why are ebay tree brand bokers so inexpensive?

[maddenamadden]

I bought my first boker tree brand about a week ago from an outdoor supply shop and im impressed with the quality. I want to buy more and have noticed that the boker tree brands on ebay are much more inexpensive than many other online retailers and boker's own site. I was wondering if these are the same quality as the one i bought, as long as it says tree brand they are the ones manufactured in Germany correct? When I look at Case and Buck knives on ebay I noticed that their prices are not too far from other online retailers.

 

[ComboEdge74]

Some of the boker tree-brand knifes are manufactured in argentina, if i remember correctly. (i could be wrong though.). That could be the reason for the price difference.

 

[jon_slider]

I bought my first boker tree brand about a week ago...as long as it says tree brand they are the ones manufactured in Germany correct?

Please share a photo so we know which model you have, including the tang stamps.
The ones made in Germany are stamped Solingen on the tang
I have some Tree Brand Boker Barlows that are made in USA
Some Tree Brand Bokers are also now made in China
pictured here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1136384-Dating-a-Barlow-by-the-Bolster-Tree
afaik, the Argentine Bokers are stamped Arbolito

I agree Bokers are low priced and good quality. Two things that may be part of the low prices I see in their Barlows is plastic handles, and the primary blade stock is thin like the pen blade. On other barlows I have by Remington, Camillus, Russell, and GEC, the primary blade and its spring use thicker stock than the pen blade.

you can see a comparison of the blade spring stock in this pic

the Boker shares 2 features with my Peanut, that my other Barlows do not, they are both Stag, and have equal stock for primary and secondary blades... (and no, Im not inventing a new rule of thumb that stag knives have equal stock ;-))

Here is a photo to illustrate the use of thinner stock for secondary than primary blades, and their springs. The easiest way to spot it, is to look at the width between the liners at the pivot end.

starting from the left, the Peanut and Boker have equal size secondary and primary blade stock. The rest all use thicker stock for the Primary Blade than the Pen blade, they are GEC, Russell, Remington, and Camillus.

 

[Alnamvet68]

I noticed the same thing regarding the differences in prices of Boker Tree Brand traditionals, particularly the Congress pattern, where I discovered that Boker sells two versions of the Congress (as well as other patterns) that say "Germany".... there is the "HYBRID" line which one can identify immediately by noticing the blade etchings being on the left side when looking at the knife with the shield facing you. These hybrid knives have all the raw materials shipped to China where the blades are stamped, and the scales jigged. They are then returned to Germany where they are assembled, finished, and fitted. The prices are generally half the price of the same knife manufactured entirely in Germany. While it is not always stated, these lower priced Bokers should state they are Hybrids, and most internet dealers will state such, but eBay being what it is, have sellers who are either not up to speed with these different lines, or don't want to state as such for a variety of reasons.

 

[Stainz]

Hybrids? That seems pretty far fetched. Boker clearly states that 'Solingen' means German production while 'Arbolito' means Argentina and 'Magnum' and 'Plus' mean the far east (Mainly the PRC.). Their 'Tree Brand' (Solingen) are just classic slipjoints. They are less expensive than similar Case models - but not lesser knives, QC and value-wise - at least from my experience. Also from my experience, Case knives are a bit over-priced by comparison. Case seems to enforce their desirability by having models always going out of - then into - production, not to mention their preference for limited run/commemorative models.

Where did this 'hybrid' production concept come from? It would seem counterintuitive to make the raw materials in Germany, send them to China to be jigged and stamped, and then back to Germany to be fitted and finished - which is the most labor-intensive part of the production cycle and would be most economically accomplished in China. Boker has had regular sales in the past where many of the Boker 'classics', ie, 'Tree Brand', were offered at substantial discounts.

Stainz

 

[Alnamvet68]

Hybrids? That seems pretty far fetched. Boker clearly states that 'Solingen' means German production while 'Arbolito' means Argentina and 'Magnum' and 'Plus' mean the far east (Mainly the PRC.). Their 'Tree Brand' (Solingen) are just classic slipjoints. They are less expensive than similar Case models - but not lesser knives, QC and value-wise - at least from my experience. Also from my experience, Case knives are a bit over-priced by comparison. Case seems to enforce their desirability by having models always going out of - then into - production, not to mention their preference for limited run/commemorative models.

Where did this 'hybrid' production concept come from? It would seem counterintuitive to make the raw materials in Germany, send them to China to be jigged and stamped, and then back to Germany to be fitted and finished - which is the most labor-intensive part of the production cycle and would be most economically accomplished in China. Boker has had regular sales in the past where many of the Boker 'classics', ie, 'Tree Brand', were offered at substantial discounts.

Stainz

Not at all, it's one of the three price points in the Boker lineup; 1. Made in Germany (all German), 2. hand crafted in Germany (Hybrid-stamped parts from China, assembled and finished in Germany, and then the lowest price point, 3. the Magnum line, all Chinese from start to finish; but don't believe me, just do a Google search....there's plenty on the subject.

 

[knifecollector73]

Are there any known counterfeits for any boker models?

 

[Inazone]

Are there any known counterfeits for any boker models?

Absolutely. If I remember right, they have a section of the website dedicated to the subject. Sadly, there are definitely plenty of fakes floating around out there. I ended up with one myself, and would have noticed right away if I'd used even a little common sense when looking over the knife prior to buying it. It had the Boker Plus logo in one place, but a "Made in Solingen" in another. Turned out to be very nice looking but otherwise complete garbage.

 

[knifecollector73]

That's very unfortunate. Few things get me as fired up as counterfeit knives.

 

[jon_slider]

That's very unfortunate. Few things get me as fired up as counterfeit knives.

based on the previous post, the counterfeit has a tang stamp "Made in Solingen" that was not used by original Boker

Regarding counterfeit, know that Boker is also guilty of building counterfeit Russell Green River Works knives. You just need to learn what an original looks like, to be able to tell a counterfeit.