Parker Knives

[LDF Knives]

As I look on the Parker Listings, the prices seems to be going up, and more of them coming in, is there a new "fad" going on? Just asking!

[edge213]

As I look on the Parker Listings, the prices seems to be going up, and more of them coming in, is there a new "fad" going on? Just asking!

I don't think its a fad, just more of the ridiculous asking prices for second hand knives and greedy flippers.
There is no way that these Parkers are worth the asking prices. I look at the AAPK stores 2 or 3 times a day. Im amazed at the crazy prices.
I started a thread a while back about this topic (not specifically Parkers, but all knives) and was attacked by one flipper.
Locally most Parkers go for $30-40 if in great shape. A year ago probably less.

Now understand as I have previously stated I am a knife buyer not a knife seller.
Also, I expect a dealer to make a profit otherwise they wouldn't stay in business. But the recent increase in prices is more greed than anything, no other explanation.

NOW LET THE ATTACKS BEGIN

[Mumbleypeg]

I don’t begrudge anyone selling an honest product for asking what the market will bear. If I don’t like the price I can walk away, or make what I believe to be a fair offer. If the seller doesn’t like my offer they can decline to accept it, or make a counter offer. It’s all good.

As to Parker knives, I bought a few years ago, most if not all from SMKW. I was disappointed - they never looked as good in hand as they did in the catalog. I still have them. Maybe if the price goes up I can get my money back (adjusted for inflation).

Ken

[knife7knut]

Just to throw my tuppence into the fray:
Some of the early Parker knives that were made in Seki City seemed to be of great quality.Later on the Parker-Imai and Parker-Edwards models seemed to have held that quality. Others were of lesser quality but seemed to be decent knives.
As to why the prices seem to be going up drastically(I'm taking this on faith as I don't really follow pricing),it could be that someone sold a few for a ridiculous amount and others are jumping on the band wagon.There is certainly no scarcity of them as far as I know.
Seems to me there was a similar spike in prices on old Colonial and Imperial shell handled knives awhile back.Not to degrade the makes;they were very serviceable knives for a reasonable price when they were new even if the build quality was not that of other makes.
I have one of the Parker-Edwards Damascus survival knives that is a very nice quality knife. Parker valued them one time at $500 in mint condition. Were they worth that? Highly unlikely. Did anyone ever pay that much for one? Maybe.(I didn't pay anywhere near that).Is it worth that today? Again;highly unlikely although if the market for Parker knives is going up who knows?
I also have a couple of the Parker recreations of 19th century folding dirks that were made in Seki City and these are high quality pieces. I seem to remember seeing one of them going for about $250 on e-Bay. Was that worth it? Must have been to the person who bought it.
I still stand by the old price disclaimer;that being the relative worth of anything is what the buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is willing to let it go for. Rant over.

[Lansky1]

For Case knives, eBay has morphed into such a sellers market since Covid started. It seems so counterintuitive ... one would think during Covid with so many out of work, that prices would be forced to go down. However, on second thought, knife collecting is not a necessity, it is for those with more "disposable income" available and perhaps those are not as effected by the Covid layoffs. So, as a bottomfeeder, my knife collecting has dropped off quite a bit this past year - I did manage to scrounge up a few really epic deals - but it's so much more work these days than in years past. I find I'm not spending as much time hunting eBay, as it's been proven to me time and time again - knives just go for more on the used market than they have in the past, which I'm not interested in. You still get the rare estate sale sellers that aren't knife people and don't know what they have (which I target), but the "knife guys" universally have caught onto this sellers market trend, and are asking more, often alot more than they did a year ago. As such, I'm losing interest ... hopefully, post Covid, things will get back to normalcy...

[Reverand]

Add to that the fact that 20 to 30 year old buyers look at many of these Parker knives as "old", because the knives were made before they were born.
It has an appeal that we older folk don't see.
Quite a few Parker knives are basically mint too, if only because so many did not make their way into the EDC rotation. I have a few that way myself.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

It looks to me that ALL knives have increased in price since the Pandemic started. All that stimulus money has been pouring into online shopping. Just look at the great year that Amazon reported for last year, unbelievable numbers. I think that most of this is attributable to the extra money people received while laid off. Plus commodity prices have been spiking over the past several months. Gold is at an all time high, copper has hit the highest it’s been in over a decade, lumber is ridiculous, etc,etc. Why would knife prices be less in this environment?
It’s costing a lot more to acquire knives today than it did a year ago and the price to sell them is going up with it.

[edge213]

I haven't been buying knives like I normally would so far this year.
I typically average about 10 knives a month, so far this year I have only purchased 3, and they were from Jeffinn who's prices are very fair.

[bighomer]

Prices are up across the board seems to me, like Edge I'm a buyer, haven't sold or traded a knife in probably 20 years.
Queen asking prices are out of sight, I may think about selling some if they keep going up.
I haven't bought a knife this year, bid on a few but have not come close. I actually have lost interest in looking.

[OLDE CUTLER]

It looks to me that ALL knives have increased in price since the Pandemic started. All that stimulus money has been pouring into online shopping. Just look at the great year that Amazon reported for last year, unbelievable numbers. I think that most of this is attributable to the extra money people received while laid off. Plus commodity prices have been spiking over the past several months. Gold is at an all time high, copper has hit the highest it’s been in over a decade, lumber is ridiculous, etc,etc. Why would knife prices be less in this environment?
It’s costing a lot more to acquire knives today than it did a year ago and the price to sell them is going up with it.

I subscribe to this idea too. People are "stimulating the economy" with the money. Buying things they ordinarily wouldn't and paying more for them.

[toomanyknives]

I think it's supply and demand, and the ease of purchasing on the internet. I used to love when I could buy a Craftsman knife that was made by Schrade or Camillus at a fair price, because everyone didn't know who made them. With the advent of the internet, and great forums like this, even little kids look at my collection of Sears knives and say, "wow, that's made by Schrade"! So, it's just a natural progression like everything else that prices will rise as awareness and knowledge increase. I'm afraid the supply of really nice knives from the past is decreasing, therefore, our prices go up.

I'm in the guitar business. The same thing is happening to it. Vintage prices are soaring, and dragging the price of everything else with it. Like others have said, at some point the prices will reach a point where people won't pay them. I'm just glad that I'm old enough to have been able to get some great deals in my younger days. I feel sorry for the young collectors. They'd better get ready to get out their wallets!

[Toejammer]

I'm in the guitar business. The same thing is happening to it. Vintage prices are soaring, and dragging the price of everything else with it. Like others have said, at some point the prices will reach a point where people won't pay them. I'm just glad that I'm old enough to have been able to get some great deals in my younger days. I feel sorry for the young collectors. They'd better get ready to get out their wallets!

I'll add that it's possibly all "hobbies" seeing a rise since the pandemic. I used to be into building model cars, and since 1985 I'd grown quite the collection of unbuilt plastic. Just this last week I've made about $500 selling off kits / built cars on eBay. Prices have skyrocketed. And now I have more knife money to spend !

[toomanyknives]

I think you're right, Toejammer! And, go get some more knives!