I agree with most of what you have said, however, I have never bought a knife that I kept as a safe queen with the thought of selling it at any time.
The knives I have are for my grandson, had it not been for an emergency I would not have sold. In your case with Busses, I have no idea, the only one I bought was a gift for my son. Busses may be a different animal and this forum and the home forum may handle more sales than Ebay for historical data. I see your point. Hope you can see mine.
Jim
I do see your point Jim. We all have our own style and motivation when we buy and sell. And I think most folks would agree that Busses (including Swamp Rat and Scrap Yard) are different animals.
I've been collecting many different kinds of users for a long time and have quite a collection. But I also collect Case folders and keep them pristine for my sons with the idea that they can keep what they like when I'm gone and sell the rest at a profit years in the future.
I've only been buying Busses for less than a year because the prices were higher than I was accustomed to paying for a knife. Suppose I bought one and didn't like it. If I actually used a valuable knife the value would fall and I'd be stuck with a significant loss if I sold. No matter how good the pics and verbal description, it is hard to tell if you will really like a knife until your hold it in your hands.
So here's how I buy Busses:
1. Select a category I am interested in owning as a user (chopper, slicer, large field blade, etc.).
2. Identify the Busses that look good from the category of interest and buy one of each. When the new knives arrive hold them, fondle them, admire them and inspect them for looks and utility in the field.
3. Select a favorite from the new blades and begin using it. If I'm happy with the way the blade performs in the field the others are carefully wrapped and put away for future sale (or perhaps to be used at a later date if I feel I must have another knife among my users).
4. I occasionally buy used Busses that are out of production. They automatically become users in my collection.
At this point I own maybe a dozen Busses and have not sold any. I have adopted about 5 as regular users and may ultimately sell the others within a year or two. I may also buy more as new models are offered.
Anyway, my point is that I would like to have accurate market information available as I go through the process outlined above. And I do believe that most buyers/sellers in the Busse secondary market would benefit as well.
