The good thing on a lot handmade knives is light rust specking is not much of a problem on a lot of the stock removal made knives--because they tend to use stainless steel.
Inherent in owning handforged knives, which tend to lean to carbon steels, especially Damascus, is a high degree of maintenance is required. Keep in mind the Damascus pattern comes from putting acid on the blade to bring out the pattern.
I've found that the seller/owner pays no attention if one of his snowflakes develops a spot or two--and in turn they feel it should not effect value. The potential buyer, on the other hand, finds that single spot horrific.
In my experience a light speck or two is going to reduce the aftermarket value 20-35%.
The price is in direct proportion to the amount of damage, but that "drive it around the block once" depreciation for almost any significant storage flaw is going to be 20-35%, maybe more. What's more the pool of potential buyers is greatly reduced because of those who will accept nothing less than a flawless snowflake. For God's sake, it is a knife after all. They're designed and made to be tough, so wrapping them in velvet and having a hysterical fit at a speck of rust is an eye roller for most dealers.
Not only will knives speck, I've seen brass guards and pommels pit, I've seen bolsters get scratched from sliding around in knife boxes and display cases, I've seen handles crack from being stored in dry climates, and stainless spot in salt water climates. Owners of handmade knives have to accept that over a period of time there is a certain amount of damage that will accumulate to your collection. You'll drop one sometime, you'll let a couple clank together accidentally.
Knives that have been used should only be "restored" by the original maker. Period. If at all. Watch a couple of "Antique Roadshows" and see the benefit of making a good old item shiny. It tanks the price.
Sharpened and used handmade knives prices do not drop off as high as comparable vintage knives. (One whetting on a vintage knife will take a 35-50% drop off mint price). Handmades will drop 20% for a single whetting. 10% blade wear on an average quality/average demand maker will drop it to 35-40% off of aftermarket value.
But if you have a mint old Ruana they were so crudely sharpened that it is nearly impossible to tell if the sharping was done by Rudy or a later owner who was planning on using it. So in Ruana's the tolerance level of use is very high.
Older vintage handmades have a higher tolerance factor. Morseths, Loveless, Morans due to scarcity and popularity will maintain a higher percentage of value. Randalls are in a world of their own.
One has to consider the following:Excluding a very few superstars, In general for a great number of handmade knives there is a drop off in price between buying from the maker and buying in the aftermarket. Wishing it was not so is not dealing in reality. Keep in mind the percentages drop-off's I've mentioned above are for real AFTERMARKET values, not the price the maker charged, and certainly not some figure pulled out of the air by an optimistic owner.
So if you take an average demand maker, and take the drop off in price for the aftermarket, and then sharpen it because you want to use it, you have often turned an average demand knife into little more than a "user". User handmades start at around $50-60 for a wood handled drop point. Folders are a little higher.
If you chose to collect used handmades, and if doesn't bother you if a knife has a crack in the handle, a spot here and there, a light sharpening--then one can build a very nice collection of well known makers at economical prices. And if you collect sharpened handmades you can take them out and use them correctly and not see additional drop off in prices. But in this instance I'm talking about buying such knives after someone else had taken the depreciation/damage hit from original value.
But more important than the value of a used knife versus a mint knife by the same maker is to understand the appreciation value of a used in-demand handmade knife will be slow to non-existent.
However if you are collecting for investment there is only one condition--that is mint. You get a spot on a knife, get rid of it at what the market price will bear.
