RE: I Inherited a massive knife collection

novic3 said:
The green boxes are hen and rooster I think...
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Hen and Rooster used to be a good brand, made in Germany and well respected; some of the newer ones are imported from China and not worth much. Some may still be made in Germany, or at least assembled in Germany.

I think there is a crap ton of Master Cutlery also. In another bedroom I came across a lot of Marine style swords. Obviously there not original's but I dont know if there some foreign knock offs or some sort of "official" approved reproductions.
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Most likely more flea market table filler, sorry to say.

Buck is another brand I see a lot so I guess I lucked out there.
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Buck knives that are older, less common, or made in the USA will find a home with a collector or user. No problem. But many of the current Buck knives are made in China, and although they're generally functional as knives and come with the Buck warranty, they aren't sought by collectors and generally sell for very low prices.
 
novic3 said:
Organizing and researching all this is going to take a while. My family is tempted to grab the local pawn shop and just strike a deal.

None of us really want to deal with it....
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Even though you're not a knife enthusiast, you bring a valuable lesson to those of us who are. All of our collections should be cataloged, organized, and clearly marked. Whether it's knives or something else.
If you want your ancestors to keep passing down certain knives (or other items) that are heirlooms, for crap-sake you gotta mark the knives (or whatever) so family can tell the difference after we croak. You want them to know the difference between our great-grandfather's knife that he carried on the boat from Italy and the knife we picked up last week on the sidewalk? Then you gotta write it down and label the knife!

Sorry Novic3, didn't mean to hijack your topic. :o
 
It shouldn't be too bad. They are mostly flea market knives. Not much research needed for those. Looks like there is probably a few customs, as well. They may also be custom "knockoffs". The knockoffs are sold by some of the same ones selling the inexpensive starter knives. The pawn shop will give you pennies on the dollar. Maybe you could sell some of them at a local flea market, a little bit at a time. Rent a booth/table?
 
Bob W said:
Even though you're not a knife enthusiast, you bring a valuable lesson to those of us who are. All of our collections should be cataloged, organized, and clearly marked. Whether it's knives or something else.
If you want your ancestors to keep passing down certain knives (or other items) that are heirlooms, for crap-sake you gotta mark the knives (or whatever) so family can tell the difference after we croak. You want them to know the difference between our great-grandfather's knife that he carried on the boat from Italy and the knife we picked up last week on the sidewalk? Then you gotta write it down and label the knife!

Sorry Novic3, didn't mean to hijack your topic. :o
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If my wife sells my knives for what I told her I paid for them, someone's going to get lucky and it won't be her. :o
 
Bob W said:
Even though you're not a knife enthusiast, you bring a valuable lesson to those of us who are. All of our collections should be cataloged, organized, and clearly marked. Whether it's knives or something else.
If you want your ancestors to keep passing down certain knives (or other items) that are heirlooms, for crap-sake you gotta mark the knives (or whatever) so family can tell the difference after we croak. You want them to know the difference between our great-grandfather's knife that he carried on the boat from Italy and the knife we picked up last week on the sidewalk? Then you gotta write it down and label the knife!

Sorry Novic3, didn't mean to hijack your topic. :o
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Actually, that may be good advise for Novic3 to look for lists (even partial) handwritten, printed or in a computer of what the inventory contains and possibly what was paid for them. Also, begin making lists, plug them into a computer so that you can sort, catalog and price them.
 
I'd eBay them from what I've seen so far. Because you'll get bidders that know what they're worth. It would take some time, but you'll get rid of them at about what they're worth. Given you have no knowledge on price and so many cheaper knives, I just think it would work best for you.
 
hank_rearden said:
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What's this knife? I've got one that, if my memory serves me, looks extremely similar if not identical that came from my grandfather. It's beat to everloving hell, so it's a garage knife.
 
novic3 said:
I dont recall seeing any Case brand. But I have barley skimmed the surface.

Pics where taken with my phone its all i had available at the time.

Next week or the week after is when I will put any real focus on that room. As it stands now were still cleaning the house and just adding to the pile with what seems dozens of knives every day.

But this thread has all ready been pretty helpful. I will return with better pictures over the weekend. Wont be going over there for a few days.
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That real focus is what you need to do. At this point it does look like a load of low-end stuff that could be sold on eBay in lots, but, sadly, is being sold on eBay in lots by people doing even higher volume at lower prices.

Looking at one of Blade Forums Member retailers like http://www.knifeworks.com/ should give you retail prices of the newer knives/brands. Maybe you have new knives that aren't late night TV bulk specials.

And I'd look for stuff that looks less than brand new. Maybe he was a long time collector...I'm hoping that in that pile are good knives that, on their own, will fetch more than the entire collection as a lot.

Start digging and good luck!
 
I am sorry for your loss. There is some good advice here and on that other thread too.

Best wishes to you.

Cate
PS: People should always keep an updated list of their household goods whether they own small to large collections of knives, firearms, art work, etc. or NO specific collection. This goes for wills, medical wishes, etc.
 
novic3 said:
lol, Im not trying to brag at all its more of me just complaining. But that's not even half of the crap in that room.

Organizing and researching all this is going to take a while. My family is tempted to grab the local pawn shop and just strike a deal.

None of us really want to deal with it. Im probably the one who has the most motivation. And im still trying to decided if its worth the work. I dont even know how to sell these common ones. Ebay seems tedious. I dont think I can unload a lot on Craigslist.

Maybe I can open my own traveling knife shop and hit up the county fairs. A once a month.

Im not nor is my family knife enthusiast at all. Just my wife's old man.
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Was he a distributor at all? Or did he go to auctions out of storage sheds? That seems like an awful lot of knives of the cheap variety to have stored up as a personal collection...

Regarding selling after you've cataloged, there do exist the "isold it on ebay" franchise stores, but the nearest might not be close to you: http://www.i-soldit.com/locations/
With your gold-level, you can post lots here on bladeforums: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/892-For-Sale-Production-Folders-(Individual)
Just be sure to read the rules first. Like others have posted, wish i had the time and proximity to lend a hand. I wish you the best of luck and condolences on the loss.
 
Looks like something like I saw a few years ago, a Woman selling off her Husbands collection that passed away.

I looked though it for her and found nothing that was worth much at all, She was acting like it was worth all this and that, guess she was seeing dollar signs.

She put everything on EBAY like I recommended and eventually got rid of it all.

That said...


If there is 1,000 knives and say they can get ave even $20 a knife that's $20,000. ;)
 
Could always see if there are any members local to you that would be willing to help sort it out with you. I'd bet lots of us would have fun shorting through it all
 
He can always use websites like Blades HQ and their brand list to compare the collections against.
Another easy way to weed out the worthy knives is to find all the "Made in China" and pile it into one pile and see what you have left.
 
My usual theory on getting rid of stuff like this is post it in lots like many are recommending but try to group by brand. But if you have enough of one particular knife just a sell a lot of only that specific knife. Selling in lots will be important to save on shipping costs, otherwise this will eat away all your profit.

The most important part though is to make sure to include as many details brand name, model, knife buzz words etc. so that the knives show up in searches. Then just start the auction at $0.99 and make sure you put on a fair shipping value to cover your costs and you should be good. The best part about ebay is you don't need to know the value of the items posted so long as the people who do know the value can find it. If only two people who know the true value of the auction see it they won't let someone else have it for significantly less than it is worth (because they'll want it for themselves!).

The key factor is that it needs to be seen by people who know the value so the post has to provide all of the important details. Grouping by brand is important because usually someone searching for a high end knife doesn't even want 20 other low value knives because it is just clutter and likewise someone looking to snag a bunch of cheap knives isn't going to want to pay the steep price for a high end knife so you'll miss both target markets if you group wrong.

Either way it is always fascinating to see an outsiders perspective when inheriting a collection like this. I'm guessing your father in law would have never guessed no one would want his collection (and I wouldn't feel guilty about this either, holding on to a huge collection like this for sentimental value doesn't make sense). I think a lot of people in this community imagine handing down their collection to the next generation as precious relics when this is probably a more accurate reality.

I inherited a few knives from my grandfather and honestly only one of them holds sentimental value for me and it is the one that was the most beat up and used because it is the one that really carries the stories of his life.
 
What has not been said so far is that you do not have to dispose of all these knives right away. Try getting the right knives into their correct boxes and then organize them by brand. They can be stored in a room that is heated to a constant temperature which likely means any room in your house except in the basement as you do not want dampness in the storage area.
Having done that, take a break for awhile and focus on the rest of your life. Given some time you may meet or come into contact with someone nearby who could see these knives and quickly assign a value to each. Take inventory at this time and include the suggested values.
There are many ebay knife sellers who buy collections, all, or in part. They often state this in their knife listings. Contact these sellers and send them your inventory list. You will receive offers to buy them in lots and using the values you have already been given you can judge which offers are fair. As selling on ebay is always a 'crap shoot' you need to accept a price that gives the buyer a very good chance of turning a profit for his work of listing, shipping, etc.
See this as a project that might take 1-2 years or more. You do not have to solve this 'problem' all at once, right now. Take your time for your own sanity and you will in the end have a significant amount of money, and, get your storage room back.
kj
 
Maybe $20 a knife with free shipping, less 15% to ebay/paypal, packaging materials, and time. So even if you did get $10 per knife how long will it take to get rid of 1000 knives? Pawn shop the lot and be done with it after you cherry pick anything worth saving for ebay/forum sales. It sounds like they were leaning that way to start with.
 
Are there any grandkids? I would say if you can find a handful of the best knives he has, pass them to the grandkids as something from their Grandpa. Just a thought.
 
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