State of the Market (Spyderco Specifically)

I agree with and "liked" almost every prior post in this thread.

All I can add is that I own 175 Spydercos. I don't currently plan or need to sell any of them but, if I couldn't sell any of them that I tried to sell here, I'd try to sell them on EB and price whatever I'm trying to sell at 5-10% below the lowest asking price there (and include the option to "make an offer," as well).

EB is an international marketplace and if you can't sell what you want to sell there, you can't sell it anywhere. Yeah, you've gotta pay some fees (as much as 10-15% to EB & PP) but you'll sell what you need/want to sell there and, unless it's an auto or bali which you can't list there & that you'll have to try to sell elsewhere. šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø
 
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It would be the stateā€™s knife, and theyā€™d set the price, and youā€™d be talking black market knife sales if you wanted any profit.
 
7east said:
As a rule, any knife that isnā€™t selling is overpriced. You can only charge what the market demands.
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One time, years ago, when I was brand new to selling, I wasn't moving a Becker BK11 that was on the exchange, and I got a really solid piece of advice from bladesmith3 bladesmith3 , that I remember even now years later.

He told me I had to price it low enough that people would see the price and want to jump on it because if they don't, someone else would. The fear of losing out on the deal to someone else is a big motivator.
 
XJ-linux said:
It would be the stateā€™s knife, and theyā€™d set the price, and youā€™d be talking black market knife sales if you wanted any profit.
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A knife is a personal item, not capital or means of production.
 
Those KJ exclusives max on the secondary at like $160 since they sold them for a lot less. I'd say the prices are just too high at least with those.

Edit: A satin KJ Para 3 got posted for $135 on reddit this morning and has had no takers yet. DLC is worth more, but you're still way high
 
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Whining doesnā€™t sell things eitherā€¦ reparations is where itā€™s atā€¦
 
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Others have already covered the miserable state of our current Macro-Economics, and the Micro-Economics of knife sales is particularly down due to collector knives being a non-necessity. Not much need to belabor those points.

I think Spyderco in particular has a problem. I personally havenā€™t seen a new Spyderco in a few years that I needed to have. They no longer seem to be the innovative, industry leaders they once were. ā€œNewā€ knives are old designs with new blade steel or handle materials. Sprint runs are common and yawn inducing.

The creative doldrums of Spyderco amplify the lack of demand in the resale market. Selling a Spydie collection at this time is probably a perfect storm of a lousy economy, less demand for elective items and a brand that currently doesnā€™t inspire.
 
How's the market for modded knives in particular? I get the concerns about Spyderco releasing 37 variants of the same old same old (people clamor for it, after all), the soft market generally, and Magnacut hype cutting into other sprint steel sales.

I like Spyderco, I like the "designed in the dark" philosophy, and haven't once wanted to buy one with nice aftermarket scales- they just add cost (and conflict with that first, a tool philosophy... and I'm a cheapskate).
 
I love Spyderco knives, for both being actual tools for cutting things and the way their company experiments with different materials. I like that so much of their best stuff is designed by a father and son, but that they also bring in some very talented designers from outside the company. You don't go to Spyderco for monster chopper fixed blades, but they pretty much have you covered otherwise. I only have nine of them, but that's out of restraint so I can sample more of the other brands out there.

As for the market, inflation is killing people literally and figuratively. A lot of things, like rent and grocery bills seem to be jumping up in price a lot more than the inflation rate would justify. It's almost as bad as the price hike of Benchmade knives. People getting squeezed are likely selling more of their shiny stuff, like knives, just to get by and that will make it a buyer's secondary market, with less buyers. It's making it harder for a lot of people to get into crazy collector mode and forcing others to sell off as much of their stuff as possible to get by. If you're not selling perishable goods or homes, it's probably a good time to hold onto your non-necessity stock if you're able and not willing to sell for less, because a lot of people have less to spend.
 
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Hackenslash said:
I think Spyderco in particular has a problem. I personally havenā€™t seen a new Spyderco in a few years that I needed to have. They no longer seem to be the innovative, industry leaders they once were. ā€œNewā€ knives are old designs with new blade steel or handle materials. Sprint runs are common and yawn inducing.
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For sure this is not helping. They seem to have gotten too comfortable in their current groove. I was hoping to move a bunch of my collection, but now Iā€™ll just wait and hope for better days.
 
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