Reconditioning 1999 Large Sebenza

K

knnut

Joined
Apr 13, 1999
Messages
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I have a 99 large Sebenza that I bought new. I am thinking of selling it. I have used it,sharpened it on a lansky,but not abused it. I have the box and all the stuff that came with it. Im debating whether or not to sned it for reconditioning. How much does this cost? For you collectors,will it help or hurt the value?
 
Honestly if I were u I would sell it as is for a decent price. Some people like the look of a scratched up handle. Why waste the extra time and money for maybe a $30 increase in selling price.I think anyone who bought it could then make the decision to refurbish it. Idk just my opinion
 
I'm in the other camp, though I'm only a user and not a collector. As a buyer, I prefer to have it freshly refurbished. I.e., given two listings of the same CRK, one with scratches and one just refurb'd and costing extra by whatever refurbishing it costed, I'll buy the latter.

I want my knives to have scratches put on by me. Other scratches are meaningless. I'm less likely to buy a CRK with lots of wear because I know I'll get it in, have to send it out again (to CRK to be refurb'd), and then go through that horrible, horrible wait for it to get back. Buying it already refurbished saves me time.

That said, since you can't de-refurbish it, you might as well list it as is, and then if it doesn't sell, send it in and list it again when it's back.
 
The knife will always be a used knife so sending it off to CRK for a refurbishment before sale seems pointless to me. It will only mean you can add the cost of that to the final sale price. It will not make the knife into a new, mint condition knife that will command a higher price and it will not change the value much (if at all) if it's a user so I wouldn't bother personally.
 
List as is... unless it's a complete POS, I would still guarantee that it's in 100% working order and every CRK collector knows that their spa service is tops...

Good luck with the sale mate!
 
List it as is. If the new owner wants to have it referb, thats on them. Most want one to just use as the regulars are harder to get these days.
 
Thanks to all....I looked at the paperwork and it was made Feb.96 not 99. Any thoughts on a fair price based on used but in good condition?
 
I sent you a PM, but basically if the knife is from early '96 it is either a late model "Original" Sebenza, or an early model "Regular" Sebenza. If it's an early Regular from that time frame, it should have a number on it. In either case, you'd probably be safe to recondition the handle. I'd stay away from the blade though, because both the Original thumbstuds and the early Regular thumbstuds are discontinued. When CRK reconditions the blades they replace the studs, and that will hurt the collector value of the knife.
 
That's an "Original" Seb, and worth a good bit more than the numbers we were kicking around. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 in it's current condition would be my estimate.
 
Yes, thats an original sebenza as DallasSTB stated. These were made before the regular sebenza, but after the "P" sebenza. Blade steel is ATS-34. Its basically a "P" sebenza without the "P" Designation and this was also when CRK began installing the pocket clip. I always called this a "P-less" sebenza as such. I have a small "P-less" sebenza for sale right now in the exchange. Without mentioning my selling prices here for fear of breaking forum rules, a large "P-less" sebenza would probably command a little more than the small version. The one I have is the first small sebenza, yours is the first large sebenza I have seen. Congrats, its a beauty.
 
It looks to be in real good condition. I would not send it in for a refurbish. I believe the sand blasting CRK does on their knives now differs a little
from the ones back then. I had the same knife you have now, "Large P'less" Sebenza and I remember the scales felt very smooth with almost a
satin feel to them. If I were to collect that knife I would want it in original condition.
 
I looked over a couple of old Seb's in the stash, and Snow's right - the beadblasting was a little finer on the earlier ones. That probably should a consideration in deciding whether to refurbish the handles or not.

There is one aspect about the knife that I missed yesterday (looking at the pictures on my phone). The thumbstud looks more like the new style introduced with the 1996 change to the "Regular" than the original "P-Style" thumbstud. KKnut - have you ever sent the knife in to CRK for reconditioning or warranty work? There is always the chance that CRK changed the stud design just prior to changing the entire knife styling, but this would be the first I've heard of it.

One quick piece of CRK trivia - after the "P" designation was dropped and sometime prior to the introduction of the "Regular" style CRK started offering pocket clips on the knives. I believe you could order one either way for a short time. So this would be one of the few Original Sebenza's with a clip as they were only offered between late 1994 and early 1996. Kind of a cool side note.
 
Very cool knife you have. I'd have to agree that it should stay as-is for the new owner (should you sell) to determine.
 
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