Is this “new” knife used?

Phil Indablanc

Phil Indablanc

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Oct 4, 2017
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I purchased a Bradford flipper from one of the big knife websites. It was sold as a new knife. When I opened the box and looked at the knife, it appears that someone used a sharpie to alleviate lock stick and there is a slight scratch on the handle. This was a $300 knife and I certainly expect it to be near perfect. Would a knife ever leave the factory with what looks like sharpie on the blade? Should I be suspicious or just enjoy the knife?
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That isn't a new knife. The company probably took it back, opened the box to make sure it was the correct knife, then relisted it. They probably never even knew about the scratch or sharpie...

In my book the definitions are as follows:

New = untouched, unused, unhandled, very rare to find on the secondary market since handling makes them LNIB by my standards.

Like new = handling (especially when leaving marks) and things like sharpie or graphite on a lockface, surface discolorations.

Due to the significant scratch on the handle, if I sold that, it would be LNIB with that scratch shown in multiple pics, and a deep discount offered, or used and priced accordingly (scratch still shown).
 
Was it from knife center? I've gotten a few "used" New knives from them. They should solve the issue assuming they have more stock.
 
On top of the obvious cosmetic issues, the knife could have been tampered with in a way that would affect the functionality of the knife (like if someone adjusted the lock bar tension.) Odds are pretty slim, but it may be hard to tell if this is the first one you’ve handled.

Contact customer service and send that puppy back. Regardless, I think you should send it back out of principle. And that’s coming from someone who almost exclusively buys used knives because I don’t like putting the first scratch on them.
 
Mo2 said:
They should solve the issue assuming they have more stock.
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And if whatever retailer doesn’t have it in stock, they should offer you a refund. Most places would likely cover your return shipping as well (and should IMO.)
 
This is just my opinion, if your knife isn’t in the same condition as it was when leaving the factory, then I consider it used. This is why I prefer not to pay full price for display items.
 
Phil Indablanc said:
Thanks to all that responded. The knife will go back tomorrow. Not sure if I want a replacement or just a refund.
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I would send it back with a note in the box, a phone call, and an email all letting them know if it were to occur again there are plenty of other knife retailers on the internet. I'd probably give them one chance to make it right before asking for my money back and never shopping there again.
 
Sonnydaze said:
I wasn't going to ask where it came from, but since you volunteered the info, I'm sure many of us are glad to hear it.
KnifeCenter...your stock just dropped about 300 points in my estimation.
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This wasn't right, even if it was a cheap knife - much more being a 300 dollar one, but i do want to believe that it slipped their attention, though it should have undergone a more thorough inspection anyway.
Since i live in the EU and i don't want to waste more time and money to send it back all the way to US with my expenses, i always do ask them to inspect the knives i order and i never had a problem so far.

The right thing to do would be to list the item damaged/missing parts and slash the price according to the problem (photos attached of course)
 
Knifecenter will make it right. I don’t blame them. I blame the jerk that bought it used it and returned it as new. At the end of the day knifecenter will eat it and is the real victim. Of course in a perfect world knifecenter would catch it prior to reselling but they deal in large quantities and stuff gets missed. That’s the chance you take in order to get their good prices.
 
I’ve had many perfect transactions with knifecenter and assume this is simply a disappointing oversight. I will speak to them today and expect that they will do the right thing and replace it or refund 100% of my money. I’ll update the post after speaking to them.
 
While I am not defending the practice of selling like new returns as new I will say that it is easy for stock to get mixed up and given the volume that KC seems to operate at and the number of complaints I am not sure it is terribly high. It might be higher than its competitors in this market but seems about on par with someone big retailers.
 
PirateSeulb said:
While I am not defending the practice of selling like new returns as new I will say that it is easy for stock to get mixed up and given the volume that KC seems to operate at and the number of complaints I am not sure it is terribly high. It might be higher than its competitors in this market but seems about on par with someone big retailers.
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I agree. I hope my post didn’t come across as bashing knifecenter. Out of many transactions, this is the only issue I have ever had. As long as they make it right, I would not hesitate to purchase from them again.
 
I didn't take anyones remarks to be as such but I thought this thread was missing that else people might read it as such.
 
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