Your thoughts: dealing 2nd hand knives support makers?

A healthy secondary market shows prospective buyers that they are making an "investment" by purchasing from that maker. Knowing if you purchase a knife and don't care for it, that you can flip it for retail or higher definitely boosts sales from that manufacturer.
 
I have a 2012 Socom Elite that, and that was before I was aware of his deeds and reputation.

I love the knife and consider it grandfathered in. I would never buy another MT, but I'm keeping my Socom.
 
I think most second hand knife sales don't provide any kind of support to the first line manufacturer UNLESS they happen in an enthusiast environment like Blade Forums. I've heard on numerous times a member comment that they had Knife-X but sold it only to turn around and buy it again because they missed it :p! How many Sebenza collectors started with a cheap and battered Regular they picked up on the Exchange. Second hand knife sales actually can help support new knife sales when you're dealing with a bunch of Knife Knuts! Us Knife Knuts are a fairly bizarre breed.

Personally, this is why I don't sell knives that don't work out for me...I know I'd buy them again when I couldn't remember why they weren't perfect the first time o_O. Better to just stuff them in a knife bag and only spend bad money once!
 
Strider knives are ugly as sin... the knife equivalent of a hoopty. Add in a bad maker, and you got a no go.

Marfione's knives are easily some of the coolest designs on the market...by that I mean only the sigil. Purely design wise, the sigil is a beast, even though it is a framelock. But alas, it has a dark side, so no go either.

I'd go with a better maker, no knife is worth feeling bad over.
 
Look, guys, I feel obligated to stand up for Strider as a good folder, available at good prices.
I've had many Striders, maybe twenty, several or more of their four more popular folder models. Never a problem with any, other than two....
Both problem knives "came" to me in less than perfect condition; both were used Striders that I purchased here on the Exchange.
It might be pertinent to note that a Strider knife is warranted for the "LIFE of the KNIFE"... regardless of how many previous owners used or abused it.
Do we know of any OTHER companies that provide a warranty that comes even CLOSE to that? I surely am not aware of others.

The first problem child was a PT with a "short" blade. The very tip had broken off; had been reground by a previous owner, but a very good job of it. I didn't become aware of it until well after the sale, when I finally realized that the blade was a bit shorter than stock, but chose to keep the knife. I sent it in for re-profile of the blade-shape, and Strider chose to just replace the old (broken-tip) blade with a new blade and a spa job...all at no charge. The knife came back at 100%.

The second was a SnG with a severe lock-stick (old design lock). Strider Customer Service tried to get the old lock out, but it had been epoxied in by some previous owner. So they tried heat and that didn't loosen it up either. They finally resorted to drilling out the old lock, and replaced it with a brand new lock of their NEW design...again at no charge.
Of course, the knife came back to me in 100% condition.

I buy Strider for what they are...well-designed folders for heavy-duty purpose. Strider was designed with aid of the U.S. Marine Corps and became their official folder quite a few years ago...following LOTS of testing.
You guys can continue to bang your drums forever; I know how much you love it...
Don aka Sonnydaze
 
Sorry man, I have to disagree. This thread wasn't about the SnG but since we're there what the hell. The SnG's is not a well designed knife. Take Mick out of it, and I would still say the same thing. Aesthetically, they're awesome no question about it. His grinds are beautiful and some of the customs are bad ass. The ergos are great and it carries well. The jimping and choil are also done extremely well. But from a functional standpoint there are too many things that don't work.

1. The lack of a liner on what is designed to be a hard use knife sketches me out. If i was using this knife to cut through something with a death grip in an emergency. I just don't trust G10 to hold up.
2. The single stop pin design doesn't make sense either. What happens when you're prying into the G10 side? Again hard use knife.
3. I just don't understand why its acceptable to have to deal with lock stick. I have plenty of titanium frame locks that dont suffer this problem. If the knife was $100-$150 fine, its something I could deal with, but come on, how can you charge a premium for a knife that sticks and grinds.
3. Attention to detail. Why does the blade obstruct the lanyard hole? How is that a "Good Design"?
4. Why does the pocket clip screw protrude beyond the titanium frame and into the interior of the knife. Functionally this doesn't cause a problem, but its bush league. Again this isn't a cheap knife.
5. A well designed knife doesn't rely on a G10 back spacer to to stop a hardened steel black when closing the knife.

I wish I could like this knife, but I just can't and I won't. For the guys who love them, I get it and I'm not trying to convince otherwise. But please, don't accept sub par quality as personality or quirkiness. You're not doing any of us a favor by accepting mediocrity at a premium.
 
Mr. Tj....
For the most part, I have enjoyed using the Striders that I have owned. Your points are well taken, although I might differ with several and "accept" the rest as part of the "package." Certainly, their lifetime Customer Service...basically a freebie in my experience, does not constitute "accepting mediocrity" in any manner.
Although it's irrational to defend a knife's "bad" points by pointing out similarities in another brand, your #4 "protruding screw" complaint can also be found in my brand new Benchmade 940-1... the dream-child of many readers here. Although on this BM model, the screws securing the CF scales ALL protrude into the interior of the knife. which should NOT be found in a $270 knife. But, yeah, the slim S90V blade is excellent and provided the primary incentive for its purchase, and the only reason I might keep it around.
I guess it's a matter of give and take...it's hard to get it all in one folder. Even my CRK's, which I dearly love (and carry), could benefit from a harder blade-steel. (IMO)
 
Cutlover said:
Strider knives are ugly as sin... the knife equivalent of a hoopty. Add in a bad maker, and you got a no go.

Marfione's knives are easily some of the coolest designs on the market...by that I mean only the sigil. Purely design wise, the sigil is a beast, even though it is a framelock. But alas, it has a dark side, so no go either.

I'd go with a better maker, no knife is worth feeling bad over.
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Marfione didn't design the Sigil. If you want one buy a custom Munroe (for triple-ish the $$) guilt free.
 
If it is a maker you would not wish to support why would you still want his product no matter where you bought it?
 
I see no dilemma here. If you don't care for a particular maker, why would you buy one of their knives at any price? I have some attitude about certain manufacturers, individuals who are involved in the knife business, and the handmade makers. But it is not an absolute road block to acquiring a particular knife if I am motivated to buy based on the quality of the product for whatever reason.

The secondary knife market only helps the maker/manufacturer in the sense that it provides a barometer on the desirability of their product. A maker may increase the price of their knives to something approaching the secondary market pricing. I have no problem with this in general, but frankly it turns a lot of people off.
 
What I have a huge problem with is people who have no real love of the hobby but seek to buy knives only to flip them for huge profits. It contributes to unchecked ego growth in some makers and makes some knives unattainable to people who can't make it to a show.
 
Charlie Mike said:
What I have a huge problem with is people who have no real love of the hobby but seek to buy knives only to flip them for huge profits. It contributes to unchecked ego growth in some makers and makes some knives unattainable to people who can't make it to a show.
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It's actually worse at the shows. You'll see the same people enter every lotto, then walk any knives they get, over to a dealer. Which is quite frustrating when you have taken the time and money to fly/drive to a show. Alas, it is what it is...
 
I've been to the Plaza show multiple times. One year, I was working behind the table with DDR. It was rather disheartening watching big dealers cleaning up the primo pieces BEFORE the "no pre-selling" phase even started.
 
hexenjager said:
Personally, since you already have it and don't want to support the maker(s), I'd say if it doesn't bother you too much, keep it and use the bejeepers out of it. Perhaps you can make them warranty it down the road. If it does bother you too much to use it, instead of destroying it, hang onto it until someone posts on the forum wondering about buying a new one and give it to them. Directly costing them a sale should help assuage your guilt. :D
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Unless this backfires. How so, you may ask?

What if the potential customer had his eye on one or two other brands that he didn't mention, and he was only fishing for info on one brand at a time.

Now he receives a knife from one of the brands and he likes it. Now he goes and buys one (or two or three) with his own money now that he is experienced in higher dollar knives.
 
NJBillK said:
Unless this backfires. How so, you may ask?

What if the potential customer had his eye on one or two other brands that he didn't mention, and he was only fishing for info on one brand at a time.

Now he receives a knife from one of the brands and he likes it. Now he goes and buys one (or two or three) with his own money now that he is experienced in higher dollar knives.
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Excellent point. The only safe course of action would be to keep it and call it bad names when you use it for the things you don't want to use other knives for.
 
hexenjager said:
Excellent point. The only safe course of action would be to keep it and call it bad names when you use it for the things you don't want to use other knives for.
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Or shoot it a bunch of times and send it back in a condition that is irreparable. Include a note stating that you bought it second hand and damaged it intentionally.
This way no one else could ever own it.
 
Charlie Mike said:
What I have a huge problem with is people who have no real love of the hobby but seek to buy knives only to flip them for huge profits. It contributes to unchecked ego growth in some makers and makes some knives unattainable to people who can't make it to a show.
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That is pretty crappy, but it's also how capitalism operates and with the good comes the bad. You know this, This is how every venture where money can be made operates. Do you think the maker bears any responsibility in preventing the "flippers" from gobbling up inventory?

I don't know where I stand, I can see both sides of the argument. I do believe however that the makers deserve every opportunity to sell their products without regulations. The market will determine supply/demand/pricing.
 
Some of the blame falls on those more money than brains types who actually pay the insane markups and therefore perpetuate/reinforce such behavior.
 
Charlie Mike said:
Some of the blame falls on those more money than brains types who actually pay the insane markups and therefore perpetuate/reinforce such behavior.
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Indeed. Who could blame Hinderer when his knives were being flipped at ridiculous markups, or really even the vendors flipping them for that matter? If anyone was to blame it was the folks who were willing to pony up $1000+ for a knife that you can find for pennies on the dollar now (I just passed on the opportunity to buy a BNIB XM-18 flipper with bronze anodized hardware for $285--a few years ago the same knife would have pulled four figures on the exchange).

I love the free market, but it's a "scorpion and the frog" fable sort of thing. You can't be surprised when a scorpion stings you and you can't be surprised when entity that exists to make money tries to make money.
 
austonh said:
Buying on the secondary absolutely supports the maker. Perceived demand and stable secondary pricing, allows individuals to buy directly from said maker with little to no risk. Therefore you support the maker with your secondary purchase. If people "couldn't give it away" on a secondary sale, no one would buy direct nor secondary because they would immediately lose money.

The smartest custom knife makers understand this dilemma very well and they work to keep demand high and supply low, so any direct sale will result in overwhelming demand and long term viability in the industry. Makers who are a flash in the pan and fade away quickly, failed to understand how the market works.
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Sorry, but I must disagree. If I purchase a used knife, it will be for one of three reasons:

1. the knife is out of production or in very limited production.

2. I do not want to pay retail prices.

3. I like the knife but, not the maker.

There is no way a maker can directly make money off of my purchase. Sorry, not going to happen.

Well, there might be one way. If I later decide to purchase a second knife (at retail) because of my experiences with the first knife I bought.
 
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