With box or without question

R

robertj298

Joined
Mar 7, 2014
Messages
244
Being new to collecting, this may be a stupid question but I am curious. I see a lot of knives for sale that are unused. Some have the original box and some don't. I'm wondering, just how much does having the original box add to the resale value of a knife with everything else being equal?
 
That all depends...as a collector of older Case knives, and preference being NOS or simply mint, unused, unsharpened, never carried, etc, the knife value has everything to do with whether it has all the original papers, and if the box presented is indeed the actual and original box as supplied at time of packaging. There are a whole lot of eBay types who have been selling minty knives with boxes, but the boxes are those which one can buy at any number of retailers...even Case will send you a "modern" Case box. Personally, I won't buy any Case knife that doesn't come with the factory supplied boxes. Now, there are what is known as salesman's samplers, where a group of knives, different patterns, but all with the same handle material, are offered for sale...depending on the pattern, I may make an exception. There are also mint knife sets that come with wood display cases, of a common handle material, and different patterns. Many folks break up the set and sell each knife individually, and many collectors will go in together and buy a mint set with the intent of scoring a particular pattern...I may make an exception here as well. Soooooooooooooo, by way of China, would I buy a "new" knife without its box....it depends, but probably not.
 
To a person buying a knife to use it makes little difference generally. To a collector it does. A knife that is older and uncommon might be rare in unused condition complete with original packaging, papers etc. Some knives never came in a box to start with. Most packaging is immediately discarded by casual buyers of new knives, thus the reason that older knives with box, papers and packing materials brings a premium price from collectors.
 
In general, without specific cases, it knocks about 10% off the value of a typical knife. Every sale is a unique transaction between two individuals and it will matter more or less to each person, and how badly they want it or how hard to find the knife is.

Most true collectors will ideally want as much of the original everything as possible - box, papers, packing materials, certificates of authenticity, etc. Really old knives don't often still have such things so the market doesn't really expect it, but if they do, they will command a premium over an identical knife without them.
 
I could personally care less about a box but it you think you might sell it in the future the original box and paperwork adds value to collectors.

That is why I keep all boxes as even though I might think I will never sell, things change and knives fall out of favor.
 
I don't really think I could be a collector wanting to make $$$ by reselling later. I like to carry and use the knives I buy too much to just buy one and let it sit lol
 
robertj298 said:
I don't really think I could be a collector wanting to make $$$ by reselling later. I like to carry and use the knives I buy too much to just buy one and let it sit lol
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Then all the numismatist's should free up all those imprisoned Morgan silver dollars, 5 dollar gold pieces, silver and gold certificates, and spend it buying groceries; and while we're at it, have all owner's of the original Inverted Jenny stamp just paste them on envelopes and pay their electric bill, instead of buying those generic USPS stamp offerings. What's the point of collecting, or even having a hobby?;)
 
Wow. There are people who collect used coins and used stamps and used knives. And collectors who must have only perfect, complete new boxed knives or slabbed graded coins or stamps. It's all good as neither excludes the preferences of others. I will say that anyone who counts on making a killing by buying and holding knives for resale later expecting a large return on their money is in for a rude awakening. Knives, generally speaking, are poor investments.
 
Alnamvet68 said:
Then all the numismatist's should free up all those imprisoned Morgan silver dollars, 5 dollar gold pieces, silver and gold certificates, and spend it buying groceries; and while we're at it, have all owner's of the original Inverted Jenny stamp just paste them on envelopes and pay their electric bill, instead of buying those generic USPS stamp offerings. What's the point of collecting, or even having a hobby?;)
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Is the idea of a hobby to make a profit? I couldn't buy a new Ferrari and not drive it. I may not make money on it but I bet I'd have a whole lot more fun than someone that buys one and lets it sit to make a profit. To me the same goes for buying pocket knives. That's probably why I'll never be rich lol
 
robertj298 said:
I don't really think I could be a collector wanting to make $$$ by reselling later. I like to carry and use the knives I buy too much to just buy one and let it sit lol
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If you are buying knives for use, then you can take advantage of the fact that "no box" knives tend to sell cheaper than new in box. I love to find lightly used / no box knives for patterns I am interested in owning for carry and usage. You can get great bargains that way.

I don't think most knife collectors are especially trying to make a profit down the road. Some like to trade directly with other collectors, and some recognize that their tastes may change, or that financial conditions may change, so they would like to lose as little as they have to when selling later on. Keeping the box and paperwork can make that loss smaller, or even a break-even on an out-of-production model that still has good demand.
 
Generally speaking a collector of anything will find a item that has its original box and whatnot more desirable and would pay more for it.
This doesn't apply with classic cars.

Or horses. ;)
 
pmew said:
Generally speaking a collector of anything will find a item that has its original box and whatnot more desirable and would pay more for it.
This doesn't apply with classic cars.

Or horses. ;)
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Cars? sure it does. A used driver example brings less than a restored example. An original milestone car brings more. A perfect, stored new with all papers car brings phenomenal prices. And there are collectors of each category. Horses and dogs have their own criteria. A registered purebred with excellent health and/or performance records brings more.
 
I was in the antiques business for many years and am a licenced personal property appraiser. In early toys, boxes make a huge difference in value,many times a box will double, triple and more the value of a Mint EARLY toy. However,many modern toys have been purchased to collect and are expected to be mint and in the box. In these cases the boxes do not add a great deal to the value but without the box these are worth less. There are very early stamps that are actually worth much more as used examples than they are in mint examples.
I often wonder if GEC knives will be worth more as used than a mint example as I expect a HUGE percentage of their output are kept mint and boxed. Certain factors could make a used knife worth more than a mint knife in the furture such as, a Barlow designed and used by Charlie could possibly be worth more than a mint in box example.
My best advice is collect what you love and enjoy them while you own them.

Best regards

Robin
 
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Codger_64 said:
Cars? sure it does. A used driver example brings less than a restored example. An original milestone car brings more. A perfect, stored new with all papers car brings phenomenal prices. And there are collectors of each category. Horses and dogs have their own criteria. A registered purebred with excellent health and/or performance records brings more.
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So much for British humour.
 
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