State of the secondary market?

[norcalAF]

IMO, if you're a buyer, the state of the 2ndary market in knives is just fine. Not so if you're a seller.

I've got more than enough $ to buy ANYTHING that I want. I just spent $30k CASH on a grave site.

LOL!!!

I haven't bought anything in the primary or secondary market since the 1st couple months of 2025 because I was taking a year off from buying anything because the are already way too many knives in my collection & I really don't need any more.

Did this once before a couple of years ago.

The only knives that I would like to buy currently are only available on the secondary market but they are rare & hard to find & when they pop up the asking price exceeds my current limit of $1k max for any knife.

That said, I've been able to negotiate higher priced knives down to my limit on a couple of occasions, which could only happen in this market.

There are a few knives that I'd like to sell but I'm not going to "give them away" for less than I bought them for, even though I bought most of them before prices rose significantly.

That said, I've tried to sell a couple of knives on The Exchange with no results.

I was also just turned down in a private sale of a pair of PE Gen 2 & Gen 3 Spydie Natives that cost me over $200 for just $100 because the novice BF buyer said he didn't trust me enough to send me a PPFF payment.

WTF??? LOL!!!

I'd be happy to give away the knives that I no longer want but there's no one in my life who is interested enough in knives who'd I'd consider gifting them to but I may start offering to "give away" some knives here for just the cost of shipping to BF members.

So, keep a look out!!!

I'm interested and in your life

 

[DMG]

Same here, nothing but (mostly) Benchmade, Chinese Kershaw, leatherman, gerber, buck crkt and Swiss army knives
Which aren't terrible choices if that's all one has, but thats where the reviews on YT (some of them at least come in) most of my research on a knife is done by watching others handle them and for that reason I avoid table top reviews from the start. I've only been caught off guard from things like weight and size a small handful of times

Maybe we need to start a thread in the pass around forum. People with gold membership, that have been here a couple of years and have good feedback could try other peoples knives. Either that or start up a regional thread or sub forum and have meet ups.

 

[ShelterGirl]

Definitely agree, but thankfully my collection hit a good place before the market cooled down.

 

[Skywalker31]

I was also just turned down in a private sale of a pair of PE Gen 2 & Gen 3 Spydie Natives that cost me over $200 for just $100 because the novice BF buyer said he didn't trust me enough to send me a PPFF payment.

I mean, there is a bolded notification at the top of the page in the Exchange saying "Stop using Paypal Friends & Family"...

If it's a buyer's market right now, sellers may need to offer additional value - either in competitive pricing, in the payment methods they accept, or something else - to make the sale.

 

[sgt1372]

I mean, there is a bolded notification at the top of the page in the Exchange saying "Stop using Paypal Friends & Family"...

If it's a buyer's market right now, sellers may need to offer additional value - either in competitive pricing, in the payment methods they accept, or something else - to make the sale.

True but yet almost all the sales on The Exchange still only specify payment by PPFF, Zelle, Venmo or other methods of cash payment.

Yes, it's a risk for buyers but if you're dealing with an active BF member, who visits & posts on the forum regularly & has a positive trade history (like me), the risk to the buyer is minimal (if not virtually non-existent).

You just need to use common sense in dealing with the seller & assessing the risk.

IMO, the reason for that "don't pay in cash" sticky & for the new rule that requires sellers to add a handwritten note in the pics in their ads, is CYA for BF because of all the scammers out there trying to use BF to cheat people who DO NOT properly assess the risk in sending cash to an unknown seller.

I've bought well over $10k in knives off of The Exchange in the 7 yrs that I've been a member, by paying cash &, last year, 2 of those knives cost $1k each & I've NEVER been scammed or cheated in any transaction.

So, you still can buy knives for cash off of The Exchange without getting ripped off.

You just need to be smart about it but unfortunately the lowest common denominator among buyers on BF isn't represented by the sharpest knife in the drawer which is why BF has to try to protect such buyers from themselves & to keep such buyers from complaining to them when they get ripped off.

OBTW, I received a $100 PPFF payment for those 2 Natives that I sold & sent to another BF member in a private sale w/o any problems or complaints.

 

[sgt1372]

If it's a buyer's market right now, sellers may need to offer additional value - either in competitive pricing, in the payment methods they accept, or something else - to make the sale.

I've got over 400 knives in my collection that are worth (based on my last estimate) over $100k.

I don't need to sell any of them & I don't need the to recoup the $ that I've spent on any of them.

If I choose to sell a knife, it's simply because I want to cull it from my collection but there's No WAY that I'm going to make a concession, other than in price, to get rid of a knife that I no longer have any interest in.

I'd rather sell it on eBay or ACK & take the hit on fees & subject the trades to 1099 reporting & a Schedule C tax filing, than to sell it below what I consider the FMV for the knife unless the amount of $ involved is trivial-- like $100 which will barely pay for lunch these days -- & I just want the knife gone, which was the case w/the 2 user Natives that I just sold.

 

[Quiet]

True but yet almost all the sales on The Exchange still only specify payment by PPFF, Zelle, Venmo or other methods of cash payment.

Yes, it's a risk for buyers but if you're dealing with an active BF member, who visits & posts on the forum regularly & has a positive trade history (like me), the risk to the buyer is minimal (if not virtually non-existent).

You just need to use common sense in dealing with the seller & assessing the risk.

IMO, the reason for that "don't pay in cash" sticky & for the new rule that requires sellers to add a handwritten note in the pics in their ads, is CYA for BF because of all the scammers out there trying to use BF to cheat people who DO NOT properly assess the risk in sending cash to an unknown seller.

I've bought well over $10k in knives off of The Exchange in the 7 yrs that I've been a member, by paying cash &, last year, 2 of those knives cost $1k each & I've NEVER been scammed or cheated in any transaction.

So, you still can buy knives for cash off of The Exchange without getting ripped off.

You just need to be smart about it but unfortunately the lowest common denominator among buyers on BF isn't represented by the sharpest knife in the drawer which is why BF has to try to protect such buyers from themselves & to keep such buyers from complaining to them when they get ripped off.

OBTW, I received a $100 PPFF payment for those 2 Natives that I sold & sent to another BF member in a private sale w/o any problems or complaints.

Beep...beep...beeeeppppp....

(Checks readout)

No lies detected.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

IMO, if you're a buyer, the state of the 2ndary market in knives is just fine. Not so if you're a seller.

I've got more than enough $ to buy ANYTHING that I want. I just spent $30k CASH on a grave site.

LOL!!!

I haven't bought anything in the primary or secondary market since the 1st couple months of 2025 because I was taking a year off from buying anything because there are already way too many knives in my collection & I really don't need any more.

Did this once before a couple of years ago.

The only knives that I would like to buy currently are only available on the secondary market but they are rare & hard to find & when they pop up the asking price exceeds my current limit of $1k max for any knife.

That said, I've been able to negotiate higher priced knives down to my limit on a couple of occasions, which could only happen in this market.

There are a few knives that I'd like to sell but I'm not going to "give them away" for less than I bought them for, even though I bought most of them before prices rose significantly.

That said, I've tried to sell a couple of knives on The Exchange with no results.

I was also just turned down in a private sale of a pair of PE Gen 2 & Gen 3 Spydie Natives that cost me over $200 for just $100 because the novice BF buyer said he didn't trust me enough to send me a PPFF payment.

WTF??? LOL!!!

I'd be happy to give away the knives that I no longer want but there's no one in my life who is interested enough in knives who'd I'd consider gifting them to but I may start offering to "give away" some knives here for just the cost of shipping to BF members.

So, keep a look out!!!

I hope you're not planning on giving away pieces from your legendary Spyderco collection (unless they are doubles). I for one enjoy knowing that collectors/archivist like you exist... it somehow seems important.

 

[sgt1372]

I hope you're not planning on giving away pieces from your legendary Spyderco collection (unless they are doubles). I for one enjoy knowing that collectors/archivist like you exist... it somehow seems important.

No, I'd only give away cheaper knives that I can't sell on The Exchange & don't want to bother try to sell on EB or ACK.

The bulk of my Spyderco collection will never be sold. It's just a few odd ball items that I'd consider selling or giving away but I wouldn't give away anything worth more than about $100.

I've got a lot of Kershaws that would qualify for that but the bulk of that collection is also untouchable.

 

[Sharp & Fiery]

No, I'd only give away cheaper knives that I can't sell on The Exchange & don't want to bother try to sell on EB or ACK.

The bulk of my Spyderco collection will never be sold. It's just a few odd ball items that I'd consider selling or giving away but I wouldn't give away anything worth more than about $100.

I've got a lot of Kershaws that would qualify for that but the bulk of that collection is also untouchable.

You, sir, are Spydie Fanatic!

 

[mitchnola]

No, I'd only give away cheaper knives that I can't sell on The Exchange & don't want to bother try to sell on EB or ACK.

The bulk of my Spyderco collection will never be sold. It's just a few odd ball items that I'd consider selling or giving away but I wouldn't give away anything worth more than about $100.

I've got a lot of Kershaws that would qualify for that but the bulk of that collection is also untouchable.

Any LGs in that massive collection?

 

[sgt1372]

You, sir, are Spydie Fanatic!

+190 mostly VINTAGE Spydies & going strong but it's getting harder & harder to find anything else worth buying.

 

[sgt1372]

Any LGs in that massive collection?

No original LGs, only a couple of Kershaws & ZTs designed by him.