Knives to invest in

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thantos1858

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Jul 3, 2009
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Hey guys i was just wondering if anyone on the forums had siggestions for knives that would be good to buy now that would appreciate in value in the future. i have been thinking about it abit recently and if anyone would know it would be the ppl on bladeforums :)
 
Benchmade model 42 balisong.
It's probably the most popular bali ever and it's getting discontinued. Sells for around $180 now, and is expected to increase as they become harder to get.
 
You would have to find knives that offer superior value, sought-after and not readily available. You will have to keep them in the same condition as you got them. Overall I don't think that knives would make a good investment.
 
Great Eastern Cutlery knives. They are American made slip joints -usually produced in #'s of 250-300 -there are many different patterns. I just bought my first a little while ago and they are very well made. Prices range from about $50 to $130 new.

They are great user knives if you like slip joints.
 
Chopper Head said:
Really??? Busse's even used can command 3 or more times the price you paid for them in a relatively short time, that's just one example:cool:
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So you're saying that if one buys Busse Limited Edition Bushwacker Mistress currently listed on their website for roughly $600 ($597), he will be able to sell it in a year or so for $1200 or $1800? First of all I doubt that price will jump up like that. Second, if knife will be used it wont get the premium.
 
JP Jones
Kyle Royer
Esposito

Already commanding serious money and won't be long before they go to 5 figures.
 
emerson customs are good, onion, mayo, snody, also good, one thing is ya gotta get a good price on the things, if ya pay a premium from the get go ya rarely make anything on 'em, some disco'd spyderco's appreciate well, i bought 3 Ti ATR's a few yrs ago at about $150 ea. or so, they are worth a bit more than that now,

really, as far as investments go, knives a really pretty poor investments, most makers whos work appreciates well have long waiting lists (ie emerson, etc) so to get one ya already have to pay a premium, though they may stick in value from there they rarely go above it, unless the 'smith was to retire/pass away/etc, or ya win a lottery and get to buy an emerson at his MSRP, which is $550, then ya can double that right away, at least,


its just hard to tell whats gonna go way up, whats gonna stay where it is, and what might even fall in value, its a crap shoot.
 
thantos1858 said:
Hey guys i was just wondering if anyone on the forums had siggestions for knives that would be good to buy now that would appreciate in value in the future. i have been thinking about it abit recently and if anyone would know it would be the ppl on bladeforums :)
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A good question for the Custom and Handmade forum as most of the collectors buy with an eye for a return on their investment.

A couple of threads from the forum, just search "investment" for others.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=691046&highlight=investment

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=643342&highlight=investment

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=636614&highlight=investment


effer said:
So you're saying that if one buys Busse Limited Edition Bushwacker Mistress currently listed on their website for roughly $600 ($597), he will be able to sell it in a year or so for $1200 or $1800? First of all I doubt that price will jump up like that. Second, if knife will be used it wont get the premium.
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Here is a link to the Busse Collector catalog showing the original sale price over the years. You can watch the Busse sales forum and compare the secondary market prices to see what the is actually taking place.
http://www.bussecollector.com/catalog/
 
Ramm9 said:
A good question for the Custom and Handmade forum as most of the collectors buy with an eye for a return on their investment.

A couple of threads from the forum, just search "investment" for others.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=691046&highlight=investment

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=643342&highlight=investment

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=636614&highlight=investment




Here is a link to the Busse Collector catalog showing the original sale price over the years. You can watch the Busse sales forum and compare the secondary market prices to see what the is actually taking place.
http://www.bussecollector.com/catalog/
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dam. i had no friggin' idea. cool. thanks for posting
 
There is absolutely no doubt that Busse knives hold their value in the short term and increase in value in the long term. To my way of thinking, that makes Busse knives a good investment. Add to that the pleasure of collecting and using them and you've got a pretty unbeatable combination.
 
effer said:
So you're saying that if one buys Busse Limited Edition Bushwacker Mistress currently listed on their website for roughly $600 ($597), he will be able to sell it in a year or so for $1200 or $1800? First of all I doubt that price will jump up like that. Second, if knife will be used it wont get the premium.
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Limited Edition Busses are not the best investment if you are going to invest in Busse. They are at a premium to start with, your basic black combat grade model will increase in value more quickly.

The FBM which was released a couple of years ago, in basic black sold for $387, now they are selling in the $500-$550 region. That's about 12% a year since they were released. And some of these are selling in that price range after being used.

So are you going to be able to buy a Le Bushwacker and sell it in 2 years for $1200, no but if you buy a Bushwacker CG you should be able to sell it in a couple for an increased price. And you can have fun using it along the way. ;)

There is no guarantee of any of this but from years of watching the Busse market they increase more than many others I've seen.

There's something to be said for buying the one-offs also but that's a discussion for another thread ;)
:D:D
 
For the most part investing in knives is a fool's game, verging on retarded. If you want to see a neat exercise, buy a stack of older Blade magazines from 1980's-90's and look at what was the hot collectibles then, vs what you can buy them for now.

The only way to make real money is to become what amounts to a dealer and constantly wheel and deal. But casual investing will leave you broke 99% of the time.
 
Oh, and if you find a big box of knives in say your grandfathers basement that he started buying from Bob Loveless in the 60's and 70's....
 
While I think that there are definitely knives that hold value relative to other knives, you are going to be hard pressed to actually make any real money at buying and selling them. As with any collectable, you have to take a chance that a certain piece will be produced in limited quantities from a popular maker/manufacturer and be desirable to a large number of people. Even then, the chances of a knife actually APPRECIATING in value are slim. Busse's currently hold their value well, but if you look around and have patience, you can usually find them along with other popular customs (Lightfoot, Lambert, Begg, etc) that sell for close to their original price.

There are "users" and "collectors" and while I like to "collect", I like to "use" even more. I don't have much use of Bussekin knives, but I'll carry a LE Sebenza everyday.
 
Ramm9 said:
Oh, and if you find a big box of knives in say your grandfathers basement that he started buying from Bob Loveless in the 60's and 70's....
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One in a million chance. You only hear of the victories, never the losses.
 
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The F/G Spyderco Manix I bought for around 130 each a little more than a year ago now will bring 250 on eBay(sometimes). Many other Spyderco's go up pretty fast once they are discontinued. They don't always stay up and selling them on auction is a gamble. Are they a good investment? Only in so much as you can probably get your money back and maybe even a few dollars profit.
Bottom line is if you don't enjoy collecting them for the pleasure of it I wouldn't recommend doing it purely for the monetary aspect. It's never a sure thing. But, I like to collect and feel like I at least am not throwing my money away. As far as counting on selling my collection down the road and making a big profit, well I'm not counting on it!
 
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