Miss priced knife on auction site

zombieHD55

zombieHD55

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Dec 26, 2006
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If you saw a knife on a popular auction site for way less than it was worth brand new, in package, free shipping....would you buy it? Or would you contact the seller and tell him/her you miss priced this knife.
 
I would read the fine print.

If you can still buy this knife retail, I would guess it is probably a knock-off. If it is an old one they might not know the value of what they have, but based on the way you phrased your question I would assume the former.

Make sure you check what country the seller is from too.
 
Any name brand product that is on an auction site for way below SRP should ring alarm bells. Common trick is to have cheap product with ridiculous delivery charge and no combined postage option. (eBay apparently does not take a cut on postage so this is how the dodgy sites actually make their money - 99¢ for the knife and $25 for postage - hmmmmm!)
 
It seems like a knockoff/counterfeit to me check the feedback on the seller and see what country they are located in. The knife is probably counterfeit, especially if the seller is located in China.
 
Sorta off the topic, but I sometimes sell on ebay, and one time I had a Northwoods Fur Trader than went for considerably less than what it was worth. The seller contacted me, and offered to void the deal because it went for so little. I told him that a deal was a deal, and just took the loss on the knife, but I appreciated his offer.

Now, as for me . . . I have to confess if I do see a good deal (on a product I feel confident in) I'll jump on it.
 
bladefoolish is auctionwise. :)

It's up to the buyer and the seller to understand what they've got and come to an agreement on the price, just like in any face to face deal. Everyone who chipped in with the advice that, if it's too good to believe, it probably isn't all that good, is also right. When in doubt, don't.
 
I purchased a Queen fixed blade knife about 9 months ago for about half of wholesale on a brand new knife. Some sellers like to start all auctions at 0.99 or even 9.99 no matter what the value of the item. If there are no buyers interested at the time a real bargain may be had.
I always thought that the Queen knife was so cheap because it was six months to deer season and Queen is not the first thought of brand of knife for fixed blades.
 
bladefoolish said:
Sorta off the topic, but I sometimes sell on ebay, and one time I had a Northwoods Fur Trader than went for considerably less than what it was worth. The seller contacted me, and offered to void the deal because it went for so little. I told him that a deal was a deal, and just took the loss on the knife, but I appreciated his offer.

Now, as for me . . . I have to confess if I do see a good deal (on a product I feel confident in) I'll jump on it.
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eBay is very irregular the only way to sell anything on there and not lose your butt, is to set a reserve at the minimum amount you'd feel comfortable taking for your item. This costs a bit more in eBay fees, but without it you are at the mercy of the bidders.
I've got some good deals on discontinued Spydercos on there, because the seller ended the bidding in the morning on weekdays. Experienced sellers end theirs on the weekend, or at least in the evening when more people are at home.
 
jill jackson said:
eBay is very irregular the only way to sell anything on there and not lose your butt, is to set a reserve at the minimum amount you'd feel comfortable taking for your item. This costs a bit more in eBay fees, but without it you are at the mercy of the bidders.
I've got some good deals on discontinued Spydercos on there, because the seller ended the bidding in the morning on weekdays. Experienced sellers end theirs on the weekend, or at least in the evening when more people are at home.
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Yep, I now set a reserve -- my reserve is usually a little lower than what I think the knife is worth, but hey -- I feel ya' gotta give buyer a chance for a good deal.
 
A low opening bid on ebay is a draw to us all. It sometimes sets us up to watch this item. If it stays on our ebay, in watched List, we don't forget it and the seller knows he has a better chance of you bidding even as the price goes up to what it should be. The sellers cost to list is less setting a low opening bid. He can get hurt but I don't think it happens often. I hate when a seller sets a reserve. You put in a bid and it says reserve not met. Just tell me what your min. is so I know if I want to bid or not. (This is how I feel and others may not feel the same) I have sold a few items myself and ebay is a funny thing. Couldn't sell a item for $35 after a week and when relisted the following week went for $54. Had watchers each time. I have a item on now with opening bid of $9.99 but expect it to go over $100. Chris Reeve Sebanza have been listed for $ .99 opening bid and always sold at a fare price. I tried to get it . LOL As said before you need to check the feedback of the seller and where he is from.
 
I have gotten stung lately on a new, unused popular knife I had on ebay. I had the auction ending at 10:00 EST which apparently cut off some folks on the west coast. 43 people were watching but the knife went for 75% of the value of the knife. I hate ebay fees but they are cheaper that 25% of a valuable knife so I will definitely consider a minimum or reserve price in the future.
 
Sure you can just about be sure of getting a fair price for some knives. But some of the less known and less popular ones don't sell well on eBay.
eBay would rather you didn't set a reserve price. That way the item will sell and they will wind up with more money than just the listing fees. At least that's the impression I get.
 
If I see something good (and legit) at a steal of a price I jump on it, cause if I dont someone else will.
 
Hmmm. . . probably three of the best deals I've gotten have been a Bowen survival knife on ebay for $15.00; a Pacific Cutlery Balisong at a gun show for $20.00; and when I traded a Bark River Fox River for a Swamp Rat Camp Tramp.
 
If the buyer has a return policy I will normally take a chance on an item such as zombiehd described. Also you do have recourse if it is a counterfit, ebay will refund your money and go after the seller, I have had them do so a couple of times.

I have gotten some really good deals on ebay but I also put time into it. People who are not familar with what they are selling will often place things in the wrong category or misspell names. I search with that in mind. When I sell I never use reserve pricing, I also will not bid on an item that has a reserve. Too many times people set reserves extremely high, not wanting to sell the item to merely price it, it is a waste of my time. I set my opening price at 80% what I feel I would accept for the item. If it sells for that I know I may have overvalued it but normally I always get several bids and usually sell above what I would expect. Of course I don't expect people to pay the price of a silk purse when I am selling a pigs ear either. I price fairly.

I do wish ebay would offer the option of live bidding. It is great for the seller, not so great for the buyer but much fairer. It prevents last second sniping. Any bid in the last 5 minutes extends the auction time by 15 minutes, this is the way the auctions are run on gunbroker,com.
 
I have been about 50/50 on lowballing an items minimum bid. Sometimes I have made out so well I felt guilty and sometimes I have practically given things away. Overall I feel I have come out ahead though.
 
Thanks for all your replies. I failed to mention the unusually low price was a buy it now price. The seller had a large number of Victorinox knives all with normal pricing, except for the Alox Farmers. The Farmers were priced at $4 bucks and one at $3 bucks. Like Jarhead I felt a little guilty since I bought three. When I checked back a few hours later the seller had put them back to the regular price.

I decided not to be a jerk and buy up every single Farmer that was mispriced.
 
I just scored a Spyderco Foilage Green UKPK NIB for $55 shipped

I could easily resell that knife here for around $80, but that's a keeper.

The deals are there, you just have to find them and know how to authenticate them.
 
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