Newbie here

[ruzales]

Hi-
I very recently was left a knife collection and knowing nothing about them I'm stumbling around trying to figure out what to do. Please forgive my blunders.
I am planning on attending a Gun and Knife show here in San Francisco next month. I want to show the proper etiquette and I'm asking you for guidance. I would like to bring a sample of the collection to sell - is that allowed? Even if I can't sell them there I'm hoping I could find someone who would sell (some of )it for me. I'm not going to sell them all, I want to refine the collection first by paring it down (there's about 300 folders, haven't gotten to the Bowies yet).

Any suggestions? Anyone in the SF Bay Area willing to meet with me to provide guidance/advice?

Thanks for listening.

 

[Bob W]

There's a lot of legwork and research necessary on your end to ensure you're getting a fair price for you knives, especially if taking them to a gun and knife show.

eBay is your best bet for finding knife values. Use the Completed Items search to see what identical knives (same condition, same model, same materials, etc.) are selling for.

There are several dealers I can think of who will sell your knives on commission. But then a big chunk of the money goes into their pocket, not yours.

If you should come across a knife you can't identify or date, take good pictures and post them in the Bernard Levine Knife Identification forum section. You can't ask about values on the forum without being a Gold member, but maybe the information will help you decide which knives to keep and which to sell off.

If you do become a Bladeforums Gold member, you can sell them here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/681-For-Sale-by-Individuals

Bernard Levine also has an appraisal service. Find out more at his website: http://knife-expert.com/appr-k.htm

When you do get around to selling, photos are key. Hints and tips can be found here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/734-The-Gallery
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/847-Photography-Discussion

If any of your knives are high-dollar items, it may be worth your while to have them professionally photographed.

Good luck with your collection; I hope this is enough information to get you off to a good start.

 

[cj65]

I cannot add much to Bob's post except that you would be a fool not to heed what he said. Ebay is a great tool to get top dollar. If you take good pictures, and put in good descriptions including pattern style, bidding wars will drive up your price to fair market value. You can even start them at $1 dollar, as I do most of my auctions, it attracts alot of attention at the beginning, but every thing really happens in the last few hours of bids. I try to list my items on Sunday late afternoon, so last minute bidders may be likely to bid at the end of the auction. If someone tries to force you into buying all that you have for a set price, I would not trust them. If you are not in a hurry, do an ebay search for each knife company, find your knife as a completed listing search and you will do well. If you have some hot items, buyers/collectors will flag you as a seller, and watch what you put up for auction, giving you alot of attention if you continually consistently sell what they are looking for. Do it yourself, and make as much money as you can.

Good luck! Take good pictures and make sure you get the tang stamps in the photos, zoom if you can.