I'm pretty much done buying knives

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The Chinese oem crushed the market with low cost decent knives in carbon fiber and titanium handles. Bearings, flippers, m390, Chinese magnacut, s35vn, cross bar locks, compression locks.

Just a few example are the Qubit, Porcupine, Mini Praxis etc.

Makes it hard for knives to keep its value unless it is higher end luxury.
 
AntDog said:
That’s debatable…. The guns I’ve bought lately have been cheaper than the knives I’ve bought lately.
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Just to explain this a little - I used to always say “once a knife’s price gets up into gun money territory, I’d rather have something that goes bang”. But, sometimes guns just don’t “scratch the itch” the same way.

Here lately I’ve had a lot of stuff pop up that I’ve been looking for for years. Multiple decades in some cases. I’m willing to shell out for stuff like that, and nothing opens the dopamine floodgates like getting something you’ve lusted after for that long.

The guns I’ve bought recently have been top notch, but I’ve gotten great deals on them.
 
Danke42 said:
Yeah weird how the Strider market crashed.
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I don't think I own any Strider knives, but I was watching a youtube video covering the recent Bladeshow 2025 and how the Strider knives were all sold out before anyone could even see them. (Camera pans to a empty glass case). That sparked my curiosity, so I checked out a few more videos, and wow, some of those reviews really tore them apart. Honestly, makes me wonder: Do negative YouTube videos actually impact knife sales that much? Seems like even a single influential review can tank hype overnight, no matter how strong the brand used to be.
 
DocJD said:
and gold , some other precious metals , gems ...maybe ? At least tend to hold their value , not make a real profit , per se .

I had to buy some very marginal land recently , and feel like I paid way too much . Don't expect to ever sell it at a profit .

Speculators can drive the price of anything to ridiculous levels . Unsustainable , IMO . 🧐

With few exceptions , knives are a poor investment for sure . But a fun hobby ! ;)
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Okay I just was wondering why did you have to buy marginal land?
 
Mick Boardman said:
Many complaints here about “losing my a$$ when I sell”. Find me one person that lost money on a CPK sale. If they did, it was entirely their fault for underpricing their merchandise. Buy hard to get and desirable knives and then selling won’t be at a loss or hard to do. Plain Jane “whatever the retailers are stocking” buys tend to lose you money when you sell it down the road. In my experience, only Carothers hold its value and are knives I view as an investment, they also give me the best enjoyment out of all my cutlery.
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You sound very much like the Buses collectors of not that long ago.
 

Mk-211 said:
Wish I would've picked up a CRK survival knife, back when they first hit the market.

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We all have a woulda-coulda-should tory . . .

IN 2002 or '03, I was drifting through a gun show and saw a n ew-in-the box CRK one piece on a table. It was one of the big ones. I called our son who was an active duty Marine whose unit was at 29 Palms training to deploy that fall. I asked him if he wanted it and he hesitated and said NO. . . .so I passed on it and walked on.

The lesson here is, well . . .you figure it out.
 
collection-of-vintage-london-transport-buses-at-london-transport-museum-depot-london-england-3BH8W7G.jpg
 
You ain't kidding, I've had a Small Sebenza Insingo/Micarta/Magnacut for sale here for $100 less than I paid for it new and have hardly had any interest on it. Even 2 years ago, it would have been gone in a day or two. Just had a new driveway put in so I was hoping to lessen the damage, knowing CRK'S have great resale value...not so much all the sudden. Very irritating.
 
Mick Boardman said:
Many complaints here about “losing my a$$ when I sell”. Find me one person that lost money on a CPK sale. If they did, it was entirely their fault for underpricing their merchandise. Buy hard to get and desirable knives and then selling won’t be at a loss or hard to do. Plain Jane “whatever the retailers are stocking” buys tend to lose you money when you sell it down the road. In my experience, only Carothers hold its value and are knives I view as an investment, they also give me the best enjoyment out of all my cutlery.
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I've lost money selling CPK knives.
 
Mr. Tettnanger said:
I've lost money selling CPK knives.
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I don’t know the particulars on what you sold for how much and when, that all matters. I watch the forum fairly close and have not seen any sell below actual retail,they usually 10-40% above actual retail price. Full retail price and it sells in less than 2 minutes. Some well beyond retail price and they sell in 1-2 minutes. “I’ll take seconds”, “I’ll take unlikely 3rd”, as they line up to buy that CPK.
 
JTR357 said:
It's such a terrible investment. There used to be a time 15-20 years ago when you got in a pinch & needed to make a few bucks, you'd get back 3/4 what you put into it. This applies to the big names too, like Busse, CRK, Hinderer & Strider. You'd be lucky to get half of what you paid for any of them these days, untouched, no cut no carry. Nothing holds its value anymore. They're worse than buying a new car & losing half the value driving it off the lot. I don't care about the new steels anymore or new designs. I'm just done. I have enough knives to last 100 lifetimes. I'm just going to keep what I have instead of practically giving them away. I'd rather give them away to my family when I die. Sorry to be a bummer but I'm just done with it all. I had a good run. 2002-2025. Rant over
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You’re spot on about the resale market. The ‘flipping culture’ of the last decade really distorted values. I’ve seen mint-condition Strider SMFs sit for months at 60% of retail. Maybe it’s a correction after the COVID bubble, but it’s brutal for long-time collectors.
 
Mick Boardman said:
Many complaints here about “losing my a$$ when I sell”. Find me one person that lost money on a CPK sale. If they did, it was entirely their fault for underpricing their merchandise. Buy hard to get and desirable knives and then selling won’t be at a loss or hard to do. Plain Jane “whatever the retailers are stocking” buys tend to lose you money when you sell it down the road. In my experience, only Carothers hold its value and are knives I view as an investment, they also give me the best enjoyment out of all my cutlery.
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For now they hold their value........everything has ups and downs.
Nothing remains the same. Everything, everywhere is always in flux. That's why I never expect any return when I buy a knife, just the enjoyment of owning it. Any money I may make in the future is a unexpected bonus.
 
Mick Boardman said:
I don’t know the particulars on what you sold for how much and when, that all matters. I watch the forum fairly close and have not seen any sell below actual retail,they usually 10-40% above actual retail price. Full retail price and it sells in less than 2 minutes. Some well beyond retail price and they sell in 1-2 minutes. “I’ll take seconds”, “I’ll take unlikely 3rd”, as they line up to buy that CPK.
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CPK holds its value because Matt Gregory hasn't convinced Nathan to sell at the price the market will bear. At least one maker I know deliberately prices below what the market will bear in order to ensure his knives maintain value for collectors.
 
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