Local Gun & Knife Show - Disappointing

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knifedraw

Joined
Dec 21, 2009
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So, I went today with my girlfriend (She LOVES guns and knives) She stole my JYD II from me, Anyways, so I paid 9 bucks for both of us to get in, Brought my Small sebenza, Microtech Ultratech, and a BM 710. Mainly looking to trade for other knives. There was alot of knife dealers, some had alot some didn't. And almost every guy I tried to trade with wanted to rip me off. I understand they are in it to make a profit but, its a gun and knife show!! They should have better deals for us local knife knuts you know? Not the case at all.

For my Benchmade 710 (NIB) the best I could get was 60$ credit.. and I wanted to trade towards an Endura 4 and maybe something else. Nope, Endura 4 was 80$ so he wouldn't trade.

For my sebenza 21 Small, Best I could get was 230. And it's NIB!

After those offers, I just threw in the towel on trading and just bought a few books. Left a really bad taste in my mouth, I had ALWAYS thought the gun and knife show was a good place to trade and sell.. I'm going to stick to trading on places like Bladeforums if I want a new blade.. Big disappointment.

Anyone else have bad experiences at local gun and knife shows????
 
Once in a while there is a deal during the show (few and far between, in my experience, but sometimes...). Generally, the best deals are before the show (dealer to dealer) or parking lot or at the very end just before the dealers are packing up.
 
I sell at the orlando florida gun and knife show. you need to understand these dealers are buying at wholesale pricing so your credit may not be worth that much to them. they maybe get better deals on brand new ones than what you are asking for credit.
 
Sorry to hear your experiences. If you put those knives on the exchange you'll get better offers. And your girlfriend sounds like a keeper : )
 
I've gotten kind of soured on knife and gun shows. IMO the main reason for buying at a show is to get a some good deals, but the last couple years it seems like I'm just not seeing many any more. My local gun shops discount stuff lower than a lot of show vendors do. I honestly don't know how they make a any sales and who is the fool buying from them. :confused:
 
I would think that "trade credit" would equal market value. Two knives of similar cost should be tradable. Especially if they are both used or both new.

It would give a dealer a chance to add a couple new brands to his table without having to purchase loads of them wholesale -and see how they sell afterwards.

People like variety, right?
 
Haha... a 710 wouldn't even get you an Endura. That's pretty lame, but my experiences has been similar. In fact, I only look at guns now when going to gun/knife combo shows.
 
The last "Gun" show I went to had more coin, beef jerky and nazi memorabilia dealers than guns or knives...
 
In my experience, dealers at Collectibles shows in general are divorced from reality in their asking prices. Yes, there are some good deals to be found, but they are few and far in-between the average "business genius" who sits around all day for a $50 profit.
 
I went to a show in Colorado Springs this morning, spent a couple of hours and walked out with a couple of knives I wanted and +$200 in cash. I traded a couple of desirable pieces I had bought "right" in the past year on line. Overall I broke even, value wise, and ended up with some knives I'd been wanting to try. The folks I dealt with are show regulars who I've known for years. It pays to develop long term relationship based on mutual trust. Other than that, my "finds" at shows are normally on tables full of guns or other items with just a knife or two taken in trade.
 
I am always making people deals and that is probley why I have a bunch of them keep coming back to me. I try to be the lowest price out there. I have done some trade's but a bunch of them I tell them just go try some one else. If they are asking around a price that I can get it for new then why would I want to pay the same price for used??
 
Why would I give you $300 credit and eliminate whatever small percentage of profit I have to make on the wares I packed in? You want a deal, put in the time or just trade here or with a buddy. I go to gun shows to show patronage, not take bread off a dealers table.
 
Sounds pretty standard to me. They are there to make some cash, not give great deals. Trade on here and you could get that endura in a snap:)
 
GrinderMcgee said:
Why would I give you $300 credit and eliminate whatever small percentage of profit I have to make on the wares I packed in? You want a deal, put in the time or just trade here or with a buddy. I go to gun shows to show patronage, not take bread off a dealers table.
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How is that taking 'bread' off someones table? They are getting a quality item for (quite a bit) less than they can sell it for?
 
I usually don't go to a Gun/Knife show with the intent to purchase or trade. I'm usually just looking to handle different knives to get a feel for what I may like to pick up in the near future. The Gun/Knife shows are dedicated mostly to firearms so I don't get my hopes up on finding a great deal on knives at them. Now when it comes to dedicated custom knife shows I like to go with some coin in my pocket so I can try to pick something up if I really like it.
 
GrinderMcgee said:
Why would I give you $300 credit and eliminate whatever small percentage of profit I have to make on the wares I packed in? You want a deal, put in the time or just trade here or with a buddy. I go to gun shows to show patronage, not take bread off a dealers table.
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I go to check items out that I wouldnt normally be able to and to look for deals.

No deals? Then your stuff can stay sitting right on your table. I'll just go to the next table or online. No matter to me.
 
I usually go to gun shows (no "just knife" shows around here) to sharpen people's knives and BS with my old buds. There was one this weekend, but I had to work this afternoon, so I went over this morning just to check it out, and meet a friend and show him a couple non-gun items of interest. I wasn't gonna buy anything, though.

Yeah right. I spent my lunch money on a couple pocketknives - a Japanese hawkbill pruner and a Craftsman 9560 (think TL-29) that the seller threw in a nice EZLap with.

Anyway, what I wanna tell y'all is that each seller there had their own unique approach and set of expectations for this show. To give two extreme examples, a widow lady was selling guns out of her late husband's collection. These were nice older guns - Savage 99's, Ruger #1's and 3's, pre-64 M70's. His gun dealer friend had told her, "You can sell these fast and cheap, or wait for the right buyer to come along and pay what they're worth." She had chosen the latter option, and priced them right at book. If they didn't sell, he'd be listing them on GunBroker.com to put them before a national audience.

A couple tables down, there was a fellow who was going on the road in a month as a long-haul trucker and was selling off all his hunting and fishing stuff. He was having a great time, laughing and joking with everybody, and every hour he'd hold up an arrow quiver or a tackle box and yell, "Who wants this for free?" and toss it into the crowd. His prices were stupid cheap, because otherwise he'd have to pay monthly for a storage locker.

So my take on knife and gun shows is, they're a crap shoot. But there's more stuff there than you'll see in one place for a while, you'll see some interesting characters, and you always go home with something if you want to. And they're cheaper than a movie.

Parker
 
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