so 2 years ago i started selling cheap chinese knives at flea markets. after doing well with those i found some wholesalers of kershaw,case,buck and many more. last year i started selling at gun shows i added tactical gear and am having a hard time picking some good mid grade knives to sell other than kershaw. any advice? also would be interested in having more usa made knives as well as part of inventory.
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selling manufactured knives at gunshows advice needed.
- Thread starter Heshop
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Comeuppance
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Kershaw, Esee, Cold Steel, Spyderco (tenacious, delica, endura, PM2. Affordable standbys), CRKT, Boker... Those all have a good selection of knives in the $15-90 range.
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Spyderco and Benchmade as well as Cold Steel are good sellers and have ready customers looking for good deals. Get to know what to have on your table and what not to bother with. Hot "super " steels, knife releases, sprints with different steels or better scales are sexier and go faster than plain vanilla stuff they can buy anywhere. Note that it doesn't always mean too expensive. It's what's hot, not what's expensive. Not many will buy super high end stuff unless there is a reason to. You have to know what is in demand and what isn't.
I used to do what you do but I just sold at gunshows and not flea markets but I had full time work so it was more a hobbyist thing.
There are lots of others. Find a niche for yourself. I used to put up a sign listing brand names and another sign that listed different steels. If you collect knives yourself then it is easy to work with other dealers helping each other out. I bought knives from other dealers on occasion and got dealer rates but I returned the courtesy when I had the opportunity.
Now with very convincing fakes so available expect some to request some sort of provenance showing the authenticity of your name brand knives. Don't be insulted, just work to make the potential buyers satisfied their hard earned money is buying real product. Once you develop a good reputation things begin to get easier.
Don't keep fakes around. If you need counterfeit products to stay in business you are doing things wrong. Whatever money you gain will not make up for the business you lose from folks like me who just won't consider doing business with you for any reason.
After you begin to network with other dealers you will then be able to find out how to share on the deals, sales and finds of NOS that enter the market occasionally. I've seen really cool things reappear years after they were no longer available when someone sitting on a pallet full decides to get back some of the spent money rather than keep them around another year in the wharehouse.
It can be fun but the food can be terrible.
Good fortune.
Joe
I used to do what you do but I just sold at gunshows and not flea markets but I had full time work so it was more a hobbyist thing.
There are lots of others. Find a niche for yourself. I used to put up a sign listing brand names and another sign that listed different steels. If you collect knives yourself then it is easy to work with other dealers helping each other out. I bought knives from other dealers on occasion and got dealer rates but I returned the courtesy when I had the opportunity.
Now with very convincing fakes so available expect some to request some sort of provenance showing the authenticity of your name brand knives. Don't be insulted, just work to make the potential buyers satisfied their hard earned money is buying real product. Once you develop a good reputation things begin to get easier.
Don't keep fakes around. If you need counterfeit products to stay in business you are doing things wrong. Whatever money you gain will not make up for the business you lose from folks like me who just won't consider doing business with you for any reason.
After you begin to network with other dealers you will then be able to find out how to share on the deals, sales and finds of NOS that enter the market occasionally. I've seen really cool things reappear years after they were no longer available when someone sitting on a pallet full decides to get back some of the spent money rather than keep them around another year in the wharehouse.
It can be fun but the food can be terrible.
Good fortune.Joe
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Kabar, Gerber, They're descent but on the lower end of the spectrum IMO
Sog, I'd say these are a step up and they have quite a few popular models
Piranha (autos only), These generally retail over $100 but they're very nice for a mid range auto and US produced.
Sog, I'd say these are a step up and they have quite a few popular models
Piranha (autos only), These generally retail over $100 but they're very nice for a mid range auto and US produced.
Whatever you end up deciding on, if you're looking for a quick sale, I'd make sure that you don't stock anything that's more than a couple hundred dollars, or if you do stock more expensive knives, I'd suggest not padding the price too much. I've seen (and know) too many people who would rather leave empty-handed and buy a knife online if they've handled it at your table and the markup was much more than they could find it online at one of the reputable dealers. All those people walking around on cellphones at shows, that's exactly what they're doing. Checking online prices. If you price your knives accordingly, people will empty your table. Remember, folks are usually looking for deals at these shows, not to get charged an exorbitant brick/mortar tax. Best of luck to you.
brownshoe
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Benchmade requires you to stock a lot of knives (20? models) and take Gold Class knives. For a gun show dealer, that's a significant investment.
At gun shows that I go to, CRKT, Kershaw, KaBar, ESEE, Mora, Puma, Boker+ all fill the better than Asian but less than Spyderco/Benchmade niche. Lots of Buck as well. For traditionals, it's Case and Bear. For tactical fixed blades it's Ontario. Autos of all types are selling well.
At gun shows that I go to, CRKT, Kershaw, KaBar, ESEE, Mora, Puma, Boker+ all fill the better than Asian but less than Spyderco/Benchmade niche. Lots of Buck as well. For traditionals, it's Case and Bear. For tactical fixed blades it's Ontario. Autos of all types are selling well.
The Gun Show Circuit is tough a tough crowd. They want great quality at flea market prices. You're better off staying with a boat load of Rough Riders and going for quantity of sales. Also the competition is fierce on the Modern Tacticools. Having said that, Gun Shows can be a decent ADDITION to other knife sales. I have a little experience here, a couple years back, I did 26 Gun Shows in 52 weeks.