Ok, I think I understand where you're coming from....
I went thru a similar mental exercise myself.
It comes down to what I want the knife/gun/tool to do for me. If it's just to look at now and then and show off to my friends (if I had any that cared about such things) then that's one thing.
If, on the other hand, I buy a knife/gun/tool to actually DO what I need a knife/gun/tool to do, then I'm going to use it. Will I mar the finish ? Absolutely. Will I hurt the resale value? Depends on what it is.....and if I ever intended to sell it. (if I never intend to re-sell it, then hurting the resale value is moot)
I'd rather use my "good" knife to do what I need a knife to do. The scars it accumulates will only add to the mystique and character of the knife. An embodiment of what it meant to me.
For example, my Father used a Scheaffer pen/pencil set ever since I can remember. The clip was askew, scratches were evident, yet those very markings are what made it special. Why? Because it proved my Father preferred it above all others and used it accordingly.
After his death, that pen/pencil set disappeared. No one knows where it went. For all I know, it got buried with him. I do have some nice NEW IN THE BOX pen/pencil sets that were his, but that he never used. Accordingly, they don't mean near as much as the Scheaffer set.
That $30 knife you got might be just fine, I dunno. But everytime you use a "who-gives-a-rip" knife, you lose the chance to use your "good" knife one more time.
In the end, I want my family and friends, when they sort thru my stuff, to say, "Hey, isn't this the knife/gun/tool that David always used for ________?"
I'd rather they said that instead of: "Wow........I can't believe he used THIS thing!"
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