Secondary Market Prices

GEC specializes in highly collectable and premium quality usable pocket knives. The company's USA manufactured knives have quickly proven to be a big hit with both collectors and users who seek quality American craftsmanship.
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espn77
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by espn77 »

No sir.
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edge213
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by edge213 »

espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:19 pmNo sir.
Just curious.
Do you just not have interest in them or are they scarce in your area?
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Colonel26
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Colonel26 »

I have a total of ONE GEC, and it is the only GEC I have ever seen in person. I got it from a friend who didn’t like it. It’s a great knife imo. Is it worth what it cost new? ::shrug:: Probably to some, not to me. Is it worth what it would cost on the secondary market? Nope, not in my book. But to each their own.

I refuse to play the game, even if I could afford to, the whole system just isn’t my thing, more power to those who do enjoy them. I suspect in a few years the GEC knives that have been used will start showing up for sale at a discounted rate. Then I might pick one up as a user. Until then there are way too many great old knives out there to distract me.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by cudgee »

Colonel26 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:05 pm I have a total of ONE GEC, and it is the only GEC I have ever seen in person. I got it from a friend who didn’t like it. It’s a great knife imo. Is it worth what it cost new? ::shrug:: Probably to some, not to me. Is it worth what it would cost on the secondary market? Nope, not in my book. But to each their own.

I refuse to play the game, even if I could afford to, the whole system just isn’t my thing, more power to those who do enjoy them. I suspect in a few years the GEC knives that have been used will start showing up for sale at a discounted rate. Then I might pick one up as a user. Until then there are way too many great old knives out there to distract me.
Some good points there my friend. It all comes down to supply and demand, i know it is boring but that is how it is and has always been. If you take away the demand for anything prices will adjust accordingly. You see GEC's hit the secondary market with mark ups of up to 150%, with most at 100%. Not for me nor you my friend, but people are prepared to pay these prices. And i can give you a good and recent example of your last point, i recently saw an Oily Bone #93 Ramsfoot go for $85 on another exchange, a lot less that what it would have commanded new just over 12 months ago, it was used naturally, but in good condition. ::handshake::
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by espn77 »

edge213 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:51 pm
espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:19 pmNo sir.
Just curious.
Do you just not have interest in them or are they scarce in your area?
For me, my brain can't comprehend collecting something new, I have some knives that are in pretty rough shape but it's the only example I've been able to come across for a knife that was made 80-100 years ago. In my area the majority of knives sold at the feed store will be case, Moore maker's, schrade. I just like old stuff. I've probably seen them on tables at gun shows but my eyes didn't stop to look at them because they weren't old. I do have a question. Do they make a stockman type knife or only jack knives?
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Doc B »

espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:44 pm
edge213 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:51 pm
espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:19 pmNo sir.
Just curious.
Do you just not have interest in them or are they scarce in your area?
For me, my brain can't comprehend collecting something new, I have some knives that are in pretty rough shape but it's the only example I've been able to come across for a knife that was made 80-100 years ago. In my area the majority of knives sold at the feed store will be case, Moore maker's, schrade. I just like old stuff. I've probably seen them on tables at gun shows but my eyes didn't stop to look at them because they weren't old. I do have a question. Do they make a stockman type knife or only jack knives?
Here's a couple 3 blades for you...
82 Dixie Stockman
82 Dixie Stockman.jpg
82 Dixie Stockman.jpg (19.35 KiB) Viewed 5207 times
29 Stockyard Whittler
gec-29-blood-red-jigged-bone__57003.1567191781.jpg
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espn77
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by espn77 »

Wow. Those are really nice
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by cudgee »

espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:20 pm Wow. Those are really nice
Yes they are, and nearly impossible to get. :lol: :lol: :lol: ::tu::
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espn77
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by espn77 »

What do those bring, on Ebay for example?
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by cudgee »

espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:37 pm What do those bring, on Ebay for example?
Normally $200 + , i have seen some of those go for up to $300 + on another forum, depends on condition and having the tube. ::tu::
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Doc B »

The 82 isn't one of the particularly "hot" knives. A stag one recently sold for about$210, bone $145 and micarta a little over 100.
Same for the 29 not being particularly sought after. One recently sold for about $130
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by cudgee »

Doc B wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:46 pm The 82 isn't one of the particularly "hot" knives. A stag one recently sold for about$210, bone $145 and micarta a little over 100.
Same for the 29 not being particularly sought after. One recently sold for about $130
I stand corrected my good sir, i should have stated that they vary according to desirability, and there are some of the not so popular drops still available at retailers after being released ages ago. A good guide can be a search through the AAPK store. :)
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

Just a couple of points to make. When knives sell out in seconds and you buy blindly with no time to look over the knife you are buying, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that when some people get one that disappoints, they want to sell it or trade it. That has happened to me many times. There can be such big differences in the handles. So not all the flipping is simply for profit.
My second point is this. I was a stock broker for 26 years. I have seen how this works in markets all over the world. Whenever there is a price difference from one market to another, there will ALWAYS be enterprising people who will exploit those differences. It’s called “arbitrage”, and there are always price differences from one market to another. Entire companies have set up their business to exploit these differences. There are companies that have laid microfiber cables in a straight line from their trading desks to the exchange to exploit minuscule differences in stock, commodities and futures prices. They laid these cables to reduce the time it takes for the information to travel, apparently if you bend a fiber optic cable it slows the flow of the information. So they are trading in millionths of seconds and making millions doing it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hasn’t already developed a program to buy as many of these knife drops when they happen in order to resell them. Honestly there isn’t anything that true collectors can do except wait out the mania and wait for the prices to drop or play the game today.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by kootenay joe »

I don't see the relatively small runs as being a "market strategy". Bill Howard who owns GEC wants to make good knives 100% of the time. The size that GEC is now allows him to oversee all stages of production to make sure the high standards are maintained. To have larger runs he would need to have more employees and then his ability to oversee might be compromised. Instead of striving to get larger i think Bill prefers to strive to maintain the current high quality. We almost never hear of a GEC knife with an 'issue'.
kj
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by espn77 »

Doc B wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:46 pm The 82 isn't one of the particularly "hot" knives. A stag one recently sold for about$210, bone $145 and micarta a little over 100.
Same for the 29 not being particularly sought after. One recently sold for about $130
Hum, I thought they were more expensive than that.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by kootenay joe »

New prices for single blade with Micarta handle start around $80-$90.
kj
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espn77
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by espn77 »

kootenay joe wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:11 am New prices for single blade with Micarta handle start around $80-$90.
kj
I'd want a bone or dark stag knife. Not a big fan of the micarta handles look.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Dinadan »

For a few years I have questioned the common sense of GEC's marketing strategy. Suppose GEC distributors sell a knife for, say $100. That means that GEC gets less than that. If, in only days or weeks, that same knife sells for $150 on Ebay, then GEC has left most of the profit on that knife to flippers. There has to be a way for GEC to get most of that money. If I were in charge I might mostly abandon distributors and go straight to Ebay in order to realize the actual value of the product. That would mean having a couple of employees to handle sells, and be more complicated than using distributors. But if that doubles the profits ...
Mel
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Colonel26 »

Doc B wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:04 pm
espn77 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:44 pm
edge213 wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:51 pm

Just curious.
Do you just not have interest in them or are they scarce in your area?
For me, my brain can't comprehend collecting something new, I have some knives that are in pretty rough shape but it's the only example I've been able to come across for a knife that was made 80-100 years ago. In my area the majority of knives sold at the feed store will be case, Moore maker's, schrade. I just like old stuff. I've probably seen them on tables at gun shows but my eyes didn't stop to look at them because they weren't old. I do have a question. Do they make a stockman type knife or only jack knives?
Here's a couple 3 blades for you...
82 Dixie Stockman
82 Dixie Stockman.jpg
29 Stockyard Whittler
gec-29-blood-red-jigged-bone__57003.1567191781.jpg
The Dixie stockman is the only GEC that I would be sorely tempted by. But that whittler is really nice too!
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

Mel, I like that idea. I wonder what the knives would go for if they offered them all at auction? That would be interesting. They could also list knives for a buy it now price if they wanted to. They would make a lot more money but the dealers would be out of business. This is one business that could actually do this completely on their own without dealer support. It is the business model that I am trying work w/ my own line of knives.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by Doc B »

I think GEC has gotten such a following...they could just go direct to market and not pay Ebay. If they are out of stock...then, make some more.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

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espn77 wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:00 am
Doc B wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:46 pm The 82 isn't one of the particularly "hot" knives. A stag one recently sold for about$210, bone $145 and micarta a little over 100.
Same for the 29 not being particularly sought after. One recently sold for about $130
Hum, I thought they were more expensive than that.
Go to Ebay...search Great Eastern Cutlery Knife...then advanced search "Sold". You won't have to look far, for the popular ones, that go for ridiculous prices.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by RAMROD »

Sharpnshinyknives wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:55 am Mel, I like that idea. I wonder what the knives would go for if they offered them all at auction? That would be interesting. They could also list knives for a buy it now price if they wanted to. They would make a lot more money but the dealers would be out of business. This is one business that could actually do this completely on their own without dealer support. It is the business model that I am trying work w/ my own line of knives.
Actually the dealers would not go out of business because of losing GEC's allotment. They only get a small amount from them on every drop and they don't make that much on each knife as it is. Most sell a wide variety of brands and styles. It might slow down the amount of traffic they see on their websites though.
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by kootenay joe »

I think Bill Howard did not start GEC with the idea of making as much money as possible. I have read numerous posts by those who know Bill that his passion is to make a really good knife that is affordable so that as many people as possible can own and use a top notch USA made knife. So it is 'disappointing' to see secondary market sellers making far more profit than the people and company that make the knives.
If GEC doubled their prices then there would be less in it for flippers but this would go against the stated aim of making affordable knives. At double the price only the wealthier customers could buy them.
Would it be possible to limit buyers to only one knife of each run ? i.e. if pattern #74, then one of each handle material. These could still be flipped but it would decrease the supply of knives being flipped. However i cannot see how buyers could be ID'd so that they could be blocked from buying multiples.
kj
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Re: Secondary Market Prices

Post by philco »

Sometimes you just have to let the free enterprise system find its own balance. I think this is one of those situations. 8)
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