Questions regarding selling factory custom knife

Z

ZTFan

Joined
Oct 6, 2016
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137
Hello, brand new here. I have previously carried a ZT 301, 350, Kershaw Launch 4, and a switch blade I acquired in Guatemala. I currently carry a ZT 900. I'm hoping to sell a factory custom knife.

I was led to believe that this knife would sell out in minutes, which is why I was ready to purchase it literally as soon as dealers put it up. Oddly, however, these dealers still have it in stock, which is why I don't yet feel comfortable naming the knife.

I was also led to believe that this knife would resell for 1.5-2x its MSRP, which I'm starting to feel skeptical about since they aren't even sold out yet. I am worried I made a poor investment.

My question is this: is there anything to be worried about, and if so should I attempt to sell this knife as soon as possible or hold onto it for a while until demand goes up again? As you may have already figured out I am extremely new to this resale thing and have only purchased knives in the past for personal use and then sell them to friends for below-market prices.

Any advice you may have is appreciated, though I understand how difficult that is without knowing any of the knife in question's specifications. Once all the dealers run out of them, I will either update this post or make a new one and ask about how much I should sell it for, when I should sell, etc.

Thank you very much and I look forward to learning!
 
Flipping knives for profit is a hard game with the road often filled with others empty wallets.

You should see if you can return the knife and just buy the knife you want.
I would just relish in the deals you do get, and bite the bullet on the knives you don't. Let it all even out in the end.

If you want to make money selling knives, open a shop.
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I think I know the knife and the color combination might be a bit odd for some, which is why it didn't jump off the shelf, as is the blade shape. That one in particular is either a love or hate shape.

If that was a 562 sprint, it would have been gone by now.
 
I think what you are talking about is called speculating. Knives are for cutting. If you wanna gamble you can play the stock market or go to vegas.:eek::)
 
Your best bet is to try and get a refund if you want to be as whole as possible on that knife. I doubt you will be able to make any profit on it unless you want to sit on it for like 10 years lol

I have made money on a knife sale but never on one I bought new that was readily available. And I've lost much more than I've made on knives, they are not good investments!

Btw we all know the knife in question. It's black and purple and a Wharncliff and made by ZT lol
 
If you're trying to figure out which knife is going to double your money, ZT ain't a bad brand to try it with, seems like every other knife they release is an "LE"

I would however recommend the roulette wheel as a better option...
 
I never understood flipping knives. Just seems like you're taking advantage of the consumer. And what is a factory custom knife? Seems an oxymoron to me.

sent via pony express
 
Sometimes these factory customs sell out insanely fast, sometimes they hang around a while. It's difficult to predict which ones are profitable unless it's obvious to everyone (0777).

I'm not a fan of Hinderer's designs personally, but obviously a lot of people are. I think the combination of color choice, DLC coating and blade shape are a little undesirable for most on this particular one.
 
Welcome to BFC ZTFan !!!!!!!!
As you can guess by now, you're S.O.L. with the limited edition. You can always hold on to it and see if you can trade it off or hold it for a while and see if you can get your money back.
Yeah, those didn't fly off the shelf. It's the same story, different color.
 
Buying knives as an investment, is a poor choice. And what the heck is a factory custom knife? Factory & custom, do NOT belong in the same sentence.
 
Factory customs use custom hardware pieces on factory knives.

392 = Hinderer Hardware

606 = RJ Martin pivot
 
Welcome to a small glimpse of being a knife dealer. We order knives all the time that are the hottest thing going. Then when they come in, after being made and shipped to us, they are not so hot on the market anymore. It happens. Sometimes we get it right and other times we choke hard. For us it is a business, and part of the risk of doing business. This is not something that is exclusive to one or two makers/manufacturers either. I have seen it happen with every knife we have carried. The market goes up and down as do customers interest. If you want to invest for the sake of flipping it is like any other investment, sometimes you win and sometimes you loose. In my limited years selling knives I see the real big winners always being those that buy them, put them in their safe, and do not bring them out for 20 plus years. I am amazed at the new in box condition of some knives people bring by the shop from time to time. Knives they paid $50 for in 1987 and are now worth a few thousand or more. With that said I am sure they have others in their safe that are now worth nothing.
 
Just send it back and let someone else who wants it get it at a fair price

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
"Custom" is one of the most misused words in the knife business. Most of the time, it's used to mean "customized".

At the end of the fishhook, we look to find a fish.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
"Custom" is one of the most misused words in the knife business. Most of the time, it's used to mean "customized".

At the end of the fishhook, we look to find a fish.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more, there are very few actual "custom by definition" knives out there, and even less depending on how you interpret that definition.
 
Buying a consumer good isn't an "investment."

In my limited years selling knives I see the real big winners always being those that buy them, put them in their safe, and do not bring them out for 20 plus years. I am amazed at the new in box condition of some knives people bring by the shop from time to time. Knives they paid $50 for in 1987 and are now worth a few thousand or more. With that said I am sure they have others in their safe that are now worth nothing.
Click to expand...

Investing $50 in the S&P500 in 1980 would have yielded about a 4280 percent return (granted, that's without adjusting for inflation). Even if you are lucky enough to have purchased the one model that appreciates handsomely, your "investment" is not going to touch that.
 
Not very many ZT's have appreciated in vale like that, the Hinderer LE's will never go up like that ever. Now the stuff supposedly coming out like the RJ Martin LE that should skyrocket. I do think however the days of 888 and 777 price gouging are over for ZT.
 
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