How much is well used Skirmish worth?

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Messages
4,704
I ended up buying a Skirmish from someone. He emailed me pics but they didn't work for me. He said it was used but was butter smooth with great lock up and light scratches.

He needed money and I was about to go out of town. I finally got one pic to work and the Benchmade stamp looked pretty worn off but I couldn't tell if it was the pic and he wrote back and said it did get lighter in color. Somehow I read what he wrote wrong as I was in a hurry and I thought he said it was the picture so I just sent him the money because I have been looking for one.

Well I got it in the mail today and it has been used quite a bit. I would say it looks more rough than any of my EDCs. The titanium is marked up quite a bit but I guess that is the nature of Ti. The blade I guess has been stropped but it is scratched up quite a bit and the area where the recurve is, the edge bevel has been made quite a bit thicker than the rest of the blade. The front of the Ti handles close to the blade has a gouge in one side and is polished on both sides I assume from what ever kind of sharpening was done.

How much would you say a Skirmish in the condition would be worth? I have seen a new one go for $180 on the forum not too long ago and I didn't pay all that much less for this one. To be honest I thought it was in a lot better shape than it is but that is partly my fault since I was in a hurry. I normally like to buy things that I think I could at least get my money back if I needed to sell it and I don't think I would get anywhere close to what I paid.

What do you think it is worth and what would you do in the situation? I haven't contacted the seller yet and won't mention names, just want to get others opinions. Thanks!

Ryan
 
$100? How is the lock-up?


Titanium does get marked up easy, so I wouldn't be too concerned with that.

I'd have to see it though to make a better assessment.
 
I don't know what you paid for it, but if it is solid I would use it. I found that knives that have been used are easier for me to use. I recieved a Skirmish a while back and have not carried it more than 3 times because it is in good condition. If it had been used, then I am sure that I would not have a problem EDCing it. I would like to have a Skirmish that is a user/beater as it is a great huge knife.

As far as what to do, that is up to you. If you can live with paying what you did, I would keep it. There are not many Skirmishes ???? floating around right now and I do not think BM is going to produce anymore.


Do you have pics?

John
 
Here are the pictures that he sent. It turns out my email was automatically turning them into a hyperlink and was adding a period so they weren't displaying. In my hurry I overlooked it but here they are. These pics make the knife look really good. I am going to try to take some of my own pics that actually capture all the flaws.

I thought the knife is probably worth about like $100 like stormyone suggested. But I don't have any experience with pricing anything that is this worn. Also, the knife was sent in a thin envelope and the box is now pretty beat up. I guess that doesn't matter for a user but the shipping packaging could have been better. Again, comments and suggestions are appreciated!


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Looks sharp and well maintained. I could see a $125-135 price tag? Plenty of use left in that knife.
 
Well it looks like it is beggin to be used. If you bought it as a safe queen, then you may have gotten the short end of the stick. If you bought it for a user, it looks like they thinned the edge down which could have saved you some time if you like thin slicers.

I would just slip it in my pocket and use the mess out of it. I am sure you can get $150 worth of use and enjoyment out of it, but I do not think it would sell for that same $150 (I could be wrong). It all goes back to what you are willing to accept and live with. If you are unhappy, let the seller know and see if they are willing to work with you.

Best of luck to you what ever you do.

John
 
Looks like he convexed it to me. If there is scratches, I would just finish up what he started!
And if you don't like the ti scratches, get a scotch brite pad, and give it a little rub down.
 
Looks like you did alright. Use it in good health.
 
Yeah there is plenty of life left in it. But it's not pretty and has been well used. Even a beater knife usually has lots of life left in it.

I forgot to mention that the lockbar is in the 60-70% range.

I would say that most of the scratches on the blade, the wide edge bevel and the gouge in the ti are mainly from someone that didn't really know how to sharpen a knife. I think he was the second owner and mentioned that someone used paper wheels. Seeing how it was maintained makes me a little uncomfortable that someone was using power equipment to sharpen with. I hope they didn't overheat any of it.
 
Worse come to worse, you could send it in the Benchmade for a tune up, or if you feel like dropping 25.00, they will sell you a new blade.
 
Looks like a decent skirmish, need to see your pics and problems before I would say it was worth close to NIB price though. For all I know, those pics could have been taken a few months before the exchange.
 
samhain73 said:
Worse come to worse, you could send it in the Benchmade for a tune up, or if you feel like dropping 25.00, they will sell you a new blade.
Click to expand...

That's true, I forgot about that. That makes me feel better about it. Do they let you keep the old blade, anyone know?
 
Wow, that sucker is in terrible shape.:p

But I feel compassion for your soul and Maybe I should take this burden from your soul for say $90?:D:D
 
No,if the blade is replaced,the old one is scrapped.(you may try to request),but I doubt they will honor that.
 
That looks fine to me. It's true that it's been well-used, but I doubt the seller was trying to pull anything. Those are very good pictures and it is obvious that the knife is no safe queen. Use it in good health, you have a fine blade there.

Next time try to be more patient. If you feel that you overpaid for that knife, consider it an investment in your overall knife education.
 
Your new knife looks like it's not hurt other than cosmetically. Once a popular model is discontinued even a sound user maintains it's value pretty much.
I got this one off EBay brand new from a buy it now listing for about 160. That was right before they was cut by B/M. Wasn't hardly a month later they was going for 200 and more. Popular models tend to go right up once they get the axe.
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Benchmade is pretty good... I'd send it in and see if they could 'dress it up'. A $25 charge for a new S30V blade that size is a steal. If it matters, the MSRP of the straight 630, like yours, was $280 when they were dropped - $220 in the 2004 Catalog when they came out. If it works well as-is - you've got a user that won't bring tears when you scratch it! Keep us apprised.

Stainz

PS If you like the 630... get a load of the mini - 635! That 610/615 pair are nice, too.
 
Well, the box wasn't original so it's not a loss. I'm curious why the seller's pics (if that's all of them?) only show one side of the knife. I don't know whether it's just surface finish (the attach of the Scotchbrite pad?) or something more, but the Blackwood logo is pretty well gone. Obviously you don't cut with that but it might or might not say something about care and/or reprofiling. The only thing you mention that might give me pause is the 60-70% engagement.

I think, if it were me, I'd figure it was $25-35 too much and reckon that I made bigger mistakes than that pretty regularly, so file it under "Some you win, some you lose" and move on quickly. It's still an awesome knife and, on the upside, you won't be afraid to use it.
 
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