All About Pocket Knives

Here is my Stag 35 along with my #35 "Harness Jack # 10", with ebony handles, made in 2016.
I am very pleased with both knives, looks & function. The most remarkable feature is how thinly ground the master blade is on the H.J. Definitely the thinnest GEC blade that i have.
Both are long term keepers. I see this size and slim profile as the perfect pocket knife.
kj

Man that is some righteous red stag, congrats on that, rare beauty among antlers.

Thanks, it is pretty nice.
What is odd is that there was no rush in the buying of the Stag Churchills. KSF had about 50 of them (maybe more) and i saw this reddish stag knife early on, but continued to look at every Stag knife posted. Came back to beginning and red stag was still available so i knew it was for me. I much prefer having this time to browse through the bunch and put some thought into which one to buy.
Even 3 days later there still were very nice stag ones listed. No idea why it is a slow seller because this run had on average the best Stag i have seen from GEC for some years. GEC had some great Stag in their first few years and these Churchills are just about as good.
kj

This knife is not mine but i am posting it here because it just sold for $509, a 2007 stag #23
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-Eastern- ... true&rt=nc
I have been watching the GEC & Northfield knives on ebay for the last 2 months. Almost all sell for higher than their original price and quite a few sell for multiples of orginal price like over 4x for this Stag 2007.
I wonder how long this rush to acquire any GEC knife will last. Is this early days with much higher secondary market prices still to come ? or is this a temporary fad and buyers at these prices will take a large loss when they come to sell ?
kj

I'm no expert and this is just an opinion, but I"ve been watching GEC since 2012 or '13. Got one in '14. Got many every year after. I've seen their price steadily increase and often double. If it's the popular patterns like 15 TC Barlows, 47 Vipers, 25 Barlows etc. they have tripled. Nortwoods GEC stuff as well. Call it a trend if you want to but the trend is that the prices still keep going up. I don't know how long fads last but this to me is no fad, it's easy to see why, they make good knives in low numbers and they have grown their target market and customer demand for their products. They make some of the best knives for the buck and everyone I know likes or loves them. More converts all the time means more demand, less knives around, bigger dollars for what is out there. I bid this very knife and immediately found myself choking blindly in the cloud of dust from the race of the deep pocketed bidders.

Ivoryman wrote:come spring we'll see if these Barlows selling for way more than retail is still happening as I believe it will,and then whoever it was way back when who said next year they thought prices would drop might have to revise that stance. Don't know who said that, but not my experience at all.

I, too, remember that confident (yet heretofore erroneous) prediction about demand for certain GEC patterns being "just a fad" that would fizzle out in a year or so once the novelty had worn off. At the time, it seemed to be a reasonably safe prediction since I have seen other knife fads come and go with varying degrees of shelf life. Likewise, I have been observing the steady and continuing increases in both demand and selling prices of the patterns in question (mostly #25 & #26). I suppose it could come to a screeching and abrupt halt at any moment, but all signs seem to suggest this 'fad' is actually a trend with no indication of ending anytime soon. Apparently, when issuing bold prognostications about trends or fads for production knives, one would be well-advised to keep a serving or two of crow available for consumption should reality render fools of soothsayers. I'm jus' sayin'...whodathunkit?

~Q~

I think there are only a relative few GEC collectors willing to pay more than double the original price. When these few collectors loose interest or move on the other knives, the very high prices will likely end.
I have a Red Stag 2007 #23, serial # 003, just like the $509 knife i posted above, except mine has nicer handles (according to my 12 yr old daughter). I will sell it for $359, $150 less than the ebay knife. I bet there will be no takers.
kj

I think you could easily sell yours for $359 if it has nicer handles than that one. But, you'd have to put it up for auction, not a fixed BIN price, and start with a low minimum opening bid. My observation is that the bidding is what drives up the prices more so than the actual knife. People are naturally competitive and once they get hooked into an auction, it becomes more about winning the auction than about buying a knife. Remember those two Green Kryptonite Fremont Jacks that sold recently? The one that sold for $670 started at .99 and got 42 bids; however, the one that sold for $355 started out at $200 and only got 12 bids.

~Q~

kootenay joe wrote:Here is my Stag 35 along with my #35 "Harness Jack # 10", with ebony handles, made in 2016.
I am very pleased with both knives, looks & function. The most remarkable feature is how thinly ground the master blade is on the H.J. Definitely the thinnest GEC blade that i have.
Both are long term keepers. I see this size and slim profile as the perfect pocket knife.
kj

Kj both are beautiful knives! Is there a difference in the snap on the harness Jack and the other 35?

kootenay joe wrote:I think there are only a relative few GEC collectors willing to pay more than double the original price. When these few collectors loose interest or move on the other knives, the very high prices will likely end.
I have a Red Stag 2007 #23, serial # 003, just like the $509 knife i posted above, except mine has nicer handles (according to my 12 yr old daughter). I will sell it for $359, $150 less than the ebay knife. I bet there will be no takers.
kj

Drooling heavily already, let us see that beauty kj. If it's like you say I bet it will sell here or on ebay for a lot more than you paid. Depends on the week, but antler or scales of rare beauty go for insane prices like the one above.

2007, serial #006 (not 003 as stated above)
plus sneaking in a picture of an older Moore Maker, in same folder as GEC, cannot resist showing it, just to help keep in mind that GEC is not the only good knife company in USA.
kj
Edit to add: rather disappointing pictures; ebay seller is a better photographer.

Absolute gorgeous antler kj. Don't sell yourself short. No problem getting the big bucks for that on ebay. Such a rare beauty. I see tons of stag out there, from GEC or any company, and they don't hold a candle to that one. That's incredibly beautiful stag. Top notch. And usually top notch gets the top bucks.

That really is some beautiful red stag. I have no doubt it would fetch more than your $359 asking price if you were willing to start with a low min opening bid and take a risk on the open auction format. It's gorgeous and very unique. I've seen much less attractive knives sell for much more.

~Q~

Quote Greg: "Is there a difference in the snap on the harness Jack and the other 35"
Both master blades have an opening pull of about a 4. The closing snap on the H.J. is loud and it closes itself from about 45 degrees. The Stag #35 has an easily audible snap but not quite as loud as the HJ and closes itself from about 30 degrees.
Both knives are as received. Neither has been flushed or lubricated. The closing snap on the Stage 35 could probably be improved a little with flushing but it is quite acceptable as is.
Thanks for the encouraging comments about the Red Stag #23. I have bought a great many knives on ebay so i know that low opening bids for a good knife usually brings the highest price.
I have never sold anything on ebay myself largely because i have a phobia (irrational fear) of doing anything new on a computer and i do not know how to set up a selling page. I know it cannot be too hard as i have met sellers who do not seem to be the brightest of individuals.
What i have been doing is having established ebay sellers sell my knives for me. I end up with about 53% of selling price after fees and commission.
Perhaps i should try to learn the selling set up and list 'Ol' Red' as my first item.
kj

Yes Kj eBay has even recently streamlined the process of selling making it almost idiot proof .I think you would have no problem with it. That way you get to keep about 85% of selling price.

If i manage to list my Red Stag 23 i will post back here for all to know.
kj

Roland, it's not difficult (even I've done it a few times). Just go slow and pay attention to detail. Until you hit that final "post" button (or what ever they call it) you have the option of just exiting out by closing the window and abandoning your new listing. No harm, no foul. That said, as a brand new seller you will be introduced to a whole new breed of idiot, Buyers. Best of luck on that front.

If you can take a decent picture and post it on AAPK, you can sell on eBay...it's really no different. Setting up a seller account is probably the scariest part since you have to provide certain personal information like a bank account and/or credit card number in order to get a PayPal account. God forbid eBay or PayPal ever get hacked and everyone's personal identity is compromised...a risk you're just going to have to accept. And, once you have your account set up, listing items to sell is very easy as they walk you through it step-by-step. The hardest part for you as the seller is making decisions such as Auction or Fixed Price, if auction--Duration of listing (3, 5, 7 or 10 days), Starting bid, Add buy it now (BIN) option, Shipping service (1st Class, Priority), Whether or not to allow international bidders (which I personally do not recommend) and Scheduling the start time.

Although doing your own listing and selling also means you have to do your own packaging & shipping. But, if you can handle all that by yourself, at least you'll get to keep a bit more of the money from the items you sell instead of having to pay someone else a commission. EBay charges a small insertion fee and final sale value fee which is 10% of the final selling price (including the cost of shipping) which they keep track of and send you an invoice for every month. PayPal charges a flat fee on each transaction (approx. 3%) unless, of course, you can get your buyers to pay some other way such as personal check or postal money order.

Yesterday I sold a knife on eBay for $40 + $3.00 shipping...so the total gross was $43. By the time all the fees and shipping charge had been deducted, I ended up with a net of $34.54, which is about 80% of the gross amount. If I had also had to pay a commission to someone for selling it for me, it would have been even less, obviously, and, depending on the percentage of the commission, almost not even worth the hassle.

Another knife selling site (that is owned and operated by AG Russell) is The Cutting Edge.com. The nice thing about them is that they do all the listing, selling and shipping work for you for a flat rate of 25% of the final sale price. You just send them the knife and after it sells they send you a check. Much less hassle for you, but also much less exposure for your knife than listing it on eBay. But, TheCuttingEdge.com does seem to deal more with high end production knives and customs.

If/When you list your red stag GEC #23 for auction, be sure to post a notice & link here on AAPK. Even if I don't end up winning it, I would certainly bid on it and help run up the price.

~Q~

You guys are great. I very much appreciate all of these 'tips' & advice.
I am already registered with ebay & PP so i think this covers me as a seller as well as a buyer.
The main problem i have is living in Canada and 99% of knife buyers are in USA. I need to ship Canada Post which is slow and about twice the cost of USPS. Buyers can think you are trying to make money on shipping and thus move on without reading the reasons for high shipping charge.
If i do manage to figure it out i will only list my higher value knives, then the expensive shipping does not seem so out of line.
kj

kootenay joe wrote:You guys are great. I very much appreciate all of these 'tips' & advice.
I am already registered with ebay & PP so i think this covers me as a seller as well as a buyer.
The main problem i have is living in Canada and 99% of knife buyers are in USA. I need to ship Canada Post which is slow and about twice the cost of USPS. Buyers can think you are trying to make money on shipping and thus move on without reading the reasons for high shipping charge.
If i do manage to figure it out i will only list my higher value knives, then the expensive shipping does not seem so out of line.
kj

What about that P.O. Box you have in Northport, WA ? What's stopping you from shipping from there?

jerryd6818 wrote:you have the option of just exiting out by closing the window and abandoning your new listing. No harm, no foul

I often will setup eBay auctions with a scheduled start date 2-weeks from the date I set it up so that I can review and edit the auction during those 2-weeks before it actually gets launched.

bestgear wrote:

jerryd6818 wrote:you have the option of just exiting out by closing the window and abandoning your new listing. No harm, no foul

I often will setup eBay auctions with a scheduled start date 2-weeks from the date I set it up so that I can review and edit the auction during those 2-weeks before it actually gets launched.

I do basically the same thing but a little different. I'll use the "Save and Return Later" button 5 or 6 times for several hours before I finally hit submit. If I want my listing to start at 6:00pm for example, I'll start composing it that morning. Then after tweaking it several times throughout the day if necessary, I'll submit it at 6:00pm using the "List When Submitted" option.

I think one of the secrets to a good listing is a good accurate header for the listing (name it's listed under, i.e. "Camillus 72 Delrin Handles - Like New - Free Shipping") Something that will make it pop up when folks search. Not "Three blade knife"

I got these two in. I'm very pleased with fit and finish on both particularly the Ebony Tidoute. The snap is about the same as the club knife, acceptable. I would give the action about a 5.

Nice ones Greg. It is a pattern worthy of getting more than one example.
kj