Revelation: "My Precious" isn't nearly so

C

Chewy1

Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,564
So, I decided to sell off a few of my knives. Picked what I thought was a fair price for my little treasures, and...nothing. Not a nibble.

And that's when it hit me. The value that I have on my knives is much greater than what the rest of the world, or even the rest of knifedom places on them. What an eye-opener. Almost depressing. Unless it's an "in demand" item, "My Precious" just isn't that big a deal to the rest of mankind.

This new understanding has caused me to rethink this whole hobby. I was contemplating putting it to rest anyway, but if nothing else, I'm going to get a whole lot more picky about my selections. I now know that if there's no way I'll recoup even a fraction of my own out of pocket purchase price.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. There was a little bit of growing up in the whole process.

But I'm still buying my yellow Ritter mini-Grip and waved Delica. :D
 
Chewy1 said:
I now know that if there's no way I'll recoup even a fraction of my own out of pocket purchase price.
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Well that isn't always true, you just need to buy smarter! A LNIB used Sebenza, SNG, XM-18, Spyderco Military, Busse fixed blade, etc, etc purchased at a fair price off the trade forums on this site will net you back 80% or more of what you paid if you take care of it while you own it.

I have bought and sold hundreds of knives in the last 15 years and lost probably 30% on the worst one and somewhere around 15-20% if you averaged all the purchases together. A loss to be sure, but if I have invested $10K over the years and still got $8K back then to only lose $2K in a hobby for 15 years is pretty good if you ask me.
 
it's also a depressed economy and I've noticed it's harder to sell knives at asking price than it has been in years past. These things go in cycles.
 
There are some knives I value at a lot more then they cost, and if I by such knives i don't intend to sell them. It makes it easier to buy to.

what I however did find ut is that you get get your value worth in trades. i don't sell knives here, I just trade, and overall I'm happy with my "investment so far."

Also, I try to buy knives from this pace, so they are cheaper then from the retailers, and usually, it works out great.
 
Sometimes you get lucky. I had a Regulator that, after using it, just wasn't for me and it sold for $190 on Ebay. And as I'm sure you know I only paid $100 for it:cool:
 
Biginboca said:
Well that isn't always true, you just need to buy smarter! A LNIB used Sebenza, SNG, XM-18, Spyderco Military, Busse fixed blade, etc, etc purchased at a fair price off the trade forums on this site will net you back 80% or more of what you paid if you take care of it while you own it.

I have bought and sold hundreds of knives in the last 15 years and lost probably 30% on the worst one and somewhere around 15-20% if you averaged all the purchases together. A loss to be sure, but if I have invested $10K over the years and still got $8K back then to only lose $2K in a hobby for 15 years is pretty good if you ask me.
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I dont really see what the point of buying expensive knives is if you're going to baby it so much it looks brand new. I prefer to use my knives.

Lets not kid ourselves, knives are an expensive and addictive hobby, which is why I offset it with things like disc golfing (It's like golfing with frisbees, relatively new and upcoming sport). I spend $15 on a driver disc, and ALL the courses are free to play. The only cost is if I lose my disc, which doesnt happen more twice a year. Best sport ever!
 
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I love TOPS knives, but they are pricey. I'm such a nut about them that I always buy new. I can't stand the thought of a USED knife. I especially like it if I can get one still in the box.
I bought one this summer that TOPS made for Browning. It's their Skinat model, but Browning gave it another name. This one is very cool because it's such a good sturdy knife, but it's only 3/16th" thick. The 1/4" TOPS can be a little TOO thick. They are sturdy though and I just love 1095 steel.
THis one was at a sports store in Montana. I watched it sit in a display case for 3 years. The guy let me have it for $100. I love it, small, but an excellent defense knife.


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Anyone who tells themselves that knives are a good investment should see a financial advisor. Knives are not a good investment unless you can get expensive knives on the cheap and flip them fast. I feel that this hobby is more about the love of steel. The end result of what a truly skilled maker can produce. Appreciating the craftmanship. The joy of using something that you collect instead of just collecting as an investment.
 
Knives are almost as bad nvestment as cars... unless you have really old in really good shape with original parts or something really exopensive custom / super high end but their prices drop too.

Older and more rare is better way to go if you want to keep value on your knives. Of course you need to keep 'em well too. Busse is excellent example of knife that when bought initially is cheaper than what you pay after that.
 
I collect for the legacy. My kids will carry my knives, and hopefully, God willing, my grandkids will carry my knives. That is of great value to me. I do not buy to speculate that they will go up in value. I tend to lay my treasures up in sentimental heirloom status rather than a material gain. I buy knives to use then.
 
Chewy1 said:
So, I decided to sell off a few of my knives. Picked what I thought was a fair price for my little treasures, and...nothing. Not a nibble.

And that's when it hit me. The value that I have on my knives is much greater than what the rest of the world, or even the rest of knifedom places on them. What an eye-opener. Almost depressing. Unless it's an "in demand" item, "My Precious" just isn't that big a deal to the rest of mankind.

This new understanding has caused me to rethink this whole hobby. I was contemplating putting it to rest anyway, but if nothing else, I'm going to get a whole lot more picky about my selections. I now know that if there's no way I'll recoup even a fraction of my own out of pocket purchase price.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. There was a little bit of growing up in the whole process.

But I'm still buying my yellow Ritter mini-Grip and waved Delica. :D
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That goes for just about any commodity these days. The important thing is that it brings you happiness and gives you enjoyment out of using and carrying it. If you must alter your view on this hobby, don't let it be for the negative. If you cannot sell your knives, trade them. It may take some time, but someone out there is more than likely looking for something you have to trade (unless it's a Mantis or Dark Ops knife :barf: ).
 
Consider the 'loss' a playing with it for a while FEE :D

Like leasing a car, you are basically paying someone to let them, allow you, drive their car :thumbup: :D


Ron LaBella
 
I tend to give away alot of user knives. I get bored after about 8 months to a year and end up giving it to someone at work. It has turned some non knife people into knife people that can now fully appreciate a good blade, and for me that pays for the knife itself.

On the other end of it (actually selling a knife) I have really only sold one, it was a Bram Frank Gunting model Spyderco that I bought from a local store. It had a combo edge on it and they were very hard to find. I definitely overpaid...they were going for around 130 and I paid 150 because I could'nt find it anywhere else.

I never liked it because it didn't sit right in my pocket and it ended up sitting in a lock box instead. Sold it on the bay for I think 245. Apparantly it was very in demand with that combo edge for some reason.

I think sometimes the custom colaborators name will play a big part in how much you recoup.
 
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Sorry, the gremlins made me do it.

Knives are like cars, they have their value when they're new. Then they lose their value for a little while. Then, if they were popular enough, a few years down the line, they become worth more than what you paid for them, provided that they're still in good shape.
 
Tony8179 said:
Anyone who tells themselves that knives are a good investment should see a financial advisor. Knives are not a good investment unless you can get expensive knives on the cheap and flip them fast. I feel that this hobby is more about the love of steel. The end result of what a truly skilled maker can produce. Appreciating the craftmanship. The joy of using something that you collect instead of just collecting as an investment.
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There are niches in the knife world where someone can beat the market by quite a bit. As a few examples, take the carbon fiber/S90V Spyderco Military. I bought one NIB at a knife show for $125 and sold it some while later for $225, and it sold within hours of being posted. The full sized Spyderco Persian has also increased by similar amounts. I made close to $100 profit when I sold mine. The carbon fiber/S90V Manix 2 seems to be inching the same direction.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's possible to make a comfortable margin on knives you collect, you just have to be careful to collect the right ones.
 
Popular models of Spyderco will nearly always see a nice increase over what you paid when they are discontinued or limited. Benchmade is another I've sold for way more than I paid. Of course the deal is you have to keep them mint in box and a lot of people can't or won't do that.
 
elkins45 said:
There are niches in the knife world where someone can beat the market by quite a bit. As a few examples, take the carbon fiber/S90V Spyderco Military. I bought one NIB at a knife show for $125 and sold it some while later for $225, and it sold within hours of being posted. The full sized Spyderco Persian has also increased by similar amounts. I made close to $100 profit when I sold mine. The carbon fiber/S90V Manix 2 seems to be inching the same direction.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's possible to make a comfortable margin on knives you collect, you just have to be careful to collect the right ones.
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That's why this statement was in my original post.

Tony8179 said:
Knives are not a good investment unless you can get expensive knives on the cheap and flip them fast.
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Sometimes you just get a smoking deal on something and of course you're going to make money on it. Sometimes a knife suddenly draws a huge amount of attention and then draws a large sum. Look at the BM42 that everyone lost their minds for. I bought mine new for $135 from someone on this forum well over a year ago and I could have flipped it for an easy buck or maybe even two, but my love of the steel doesn't allow me to become greedy for money, just knives. Like anything else in this world that's going to make you a good profit, it's all about the right place and the right time. How often do you sell something that you've dropped the price on a half a dozen times and then two weeks later someone contacts you about whether or not you still have the knife and that they've been looking for one forever and they would have paid the original asking price and yada, yada, yada... It's the way of the world. :D
 
mk.ultra said:
I dont really see what the point of buying expensive knives is if you're going to baby it so much it looks brand new. I prefer to use my knives.

Lets not kid ourselves, knives are an expensive and addictive hobby, which is why I offset it with things like disc golfing (It's like golfing with frisbees, relatively new and upcoming sport). I spend $15 on a driver disc, and ALL the courses are free to play. The only cost is if I lose my disc, which doesnt happen more twice a year. Best sport ever!
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you can always send Sebenzas back to CRK and get them refurbished for not too much money if you don't want to baby it
 
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