How to determine value?

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Paranrs

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I enjoy knives, and I have probably a hundred, but I'm not exactly a knife aficionado. I rarely sell them. In fact I don't recall ever selling a knife. But a friend of a friend got wind of a knife I have and he wants to buy it. The problem is that I have no idea what it's worth. It is a very desirable blade, and in order to maintain the spirit of the rules on this site I will not divulge exactly what it is. Nor will I sell it to any member of this site. I do not intend to break any rules.

That all said, where can I find ball park estimate on the value? I didn't pay anything for it, since I received it in trade. Are there any resources that might be helpful?

Thanks for any advice.
 
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Check e-bay for completed listings for the same knife in similar condition.
 
Search the exchange section of this forum, too. Sellers often censor the sale price once they've sold a knife but sometimes they don't.

Also, you can check the websites of consignment sellers for successful sales.
 
I am surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but it is actually against the rules to even mention, ask about, etc, about the value of a knife here without having a gold or higher paid membership.

That was one of the rules you agreed to when you signed up when you checked the box. You clicked the box that said you read them.
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The folks here have some of the better ideas on ballpark pricing, ebay is notorious for having inflated/high pricing. But to keep folks from abusing this, the forum requires support in exchange for the services offered by its members.

A Gold membership also allows you to sell here to a membership that has a reference and track record system in place. This offers peace of mind for the buyer and seller.
 
NJBillK said:
I am surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but it is actually against the rules to even mention, ask about, etc, about the value of a knife here without having a gold or higher paid membership.

That was one of the rules you agreed to when you signed up when you checked the box. You clicked the box that said you read them.
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The folks here have some of the better ideas on ballpark pricing, ebay is notorious for having inflated/high pricing. But to keep folks from abusing this, the forum requires support in exchange for the services offered by its members.

A Gold membership also allows you to sell here to a membership that has a reference and track record system in place. This offers peace of mind for the buyer and seller.
Click to expand...

The reason for that rule is to prevent members from circumventing the requirement of being a Gold member in order to gain the privilege of selling on this site, as well as providing some security for buyers and sellers. Also, I did not ask about the value of a knife. I asked where I could look for resources for knife appraisal. I have no intention on breaking any rules.
 
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jc57 said:
Check e-bay for completed listings for the same knife in similar condition.
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Unfortunately Ebay has no listings for this particular blade. I did not think it was particularly rare, but it seems to at least not be sold on Ebay very often.

EDIT: I just discovered that selling this knife on Ebay is against their terms. It's an automatic. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to randomly guess at the value.
 
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SpySmasher said:
Search the exchange section of this forum, too. Sellers often censor the sale price once they've sold a knife but sometimes they don't.

Also, you can check the websites of consignment sellers for successful sales.
Click to expand...

Where can I find these websites? I'm not really a knife trader, so I don't know where to look.
 
Only links to supporting vendors can be posted.

I can understand the stance you took, especially by not stating the knife, or asking for a proce, but instead asking for someome that can give a price...

That is pretty close to the line and likely tip-toeing on the line itself. I (as many here would agree) believe that the security and community offered here are more than enough justification for the paltry sum asked in exchange. On top of that, you could flat out post a picture and say, what does this fetch?

Your ebay fees would likely be near the cost of a membership, so why not assuage any concerns about the potential for a shady buyer that can just say that you shipped an empty box, and go for a reversal of funds from PayPal and cause you to jump through hoops...

While it is possible to happen here, many folks have an established persona that they would not risk on a deal, but prefer to have their honesty reflected by their trader score.
Peace of mind is priceless.
 
I'd just think of a reasonable price you'd be willing to accept and forget about the matter after it's sold.
 
NJBillK said:
Only links to supporting vendors can be posted.

I can understand the stance you took, especially by not stating the knife, or asking for a proce, but instead asking for someome that can give a price...

That is pretty close to the line and likely tip-toeing on the line itself. I (as many here would agree) believe that the security and community offered here are more than enough justification for the paltry sum asked in exchange. On top of that, you could flat out post a picture and say, what does this fetch?

Your ebay fees would likely be near the cost of a membership, so why not assuage any concerns about the potential for a shady buyer that can just say that you shipped an empty box, and go for a reversal of funds from PayPal and cause you to jump through hoops...

While it is possible to happen here, many folks have an established persona that they would not risk on a deal, but prefer to have their honesty reflected by their trader score.
Peace of mind is priceless.
Click to expand...

If you can please point out where I asked someone to give me a price on this knife I will gladly correct it. Once again, I am not looking for that information from anyone here. I don't want a price for this knife. I have been careful to avoid telling anyone what it is so that I would not be accused of doing exactly what you are accusing me of. I am only looking for information on how to determine the value of a blade. It doesn't even have to be this one. It could be ANY BLADE. I don't want to sell on this forum. I am not a knife guy. I don't normally sell knives. I was just hoping that someone would be kind enough to say - "Oh yeah, go to Knifebroker.com (or whatever) and check there." Apparently that's not going to happen.

As far as Ebay is concerned this particular type of knife is not allowed there. Apparently they have an issue with push buttons that I wasn't aware of.
 
Sosa said:
I'd just think of a reasonable price you'd be willing to accept and forget about the matter after it's sold.
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Thanks for the advice. I'm looking for fair market value. I really wasn't interested in selling until someone approached me. If I can't figure out what the going rate is I'm just going to keep it rather than find out in two weeks that I was lowballed by a hundred bucks, or ripped the guy off a hundred bucks.
 
P Paranrs
Ok, so you got this part right, if they aren't supporting vendors, we can't offer them up
NJBillK said:
Only links to supporting vendors can be posted.
Click to expand...

I state that you don't ask for an price or name the knife, but yet ask for someone who can give you a price. I do agree that asking for a person who can is technically different, but it is Very close, hence my phrasing of tip-toeing the line.
NJBillK said:
I can understand the stance you took, especially by not stating the knife, or asking for a price, but instead asking for someome that can give a price...

That is pretty close to the line and likely tip-toeing on the line itself.
Click to expand...


If the below doesn't convince you that I am actually trying to help you out, then good luck on your search.
NJBillK said:
I (as many here would agree) believe that the security and community offered here are more than enough justification for the paltry sum asked in exchange. On top of that, you could flat out post a picture and say, what does this fetch?

Your ebay fees would likely be near the cost of a membership, so why not assuage any concerns about the potential for a shady buyer that can just say that you shipped an empty box, and go for a reversal of funds from PayPal and cause you to jump through hoops...

While it is possible to happen here, many folks have an established persona that they would not risk on a deal, but prefer to have their honesty reflected by their trader score.
Peace of mind is priceless.
Click to expand...
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Eta: I don't understand why you are stating that I am saying anything other than exactly what I said.
(I didn't say you asked for a price, see above)

Please read what I typed and take it at face value. I am not meaning anything other than what I said.
 
NJBillK NJBillK
If you could point me in the direction of a knife auction website, like I asked for, or something similar where I could find a comparable knife that has sold recently then that would help me out. Please stop insisting that I am asking for someone to appraise an unseen and unknown knife. Doesn't that sound ridiculous? I'm sure you are trying to help me out, but you haven't told me anything I didn't already know. All you have done is tried to justify, repeatedly, that I should get a membership so I can ask someone what this old knife is worth. I've said that is NOT what I want to do here. And honestly, you suggesting that I pay $30 just to ask a single question seems a bit steep regarding a knife that might only be worth that much. But I'm just guessing. By the way I maintained a Gold membership for the first two years of my membership on this site. Never used it. I won't do it unless I regain a strong interest in knives.

So, as a more helpful person suggested, I checked the Knife Exchange here on this site but had no luck. Apparently these knives don't come up for sale very often. Maybe they are crap knives? I really don't know anymore. With that in mind, and since I really wasn't planning on selling it anyway, I think I'm going to just keep it. Especially since I'm hitting dead ends on what the fair market value should be. It seems obvious that discovering what this is worth is more trouble than I care to deal with.

Have a good night.
 
At this point I just wish I could delete this thread. I'm over it. I just don't care that much about it.
 
I would probably start by doing a search online for the maker and see if they are still in business, and if there is any negative press associated with the brand.

From there, I would locate the model that I had. This can be done by looking for collectors of the brand, a forum or message board dedicated to said brand, or asking on an automatic heavy based forum, I offer this since you said it was a push button, and not allowed on ebay.

Search for info on the blade alloy, if it is stated on the knife or paperwork, some are more rare than others, and combined with a brand, might narrow it down quite quickly.
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I figured that this stuff would be common sense, and instead you asked someone to do the leg work for you. This could have easily been done by yourself. Especially since you used to be into knives enough to have a payed membership (for two years), I figure you should have been able to think of these things, but chose to take the easier route...

Sorry to disappoint you.
 
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