Knives Sale/Trade - Individuals (Dealers)

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sarge

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First this post is not meant to offend, only to stimulate conversation.

Has anyone noticed the insurgence of several new members selling quanitites of NIB items at full retail or close in the Knives for Sale/Trade; Individual category. Are these really dealers or Is this my paranoia?

If I'm going to pay full retail, I'm going to buy it from the custom maker, reputable dealer, or manufacturer. There is nothing wrong with a collector selling or trading to other collectors (even for his profit) but this category is what I consider for the hobbyist. Not individuals seking to earn an income. Come on, how many quanities of multiple NIB items are you selling at full retail from a seemingly unlimited supply. I think this qualifies as a dealer transaction and not a hobbyist.

I always check the Dealer ads and purchase from them when they have a bargain or a knife that I can't live without.

Maybe I just need to find a good knife "bargain" to cure my fix.

or;

(Maybe I'm just cranky today, Starting week 4 of being on the road in SC w/o a visit home for R&R.)

sarge
 
Sarge, your gripe was exactly my point in the thread about people who buy/sell on ebay! Like you, if I'm gonna pay 100% full retail price on a USED item, I'd rather get it NEW from a dealer that will discount it 35% off from the retail price. I'm not trying to hurt people who sell/buy at near or full retail on the forums or ebay but I'm just trying to add some perspective here. Maybe at this point, people will post to you what they posted to me; caveat emptor, and all that. I, for one, am glad that someone else sees the lunacy in this.
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Sarge,

There are a lot of ads, some of which are bargains (for me at least) and many that are not. I'm only out a mouse click if the seller is too pricey on their item.

When you are looking at customs, like you, I prefer to buy from the original maker. In some cases that isn't really an option because they may be back ordered years. Other times, I have acquired models no longer made. The main factor I see here is how long are you willing to wait?

If the price is near retail and available elsewhere, I will generally buy from another dealer or the maker myself but, there are several "forum'ites" I would buy from in a heart beat because they are just plain good folks.

Sid
 
Sarge,

Jailhack also noted this in a thread regarding sale of a BF Sifu which is currently running on the Individual For Sale Forum.

I have noted the same thing and ask only that these parties quit representing themselves as individuals if they are buying wholesale from a distributor and advertise in the Dealer for Sale forum. That will keep from clogging the Individual forum with ads it was not intended to display.

My .02

Waldo
 
My thoughts exactly.

Waldo, just read JailHacks post. This is one of the one's that I was wondering about also.

sarge

[This message has been edited by sarge (edited 02-06-2000).]
 
I agree with all of you! And since it is so obvious to everyone, why aren't our moderators relocating their post?
 
That's something we could think about. There's a big fuzzy area from a collector who sells part of his collection once in a while ... to a collector who occasionally sees a knife at such a low price that even though he doesn't want it for his own collection he buys it to resell ... to people who do that more and more often ... and eventually turn into part-time dealers, if only to help finance their own collections ... some people end up running a business so gradually they don't realize themselves when they cross the line from collector to professional dealer.

Of course there are people who know very well they're dealers and post ads where dealers aren't allowed ... but I think in many cases there isn't any deliberate deception ... they may not think of themselves as dealers even after it's clear to everybody else that they are.

Seems to me the first step is to open some discussion on the issue and maybe some of these people will realize they've turned into dealers and really should be posting in the dealer forum. Maybe you could drop an email to one or two people to point them to this thread, as a gentle hint?

Frankly I don't follow the for-sale forums and I don't even know who you're talking about specifically. Spark is still moderating those forums and he has a lot of other things to keep him busy ... if he starts moving threads it's not going to be easy to see whose ads to move and whose not to -- in some cases I expect it's obvious, but there are bound to be others where it isn't, and I'm afraid Spark doesn't have the time to do a lot of pondering about it.

Could we come up with some consensus about where to draw the line? Here in Massachusetts^H^H^H^H^H Remulak we have a law that retailers have to collect sales tax but somebody who has a tag sale doesn't ... trouble is, some people run a tag sale every weekend, sell other people's stuff for a commission, start buying stuff to sell ... some of them have a weekend business, even a full-time business, and aren't just somebody having a tag sale to clean out their garage at all. So the law says you're allowed so many tag sales a year and if you have more than that number you're a merchant and you have to collect sales tax -- I think it's four tag sales a year, but don't quote me on that....

Could we agree on a simple rule like that, that if you sell more than so many knives a year you're a dealer and have to post in the dealer forum? Could we agree on a number?

Of course it would be more logical to say if you buy a knife with the intention of reselling it you're a dealer ... but how could we enforce that? We can't read people's minds.... That's why I'm suggesting drawing the line at a number rather than defining it in terms of intentions.



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-Cougar Allen :{)
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This post is not merely the author's opinions; it is the trrrrrruth. This post is intended to cause dissension and unrest and upset people, and ultimately drive them mad. Please do not misinterpret my intentions in posting this.
 
Gee Eddie do you think we have the time to really monitor that area too? I have a hard time just chasing down the Mad Dog threads
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Seriously guys the for sale board is just a free service we provide for individuals. If you see a dealer using it or someone who is an obvious dealer please let us know via email so we can check it. Include the URL to the exact thread in question.

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Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
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I'm with you Sarge, and Mike, I'm sure you would never sleep trying to track this stuff down, probably never sleep anyway! It does seem to me that I see a few guys selling lots of NIB items pretty regular. How do they do it?

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Knives & Things
Mike Payne
 
Friends, This whole dealer/indiviual thing would be impossible to enforce in any easy manner.
The "individuals" {those with tax numbers} advertising on the individuals page are just trying to get more free ad space. And they do!
I posted a couple of items there several months back when I had just discovered the forums and didn't really understand how the thing worked. I have also put one or two on for a non computer collector buddy of mine.
But the majority will continue to go on the dealers page where they should go.
Either the posters have the integrity to follow the "rules" or they don't. The members should not expect the moderators to edit every single post! All the people can't be pleased all the time. It just cant be done.
Thats my two cents and probably it has one cent change! Ron Ryder
 
Well one down, j.d. galloway had the courage to say that he was reselling in the Individuals For Sale List, now if some of the others would step forward. J.D. way to go, advertise in the Dealers section and I wish you the best.

sarge
 
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