What are good options for selling estate knives?

R

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I am not a collector, but a friend's father recently died, and appears to have had a significant collection including knives produced by some well-known makers. He is wondering how best to realize the value of those knives for his mother. He mentioned Arizona Custom Knives, and I understood that Smoky Mountain had dealt with collections at least in years past. He is interested in consigning the knives with a dealer that has a good reputation and ongoing relationship with well-known makers.

Do any of you have experience or suggestions that I could pass along?

If so, I would be much obliged!
 
I have things at AZ Custom Knives for sale. 2 sold quick, the rest I may have priced high (or the market is slow now). They are who I went with after setting up at a show to get things gone, had limited luck there and ate a weekend. It is always a balancing act with these things, the more effort one puts in the more $$ you may get out of them. Could put them on ebay but there are risks and some hassles with that. For me, AZ was the way to go, now if they don't sell in a year or so as I keep dropping my prices I may change that opinion.......I like that they deal with the people and I get paid. ebay can be a hassle and people running scams there at times which one has to watch for, or they file disputes, etc.

Again, all a balancing act and a question of it he wants top $$ then it will take more time.
 
Good use of his time to make sure he has all paperwork, sheathes, receipts, custom build sheets, boxes, etc as those things can bump the $$ up or help things to move faster. Also, only he or the family can do that part. Once the knives are gone that orphan sheath isn't worth much while trying to sell the knife without it surely hurt that sale.
 
Depending on how fast he wants to sell them...

AZ Custom Knives is a good option if he's not in a hurry. As was noted by another member, some will sell fast and others might not.

Ebay gets a huge amount of views on knives. He will have to set up an account if he doesn't have one already.

He will need to take excellent pictures and document everything to keep the scammers away. No ending of auction if someone offers a high price for it. Don't offer up the reserve price if you go that route and someone asks.

Selling on eBay can bring a higher price and sell everything within a week or so. Most auctions that start out with a low price, often do the best.

The auctions for knives that are wanted, usually go down to the wire. The last 10 seconds will see people bidding like mad.
 
I’ve sold 11 knives on eBay in the past year. If you have a good idea on values it’s not that hard to become a seller.

Be aware, any amount of money made on eBay over $600 in a year is considered taxable income.
 
I have sold through Nordic Knives in Boise. Dave's been great and his reputation excellent since I started in the late 90's. Other dealers vary so you'll have to make calls and see how they do consignment and buy outs. Some dealers will charge a photography fee and or appraisal fees so it isn't just some straight commission. I pooled my circle and we've had a variety of feedback among dealers over the years.

Some of mine have been through Knife Purveyor, Arizona, Nordic and a variety of other dealers including pawn shops.

As @Zaydok Allen mentions, selling eBay and when taking EFT type payments the sales is logged for tax purposes.
 
Who you sell them through is a function of the value of the knives.

$10,000+ knives go to Knife Legends.
Japanese blades consign through a couple of specific dealers depending upon appraised value.
AG Russell and AZCK typically get much of the rest of knifemaker/bladesmith or modern factory collectable knives.
There are some specialty dealers if there are collectable autos.
Case knives are best through J.Bruce Voyels.
Militarily and "Cowboy" knives/swords (and Japanese) do well through Rock Island.

Alternately, the collection could be sold to a dealer instead of sold through an auction company. Less money, but far quicker.

Is there a list or pictures?
 
Thanks, everyone! Info was delivered to my friend, who appreciated it. His father was a collector, so Matt ended up selling many guns at little or no profit to help his mother, and is now working on marketing the knives.
 
I am sure they will at some point be posted on line, and I will point in that direction when I find out about it. Meanwhile, for a brief detour through the Twilight Zone, I will mention that the only SHOT show I have attended and likely will attend was held in New Orleans in 1991. Wife Ellen had left her job with the local chamber of commerce, and sought employment for the interval between old job and new job running a local healthcare foundation. She went to work for a local outdoor sports personality named Tony Dean, and Tony was headed for the big show. We enjoyed the NOLA experience (I hear it has changed a lot since then) and I logged quite a few miles up and down the aisles of the huge convention center. One of the booths that caught my eye was Remington's, and they had a fellow signing prints of his poster designed to promote the '91 knife of the year, called the Guide. I was a knife geek from way back, and couldn't pass that opportunity up. I also scored a gorgeous Beretta poster and a hot pink hat from the Lee Urine company (my last name is Lee).

Fast forward 32 years, and my buddy who runs the local gun store is selling his father's knives. I gave him the information above, and he was appreciative. He also mentioned that among his dad's stash were a number of Remington knives of the year. As luck would have it, I had hung the poster up in the shop downstairs, and delivered it to him in good shape last Saturday. Sure enough, the Guide (which I got to handle. It's a big single blade brown slippy) was one of the knives he had. He asked me what I wanted for the poster, and I told him I didn't need his money, I was glad it could be useful to him. So if you believe in things working out in ways we can never imagine, here's another for the case files.
 
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