anybody else think GEC is losing it?

[Jtabor]

I bought several of them before the insanity hit. They were an excellent $85 pocket knife. They still are.

I buy older knives from various makers as well as some new ones. I won't even consider buying a GEC for the prices being asked currently. They aren't worth it if you intend to use them.

I love the old school patterns. But I have Boker, Schrade, Camillus, and Case knives that truly are vintage and mint or near mint that cost much less.

Has GEC lost their touch?

Not really. They just aren't $250 to $400+ pocket knives.

They were never meant to be.

The supply is being artificially controlled by various speculators.

[eveled]

Who can blame them? They were selling out, then seeing the flippers getting twice as much $$.

Flippers are killing hobbies. My sons can’t even buy sports cards at Walmart. Grown men buy up the entire inventory all at once.

It started with concert tickets now sports cards and pocket knives.

[OLDE CUTLER]

It's an insanity that has gotten into everything.

[1967redrider]

Ammo used to be the same way, not sure what it's like now as I've been stockpiled. Not to derail the GEC thread.

[Jtabor]

The flippers are starting to work on Case knives that are SFOs on the SMKW website. The Peanut Butter and Jelly trapper was $73.

Now they're trying to sell them for $150-$200, lol.

It's a nice looking knife, but it's not worth double or triple.

[Lansky1]

I just got a 38 wharncliffe/clip & its dead on perfection. Not a single flaw, great spring, fit and finish is remarkable. Couldn't be happier - like anything else, nobody's perfect - maybe you just got a lemon.

[ExsoLam]

The flippers are starting to work on Case knives that are SFOs on the SMKW website. The Peanut Butter and Jelly trapper was $73.

Now they're trying to sell them for $150-$200, lol.

It's a nice looking knife, but it's not worth double or triple.

If collectors don't show restraint then flippers definitely won't. I don't really know what kind of solutions there are other than a lottery system or something, but I'm not expecting anyone involved to leave money on the table so I've largely stopped keeping up with releases. Only thing that would change things is more knives from GEC but I don't know if that's even possible anymore, just not that many people who want to work in a knife factory.

I don't know why GEC doesn't just raise their prices. They obviously have room to raise their prices without killing demand, they'd still sell out of everything. It would give flippers less incentive to flip if they have to pay closer to market price, and I'd much rather spend the premium if GEC or a dealer gets my money instead of some flipper who does nothing except siphon money from collectors and contribute nothing to the hobby.

[rwmoss1]

I think they do a great job. There is a lot of labor and "by hand" work in these knives and at times you will see minor flaws, as in any slipjoint knife. If you've never owned a GEC knife, you owe it to yourself to do so. These are outstanding pocket knives.

[Lansky1]

One thing that really impresses me about GEC knives is the opposite ended patterns with single spring (patterns 38, 61, 34, 81) - the way the blades nestle in next to each other - it's practically a piston fit - never any blade rub. The designs and tolerances to make this happen properly always impress me - I do not see that level of fit and finish in other factory knives today.

[Jtabor]

I think they do a great job. There is a lot of labor and "by hand" work in these knives and at times you will see minor flaws, as in any slipjoint knife. If you've never owned a GEC knife, you owe it to yourself to do so. These are outstanding pocket knives.

They do make an outstanding pocket knife, no doubt about it.

[RedRaiderRick]

So GEC dropped a run of pattern 94s today. Sold out in minutes, then within hours a new posting of six 94s, with an $80 bump over the $137 sell price. Does this member have some sort of inside Line on the drops?

[Rookie]

So GEC dropped a run of pattern 94s today. Sold out in minutes, then within hours a new posting of six 94s, with an $80 bump over the $137 sell price. Does this member have some sort of inside Line on the drops?

It seems that out of the 20 or so official dealers, roughly half of the knives are already spoken for before they are offered up for sale. Inside connections and friends of friends, etc. The same guys end up getting 1 of every handle of every drop, and that is not just by them having "good luck". If a dealer gets issued 20 knives to list for sale on their website, they sell 10 privately, and then only list the other 10 online.

That's my opinion. I don't have any direct knowledge of anything going on.

[RedRaiderRick]

I agree that it's got to be some sort of inside deal. That's the first drop of 94's this year as far as I know and the serial numbers indicate 2025 production. I believe I have bought one knife from this particular member but will not buy from again.

[bestgear]

Buying newly released knives with the intent of reselling them for a profit and leveraging the demand for those knives does not make me happy. I too believe these knife flippers have an inside track with a dealer and due to demand exceeding supply they are able to sell new releases for a much higher price. With GEC there is no MAP or MSRP pricing so it’s up to the dealer and market to determine the price.

If a newly released 94 pattern hit the secondary market in 6 months and the price reflected a high demand and low supply, I’d personally be ok with those economics. But a when knife gets released and distributed to dealers and in the same week flippers are cashing in, to me that’s wrong and hurting our hobby for the sake of profit.

Of course all flipping would end if hobbyists just said no but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

[justonemore]

As the years pass, I find myself buying fewer and fewer gecs. I dont even bother with rendezvous anymore. Theyve been ruined by flippers, scalpers and those with more money than sense. Knives that used to be $60-70 are now almost double that while the quality certainly has gone down. And with Randy retiring, im not surprised if quality continues to drop.

[SEArkHog]

Very valid points in this thread, especially concerning the flippers. I love GEC knives and really enjoy carrying the ones that I have. But I have found myself going away from GEC and spending my $ elsewhere.
Flippers are really causing issues with the brand but also certain online retailers are part of the issue as well. Nothing wrong with trying to make a buck but when knives are listed well over MSRP to being more than what even flippers are selling them for, that is laughable. It is what it is and the way of the world. Which is why I just look elsewhere these days and will grab a GEC when I happen to get lucky and find a decent deal.

[bestgear]

....but also certain online retailers are part of the issue as well

I 100% agree with you. Recently I looked at the website of all 22 domestic retailers promoted by GEC on their website and the only retailers with inventory are the ones asking for MSRP x 2+. I then looked at the 2024 Production Totals worksheet https://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/wp ... TOTALS.pdf and by my rough calculations GEC put over 23,000 knives and 180 models into the hands of dealers to sell to consumers (including the club knives they produce like for AAPK). To me, that's a lot of knives to go around and be around for a long time.

As has been said in the past, the only way to get the flippers and scalpers, whether individuals or dealers, to align their pricing near MSRP is to stop buying 2x over MSRP. That might mean settling for not completing a run or missing out on a model that calls to us, but that's the sacrifice that needs to be made to stop the madness. Just one man's thoughts, YMMV!

[Dinadan]

by my rough calculations GEC put over 23,000 knives and 180 models into the hands of dealers to sell to consumers (including the club knives they produce like for AAPK). To me, that's a lot of knives to go around and be around for a long time.

Those numbers do make me wonder just how many knife collectors there are in America. I pretty much agree with the comments in this thread about flippers and dealers. Here is what I have wondered. If GEC knives resell for twice the price within days, then why does not GEC double their price and keep that profit in house? I would way prefer that to seeing flippers make the profit while generally making it hard for collectors to buy new knives.

[Steve Warden]

by my rough calculations GEC put over 23,000 knives and 180 models into the hands of dealers to sell to consumers (including the club knives they produce like for AAPK). To me, that's a lot of knives to go around and be around for a long time.

Those numbers do make me wonder just how many knife collectors there are in America. I pretty much agree with the comments in this thread about flippers and dealers. Here is what I have wondered. If GEC knives resell for twice the price within days, then why does not GEC double their price and keep that profit in house? I would way prefer that to seeing flippers make the profit while generally making it hard for collectors to buy new knives.

Double the price is double the price, be it from GEC or flippers. Either way, still hard for collectors to buy new knives.

[Railsplitter]

by my rough calculations GEC put over 23,000 knives and 180 models into the hands of dealers to sell to consumers (including the club knives they produce like for AAPK). To me, that's a lot of knives to go around and be around for a long time.

Those numbers do make me wonder just how many knife collectors there are in America. I pretty much agree with the comments in this thread about flippers and dealers. Here is what I have wondered. If GEC knives resell for twice the price within days, then why does not GEC double their price and keep that profit in house? I would way prefer that to seeing flippers make the profit while generally making it hard for collectors to buy new knives.

I have often thought the same thing about GEC making the profits instead of the flippers but after giving it more thought, I think that would be a bad move for GEC.

GEC sells every knife they make. If there was no longer any way to get GEC’s at a reasonable price, I believe sales would suffer drastically. Possibly putting them out of business.

As it stands right now, you can still get a GEC at a good price. It’s just not easy to do but if that option went away entirely, the flippers would stop buying them and so would everybody else.

[bestgear]

GEC sells every knife they make

plus if you know the Howard’s, GEC was not their get rich quick scheme and their DNA prevents them from gouging consumers.

[SEArkHog]

....but also certain online retailers are part of the issue as well

I 100% agree with you. Recently I looked at the website of all 22 domestic retailers promoted by GEC on their website and the only retailers with inventory are the ones asking for MSRP x 2+. I then looked at the 2024 Production Totals worksheet https://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/wp ... TOTALS.pdf and by my rough calculations GEC put over 23,000 knives and 180 models into the hands of dealers to sell to consumers (including the club knives they produce like for AAPK). To me, that's a lot of knives to go around and be around for a long time.

As has been said in the past, the only way to get the flippers and scalpers, whether individuals or dealers, to align their pricing near MSRP is to stop buying 2x over MSRP. That might mean settling for not completing a run or missing out on a model that calls to us, but that's the sacrifice that needs to be made to stop the madness. Just one man's thoughts, YMMV!

Very good info there my friend. When you see actual numbers like this, it really makes you think a little more about this whole debacle. The current situation with GEC is sort of a blessing and a curse. I still want to purchase certain models and keep an eye out for them, even still try to purchase some of them at release(from specific retailers). But this has forced me to seriously look into other brands/makers which is a great thing. I now have knives that I probably wouldn't have seriously considered before.

[Mumbleypeg]

GEC hasn’t lost a thing. They’re good knives but their knives are not perfect and never have been. It’s collectors paying exorbitant prices that have lost their minds. That’s not GEC’s fault.

Ken

[deo-pa]

What a great and interesting thread! I have nothing worthwhile to add other than to say, when I fell hard for pocket knives many years ago I'm glad I fell for vintage cutlery. I haven't purchased a pocketknife newer than 75 years in ages.

The things you speak about in this thread, plus lots of other nits, are all over many of my knives. Where you see flaws, defects, and manufacturing compromises in your GECs and others, the folks who look at my knives see some of the same things but they just say, "What a HOK 'ya got there!"

Dennis

[justonemore]

At some point and it may vary from person to person, it will not be worth it any more. it all started to go bad around 2018 - 2019 give or take. I may be new here but ive been in the hobby since 2014 so ive been an observer for some time. The flippers and gougers really started around 2018-2019 when a few bad eggs were buying up knives to dump on ebay. Pretty soon, a lot of the honest smaller dealers who used to have fair prices were just leaving money on the table. The major dealers who dont make a living off gec knives dont care and dont need to gouge on prices, their stock is gonna move anyway. But youll have dishonest folks who buy those and flip for profit. They sit in the facebook groups and the forum for sale sections and snatch up stock to dump on ebay. Or those who live close to the factory. They're not dealers, they're joe blow looking to scalp. the problem is some people have more money than sense and they pay it cause they want it bad enough which affects the overall economy on these things. Now the new interest that joins the hobby also deal with it but also add to the problem. Ive seen new folks snatch up the new releases and try to trade for the old stuff as well. And if they cant trade, they sell it back out at an inflated cost. Or there are those who purchase to take a picture of the knife and then right to the for sale section. Again adding to the pointless inflation of the cost. Meanwhile regular collectors now have to pay much higher costs because someone had fomo. Even more amusing are the people who over pay for certain knives and now try to get their money back out of it especially if they bought it off an ebay flipper. So if you are curious why a bullnose gec 71, which used to be around $50-60 or a gec 15 $60-70, are now priced at $130-140, these are the some of the reasons. The knives are not better in anyway, in fact for collectors of the 15 pattern, the general opinion is that they've gotten worse especially the walk and talk.