Speculator pricing takes the fun out of the hobby?

[cchu518]

So I've been searching for a Benchmade Nagara and a 450 Park Avenue BC 1 for quite a spell. Trying to find a user at a normal price or possibly in trade for something. I use all of my knives and don't collect them.

The same ones keep popping up on ebay for $100+ for these particular models even though these knives sold for well under that new. These are knives with plain Jane 9CR13 and 154CM steel mind you. There is a discontinued HK that is way overpriced too as its an import but asking price is some crazy collector price as well.

I understand that if I don't like the price I don't have to buy. But do you ever find it ludicrous that someone will mark up a knife to three times its original sale price because of its supposed rarity whether factual or otherwise?

The BC1 on ebay is like permanently posted on ebay never with a bite. The same scenario with a Pinnacle 750. Someone wanted a Sebenza price for that knife with ATS steel in it. Do you think speculators and their prices take the fun out of the knife hobby or what they do is perfectly acceptable?

 

[Alann45]

I understand that if I don't like the price I don't have to buy. But do you ever find it ludicrous that someone will mark up a knife to three times its original sale price because of its supposed rarity whether factual or otherwise?

Of course.
Sometimes I just laugh, sometimes I frown.
But its going happen in this and every other area. If an individual has something and they think they can (and often do) get an inflated price for an item can we really blame them?
Now, if an established dealer is drastically inflating a price for temporary gain, I question his judgment, but its still his business.

Do you think collectors and their collector prices take the fun out of the knife hobby or what they do is perfectly acceptable?

Not really. True Collectors likely add to the overall heath and knowledge of the hobby.
I think it might be more appropriate to call what you are referencing speculators, and I'd tend to agree overall they can hurt the hobby, primarily by turning off those people who buy into their hype.

You're likely to experience no greater problem than annoyance because you're doing you homework. Researching here on BF and elsewhere to separate fact from hype.

 

[cchu518]

Thanks Alan, you coined it much better and I changed my post title. During Hurricane Sandy there were folks in the NJ area who were posting $700 Craigslist generators for $3,000!!! I think these people were scum of the earth. I had purchased mine in the summer as we have quite a number of reptiles that are cold blooded and who would otherwise get sick if temps dropped for too long.

I was looking at these ads on CL and being stuck at home during the storm and using a mobile internet connection I began emailing these people out of curiosity. Low and behold there were 3 out of the 5 people I emailed were in finance. Two happened to have been investment bankers who had huge houses and were already wealthy. I find these kind of people morally reprehensible.