I started to write short post with one simple question: "How do you sell/price a knife that you bought new and never really used?" This would be a knife that is essentially brand new in the box with most or all of the original packaging.
Then I started to think about it and decided that the how and why of pricing a knife is probably quite different for everyone. But I am interested in hearing peoples views on the matter. Reason being that I have been and will be selling off a number of knives to fund another purchase.
And this brought up other questions, like "Which knives to sell?". Out of my relatively smallish collection of maybe 30-40 production knives, which ones do I sell? I came up with MY answer to that one, but it is not very satisfying and leaves me open to second guessing the decision. So I am interested in how other people make the decision.
To make that all important decision, to sell or not to sell, I ended up looking at why I bought in the first place. I am what I would call a casual collector. I buy what appeals to me aesthetically and from the engineering and design perspective. Utility and usability also enter into the equation. Generally rarity, value, limited edition etc. are not major factors in my buying choices. So all these things will be factors, to varying degrees, in a buying decision.
For example, I have three RAT 1's and two RAT 2's. Why? They are ubiquitous, relatively inexpensive production folders. Based on my daily usage habits and what is left of my lifetime I will NEVER wear out five folders. But these are five knives I will probably never sell. Why not?
Why do I own these folders from Ontario Knife Company? Several reasons. I grew up in upstate NY and have roots there. I feel like I am doing my small part to give something back to the people in NY state by giving them my business. OKC has been in NY state for quite a while, as have several other manufactures. I feel like I am doing small part to support the very rich history of the knife industry in the state.
Also, the RAT 1 is a classic user folder. It is a well designed, well engineered, well manufactured useful (even if it is a bit ungainly) knife. Quite simply I think it is a knife worth owning. The new RAT 2 shares these qualities. That said the knives I use daily are my Opinel #6 which has become my go to kitchen knife, and my Spyderco Ladybug that I use at work to slice up fruit. I used my first RAT 1 about 5 times. Now it sits in a storage case with its unused brethren.
And those are also the reasons why I will probably never sell the RAT's. I have an emotional attachment to them through my life experience. They give me a feeling of having some roots back to my hometown, home state and the knife industry. They are useful. I would use them in a second if I had to. They have an aesthetic appeal. They are well designed and engineered to get the job done. But having said all that, in dire enough circumstances I have to say that I would trade or sell them. And therein lies some additional value as well. In a shtf scenario, the RAT's will probably be worth their weight in gold.
As for other knives, the reasons I bought and own them are more or less the same. I may weight the reasons a little differently for different knives but in general the reasons are all the same: appreciation for design, engineering, aesthetics, usefulness, durability and manufacturing quality. Minor consideration given to unique design, limited edition etc.
So that kind of answers the second question - how to decide which knives to sell. I gauge as best I can how strongly I feel about the various factors that went into the original buying decision.
Pricing.
For argument sake lets say we are talking about a never used never sharpened (aside from the factory edge) knife with the original factory packaging. For all intents and purposes, this is a brand new knife. But try to sell it for average retail pricing. No go. If you actually want to sell it, it seems like you need to set the price well below average retail. Depending on the knife, sometimes far below even the lowest retail.
Usually I search the web and check pricing from several retailers for knife I am selling. Then I set an all inclusive (shipping, insurance, paypal fees) price at what I consider to be a reasonable level below that. This price is and has been universally lower than what I paid for the knife. In some cases far lower - like 50% lower.
Because of that I do not see any reason to negotiate price. Not to say I will not lower a price if a knife does not sell. But in general, the price is the lowest possible price for a new from the factory knife. At some point I will decide to keep a knife rather than take more loss. So part of the decision to sell or not is based on market factors, partly what I think the knife is worth, and partly how "attached" I am to the knife.
To sum up, the answer to my questions is this (another question). How much of a financial loss can I take to sell the knife? The answer is based in how strongly I feel about the original buying decision factors. At some point I will simply keep the knife because to me it is worth more to own it than to sell it for a price that does not reflect the value of the knife.
Then I started to think about it and decided that the how and why of pricing a knife is probably quite different for everyone. But I am interested in hearing peoples views on the matter. Reason being that I have been and will be selling off a number of knives to fund another purchase.
And this brought up other questions, like "Which knives to sell?". Out of my relatively smallish collection of maybe 30-40 production knives, which ones do I sell? I came up with MY answer to that one, but it is not very satisfying and leaves me open to second guessing the decision. So I am interested in how other people make the decision.
To make that all important decision, to sell or not to sell, I ended up looking at why I bought in the first place. I am what I would call a casual collector. I buy what appeals to me aesthetically and from the engineering and design perspective. Utility and usability also enter into the equation. Generally rarity, value, limited edition etc. are not major factors in my buying choices. So all these things will be factors, to varying degrees, in a buying decision.
For example, I have three RAT 1's and two RAT 2's. Why? They are ubiquitous, relatively inexpensive production folders. Based on my daily usage habits and what is left of my lifetime I will NEVER wear out five folders. But these are five knives I will probably never sell. Why not?
Why do I own these folders from Ontario Knife Company? Several reasons. I grew up in upstate NY and have roots there. I feel like I am doing my small part to give something back to the people in NY state by giving them my business. OKC has been in NY state for quite a while, as have several other manufactures. I feel like I am doing small part to support the very rich history of the knife industry in the state.
Also, the RAT 1 is a classic user folder. It is a well designed, well engineered, well manufactured useful (even if it is a bit ungainly) knife. Quite simply I think it is a knife worth owning. The new RAT 2 shares these qualities. That said the knives I use daily are my Opinel #6 which has become my go to kitchen knife, and my Spyderco Ladybug that I use at work to slice up fruit. I used my first RAT 1 about 5 times. Now it sits in a storage case with its unused brethren.
And those are also the reasons why I will probably never sell the RAT's. I have an emotional attachment to them through my life experience. They give me a feeling of having some roots back to my hometown, home state and the knife industry. They are useful. I would use them in a second if I had to. They have an aesthetic appeal. They are well designed and engineered to get the job done. But having said all that, in dire enough circumstances I have to say that I would trade or sell them. And therein lies some additional value as well. In a shtf scenario, the RAT's will probably be worth their weight in gold.
As for other knives, the reasons I bought and own them are more or less the same. I may weight the reasons a little differently for different knives but in general the reasons are all the same: appreciation for design, engineering, aesthetics, usefulness, durability and manufacturing quality. Minor consideration given to unique design, limited edition etc.
So that kind of answers the second question - how to decide which knives to sell. I gauge as best I can how strongly I feel about the various factors that went into the original buying decision.
Pricing.
For argument sake lets say we are talking about a never used never sharpened (aside from the factory edge) knife with the original factory packaging. For all intents and purposes, this is a brand new knife. But try to sell it for average retail pricing. No go. If you actually want to sell it, it seems like you need to set the price well below average retail. Depending on the knife, sometimes far below even the lowest retail.
Usually I search the web and check pricing from several retailers for knife I am selling. Then I set an all inclusive (shipping, insurance, paypal fees) price at what I consider to be a reasonable level below that. This price is and has been universally lower than what I paid for the knife. In some cases far lower - like 50% lower.
Because of that I do not see any reason to negotiate price. Not to say I will not lower a price if a knife does not sell. But in general, the price is the lowest possible price for a new from the factory knife. At some point I will decide to keep a knife rather than take more loss. So part of the decision to sell or not is based on market factors, partly what I think the knife is worth, and partly how "attached" I am to the knife.
To sum up, the answer to my questions is this (another question). How much of a financial loss can I take to sell the knife? The answer is based in how strongly I feel about the original buying decision factors. At some point I will simply keep the knife because to me it is worth more to own it than to sell it for a price that does not reflect the value of the knife.
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