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Opinion on best way to sell knives

Rezin

Rezin

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Joined
Dec 23, 2007
Messages
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As of July 2017, what do the members here believe to be the best way to sell knives? I'm talking stuff from my collection, 20 or so pieces - Randall's, folders by R J Martin, Emerson, etc. No art knives, just high end, custom knives. I see varying opinions on line - eBay, this forum, sellers who will take your knives on consignment and take 25% of the selling price, the Usual Suspects Network, etc. I'm sure many members here have an opinion. Thanks to all.
 
I find selling on the knife forum exchanges best and have bought and sold hundreds of knives(too many) over the years. I do belong to a few forums and sometimes a certain brand or style will fit one forum or the other better, however BF has a wide enough range of members and you should get most sold. Consignment works but it is a lot of money you give up. Ebay lets both good and bad in and it is hard to know which you are dealing with. BF on the other hand will kick out the bad(sooner if not latter) and there is some record of their behavior.
My 2 cents
 
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BF Exchange with a little realism about the real value of what you are selling, and thoughtful care about your selling terms and who is buying. My buying and selling practices are very different now than they were when I joined Nov15. I would suggest a good read of 1/2 dozen good and bad feedback posts at random to see what your potential liabilities and upsides of selling. A healthy dose of common sense can go along way to enjoying the experience of selling and buying on BF.

For me I've learned a ton about knives, steel, makers, and other stuff I was never interested before I started to become active here. I've bought and kept and bought and sold, knives I've connected with, others I just couldn't find to be for me and knives I didn't have time to use. Once you start you will never finish, but will learn a lot and meet some interesting both good and not so good people here on BF that share an affinity for edged just about everything.
 
Buy a Gold Membership and sell them here. You will meet re than pay for the membership on your first sale. Nice knives at reasonable prices sell here quickly. Bladeforums is the best.
 
The best way to sell knives is to start with honest information, lots of pictures, accurate descriptions, and reasonable prices. Doesn't matter where you sell them really, that is your choice. Also, any discussion about selling items best /worst, etc belongs in this section, not in GKD.
 
The price of the Gold membership isn't very much considering the knives you plan to sell. Buy one, give it a try(following RevDevils advice) and if you aren't getting satisfactory results you can always move on to one of your other options.
 
My vote goes to the exchange here unless you don't want to go through the time/effort to list, take pics and post threads to get them sold. If that's the case then ACK might be your best bet. Keep in mind, there's a lot of folks here that keep tabs on knives being sold here and reach out on other social media, i.e. Facebook, Instagram to see if someone may be looking for a particular knife. So, the audience is even wider with serious buyers.
I don't Facebook, but I've had members here give me contacts to buyers that I would not have otherwise know that they were looking for a particular knife. I've sold several knives this way. The members here have vouched for the buyer and it's reassuring that you don't have to deal with flakes.
 
Bladeforums is simply the best, if you like the convieniece of attracting educated buyers that do not require a lot of explanation. There is also the added benefit of knowing something about who you may be dealing with.
 
Thanks to all of you who replied. I will take your advice seriously.
 
Bladeforum first. You can give the members a better deal than if you sold it on Ebay. You wont have to deal with the commissions and fee's. There are also much less bottom feeders on the forum than you have on Ebay.
Consignment site take a huge cut and I don't think it's worth it. The knives are expensive so will need a little patienceand research the selling prices really well.
 
For knives like you describe, this is a good place to do it. It seems like the USN people are all a little too rich for their own good, so if you have the kind of things that tickle their pickle, like custom Emersons, Striders, etc., it might be worth the money to pay for Cove access over there, but there is a waiting period before you can do that.

Honestly I prefer Bladeforums. Selling on consignment is a huge loss, and rarely do you get to sell knives for much more than you paid for them already. Ebay is too full of frauds.
 
- Determine a price. 1 price shipped PayPal Goods and Services all costs included. Shipping \ Insurance \ Packing etc.
- Get Priority Mail boxes from the Post Office. They're free, come with tracking and $50 insurance.
- Take good photos next to a ruler to show dimensions. Overall image, closer image of the knife parts- Front, back, top, bottom.....
- Inspect the knife and note anything in the listing.
- Describe the knife and its history to the fullest known- New, used, original edge, over all length, blade length, materials, what comes with it etc....
- Pack it well- Safetly so it arrives in the condition shipped. Pack it like you'd want to receive it.
- Once paid it's your responsibility to take all the necessary steps to ensure it arrives safely.
- Communicate with the buyer. I confirm receipt of payment with a timeline for shipping. I confirm shipment after I drop it off at the Post Office and send the Tracking #. I monitor it's progress.
- Ask the buyer to confirm receipt of the item and that it meets their expectations.
- Don't spend the payment until the buyer confirms receipt and is happy with the knife.
- I leave feedback after the buyer confirms receipt and acceptance of the knife.
Done wash and repeat.
 
braillediver said:
- Determine a price. 1 price shipped PayPal Goods and Services all costs included. Shipping \ Insurance \ Packing etc.
- Get Priority Mail boxes from the Post Office. They're free, come with tracking and $50 insurance.
- Take good photos next to a ruler to show dimensions. Overall image, closer image of the knife parts- Front, back, top, bottom.....
- Inspect the knife and note anything in the listing.
- Describe the knife and its history to the fullest known- New, used, original edge, over all length, blade length, materials, what comes with it etc....
- Pack it well- Safetly so it arrives in the condition shipped. Pack it like you'd want to receive it.
- Once paid it's your responsibility to take all the necessary steps to ensure it arrives safely.
- Communicate with the buyer. I confirm receipt of payment with a timeline for shipping. I confirm shipment after I drop it off at the Post Office and send the Tracking #. I monitor it's progress.
- Ask the buyer to confirm receipt of the item and that it meets their expectations.
- Don't spend the payment until the buyer confirms receipt and is happy with the knife.
- I leave feedback after the buyer confirms receipt and acceptance of the knife.
Done wash and repeat.
Click to expand...
Thank you. What great detail and thoroughness!
What is the actual mechanism of posting the picture and description? I have been to the “Exchange” page, but don’t see any options to post info/pics.
JT
 
You can setup a free account at https://imgur.com
From the Image copy the Direct Link address (on the right) and imbed it in your listing via [ i m g] picture address [ / i m g ] No Spaces.
Might be easier than using the onboard picture hosting.
 
Thank you .....thank you braillediver !

I've been wanting to sell "what I can't display" to let the knifes back into the world....before I leave the world !

I'm sure I'm not the only collector that stays alive for fear wife will put your precious items in a box and sell them all for $100 !!
Not just knives....watches...and everything else she disliked you spent your life searching for ....(never found the Holy Grail--a woman that listens !! Lol !)

I've delayed so long on selling that a couple of knives ARE collectible now !!

Possibly worth more than I even paid for it em' !!

Sorry for rambling...but 40+ yrs of being pretty fussy about knives ....and silently getting em' in the house...may make this fun !

I hope a few members get a kick out of my "stuff"....sorry....no Randall's folks.

Although...guaranteed to entertain.

Peace to all that read this thread in 2021....
Stay healthy....Covid back on the rise
 
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