Mule Resellers

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Rooster81

Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
349
Every now and then I see someone trying to sell a mule for at least double the original price in the for sale section here, sometimes more. It really bugs me. Seems pretty brazen too, since I would guess if you're on this forum you know the mules are supposed to be discounted test blades for knife enthusiasts.

How do y'all feel about it?
 
Rooster81 said:
Every now and then I see someone trying to sell a mule for at least double the original price in the for sale section here, sometimes more. It really bugs me. Seems pretty brazen too, since I would guess if you're on this forum you know the mules are supposed to be discounted test blades for knife enthusiasts.

How do y'all feel about it?
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I don't like it but I learned long ago that the knife business is a cutthroat business and has a lot of scammers. I dare say this goes on with a high percentage of sellers on the exchange here. Whether I or anybody else likes it or dislikes it doesn't matter, if supply and demand supports it then it's going to happen. I sometimes upgrade to a gold membership to sell my excess knives, I try to conduct my business on the exchange differently. I typically don't buy additional knives with the intention of selling them for profit, but when I sell knives that I've bought to use I do price them in the range of the going prices for those models. Sometimes that's higher than the price I paid for the knife, sometimes it's not. But when I sell a knife I have to pay paypal fees and postage so if I sell for close to the price I paid, I'm losing money. I'm a hobbyist and that's the cost of the hobby.
 
To play devils advocate, let’s take the MagnaCut release for this example. It took me over an hour to prepare and complete the purchase of the limit of 2 per customer. I did purchase 2 because I am giving one to a friend of mine after I make scales for it(Material from Pops arrived today!).
Now if I did decide to sell one, which I will not in this case, can I be compensated for the time and frustration of the original purchase plus the time and effort to list, arrange sale, and ship? If so who can dictate, aside from myself, what my time and effort is worth?


Now truth be told I am so glad Spyderco put a limit of 2 per customer in an attempt to dissuade flippers. I do not like flippers and despise gougers. I’ve seen it way too may times in the last 20 years watching the sales of guns and ammo.
 
Rooster81 said:
How do y'all feel about it?
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I "feel" that there will always be "have nots" who get bent out of shape because the "haves" will not "share" their bounty for less than market value. For what it's worth, I have a handful of Mules. I'm not interested in selling anything at any price.

Wait, that's a lie. I WOULD sell them ALL... but probably not what most "have nots" are willing to pay.

If you want a Mule, get in line like everyone else.
 
Rooster81 said:
Every now and then I see someone trying to sell a mule for at least double the original price in the for sale section here, sometimes more. It really bugs me. Seems pretty brazen too, since I would guess if you're on this forum you know the mules are supposed to be discounted test blades for knife enthusiasts.

How do y'all feel about it?
Click to expand...

Actually, the resale prices for Mules usually go from 3-5x's the original price of between $50-75 for a Mule.

If you can get one for just 2x's the original price from Spyderco in the 2ndary market, you should consider it a "bargain."

LOL! ;)

PS: Not everyone selling a Mule is a flipper or scammer.

Since the original release #'s for Mules have been so limited, most of the people who own Mules bought them in the 2ndary market. So, very few people reselling a Mule are making a significant (if any) profit.

In my case, I bought almost all of the Mules that I own in the 2ndary market for $125-200 each. The only "bargain" I ever got on a Mule was when I suffered the THREE HOURS of frustration of buying 2 MagnaCuts on the day of release.

I have been trying to TRADE 2 Mules (see my signature line) for awhile now but will shortly place both for sale in the Exchange and, if they don't sell there, on EB for the going market price for them and I see no reason to discount them (or give them away) to anyone other than a close friend or relative.

Nor, IMO, would you or anyone else.
 
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There was a guitar shop in the East Bay that loaned Peter Frampton a black Gibson Les Paul, a valuable item. Frampton liked the guitar so much that, when he went back to return it, he made an offer to buy it. The guitar shop owner said, "Keep it." It's the black Gibson that you see Frampton playing in every picture since that day, including the historic Frampton Comes Alive recordings.

What would happen if you gave your Spyderco Mule away? Something good, maybe?
 
It doesn't bother me if people flip or resale or whatever. You gotta pay to play. The Mule Teams are one of my favorite things Spyderco offers. Very cool concept in my opinion. I wish they would rotate through steels constantly making them available.
One thing I don't understand though, is why you see loves, wows and likes when someone offers a Mule for 2-3x original price and sad, angry and laughs when someone offers a PM2 for $400 here on the exchange. There are certainly a wide range of strongly held opinions on this topic.
 
While I've only traded and bought off the exchange, I have a huge amount of hard to find Spydercos that I'll off load eventually! I've had a blast , Buying these blades the last 3 years, Collecting during health issues! I don't support the act of buying certain knives and then reselling for profit, But what's the difference between knives and every other part of the economy?!? Flipping houses has it's own channels on cable, Cars, Watches, Stocks, Crypto, Etc! Just curious as to why this segment of the online community "thinks" this way?

I gift my excess Mules to family, To answer the OPs question. But I've bought a couple off the exchange at a tad higher price. Why would I complain about that?
 
the market sets the price.

less supply means more demand. more demand means the seller can ask what they want.

if I were in that position there's no doubt t that I'd start high and lower the price gradually from there. I hold no I'll will to anyone else who would do that either.

if you dont like the price dont pay it. make an offer for what you think is fair and maybe you'll get a better deal.
 
It serves its purpose, gives the complainers something else to complain about, for the rest of us its just life. Lucky me, I don't really care for them after owning a couple.
 
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