New to Selling - Any Helpers Out There?

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GreenMountainState

Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Messages
18
Hi Folks. I just acquired a collection of knives from a friend's father that passed away. I'm guessing most of these were bought in the late 70's through to the early 90's. Most look unused, unsharpened and in great condition.

Is there a place here where it is acceptable to post photos to get a sense of how much to ask for individual knives? I'm looking to price to sell, but not give away. There are some big names here: Randall, Kershaw, A.G. Russell, Buck....and some junk I'm sure.

Happy to pay someone for pricing advise as well.

I bought a Platinum Membership here rather than sell on Ebay, but that was my initial plan.
 
Best way to get pricing is to search for the knife on ebay and go to sold listings. That should give you a good idea what it's worth
 
Once you figure what you want for them be clear as to what the price is, let them know if it includes shipping or not, overseas extra. There is a link above the thread for the rules to sell and buy in the exchange. Good read.
 
Post them up here and ask if anyone has info on value.. You have a platinum membership, so you are good to go on asking that.

Once you get photo's uploaded you should get some good feedback.

I use Imgur to host photos (after Photobucket went photo pirate and held my photos for hostage).

Once uploaded to an i.age hosting site, click on the photo and copy it. Then come here and click the little icon above your post with the mountainband moon logo. Paste the copied photo link in there.
 
Thanks for all the advise! I think I'll start by posting a few here and see how it goes. I'm also wondering, should I clean these up at all? I notice some of the brass has got some green on it, some what I would consider a nice patina. I'll start putting a few up here and see were it gets me.
 

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My uneducated opinion is DON'T CLEAN THEM.... If they are collectible it could ruin them, if not restored properly.

I always error on asking First, but let the new owner do what they want.....
 
GreenMountainState said:
OK, so my photos can and will get better!

Here is what I believe to be an early 80's Randall Model 1 - 8" Fighting Knife
Click to expand...
Hello and welcome to Blade forums !!!
Your off to a heck of a start with that one !!!!!!
So great maker with long history !!
You might wanna scroll down to manufacturer section, then at bottom you’ll see collectors forum. In that area you’ll find a forum area dedicated to that maker.
I hope this helps :-)
Great knife !!!!!! By the way
 
My advice- If you don't know what you have, don't try to "clean" them. Leave them as is until you find out exactly what you have, and what condition you should sell them in. It may seem counterintuitive, but sometimes cleaning and/or polishing an old knife can reduce it's value, especially if it's not performed correctly.

Also, I would advise against applying any sort of oils, greases, or lubricants until you're sure of what you have, and how best to handle them. Same goes with leather sheaths, don't apply any sort of leather conditioners.

And don't sharpen the knives.

Best of luck with your sales.
 
I'll be the one to differ. You want to clean that green. Verdigris can etch metals. It's a result of a chemical reaction between the metal and the chemicals used to tan the leather, which is why you should never store a knife in a leather sheath for any length of time.

Verdigris can be cleaned off metals with basic solvents and even soap and water. Those should not hurt a knife. Cleaning the stuff out of a sheath is much trickier, and unless you know what you're doing I'd leave that to someone else.

Once you clean the knife you should put a preservative on it. I suggest a light coat of RenWax, which will seal and preserve the steel as well as any porous materials like stag or bone. It will not discolor anything and it will clean off easily if that's required. Most people won't even know you've applied it if done correctly.
 
Thanks for the info. The green just rubs off with a simple cotton towel, so maybe I'll just go that far and let the new owners preserve.

Thanks!
 
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