Red flags or just being paranoid

[Blades of Glory]

The requirement of a Gold Member purchase serves as a decent barrier to issues but, IMO, is not the only consideration. Feedback is important but if there are only one or two red marks on your profile I go on a case by case basis. If you have 145 + and two - I can let it slide. I had a guy buy a G Shock from me once. When he received it he was shocked (pun intended) at how BIG it was, imagine that. He messaged me and persistently asked to return it. I got the feeling that if I didn't comply I would definitely end up with a neg so I agreed to refund his money if he paid for return shipping. Just didn't want that bright red spotlight following me around.

For first time folks coming onboard my advice is to make some purchases and get some positive feedback which will make buyers feel more comfortable. I would be interested in knowing the membership stats year over year since say 2017. I would imagine that the uptick in the "traditional" knives interest has pushed a lot of folks to BF once they figured out it existed. Not only are there a lot of members with little to no feedback they are paying top dollar for these knives. I can't figure out if they are just happy to have found an alternative to eB or they are flippers themselves.

BF is the only place I sell knives. I could get more for them elsewhere but I don't do this for profit. I am a collector and am always fine tuning my collection. BF allows me the ability to get back all/some of what I've put out so I can keep enjoying this hobby. The issue I'm facing is that, not only are the retailers asking for more and getting it, sellers here are asking for more and getting it. So, it's making the hobby harder from a financial perspective. In order to afford to keep tuning my collection and keep up with increased prices I will have to, in turn, ask for more when I sell. And, unfortunately, I'm not going to do that so I do more watching from the sidelines and hoping I can get in on one of the diminishing retailers that still offer a relatively fair price.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

This is definitely a growing community, and it takes some time getting used to.

I started as a "Lurker" for Many years...idk why?
I'd read about new and interesting knives, but I let all of You do the hard work for me.....
I didn't realize how much of a community this place was?

later I joined as a non-paying member, learned even more, started actually buying knives from here on the exchange.
I had already recognized some of your names since I watched for so long, and I picked up quickly who was a flipper vs. a good guy.

So with already a few years experience, I didn't start getting any feedback until recently when I became a Gold Member. I believe that there is alot to do with that. Like Blades of Glory said, it's kind of a good first filter of trust.

I'm still learning alot, and there is alot to navigate on this site.
I still haven't sold anything yet, but want to but I don't ever plan on being the "Wheeling & Dealing" type.


*I do wish there was a good tutorial for selling, or setting up for makers/craftsman.
I heard paypal will report sales over $600/year?
as a hobby, do people need to report that as income? Ugh.

do people set up post office boxes to keep their residences private?
what about liability with knife makers, I'd hate to be Sued if someone ever hurt themselves on something I made or sold?

haha..... Yes, I'm paranoid.....

But also I have to say, I've always been Impressed how amazing this place is..... I've meet soooo many good people already, and have never had a bad experience yet (hopefully Never)
The people Here make this place what it is!!!!!!!!! -it's not the knives.

 

[madcap_magician]

I mostly sell knives here, but there are a couple groups on Facebook I also trust. Not the general knife flea market groups on Facebook and certainly not Instagram, those are a wretched hive of scum and villainy, but some brands that don't have tons of traction here on Bladeforums but have fanatical Facebook groups (Vehement Knives and some of the custom makers who are close to Bark River Knives, Alan Folts (who is popular here, but his Facebook group is better if I ever want to sell something he made), etc.). I'll sell those knives specifically in those groups. Everything else gets sold here. I don't mind selling to people with no feedback, and I have grown a pretty fine-tuned weirdo radar.

I don't mind selling to Exchange-only members, either. It is what it is, and even if they're only here to buy and sell, they help keep the lights on, so as long as they've got something I want at a price I'm willing to pay, or they're willing to pay my asking price for something I have, I don't hold their lack of other forum participation against them.

I had a bad sale here once more than ten years ago. I sold a BM710 as one with the M2HSS blade, but it turned out it was D2. It was sold to me as the M2 version, and it was my fault for not looking more closely at it. The seller was ultimately OK with it, and I offered to pay for his return or to refund him some part of his purchase price, but I learned a lot from that experience, and now my goal is to ship as fast as DLT with signature required, insurance, and the motto that anyone buying a knife from me should need a knife already to get into the package.