Questions regarding selling factory custom knife

Maybe people's opinions are beginning to sour on the gimmicky "factory custom" and "limited edition" ZT marketing scheme, especially when it comes to the 0392. As Blade HQ put it in their description, "[r]iding in on a wave of fanatical enthusiasm is the ZT/Rick Hinderer 0392 Factory Custom knife" (emphasis added). What I see in this and the wharncliffe version (especially the latest purple one) is the same old overbuilt framelock flipper with the addition of garish colored hardware. Hinderer designed one good knife (the XM-18) and has been faking it ever since. (OK, maybe that's a little too harsh, but I do think his designs are pretty limited.)

Wait until the 0427 comes out; that will be a knife flipper's dream—and normal enthusiast's nightmare!
 
I like the design of the 0427, but the blade steel is a pretty poor choice for a $600 knife IMO.
 
Let's not forget that the market as a whole is in a real down period.

People are less inclined to pay marked up secondary prices these days.
 
Put it on the market and see if you get the price you want. Market dictates the price, not the manufactures, for them to tell you that you can get double for their knife is crazy.
 
ZTFan said:
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!
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If you are that worried about it you may not want to continue down the road of "flipping" knives. I've had a certain few knives that have increased in value but given my overall investment in the hobby, I would be way in the hole, lol. Just return it if possible, otherwise sell it and you can get most of your money back.
 
Am I the only one who is juuuuuust a tiny bit glad that a wanna be flipper can't flip??
Awright......very glad and I hope the shop charges a 30% re stocking fee.
Ugh
 
ZTFan said:
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.
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What led you to even believe that was possible? I've never seen a 0392 variant sold here for 1.5x, let alone 2x MSRP here in the past year.

If you're in the hobby mainly to flip, expect disappointment every once in a while, if not often. Not everyone can strike it out like Liu Kang does.
 
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onojoe said:
Put it on the market and see if you get the price you want. Market dictates the price, not the manufactures, for them to tell you that you can get double for their knife is crazy.
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What makes you think a manufacturer would tell someone they can double their money?! Where did anyone even imply that?
 
I have no issue with you trying to make some money on a limited knife but the rest of the comments are right about picking a different knife the 0392s are not as hot as they once we're.
 
I couldn't make a profit when the market was great(not that I tried that hard on the sell side). Flipping knives for profit is hard for those with experience and knowledge of the markets, pure luck for those that have neither. IMO buy what you like and would be happy keeping. If the market allows you to make a profit when you decide to sell, so be it, If you have a knife you enjoy it's value on resale is not that important.
Obviously you will not be getting 1.5-2 times the msrp on a knife still in stock at dealers. You can enjoy the knife or sell it now-most likely at a decent loss(market is very hard now and no one will pay what they can get it from a dealer) or throw it in a safe and hope there will be excessive demand in the future. Those seeking easy money are usually disappointed.
 
Honestly, if they could sell for $800 in real quantity, they would sell them at that price from the dealers. Sure some of these special runs flip at higher than MSRP but I can't imagine it's anywhere close to the majority. Add in that a lot of them have been done before so slightly different and the demand just isn't there.

Here's my question, if someone knew without a doubt that you would double your money over night, why would they tell you and why wouldn't they buy them all themselves? Don't play with money you can't afford to lose. It's much less stressful to simply buy the items you enjoy and if they hold extra value down the line, all the better.
 
whitty said:
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.
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Very incisive! Well said.
 
palonej said:
Am I the only one who is juuuuuust a tiny bit glad that a wanna be flipper can't flip??
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You're not alone! :)

Between Spyderco increasing their production count of Sprints and ZT producing ever more Limited Editions/Runs the flippers (profiteers) are mad as heck. This is actually good news for those who want one of these for personal enjoyment/use sans "investment".
 
To be fair, I've always sold a knife for more than I paid, but most of the time there were a few years in between when I purchased it and sold it. But that's mainly been dumb luck on my part. And I figure if I had actually invested that money for real I would have definitely made a lot more $$. So long story short, knives are not a great investment vehicle.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
ZTFan said:
Don't worry, I'm done taking risks for a while.
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If you want to take some reasonable risks, buy some of this: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0085&FundIntExt=INT Seriously, consumer goods aren't "investments." Yeah, there's always some story about the guy who bought a Colt Python for $50 in 1970, kept it unfired in a box, and sold it in 2010 for $3500, but those stories 1.) ignore the purchasing power of $50 in 1970; 2.) ignore the purchasing power of $3500 in today's money; and 3.) ignore the many thousands of other firearms that didn't appreciate like that.
 
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