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What's With All The XM-18 Sales Recently?
- Thread starter 44Magpie
- Start date
Esav Benyamin
MidniteSuperMod
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 90,915
Buy cheap, sell high. Like Busses, a lot of the XM-18s were bought to flip. Someone must have noticed there's money back in the market, maybe with all the overheated Benchmade 42s selling so well.
It's not very often(if ever) you can buy a folding knife,use it hard for a year or so,dust it off,then sell it at over a $200. profit.
First responders get first dibs on XMs.Everyone else gets on a looooong waiting list.
That's how I got mine.I bought(actually traded) it from a LEO,here on the forums.
First responders get first dibs on XMs.Everyone else gets on a looooong waiting list.
That's how I got mine.I bought(actually traded) it from a LEO,here on the forums.
FriskyDingo
BANNED
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2009
- Messages
- 829
Rick should raise his prices considerably. He could make a lot more money than he's making now, and people will still buy the knives because looks sell more than value for money.
on_the_edge
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2006
- Messages
- 11,820
As Esav mentioned, the dollar reigns supreme for some folks.
I got mine directly from Rick. For me, having and using the knife brings me a lot more pleasure than I would get from selling it for $200 more than the price I paid. As such, I'll be taking mine to the grave. It is a great knife.
I got mine directly from Rick. For me, having and using the knife brings me a lot more pleasure than I would get from selling it for $200 more than the price I paid. As such, I'll be taking mine to the grave. It is a great knife.
Also, unless I'm mistaken Plaza Cutlery also just delivered the orders that were put in quite some time ago. Hence, you bought at regular retail and then flipped it.
I was on that waiting list and got an email from Dan about 3 months ago to expect delivery unless I wanted out. I bailed since I don't really like XMs and I don't care much for flipping.
on_the_edge
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2006
- Messages
- 11,820
Whoa! So the guys selling these are making $200 to $250 on these knives now?
Obviously, that depends on the price they paid. If they got it from Rick, you know Rick's price. If they got one from someone else, you won't know what they paid for their knife. They may simply be trying to cover their cost.
I have tried both sizes in both the flipper and non-flipper versions. I prefer my 3.5" flipper to everything else, but that was not a decision I would have been able to make by "guessing" how the various iterations would feel. I had to have them in-hand, and that required buying them (and subsequently selling the ones I did not want). It was a process of elimination that took some time. I suspect that some who are selling them are not just flipping them for a profit, but going through the very same process that I did myself.
Yep, I correct myself too, I had order a 3.5 flipper.Whoa! So the guys selling these are making $200 to $250 on these knives now?
I agree in part but it's just odd timing too you know.
I was lucky enough to get mine directly from Rick(firefighter) and think the knife is worth more than he sells them for, when you look at the features, the F&F, and the warranty. That being said, I wouldn't pay the prices most flippers are trying to get for them. Hopefully, many buyers will opt to do the same thing and eventually drive the prices down. I know it's the way the world goes around, but it's not the way I prefer to do business.
My hope is that they will be plentiful enough that the price gougers are stopped. I think were headed in that direction because every gen3 xm I've looked at has been closer to $500 recently. Hopefully they'll go lower and lower.
Agreed, I also hate how our members buy from rick and rob and flip them immediately for a cool $200 profit. It's so wrong but that's another story. If they get to 385 all the time, I'll own one. Until then...no dice I don't want to pay the mark up.
Why is it wrong to purchase a product and then sell it to a willing buyer at a mutually agreed-upon price? You must HATE wholesalers: they buy products at reduced prices from manufacturers and then resell them immediately for the sole purpose of making a profit.
Last winter I bought a NIB Military S90V/carbon fiber for $125 at a knife show only for the purpose of immediately turning it around for $225. I didn't want the knife but I know someone else would. That doesn't mean I don't have any respect for Sal or Spyderco. Quite the opposite, in fact it shows that I recognize they created a product that many knife buyers would like to own.
It's called capitalism, and it's the only economic system capable of sustaining itself.
Normally, there is nothing wrong with selling anything for a profit...normally. However, the issue here is that I was able to buy an XM-18 from Rick ONLY because I am a LEO. He sold it to me, I can only assume, to keep and use, NOT re-sell. Rick can go out and sell these for $500 all day long, but he chooses to sell to LEO's and other first responders for $385, thereby incurring an actual loss of $115 on each and every knife (at least!). I just don't think I am entitled to turn around, sell the knife, and personally realize the profit Rick was so willing to give up in the first place.
Not that I'm saying you're right or wrong, but if you are in the front of the line at a knife show and buy X number of knives at the dealer's price and he runs out of stock because of you, doesn't that screw the guy behind you in line who now has to pay a $200 markup? It seems that speculators are depleting dealer stock with this very same motive in mind.