Knives you hardly ever see for sale.

R

Robbie Roberson

Joined
Dec 27, 2003
Messages
1,983
Have you ever noticed that some knives that are being produced are hardly ever seen for sale in the "Exchange" section.

Random example of a knife I like: Extrema Ratio rescue knife.

What do you think this means, if anything ?





Robbie Roberson ;)
 
Hey, Robbie, how ya doing?

Probably very few have been sold :)

It is a pretty specialized knife. Similarly, I like my MOD CQDs but I never saw many of them for sale in Exchange. The people that buy them, like them.
 
How often do you see Terzuola/Spyderco StarMates for sale? Not very often as far as I can tell. Those of us who have them love them and are holding on to them.
 
FullerH said:
How often do you see Terzuola/Spyderco StarMates for sale? Not very often as far as I can tell. Those of us who have them love them and are holding on to them.
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Thats just it, some knives arent for sale often because they are great knives and rare...who wants to get rid of them? I hardly ever see any EK's from Richmond come up here(at least ones I dont have) because people are holding on to em.
 
what knives are rarely sold? MINE!

I dont usually sell knives once I get em. but you never know!
 
Sean McWilliams Panama Fighter....the one knife I regret above all others - the last one sold within 5 minutes.
 
I think partially it is as many have said---knives people have that they like very much and use and so don't feel inclined to part with them. Also, those knives from companies/makers who have a strong following on these forums have a sort of built-in customer base for the sale sections; not to say that many of those that do not have as strong a presence here (Extrema Ratio and Ek from Richmond were mentioned) aren't regarded as being very good knives, they just don't have quite the buzz around them, so they don't tend to move as quickly or generate as many views per thread.

And lastly, it often comes down to pure money considerations---some knives accrue value as time passes while others do not, or not to the same degree. I am a huge fan of Busse knives, but I've never been much into selling them, since I pretty much only buy the ones I want. I've sold a few, but it's generally only when something didn't feel quite right once I got it or something like that. However, those knives hold their value quite well when used, and in mint condition become worth a lot more than what they sold for new in, really, a very short amount of time. So, many just snap them up with no intention other than reselling them down the road. I've seen many threads here over the years decrying the "over-representation" of Busse knives in the sale forums, but the simple fact of the matter is that the customer base determines what goes up for sale, and if you're interested in making money, you do well to put up something you know will sell. Same thing goes for knives from the current hot custom makers. Not a commentary on them being any "better" than the other extremely well made knives out there, it's just market.

That's my best guess, anyway. :)
 
Busse's move because of the nature in which they can be bought. They are not like other knives where you can go out and buy them willy nilly or even wait for a short time to get a custom one, you get em while they are hot, so to speak. I have sold a few, but i have kept most.....as most are users. Thats why I think they are bought and sold so much. People buy them, either dont like them or they are just not what they wanted and sell them(some do intentionally buy them to turn a profit).

Not to get off topic, I noticed that some knives that dont get put out there very much might be do to limited quantity,like the spyderco/terzula's. Who wants to risk getting rid of one when the likley hood of ever getting it back is VERY slim. Knives that have been produced in a fairly reasonable quantity you almost never have to worry about. I see very few WH T-12's with the original shiny black finish. I own 2 and other models which have this finish, and would never sell them as WH no longer did deals where the shiny finish was applied to there blades and its my fav. Anyway I have ranted enough.....what does everyone else think?
 
barrabas74 said:
some do intentionally buy them to turn a profit).
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Actually, it's quite a few--I know more than a couple dyed in the wool HOGS who genuinely like their knives, but will turn around three days--or however long it took to come to them in the mail--after one of the company sales and put the knives up for sale at a profit. This happens every single time there's an extravaganzaa---not that I'm passing judgement or saying it's wrong, just that I seriously doubt that many hardcore Busse fans all bought with the intention of keeping and then simultaneously decided they didn't like them when they've received them.

I think you're very right on the availability concern--I know there's a few knives out of my own collection that I've thought of turning loose of in order to fund another purchase, but end up safe and sound back in the cabinet because I get worried I won't be able to replace them. I have one of the old A.G. Russell Stings that gets absolutely NO use or carry time, and I keep picking it up and thinking, "this would sell pretty quickly..." and yet useless as it is to me I don't want to lose it. :D
 
one of my favorite edc's is the camillus tanto cudaII. the button knife. if you've never seen one i don't know how to describe it. they did'nt sell well and sort of dissappeared from view, but then reappeared in the after market world and were selling for the msrp or more.
this little cuda(there is a bigger version) has some killer 154CM steel but had this new way of opening the blade with a button which slid up an arc thru the scale. handy knife but weird.
buz
 
Esav, doing great, you may be right.

I like to look for older collectable models like the green handled Lum PE........a classic IMO, but you just don't see many around. :(


Robbie Roberson ;)
 
Robbie, you have to work the forums just like ebay -- do a search every day for the knives you want. Go down the list and search in trade and in sale forums, and eventually most knives do appear, just not always in the condition or at the price you'd like. :)
 
Let's face it, Busse sort of has it all.

The knives are excellent in their own right and would all make good users.
Each variant comes out in a relatively small run so it qualifies as unique.
There is a large & devoted customer base so sales are quick & profitable.
New variants come out frequently so the need to raise cash is constant.

It's a no-lose situation for people with the money to buy in initially.
And for those that don't sell, the knives are still worth owning.

---

Other knives may not be produced in quantity or may not sell well to begin with.
This automatically limits their appearance in the secondary market.

Some knives are either users or so attractive to their owners that they don't go up for sale often, either.

There is only one solution. Buy lots of new knives! :D
 
Actually I am surprised that the larger Newt Livesay fixed blades don't come up more often. There have got to be thousands out there given his low price / high performance ratio- but like mine, they are real keepers.

Getting a new one is next to impossible since Newt is out of knife making as far as I know.
 
Daniel L said:
There have got to be thousands out there given his low price / high performance ratio...
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Perhaps there were thousands ordered and payed for (though I think that's more than a little high)--how many were delivered is actually the question; that disparity being the reason Newt is no longer a knifemaker.

Really is a shame--he did make superb working blades and his handle ergonomics were among the best I've ever tried. I have kind of a "variant" RCM from him that I like very much, and like you have no intention of selling.
 
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