"USED" and "PRICE"

I tend to think of "minty" as meaning "as-minted".

It is a term used frequently in collectibles. I am most familiar with its use in comic books. In comic books in particular, because of the way they are distributed, they are typically handled at least two or three times before they can fall into the hands of a collector (at least that's the way it used to be). Therefore, to have a truly mint condition copy was virtually impossible. Thus, "near mint" and its gradations is about as good as it gets.

In knives, although many of us handle folders in and out of a display case or other storage mode, many times, I will never handle or even test the blade. I would tend to consider the blade "mint" in this instance, although the handle clearly is not.

Other thoughts?
 
If I'm really just admiring details, as I mostly do, I use a simple round handheld lens of about 2X. I use a 5X loupe for inspecting quality. I find the 5X works in checking how well I've sharpened an edge, as well. With my degraded, ancient eyesight, anything more would be beside the point :D

Mint? Simple: as it came from the maker, never unwrapped, never STARED AT :eek:
 
Ok at my local cutlery store which has a vast inventory of very high dollar knives, folks handle those knives, open/close them, fire the autos.
IMHO he is still selling new knives, part of the appeal to me is going in and making the sales guy open 90% of the cases so I can get a feel for what a certian model feels like.
Under some guide lines if it's taken out of the plastic wrapper it's used then?
Most of us know that buy or trade here the other person involved wasn't born under a rock yesterday and if a knife has a flaw we are best served to point that out, my reputation here means more to me than any knife made.
If I list a knife as NIB my understanding is that it's in the same condition it came from the factory/maker.
Mint is like new but carried not sharpened.
It's all subjective though as I'd have NO hesitation at buying or trading for a knife that MOST of you regular members have sharpened.
Sale value to me is different from trade value, especially if I WANT the knife in question.
Several weeks ago, I swapped for what was supposed to be a Exc condition Military from a fellow forumite, when it arrived the knife could NOT have been any more new if I'd went to Golden Col myself to pick it up, it was perfect in every way.
Same with most of my trades I've made here, 99% of the members here are great guys to deal with and I've yet to get burned by anyone, you guys know who you are and all I can say is thanks again and I'd trust you all again with anything I own, well maybe not my wife lol, she makes too much money.
I agree it's best to keep it in e-mail if you think a price is too high.
Trading for me really isn't about value it's more about having fun and playing with new toys regularly. Ron
 
I have carried and used my Ken onion Blur Prototype for about six months or so. It is both carried and used. It did not come in a box so it was never "NIB"
If I decided to sell it, I would not know how to rate it as it clearly shows superficial carry wear but does not show any blade wear whatsoever. It is faster opening now than new and locks like Ken wants them to lock. It's been carried for hundreds of hours.

Maybe it's time for a standardized rating system that a knife user and collector can understand. Maybe this will help rate those high end knives that do get carried and used.
 
I guess I have to add to what I posted earlier: also, if you think new condition is better than mint condition, eliminate the word mint from your vocabulary until you can learn what it means.

There is a standard system for rating condition; it can be found in Bernard Levine's books or in any of the various other books on collector's knives. I'll repeat: don't rely on it when you're describing a knife for sale. Describe it in detail and if at all possible post pictures that clearly show every tiny scratch.
 
If it's "new" (or mint), it should be flawless, IMHO. Knives that are handled, tested, fired, etc. at a store are no longer in new condition if they have gotten scratched, scraped, or damaged in the process. The best thing is to disclose, disclose, disclose. Here are three knives I have bought recently that were described as "new." You tell me if I am being too picky.
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I prefer to use descriptors of my relationship with a knife when I have it for sale:

Never carried, sharpened, or used (never cut a thing).
Carried twice, never used or sharpened.
Light use, never sharpened (factory sharp).
Medium use, a few light scratches, has been sharpened by an expert (me!).

etc.

Bruce
 
I think the term of new vs. like new vs used is really relative. How many of you have ever seen a Loveless that is NIB. You won't.. The key is that the seller should disclose as much information pertaining to the pieces condition that deviates from flawless. I think that the issue of whether the definition of new as a direct ownership transfer from manufacturer to retailer to consumer as being the its true definition is totally irrelevant as it relates to sales on the "Individual Forum" since NO ONE ON THIS FORUM SHOULD BE A DEALER OR DISTRIBUTOR OR MANUFACTURER by definition of the Term "INDIVIDUAL FORUM".... Based on the rules, you can't sell here if you are.

The key really is the literal/functional sense of the word NIB/LNIB/TRASHED, etc.

The key to all of this is to have a happy buyer and a happy seller. If John Smith sells a knife to Paul Jones, and that knife has a pin hole size divit on the clip that can only be found under a 10X loupe, as long as John tells Paul about it, life is good and Paul can decide to buy it or not.

Paul could also go to his knife shop and buy a knife as new for a higher price that has a scratch on the inside corner of the blade that you can't see unless you turn it to 40 degrees counter clockwise. The dealer didn't disclose that (because he has 500 knives in inventory and didn't know that Suzie homemaker dropped it when looking at it for her husband as a surprise gift). Once Paul buys it, he could be unhappy as well. But the knife is still by the original definition "NEW". This is not about definitions, it is about communicating. Disclosed condition versus buyer expectations. When the two meet, life is good. When not, it isn't. Let's just say as has been said many times already, the deal ain't done until both parties are happy. That really is the only way to deal on this forum.

So, if you are going to sell a knife:

1) Inspect the condition extensively
2) Disclose As much as you can
3) Offer a money back guarantee (and mean it) Follow through if you have to (you probably won't if you follow steps 1, 2)

As is life, buying and selling knives can be a challenge. Communicate as much as you can, as frequently as you can with the best intentions. The buyer will probably understand your motives and attitudes based on your actions.

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by bob_glassman
So, if you are going to sell a knife:

1) Inspect the condition extensively
2) Disclose As much as you can
3) Offer a money back guarantee (and mean it) Follow through if you have to (you probably won't if you follow steps 1, 2)

As is life, buying and selling knives can be a challenge. Communicate as much as you can, as frequently as you can with the best intentions. The buyer will probably understand your motives and attitudes based on your actions.
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Great advice!
 
There is a form of dementia suffered by collectors of almost anything. They consider what they paid for an item as having some relevance to what they should get for an item when they sell it.
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Amen to that. There's one guy who posts here (and on all the other knife boards) quite often, and always has some great knives to sell. Some are customs, some are productions (albeit, high end), but in all cases when they're listed for sale, the post always says "Full retail is $xxx." Well, thanks for the info, but unless it's a custom or a really hot production knife (many of his aren't), who the heck is going to pay full retail on one of these forums?

It makes no sense to me, and I'm always amused when I see one or more of his knives posted for weeks on end, with no buyers. And of course, no reduction in the full retail price from him either. I did one trade with him, and a comment he made really caught my eye. He described the knife's value as $xx. No, that would be the cost, and full retail at that. I was glad to do a trade with him because I had bought my knife at a wholesale price, and so when he described the value as the retail cost (twice what I had in the knife), I had no problem trading. The point is that he saw the trade as something that had to be good for him, with no thought as to whether it would be good enough for me, to motivate me to do the trade. If I were going to pay full retail, why not just support the dealers who support the forums? Man, some people's kids. :rolleyes: geegee
 
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