When You Sell A Knife On BF

I am deeply in the hole on that front. Have only ever made a profit on one or two knives, most are sold at a loss or traded up at a loss to myself. All part of the hobby, as far as I'm concerned.
 
EyeDog said:
Just thought I would this to the folks that say, "I just want to get out of it what I paid for it." Don't know about you, but I've never sold a car for what I paid for it.

I see people come on here and offer a knife for more then it can be purchased new from retailer. Or simply asking NEW prices for used goods.

OK the one exception is the knife I want that can't be had new and when it comes up here it's gone in 10 seconds. For that knife I would pay double. [emoji57]

Mike
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I've not sold anything here, though I have bought a few knives on BF, and one of the purchases in particular, for a knife that absolutely can't be bought new or easily found for sale period was sold to me for not much over the original price, which really floored me. One of the things that I really appreciate about the community is the willingness of some to sell knives to people who are going to use them for less than they could get if they were just looking for maximum return. It really turns this community into a place where one can go to participate in the knife loving hobby, rather than just a place to talk or a commercial site. It really helps create a virtual community, and I appreciate that.
 
Hey Jon (abbydaddy) you got that right. This is a terrific community...so glad you are a part of it.

Mike
 
I don't like to think about it too much, I would get depressed. I buy and sell knives to have fun, it's never been about the money. Beats the hell out of gambling, chasing women or doing drugs.
My knives are a vice that I really enjoy.
 
It is just plain like to get a few extra $$'s for a Knife that is NIB and make a few $$'s off of it but at the same time
I have donated more than I have sold on here and my Trades are about even up or I play the game and lose big on a trade and make them think they took me ~~ either way I win as it is always fun.!***
 
Broke even when including shipping. Way in the hole if my time is counted. Photos, description, communication, post office...
 
Latest experience BF vs Ebay. I was selling knife for $1150 had some people interested some low offers for around 800 just a lot of work and endless emails. On ebay I listed the knife for $2200 .Sold with no question asked or answered for full $2200 even with the ebay fees I did much better than I would ever do on BF.One would say people on BF are more knowledgeable than on ebay but in reality they are all the same. Knife that is under priced won't sell on BF but the same knife will sell over priced on ebay lol. Seems like if you want to sell expensive knife you have to sell it elsewhere. On the other hand those cheaper knives that I didn't car so much about almost all sold on BF with loos with 1 exception that I was able to make profit on.
Well that is my experience anyways.
Knife over $1500 I won't even bother posting for sale on BF anymore...
 
EyeDog said:
I am a collector not an investor. IMO if you want to make $$$ selling you're better off opening your own knife store.

I don't look at loss or gain as much as I do quality and fulfilled desire. If I sell its to raise $$$ for more purchases or simply because I don't care for the knife. Sometimes I lose sometimes I gain and sometimes I just giveaway. I don't keep track.

Mike
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Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth!
 
I have sold and bought numerous custom knives on the BF secondary market. Except for a Hinderer XM-18, i have always lost money, usually about 30%. I see this as rent for the pleasure of ownership for however long i had owned the knife.
If i put a knife up for sale it is because i need the money, usually to pay household bills. Pricing a knife realistically helps it sell as most people shopping on the secondary market are there because they are looking for a 'deal' (lower price than original).
I have picked up some very fine customs on ebay for prices i think are on the low side (e.g. Joel Chamblin, Gray Taylor, Ken Erickson). I have also made offers to knife dealers that were accepted at ~30% below the listed price.
There are many excellent full time custom knife makers but only a relatively small number of people willing to spend a large amount of money on a knife. So, as i see it, supply exceeds demand which means taking a loss when selling on the secondary market.
kj
 
I will second what KJ said about pricing realistically. Regardless of the sellers feedback and reputation, a buyer on the exchange is assuming more risk than buying from a dealer or other retailer so I usually don't expect to get the price I see something selling for elsewhere.
 
I usually sell at a loss. I do that to move on, quickly. I won't take a beating on the price, but I usually will lose a little in order to move the sale quickly. And that's OK. The exception is if, on rare occasions, I have a Unicorn. But even then, I won't get greedy. I'm here to be part of the knife community. Not to profit from it..
 
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I am not in this to make money and have been very successful at that. Most sell at some loss, a few at substantial losses and some more at almost break even. Only a couple have even had any profit associated with them and that ranged from a few cents to a couple dollars. I have however been able to own, handle and enjoy, no matter how briefly, many fine knives and in the process learned a lot about them.
 
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I usually take a loss but that's OK with me. The way I see it, whatever the loss is that's how much it cost me to "rent" the knife for the time that I had it.

If I sell a knife for less than I paid for it I really didn't lose anything because I did get to spend some quality time with the knife before I sold it. I don't expect that to come at no cost.
 
If I shop wisely the goal is to break even minus shipping costs. My goal was \ is to handle nice knives I won't see locally. If I can do that at a 10% loss it's not too bad. I've handled a bunch, made a few $ and lost a few more $.
 
It's a hobby, not a money-making venture for me nor do I care to invest in these objects for a date down the road. If you want to play you have to pay, and that includes giving PayPal their share for using their service and paying for the appropriate level of shipping and insurance so breaking even is usually out of the question.
 
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