Sale price versus trade value?

[TRfromMT]

I see knives posted in the exchange occasionally where the seller lists an asking price and states a trade value, usually a bit higher than the asking price. I've never understood how it could be higher, and thought I'd ask. Once in awhile I see a sales price that is on the high side of market value and a trade value higher still and I think maybe the trade value should be lower.

So, a little poll. What's your opinion of trade value versus sales price, and in what circumstances is one more than the other?

 

[danbot]

It's probably because a sale is preferred to a trade, but they are willing to trade if need be.

 

[sharkattacksw]

Each case is a little different. The trade or sale price depends on the market. When a knife is limited or popular, the price will reflect that. I know a lot of guys got flack for buying sprint runs of Spyderco knives and then flipping them for higher prices; many times making a profit of 100%. Some cried foul. Some bought the knives at the inflated prices. Some passed. That's the beauty of buying and selling nearly anything. The seller is free to put whatever sale price they want to on their item. Buyers will either buy it, counter offer, or pass. When guys were selling and trading the DLT PM2 in M390 for substantially higher than what they paid for it, some guys got all bent out of shape; accusing the sellers of price gouging. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. But it was theirs to sell (or try to sell) for whatever they wanted. Don't like the price? Pass on it.

In the end, trade value is whatever that item is worth to whomever is trading it and whomever wants to trade for it. Sometimes that figure is higher than a sale price, just like when you trade in your car. Then, you typically get more than if you were selling it outright. That's the way it goes.

 

[Gravy]

I see this all the time on instagram, the trade price is almost always higher.

 

[Peter Hartwig]

I believe it is as stated previously that they prefer the sale to the trade, and from what I have noticed trade value is usually inflated. It is strange that they feel you should be willing to discount your trade while they inflate theirs, unless you are trading something undesirable, in which case they wouldn't want the trade anyway.
I personally have never liked to trade, so it doesn't make much difference.

I'll add: I think it is pretty much a waste of time and energy on the part of the seller/trader. Each trade will be different and it's success, failure or value will depend on how good a match is made. It does however give me a negative feeling since it looks like the seller/trader wants the deal to be one sided in his or her favor rather then fair. I can however usually dismiss such feelings until the details of the transaction are worked out. If it remains one sided it isn't going to happen as a sale or as a trade.
But each can decide that for themselves

 

[Rich S]

Both are whatever the market will bare.Could be higher or lower.
Rich

 

[22-rimfire]

It's probably because a sale is preferred to a trade, but they are willing to trade if need be.

That would be my take on this. Consider guns.... if you trade a gun with a dealer in conjunction with the purchase of another gun, you most likely loose some money, but you got the new gun.... I think the same applies with a knife. People sometimes contact me about a trade for a particular knife.... I don't trade knives and if I want a knife to leave my ownership, cash is king. Otherwise, I'll just keep it. No big thing to me.

 

[tltt]

Trade will almost always be higher than cash, unless the person has a personal wanted list you're matching against. Then it should be closer. Some will take trades, but they're usually looking to resell those trades most likely, so there needs to be an extra cushion of profit to make it worthwhile.

 

[Comeuppance]

Trades are almost always at least slightly lopsided in one party's favor - stating a higher trade value than the sale value effectively attempts to prevent that from happening to the person posting the knife. As people have already mentioned, this typically occurs when the person would prefer cash - something that can be used to procure any item - over another knife, but it also has a psychological effect: If someone wants that specific knife and wants to trade towards it, seeing the higher trade value will potentially prompt the trade-proposer to put something of higher value on the table than they might otherwise, or offer to add cash to cover the difference.

 

[22-rimfire]

Adding some cash is the usual approach with gun dealers. Essentially, they are getting their profit upfront. I don't see a problem with this actually.

 

[Amurr]

Everyone can have their opinions. I looked at trade value as NET Liquidaiton Value.

An item is worth its cash value you can transfer it to. I get sometimes people really want the money so if they are trading they want some cushion and extra shipping cost built in. Market value from an accounting perspective is transaction value cost. Or rather total liquidation value.

Example. I want 100$ for Item 1

If you want trade item 2 for it which also has a fair value=100, I need to consider:

1. I have to ship twice instead of once to get my money. If shipping is $10 my total profit of Item 1 was 90 (100-10 shipping) now I need to ship ITEM 1 to you and ITEM 2 to another buyer. So now I have $20 of shipping cost.

Additionally I want a little bit of extra liquidity premiumiun if ITEM 2 is worth fair price 100$ I might sell but I might have to wait for the right buyer. If I list it at $90 I can get it gone quicker. So even though they both have about equal value. Unless I plan keeping item2 I am going to require $20 of additional to do the trade ($10 extra shipping and $10 liquidity price cusion to get my full $90 back)

100sale price -10 shipping= 90 profit

120TV-10 shipping to you-10 shipping to next buyer- 10 buffer liquidity= 90 profit