Knife condition and price

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44magnumb

44magnumb

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Dec 19, 2011
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I'd like to first say this is not an advertisement for something in the classifieds, I already took it down.
I had an SFNO I recently bought for around $530, and I bought a Spec-Ops Brand sheath for it. I was planning to use it for my bug out bag, and had only cut paper with it. However, it would not fit in the sheath properly because the blade is so wide. So I had to take my Dremel and cut a portion of one of the sides of the Kydex insert, and heat the insert with a hair dryer so it could fit in the sheath. Unfortunately, during the process of fitting it to the sheath it received a couple of surface scratches. In my Ad I was forthright about the scratches and took pictures of the knife at an angle where they would be visible. Between the knife, paypal fees, and the sheath I probably spent $580-$590 on the knife. But, then a Killa Zilla II caught my eye and I bought it to serve as my main BOB knife. So I put the SFNO up for sale, I started it at $550 including shipping and PP fees, but over the course of about 20 days I eventually dropped it to $490. I know a lot of guys here by them for collecting, which is cool, but I know many people plan on buying them for use.
So my question is, was my price outrageous for a knife with a few surface scratches and how much of a percentage does a knife take a hit for a few minor scratches? I didn't think it was, after all these are top of the line knives that are built for toughness and hard use, but I digress. I've included the pics for your examination. I'd just like to know for future reference, not that I plan for doing a lot of selling. But I'd like to know when purchasing as well. Thanks for your time!
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To be honest with you and let me say I'm no expert on pricing...I think you paid top dollar in this market to begin with and you will have to wait for the person that is looking for that knife.
If the economy comes back in a year or 3, that knife will go up in price user or not.
Good Luck
 
Looks like a fine companion for the KZII. Keep it for awhile and maybe two knives for your BOB will pay off!
 
Its a beauty scratches or not. If they become something you cant live with send it into the shop and we can fix it up.

Garth
 
1whobuys said:
To be honest with you and let me say I'm no expert on pricing...I think you paid top dollar in this market to begin with and you will have to wait for the person that is looking for that knife.
If the economy comes back in a year or 3, that knife will go up in price user or not.
Good Luck
Click to expand...
ummmm 8 to 10 is more like it
 
Thanks for all your replies! I think I will probably keep it, though I might have to sell my Sig P229 Elite Stainless to keep both the SFNO and The KZ II. Man, that's going to hurt! I just learned about Busse a couple of months ago, and I'm hooked. The TT KZ was pretty much my recent grail knife, but I managed to find the KZ II for a reasonable price. Everyone here seems very nice, I appreciate all your help!
 
Reply to Garth

Thanks a lot! I appreciate that, I just found out about Busse recently and you guys are awesome! I'll let you know, but it might go into service as a user like I originally intended and would be a waste of your time as it will collect some real scratches. You guys make some excellent knives. I'll probably be selling my P229 Elite to pay off this and the KZII I just bought. I think I told you on your other thread, but congrats again on your H&K! I recently bought my grail gun, an S&W 500 4".
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It's worth that but you need a buyer. Satin SFNOs with the sabre grind are the best looking Busse ever IMO. I'd say keep it and use it. :)
 
Gonna give you a tip... regardless of price, good photos count. The better they are, the clearer they are, the more your chances increase in drawing interest. You still want to be truthful and show any flaw or blemish, but take a few to make it look good too! ...Good lighting counts also. Shoot it outside if you can...or near a window. Honestly (and I am not trying to be a d***), I had to look 3 times to realize that I wasn't looking at a black coated knife with a satinized tang, but I do recognize that shooting satin finishes is a bit of a PITA. Also, while others may not agree, I never shoot my knives on a white background. Try denim or black, or a wood porch railing, etc. Unless you're lunde, who is quite the photog-fu master, white is not your friend. :)
 
^^^^^ what Jaxx said. :D


Beautiful knife BTW... But the pics make it difficult to discern the condition. This fact might dissuade potential buyers because some folks on a certain auction site often purposely post vague, fuzzy or highly pixelated pictures in order to cover up flaws in the item. Good pics are very important. Natural light is best... but Jaxx is right that satin is tough due to the reflection of light.

Still, all that being said... I'd keep that knife! :D Sell a kidney or something. You have two of em...


.
 
See the link in my sig for tips on photographing knives.

Jaxx had some good pointers & advice re: selling and shooting photos. I think the price you paid and started your prospective sale at were not out of line with current market prices for that knife with a Spec-Ops sheath. As others said, it's a matter of the right Hog who wants a custom SFNO spotting your wares.

A couple general rules of thumb regarding still life photos:
(1) Put a dark subject (knife) on a dark background. Put a light-colored subject on a light background.
(2) Keep background plain (out of focus or not patterned) to keep attention focused on subject.
(Like all rules, there are times to break these. But following them is usually a good thing.)

The reason for matching background and subject light-dark value is to not have a contrast difference between subject and background so large that the camera meter mis-reads the scene. (i.e. meters for the background instead of the subject) With both the background and subject being about the same lightness/darkness, the metering should be accurate to show your subject well enough lit to see.

As Jaxx said, shiny metal objects, especially with dark accompanying add-ons like handles, are tough to set up and shoot. With that combination of light-darks, portraying the shiny aspect of the metal (usually a very light area in photo frame) and simultaneously exposing the dark parts long enough that they do not show up as black color fields with no detail takes a lot of attention to lighting and detail. Practice and experience can help a photographer learn to set up his "studio" space to show both the light and dark areas well.

When shooting knives with both light and dark areas, plain backgrounds of a neutral non-saturated mid-tone are a good starting point. Colors like medium greys, Olive Drab, dark tans, medium toned woods with plain grain patterns (cherry comes to mind), shadowy soft-edge fabric patterns, brown craft paper (paper grocery bag type paper), etc.

Here are links to a couple pictures showing how a very simple set-up with plain, mid-tone background can help focus attention on the main subject.

-- Super simple "studio" setup using only a piece of brown craft paper and tape to hold it in place on a wall & bench. The two blocks at the front were used as an improvised tripod to hold camera steady.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/RokJok/woodwork/photosetup3137a.jpg

-- A shot that was taken with that setup using a point-n-shoot pocket camera.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m186/RokJok/woodwork/candleholderforvotivecandle3110a.jpg

For subjects like knives, guns, and other semi-military/hunting subjects, camo-pattern backgrounds can work, as can associated accessories like ammo, rope, armor or diamond plate, etc. However, remain aware that background patterns can visually distract the viewer's eye due to their "busy-ness". So keep such background elements restrained in their application so their role remains supportive. That said, such background props *can* help make a subject look much nicer than a plain background. However, most photos with such elements usually apply them with too heavy a hand and they distract from the main subject.

Jaxx said:
Good lighting counts also. Shoot it outside if you can...or near a window.
Click to expand...
One comment further on this good piece of advice: Best results come when the day is overcast cloudy or you shoot in open shade (under cover on a porch, say). What these situations create is that the entire environment around your "studio" setup is acting as a light diffuser, which helps eliminate high-contrast light-dark extremes in the photo and harsh sharp-edged shadows on & around your subject.

A particular comment on your photo with sheath: The knife itself occupies a small enough percentage of the photo frame real estate that it gets overwhelmed by the background and surrounding elements. i.e. the knife looks small and somewhat lost in all that space. If you shoot a knife diagonally in the frame (more or less all the way from one corner to opposing corner), you can get it to occupy a larger percentage of the photo space that makes it, in the viewer's eye, more important or significant.

Also, placing the knife on the white paper disconnected it from the background and gives the impression of it "floating" in space, instead of inter-relating with the other elements in the picture.
 
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Don't discount the timing aspect too. I recently put a few knives up for sale on the exchange and all sold but the one. Honestly it was the one that I figured would go the quickest! I eventually closed the thread, waited the appropriate amount of time per the exchange rules and relisted that knife along with one more. No change in the price. It sold almost immediately. Its not the first time I have encountered this over the years. Timing can mean a lot.
Condition does matter greatly. More so on a safe queen or collectors piece. Many times a couple of light kydex scratches wont hurt the value much to a target audience of knife users so it depends on what you are selling to a degree.
Research is key to buying and selling here. There are several online resources to use to get a feel for what the blade origionally cost and the search feature in the exchange can be useful at times. Here are a couple of links.

http://bussecollector.com/catalog/
http://hogcult.com/chart

If you would prefer to sell the knife and keep the gun, you might consider relisting it on the exchange and if all else fails after you have offered it to the HOGS first (and that is appreciated), there are other options to sell Busse knives. These blades are very well known and highly sought after in many areas.
 
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I dont see anything wrong with your pricing. It could be the timing as was previously mentioned etc but say you over paid or need to hold it for years to get out of it seems ludicrous to me.

Heres the price guide #'s and you are in the lower part of the range granted some of the higher variants were loosers and a drain on wallet. Yours however is a satin saber like the LE just no fugly #. Heck if you had that knife 5 years ago you couldve gotten cose to a grand for it cause I even paid $850 for a coated saber with green linen :eek: and the price guide shows they were originally $287 for coated blades.

It has scratches so it will lower value a little but that knife had to be in fours new at show plus tax and time to get there. I suggest keeping it. Its a classic and a wonderful size. If you need to move it take the suggestions above, get some good pics and it should go.

SFNO - Special Forces Natural Outlaw (2004): $287
SFNO SE - Special Forces Natural Outlaw 2008 Special Edition (satin blade, black/white G10, black G10 bolsters): $497
SFNO LE - Special Forces Natural Outlaw Limited Edition (2009): Only sold to Hogs @ $427, then $367 for each additional purchased
SFNO - .220", Black G-10 + Tan Canvas Micarta (2007 BloodBathaGanzaaa): $597
SFNO - .220", G-Rex, Black G-10 + Desert Ironwood (2007 BloodBathaGanzaaa): $687
SFNO SOW Variant - .220, G-Rex, Black G-10 + Yellow G-10 ((2007 BloodBathaGanzaaa): $747
SFNO SOW Variant .220, G-Rex, Black/Tan G-10 (2007 BloodBathaGanzaaa): $697
SFNO SOW Variant .220, G-Rex, Blue/Red G-10 (2007 BloodBathaGanzaaa): $697
 
Right now is a good time to buy, not a good time to sell. Some people are still trying to figure out whether they can keep their house... Plus, the Team Geminis are up, the company store just released a blade, and Knob Creek is right around the corner... A good portion of buyers may have either already spent their money or are saving it for a near term purchase. Seems like it is easier to get a Busse "fix" then it was a few years ago...
 
Thank you all for your insight, I'm pretty new here like I said before, and your help is greatly appreciated!
 
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