Hi: I'm new here and have a question about knife collecting. Are there what might be considered investment grade knives out there? Not intended to be part of a retirement plan, but blades that might become collectible in the future. Some people collect watches, vintage cars, etc. All too rich for my blood.
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Investment quality blades. Do they exist?
- Thread starter Mike82
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Benchmade 42, if you had a time machine.
The "taste" in all collectibles and antiques changes constantly. What is collectible today is not tomorrow. Don't think of knives or anything else as investments. Collect what you like, but like what you collect and don't expect to ever make money on them.
Based on 60+ years of knife/sword collecting.
Rich
Based on 60+ years of knife/sword collecting.
Rich
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Best advice right there, I've been collectin' for around 40 years and I've gotten lucky a few times where I made a nice profit on a knife I sold. Most times I buy and rarely sell, more often than not I give 'em away so there's no investment made but it is nice to see someone get a good knife as a gift and the smile they have when they get one.
The best profits I make are on vintage knives I've bought at yard sales and flea markets that I bought for a couple of $ and sold for 2-3 X what I paid, a $3 knife sells for $15 and I make a 400% profit, is that an investment or just lucky? Buy what you like and you'll never be disappointed.
Thanks. Being new here, I looked at 5-6 pages of this forum and didn't find anything addressing my specific question.
Thanks. What you said makes sense.
It has been covered many times. Figure out how the search function works, its simple and the Advanced option is simple, and powerful.
"Investment grade" does not mean the same as "collectible" for anything. Not the same things.
And on top of that, knives are a terrible investment.
not2sharp
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There is nothing like that. Collecting is a hobby and fad; it is not a necessity, there is no inherent demand for collectible knives. There are a lot of custom knives and makers who were once popular and now all but forgotten. Then there is the legal environment which can take the commercial value from any collection at any time, by prohibiting the sale of the product; as has recently happened with ivory products and previously with "Nazi (Swastika marked)"items. At best collecting is a form of entertainment expense that may yield a residual value. That value can be significant, but it is entirely dependent on unpredictable market forces. 50 years ago, no one expected for Japanese swords to appreciate as they did. Back then they were commmon WWII bringback items, frequently passed on to the kids and beatened to pieces. It was the rise of Japan as a major trading partner and their prohibition against the ownership of any sword, other than antique blades, that sparked off demand. Many Japanese citizens felt it was their duty to repatriate their heritage. Then again, there was also a big Pound Puppy fad in the 90s which probably ended up costing some collectors a large sum of money. Comic books were also collectible for many years, until videos games took away their natural audience, which shut down moost of the market ...the future is anyone's guess.
n2s
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Some of your makers pieces as others have stated. I don't really see any knife ever surpassing a loveless as far as holding their value and keeping their value .
It would be a roll of the dice in today's industry IMO. You could take a chance on some of your younger or up and coming makers , and maybe one would have the value of same an emerson garage knife.
If you can hit the shows and get a knife or knives from some of your well known makers at a table price then that would be an option.
Hitting the shows and winning a few lotteries is not going to make you rich, but it could fund your knife habit.
Emerson, RJ martin are 2 just off the top of my head that I believe will always be a demand for their knives. RJ just because they are awesome knives.
Emerson even more so now sonce he's announced he won't be going to but 2 shows a year
It would be a roll of the dice in today's industry IMO. You could take a chance on some of your younger or up and coming makers , and maybe one would have the value of same an emerson garage knife.
If you can hit the shows and get a knife or knives from some of your well known makers at a table price then that would be an option.
Hitting the shows and winning a few lotteries is not going to make you rich, but it could fund your knife habit.
Emerson, RJ martin are 2 just off the top of my head that I believe will always be a demand for their knives. RJ just because they are awesome knives.
Emerson even more so now sonce he's announced he won't be going to but 2 shows a year
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Some knives made by famous knife makers have sold for tens of thousands. I collect some knives that I like and enjoy in shadowbox picture frames. For me it is the pleasure of admiring the fine craftsmanship, not the hope that I can make some bucks down the line. I don't have the money to really acquire a Bob Loveless Delaware maid knife but I sure like the design and craftsmanship that went into these beauties.
http://boblovelessknives.com/for_sale.html
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GEC. If that place ever goes out of business in ten years they will be goldmines. Even if not, they hold value better than any other production knife.
There are some makes whose knives are in demand and sell for high prices. Unfortunately if you buy them now they are expensive and may take a long time to gain significant value. If you could have bought them years ago then you could make money on them, but years ago you might not know which makers were going to hit it big and which weren't. On the average it is hard to do better than break even buying/selling knives unless you get lucky or have pretty good insight into the makers and the market. I bought a lot of custom and production knives about 20 years ago. I sold some of them recently. Most of them kept up with inflation, some sold at a loss considering inflation, some sold for a profit considering inflation. Altogether I broke even on them.
rje58
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I don't buy super expensive, custom or rare knives as investments.
One of the things I enjoy about collecting knives is that they hold their value better than a lot of other hobbies! I don't expect to MAKE money, but I don't expect my collection to ever become worthless or be worth only pennies on the dollar, either. Worst case, I figure I can get back at least 50% of the money I spend on my collection, minus ones that I use heavily. In which case, I've gotten my money's worth from the use of them - not the sale. And possibly as much as 90%.
While some people have made money on other hobbies, including the ones I'm going to mention, many people have lost a ton of money on sports cards, NASCAR collectibles, boats, music collections, movie collections. Ever try to sell a CD that you paid $12 for? or a DVD that you paid $20?
I know anything is possible, but I would be shocked and disappointed if I ever had to cash out my knife collection for less than 50% of what I've invested in it. I believe that if I cashed it out today, that figure would be between 75% and 90%.
Of course, your results will depend largely on two things: 1. how wisely you buy 2. the market conditions when you sell.
One of the things I enjoy about collecting knives is that they hold their value better than a lot of other hobbies! I don't expect to MAKE money, but I don't expect my collection to ever become worthless or be worth only pennies on the dollar, either. Worst case, I figure I can get back at least 50% of the money I spend on my collection, minus ones that I use heavily. In which case, I've gotten my money's worth from the use of them - not the sale. And possibly as much as 90%.
While some people have made money on other hobbies, including the ones I'm going to mention, many people have lost a ton of money on sports cards, NASCAR collectibles, boats, music collections, movie collections. Ever try to sell a CD that you paid $12 for? or a DVD that you paid $20?
I know anything is possible, but I would be shocked and disappointed if I ever had to cash out my knife collection for less than 50% of what I've invested in it. I believe that if I cashed it out today, that figure would be between 75% and 90%.
Of course, your results will depend largely on two things: 1. how wisely you buy 2. the market conditions when you sell.
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Pick yourself up a couple Bill Moran knives. That's investment grade. But..... they are really valuable now. Who is to say that anyone will even care in 25 years. There goes your investment..... Blades that originally sold for a few hundred $ now sell for 10K or more.
The easiest way to make money with knives is to buy the cheap stuff and sell them at abut double the cost..... then there is that thread complaining about Walmart and $4 knives. Ya can't win and ya can't please everyone.
Buy stocks and don't worry about investing in knives, guns, art, and so forth..... you'll do far better. You get lucky sometimes.
The easiest way to make money with knives is to buy the cheap stuff and sell them at abut double the cost..... then there is that thread complaining about Walmart and $4 knives. Ya can't win and ya can't please everyone.
Buy stocks and don't worry about investing in knives, guns, art, and so forth..... you'll do far better. You get lucky sometimes.