how to sell 300 + knives collection

K

krajos

Gold Member
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Oct 6, 2006
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42
Hi guys,

I was just wondering if any of you could have opinion on this. I am from Europe, I have been collecting knives for over 10 years now. Most of my knives are untouched, just handled, but they sit in the safe now. Most of them are production knives, good quality, mostly 100 + dollars knives.

I decided that there are other things in life to do, and that life is to short to gether stuff and not use it, so I am slowly, slowly starting to think how to sell this 300+ knife collection. I dont want to put on internet every single knife, deal with various buyers, reply to questions, then pack it, go to post office, send it, solve all kind of problems connected etc, It would take horrible amount of time.

Did any of you please experienced this kind of situation (selling 300+ knives) and how did you handle it, please? Any ideas would be highly appreciated. Most of the knives I bought via internet in the US, I paid pretty high post + additional VAT (21%) from it when it arrived to Europe. I dont know if its good idea to sell it back to the US, or sell it preferably in Europe, EU. How would you please sell it, to get most of it and at the same time do it fast.
Thank you.
Josef
 
I'd assume trying to keep 300 knives together @100 each value, you will take a massive loss. Even if you break it up, say offering 5 at a time or so in lot sales you'll have better luck.
 
Krajos,

Here is the opinion of a forumite from Spain. I hear you when you say that you had to pay high shipping and additional taxes. So far I haven't gotten any packages stoped in customs, so I only had to deal with the postage (which I usually try to split between several knives, making multiple purchases at once from the same website).

Anyway, my recommendation is that you stick strictly to the european market. Otherwise you will be loosing lots and lots of money. None in the US will be interested in paying almost street price (since you say they are NIB) + two overseas shipping + 21% vat tax.

You are going to lose money anyhow, however, you will lose a lot LESS money selling in Europe. If you plan on selling through bladeforums, you should upgrade to a Gold Membership in advance (not a big deal, just to let you know).

Best of luck

Mikel
 
I wouldn't specifically exclude US buyers but it is certainly more efficient for a European buyer to get them cheaply. Also, in Europe I think it's more difficult to find a good deal (you know that better than me) so you could possibly get more money there.

If you sell in a big group you will most likely have to discount the lot to make it sell. In that case, the shipping will be split up so sending it further away would be more economical.
 
Every once in awhile these threads pop up.
 
Caveat: I'm winging it here! I'd set prices based on their total cost to you. That will probably make them more attractive to European buyers, but, depending on their desirability, may not limit your market to only Europe. Break the collection into smaller lots and post them on multiple sites.

Good luck.
 
Sell the European knives to Americans and the American knives to Europeans, that way both get something they might not otherwise get and you have potential to get more of your money back.
 
If you're looking for the really lazy way of selling them most auction sites have some kind of system set up where they will sell everything for you for a cut of the profits. Like ebay valet (which takes 30% of the sale).
It's a lot easier than selling them individually but not nearly as profitable.
 
I'd suggest finding a service that will sell them for you like someone mentioned above. Selling at a "loss" doesn't necessarily matter and it sounds like convenience is more important to you. After all you will be turning (useless to you) objects into cash.
 
There are various websites which sell knives on consignment and take a portion of the sale (usually 25-30%). Good thing is they handle everything from the photos, the interaction with the buyer and posting the item once it sells. The ones I've dealt with before are in the States but I'm sure there are some in Europe.
 
Get some bored internet savvy kid to do it for you one by one for a percentage?
 
The best way to sell it, Is going piece by piece.
BTW. Judging by the name(and 21%tax), any chance that you are from Czech republic? :)
 
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If you're selling a collection you'll need to sell it to a collector. You need to plug yourself into the network way of visiting blade shows and events. You'll be able to meet people and find some one who is interested and you can show the collection too. So that means you'll need to invite these prospective buyers into your place inventory what you have.

As already noted expect to loose money on this unless you've got some truly rare and desirable blades. The buyer will know the values of what you have and want to pay pennies on the dollar for the package.

The alternative is to sell on eBay and build up lots of ten knives. One very desirable blade and nine less desirable to move through the inventory. As noted you can go gold and sell on here too but your return will hinge more on what you have for sale and how popular those brands are with the local population vs. the wider auction sites.
 
I don't have experience with trying to sell such a massive lot, but if I were you I'd group them by manufacturer/maker and sell them off like that. For instance all the Benchmade's in one lot, all the GEC's in another, so forth.

I don't know the type of knives you've acquired so maybe I'm way off, but that's what I'd do. If it's mostly one off customs or something it'd be super tedious, but if you have large groups by certain production companies, that's what seems easiest without taking such a large loss. This way I'd imagine you'd get a decent return.
 
It seems to me that the only type of person who will want to buy a 300-knife collection in its entirety is someone intending to flip them. They will want a STEEP discount or it won't be worth their while. I would also try to break them up into as many lots as I could and probably sell the most valuable knives as singles.
 
As mentioned above, the best bet is to probably find a consignment seller. I have used Arizona Custom Knives many times and they do a great job. However, they generally only take knives with a value of $150 or more. And I'm not sure what the cost of shipping 300 knives to them from Europe would be. Better to first try to find a European consignment seller first.
 
In the US the best market for a group of knives like yours is a knife dealer who goes to gun shows or an online dealer. I agree with that keeping them in Europe would probably give you the most money. I'd guess you'd be lucky to get 50% of original price.
 
I can't give you any advice, as I haven't got any experience with selling knives, but don't forget to post where you decided to sell them :D
 
Where are you from?

In Germany there is Schickser's Messerscheune. The man behind it is a knife aficionado and seller that will sell knives for his customers. He will make suggestions for the selling price but of course the client has the last word. All knives will get phtographed and put on the list.

The website is known very well in the German scene. It's the place where I'd go to sell my knives if I ever needed to.

I'd suggest to get in touch with him. You will find the contact info here:

http://www.messerscheune.de/wb/pages/de/kontakt.php
 
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