Lets talk GEC!

I like all this talk on the 73.

I was just thinking how I'd love to see a run of the 23.

I've had a couple of each. I think I'd prefer to see a run of 23s, especially in stainless and stag or American elk. That'd be something.

I had the Bradford Cutlery 23/73 pair. Really liked them, and wish I had kept them.
 
So I've been in the GEC game for right at a year now, maybe a smidgen longer. In those 12-13 months, I've noticed in the secondary market, or more so that auction website, the prices have steadily increased. Especially over the past 3 to 4 months. This time last year, you could find lightly used, or sometimes even new, patterns such as the 61, 62, 73, 76, 79, 25, 65, 53, 54, ect for prices ranging from 80-110ish. Now, its pretty getting more and more difficult to find even a user of anything for under 100. Also, if you searched "Great Eastern" on there in Septemper or October of last year, you'd get 400+ results. This morning with that search, I only found 316 results. And a large number of those are of recent releases, since the change in GEC production to make larger quantities of less patterns.

So with all that being said, Is the secondary market beginning to really dry up? I can't be the only one who has noticed. What are y'alls thoughts?
 
Somewhere someplace among the forums there was a discussion of the best year for GEC...products, quality, desirability, etc. I’m giving my nod to 2014...one here is admittedly a stretch but its blade from factory is from 2014.


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I’m with you Mark 2014 was amazing the 15 pattern’s and everything from that year was superb and so well done. The 2014 Anniversary Barlow in Red Soup bone is my all time favorite. So glad I got that one. Whenever I get bummed about missing something or being out of the loop lately I just pull that lil bad boy out and it brings an instant smile to my face.
 
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A Ajd3530 You bring up a great topic. I also wonder about the long term affect of larger runs of fewer patterns.

I do not think you can really form an opinion without knowing more about GEC’s customer base. More particularly, which percentage are collectors like us who buy dozens or even hundreds of knives and which percentage are people who just buy a couple knives to use them? If we are in the majority, then it could have a negative affect on GEC in the future. If we are the minority, then it probably will not matter much at all.

Over the past few months, I have gone on a search in the aftermarket to buy examples of the patterns I would like to add to my collection, knowing that it might be a very long time before I have the chance to buy them new again. I have found the same as you, prices are going way up and availability is going down.

I have also found that I have time and resources to look at other brands. That is the risk that GEC is taking; allowing us the breathing space to explore other ways to spend our money. But again, if we do not constitute a large percentage of their customer base, it will probably have no affect on their bottom line. GEC is a great company with brilliant leadership. I am sure they will continue to adapt as necessary to guarantee their continued success. As the OP mentioned, GEC may very well be “growing the pie” which would benefit everyone.
 
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A Ajd3530 I had my head bitten off a while back for discussing this, but I believe it is an interesting topic. I am not trying to be controversial or critical at all. I just wonder about the long term affect of larger runs of fewer patterns.

I do not think you can really form an opinion without knowing more about GEC’s customer base. More particularly, which percentage are collectors like us who buy dozens or even hundreds of knives and which percentage are people who just buy a couple knives to use them? If we are in the majority, then it could have a negative affect on GEC in the future. If we are the minority, then it probably will not matter much at all.

Over the past few months, I have gone on a search in the aftermarket to buy examples of the patterns I would like to add to my collection, knowing that it might be a very long time before I have the chance to buy them new again. I have found the same as you, prices are going way up and availability is going down.

I have also found that I have time and resources to look at other brands. That is the risk that GEC is taking; allowing us the breathing space to explore other ways to spend our money. But again, if we do not constitute a large percentage of their customer base, it will probably have no affect on their bottom line. GEC is a great company with brilliant leadership. I am sure they will continue to adapt as necessary to guarantee their continued success.

It could be that the larger quantities of newer knives being produced are allowing more people to purchase and get "bitten by the bug" so to speak. Which in turn leads to higher demand, lower supply, and higher prices in the secondary market.
 
Is the secondary market beginning to really dry up? I can't be the only one who has noticed. What are y'alls thoughts?
I've noticed it too. There used to be a lot of older GECs that would pop up all the time. Nowadays, very few older GECs pop up, and when they do, the prices are crazy high. It's made hunting older GECs too much trouble and it's become a rich-man's game.
 
I do not think you can really form an opinion without knowing more about GEC’s customer base. More particularly, which percentage are collectors like us who buy dozens or even hundreds of knives and which percentage are people who just buy a couple knives to use them? If we are in the majority, then it could have a negative affect on GEC in the future. If we are the minority, then it probably will not matter much at all.

The knife market has changed a lot in the dozen or so years since GEC first appeared. The hard core collectors have always been there. I suspect they always will. There are also the users. I probably fall into that category. I've been cognizant of GEC since the beginning, yet I've only owned seven (I have an eighth on the way). What's hard for the users is that GEC is unlike other knife companies, it doesn't have a lineup of knives a person can peruse and order from. Buying a GEC takes a bit of effort.

A new group is what I'd call the lemmings. This is the group that highlights what happens when consumer culture and social media get together. People that had heretofore paid little attention to slipjoints now all of a sudden want the new hotness to come out of the GEC factory. These folks pay attention to "influencers." A few well-composed shots can have lemmings engage in mad behavior to get that new knife.

If GEC's consumer base is composed largely of this latter group that could be problematic. This group is notoriously fickle. The things they like can change in a heartbeat. When they decide to focus their attentions (and wallets) to another type of knife, or even another company, it will have an impact. No one knows how big an impact it will be, as the social media influenced buyer is such a relatively recent phenomenon.
 
lem·ming
[ˈlemiNG]
NOUN
lemmings (plural noun)
  1. a small, short-tailed, thickset rodent related to the voles, found in the Arctic tundra.
    • a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement, especially a headlong rush to destruction.
 
I got into traditionals about 4 years ago. I think the photo below is my first 'state of the collection' photo and it's dated almost exactly 4 years ago. I don't have any of those knives anymore.

I was active on several slipjoint FB groups and knives got sold and traded constantly. Prices rarely went over $100. The stag 72 I posted earlier I bought for something like $60.
People were open to trading and selling and some knives would ping pong between several people and often times end up back in the original owner's hands. Somebody would post a picture of a knife for sale and somebody else would comment that they really liked that knife but couldn't afford it so then somebody else would say "I'll put in $10 so xxx can get this knife" and other's would 'dogpile' on and end up buying the person a knife.

Somewhere in there though the knives started being seen as investments. Knives would get bought and not be seen again. It became more and more difficult to get good deals. More new members joined these group and soon there were a ton of people and most of them you didn't know and you'd sell them a knife at the 'buddy price' like we'd been doing and then sometimes somebody would message you to let you know that the knife you sold at a good deal got sold on IG for 2 or 3 times what you sold it for.

I had cycled through so many different patterns and knives back in those days. It's hard to believe it was only 4 years ago. Only 3 years ago I found a small online retailer that had 3 stag and 2 blood red jigged Grinling Whittlers for sale, new in tube, at retail prices. $143.42 for the stags and $115.76 for the red jigged. I bought a few for myself (which I traded or sold for my cost within a year) and messaged some people on the FB group about the others so they could get good deals.

Those days are gone though. GECs used to be a bit of a niche item. Those small runs of patterns are just too much of a hassle for retailers to deal with now. Long time customers get angry if they miss out on a run and get pissy in various ways. Nobody wants to deal with that. So GEC makes the big runs now (and people still don't get enough of some of them).

Popularity and the resultant money that brought in changed the hobby. I used to be able to buy and sell knives for about the same. I'd buy one, sell it and use that money to buy another. It was a balanced thing. Now I can't do that without making a profit off a knife when I sell it because the replacement knife will also cost more. I'm not a good capitalist and I don't enjoy doing that. As a result, my collection has become pretty stagnant. I still buy more knives than the average person, but it's nothing like the old days when every month there would be a bunch of knives coming and going.

I liked the camaraderie of the old days when we were just a bunch of random (guys for the most part, though there were a few ladies in the hobby) that were drawn together by our love of these knives. The profiteers rule the hobby now though.

 
I got into traditionals about 4 years ago. I think the photo below is my first 'state of the collection' photo and it's dated almost exactly 4 years ago. I don't have any of those knives anymore.

I was active on several slipjoint FB groups and knives got sold and traded constantly. Prices rarely went over $100. The stag 72 I posted earlier I bought for something like $60.
People were open to trading and selling and some knives would ping pong between several people and often times end up back in the original owner's hands. Somebody would post a picture of a knife for sale and somebody else would comment that they really liked that knife but couldn't afford it so then somebody else would say "I'll put in $10 so xxx can get this knife" and other's would 'dogpile' on and end up buying the person a knife.

Somewhere in there though the knives started being seen as investments. Knives would get bought and not be seen again. It became more and more difficult to get good deals. More new members joined these group and soon there were a ton of people and most of them you didn't know and you'd sell them a knife at the 'buddy price' like we'd been doing and then sometimes somebody would message you to let you know that the knife you sold at a good deal got sold on IG for 2 or 3 times what you sold it for.

I had cycled through so many different patterns and knives back in those days. It's hard to believe it was only 4 years ago. Only 3 years ago I found a small online retailer that had 3 stag and 2 blood red jigged Grinling Whittlers for sale, new in tube, at retail prices. $143.42 for the stags and $115.76 for the red jigged. I bought a few for myself (which I traded or sold for my cost within a year) and messaged some people on the FB group about the others so they could get good deals.

Those days are gone though. GECs used to be a bit of a niche item. Those small runs of patterns are just too much of a hassle for retailers to deal with now. Long time customers get angry if they miss out on a run and get pissy in various ways. Nobody wants to deal with that. So GEC makes the big runs now (and people still don't get enough of some of them).

Popularity and the resultant money that brought in changed the hobby. I used to be able to buy and sell knives for about the same. I'd buy one, sell it and use that money to buy another. It was a balanced thing. Now I can't do that without making a profit off a knife when I sell it because the replacement knife will also cost more. I'm not a good capitalist and I don't enjoy doing that. As a result, my collection has become pretty stagnant. I still buy more knives than the average person, but it's nothing like the old days when every month there would be a bunch of knives coming and going.

I liked the camaraderie of the old days when we were just a bunch of random (guys for the most part, though there were a few ladies in the hobby) that were drawn together by our love of these knives. The profiteers rule the hobby now though.

X2, Ditto, my thoughts exactly, also my experience exactly. I'd hit the "like" button five times if I could.
 
So I've been in the GEC game for right at a year now, maybe a smidgen longer. In those 12-13 months, I've noticed in the secondary market, or more so that auction website, the prices have steadily increased. Especially over the past 3 to 4 months. This time last year, you could find lightly used, or sometimes even new, patterns such as the 61, 62, 73, 76, 79, 25, 65, 53, 54, ect for prices ranging from 80-110ish. Now, its pretty getting more and more difficult to find even a user of anything for under 100. Also, if you searched "Great Eastern" on there in Septemper or October of last year, you'd get 400+ results. This morning with that search, I only found 316 results. And a large number of those are of recent releases, since the change in GEC production to make larger quantities of less patterns.

So with all that being said, Is the secondary market beginning to really dry up? I can't be the only one who has noticed. What are y'alls thoughts?

What dominates the secondary market today is yesterdays “drops” from GEC and its dealers...within hours there were many 93s up for sale, most with exorbitant prices. Just don’t be tempted if you missed the drop, wait several weeks for the fever to drop and for the flippers to get nervous. Look at the prices of Pembertons today as opposed to a month or so ago, they have dropped substantially. The flippers think anything from GEC will make them some quick cash...just don’t take the bait. If you love knives, love what you buy...don’t let your knife buying become like those who fought over pet rocks and beanie babies.
 
As promised, here is a pic of my new #66 Roper. I thought it was coming Monday but it showed up at the farm today. Time to put it to work.
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A agree with all of this partially and disagree slightly as well. None of what is being said can really be disagreed with, but there is another side as well. I am not on any of the regular social media platforms, I’d say none but I’m sure people consider this social media, so I can’t speak to those experiences, but what I generally do is look on the auction site for odd things that pop up and try different keyword searches, and always look at users, they never have the super high markups that unused ones do, for instance I had written off ever getting a grinling but there was a used one that was essentially the same as the American whittler ones that I got for 1/4 as much because it was used and less rare, but still the same scales and all steel construction. The other thing I do is stick around here in the old timey sales area as I have gotten and given decent deals with members that are regulars. I think almost all the ones I’ve sold have been at or below what I paid. Partly because I was late to the game about two years ago so a lot of mine have come from the secondary market. I’m still perpetually too slow to get in on popular ones that people sell here for what they paid but hats off to them for doing it.
 
but what I generally do is look on the auction site for odd things that pop up and try different keyword searches, and always look at users, they never have the super high markups that unused ones do, for instance I had written off ever getting a grinling but there was a used one that was essentially the same as the American whittler ones that I got for 1/4 as much because it was used and less rare, but still the same scales and all steel construction. The other thing I do is stick around here in the old timey sales area as I have gotten and given decent deals with members that are regulars.

For sure, you can still luck into a good deal here and sometimes an ok deal on the auction site, but on BF a good deal vanishes within minutes, if that.
 
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