I Inherited a massive knife collection.

[Esav Benyamin]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

Take your time, with so many items, a little organization goes a long way. Knives in boxes are probably the knives that originally came in those boxes. This will help you organize them. When you begin, sort them by manufacturer and model name and number.

Do not rush into photographing lots of knives. You won't be picking up the details a serious buyer would need. We can show you how to set them up for photographs later.

As far as values, you need to be a paid member to get answers on that here. The important thing to realize is that if these are even average knives, they can command something like $50 apiece. Times 1000 knives is real money, worth taking the time to learn how to sell them.

 

[Quiet]

Hahaaaaaaa, Marcinek is just a man, he can be beaten!!! LOL

Also guys, know what else looks like a big pile of knives? A guy who just purchased a knife collection at auction. So, I'm super skeptical when strangers come on, and try to mix business with an emotional appeal like the death of a loved one. Sorry gang.

 

[Wavester]

Take some pics and post them up so we know what you are dealing with and then you can / will get better suggestions to help you out.

Good luck!

Agreed :thumbup:

 

[Whetstone39]

Hahaaaaaaa, Marcinek is just a man, he can be beaten!!! LOL

Also guys, know what else looks like a big pile of knives? A guy who just purchased a knife collection at auction. So, I'm super skeptical when strangers come on, and try to mix business with an emotional appeal like the death of a loved one. Sorry gang.

I hear ya, but thought we should offer some sound advice in case this is legitimate. It would be daunting to be placed in this situation with no knowledge of what the collection could potentially be worth, and no real plan for how to evaluate it.

 

[Quiet]

I hear ya, but thought we should offer some sound advice in case this is legitimate. It would be daunting to be placed in the situation with no knowledge of what the collection could potentially be worth, and no real idea for how to evaluate it.

Honestly? This guy, IF the situation is legitimate, actually has it pretty easy. He states that all of these knives are still in their boxes. Excellent! A simple Google or Ebay search is now possible, and he could have an idea what he's got fairly quickly. If this was a guy who had a huge pile of knives with no boxes, from a long period of collecting, the job would be vastly harder.

 

[marcinek]

Hahaaaaaaa, Marcinek is just a man, he can be beaten!!! LOL

Also guys, know what else looks like a big pile of knives? A guy who just purchased a knife collection at auction. So, I'm super skeptical when strangers come on, and try to mix business with an emotional appeal like the death of a loved one. Sorry gang.

A little bit of skepticism isn't a bad thing on either end of this thread at this point.

The best advice for the OP is Esav's, I think. Start researching like crazy. I would also get my hands on a 3rd edition or earlier Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values. While it does not show current values, it will pay for itself as a basic reference.

 

[Cadillac86]

If this is legitimate, I would recommend paying the $30 for a membership here. With that many knives, you will likely get a lot more for them than the $30 you spend to get everyone's help identifying and valuation.

 

[Jim85IROC]

Rules are there to prevent people from misusing the forum and it's resources. Rules are not there to prevent a person from learning about knives. That's an important distinction to understand, both in how questions and subsequent answers are phrased. I don't see a single word from the original poster that in any way mentioned value or any attempt to sell anything. He's simply asking for help on becoming more aware of what he's got. I can't imagine why folks are more interested in painting the OP as a rule breaker instead of helping him out.

 

[Quiet]

Rules are there to prevent people from misusing the forum and it's resources. Rules are not there to prevent a person from learning about knives. That's an important distinction to understand, both in how questions and subsequent answers are phrased. I don't see a single word from the original poster that in any way mentioned value or any attempt to sell anything. He's simply asking for help on becoming more aware of what he's got. I can't imagine why folks are more interested in painting the OP as a rule breaker instead of helping him out.

I dont have much of an interest in keeping these.

You're right, he probably just wants to know which ones would be worth giving away! :thumbup:

 

[evltcat]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

Take your time, with so many items, a little organization goes a long way. Knives in boxes are probably the knives that originally came in those boxes. This will help you organize them. When you begin, sort them by manufacturer and model name and number.

Do not rush into photographing lots of knives. You won't be picking up the details a serious buyer would need. We can show you how to set them up for photographs later.

As far as values, you need to be a paid member to get answers on that here. The important thing to realize is that if these are even average knives, they can command something like $50 apiece. Times 1000 knives is real money, worth taking the time to learn how to sell them.

^---- This.
Start here so you have the information you will need to begin to evaluate what you have inherited. Then do some research online to get a feel for what kinds of knives are in the collection, and determine if it's worth selling them one at a time or in small batches. If it makes sense buy a gold membership at BF and post the list.

Good luck!

 

[marcinek]

I can't imagine why folks are more interested in painting the OP as a rule breaker instead of helping him out.

So help him out.

Nobody is "painting" anybody....just 1) attempting to make sure our new friend doesn't go afoul of the rules; and 2) pointing out that this whole thing should be dealt with with a touch of skepticism on all sides. Its reality. I would be very glad to have any skepticism proved entirely wrong, and the OP should take enough time to get any healthy skepticism he as about us proven wrong.

 

[Jim85IROC]

You're right, he probably just wants to know which ones would be worth giving away! :thumbup:

I saw nothing that indicated that he was trying to sell them ]i]here[/i]. Whether or not he intends to keep them is irrelevant. If he gets the right kind of help and perhaps finds out that he doesn't have 700 Budk knives, who's to think he wouldn't pay the money to become a gold member so that could sell them here? I'm not trying to start a war here (nor am I trying to fuel any existing fires), but it just struck me as odd that people are already commenting about the rules before any were actually broken.

 

[Quiet]

I saw nothing that indicated that he was trying to sell them HERE. Whether or not he intends to keep them is irrelevant.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...MBERS-Please-read-this-WHAT-IS-MY-KNIFE-WORTH

You seem not to understand the rules of this site very well. Please read the above thread. The rule states: "...questions regarding valuation of knives and collections are limited to those with a membership level which permits selling on this site."

There's nothing there that says "questions regarding valuation of knives and collections are limited to those with a membership level which permits selling on this site....unless the OP plans to simply value them here and sell them elsewhere."

Edit for your edit: The thing is that knife valuation is one perk that paying members of this site enjoy, as is selling knives in the Exchange. Those are perks we pay for. So, that's why the rule is in place, to prevent others from coming here, finding out what a knife is worth, contribute nothing to Bladeforums (check out how many threads like this are started by people who then never post again), and then vanishing off to Ebay to try to sell it.

 

[Whetstone39]

Honestly? This guy, IF the situation is legitimate, actually has it pretty easy. He states that all of these knives are still in their boxes. Excellent! A simple Google or Ebay search is now possible, and he could have an idea what he's got fairly quickly. If this was a guy who had a huge pile of knives with no boxes, from a long period of collecting, the job would be vastly harder.

Yep, I would imagine it would be difficult to evaluate 700 - 1000 items that I know nothing about and am not interested in, even if they are clearly marked. Just trying to put myself in the OP's position, if legitimate.

So I inherited 1,000 doilies in boxes, I join doilie forums to learn about their values .......

 

[marcinek]

You're right, he probably just wants to know which ones would be worth giving away! :thumbup:

Anything that says "Scagel" give to me. "Loveless" give to Quiet.

You just got to do enough research to get a ballpark idea of what you got. Then maybe start looking for a more detailed appraisal. It might be a pile of "late night commercial" knives worth nothing. It might be a gold mine.

Read here, Google/auction site what the boxes say...get an idea of what's going on.

 

[Jim85IROC]

bah. I give up. Have fun ripping the guy apart for asking a question.

 

[Quiet]

OP, there are also places that will sell items on auction sites for you. You drop off all of the items, and they go to the trouble of valuating, taking pics, posting up auctions, selling, packaging, and shipping out. That's probably what I'd do if I had a huge collection of something I wasn't interested in land in my lap. The going theory being that if you aren't interested in knives, you're probably not interested in finding out every nuance that you'd need to know in order to figure out true valuation. Good luck with your sale, and my condolences on your loved one's passing.

 

[marcinek]

novic...just for some background, we have been visited many times by people "wanting to sell their late father's/grandfather's collections to buy a headstone," "veterans collecting money for the troops," etc etc etc. Some real doozies.

If you are legit (and no one is claiming you aren't...we just don't know one way or the other), I know everyone will be more than willing to help inside the site's rules we all agreed to abide by.

And you shouldn't assume anything here is legit either...you just dont know one way or the other.

 

[marcinek]

And there is also Bernard Levine (whose book I mentioned). He has a subforum here. If he is still around and in the business, his business is appraising large collections like yours.

But...it might not be worth the cost of appraisal. Look at the names on the boxes and search for them.

 

[scwareuroi]

Is it against the rules to identify said knives brands / models and whether they are junk or keepers? Or just giving monetary values of said knives? Or both?