All About Pocket Knives

I just got a knife in the mail from an ebay auction that has ZERO snap on the primary blade. I've done all my usual tricks of a good cleaning, blowing it out with compressed air, re-oiling - but that primary blade just lays there like Brett Kavanaugh after a Saturday night beer binge. Here is the seller's complete description of this knife:

UP FOR AUCTION IS A VINTAGE CASE XX CLASSIC POCKET KNIFE
SOLD AS IS LOOK AT THE PICTURES GOOD SHAPE FOR IT'S AGE

3.25" CLOSED JIGGED BROWN PEACH SEED WOOD

NICE COLLECTOR KNIFE

I guess my first clue should have been that he called it "peach seed wood" - it's bone. The seller had other knife auctions and over 700 in feedback, 100% positive. However, it looks like most of the auctions are fixed blades, not folders - but still, I'm having a hard believing the seller didn't know exactly what he was selling.

I paid very little for this knife, and it's really not worth the hassle of sending it back - but even at the little I paid, I paid too much and that still annoys me. I think I'm going to swear off bidding on any knife that says "good shape for its age". I sent the seller a message with my disappointment and I won't leave feedback, but other than this rant, that's all I'm going to do. I just wish sellers would simply be honest and forthright in their listings.

Ahh well, this is the life of a bottomfeeder - sometimes what you suck up is just the cr@p from another bottomfeeder...

He knew about it. At least I assume so anyway.

He wrote "SOLD AS IS" instead of disclosing the problem.

I feel your pain. I've been burned a few times myself. You're not a "bottomfeeder". I think you're someone that is just looking for a good deal. I know this doesn't change the issue at hand but there are always two questions I ask sellers on a regular basis, even on this site:


1. How is the snap?
2. Is there any blade wobble?

More often than not, those two things get left out of descriptions.

Then I save their answers on my computer in case their answers don't match the performance. That way, in case there's a dispute, I have a copy of their reply. Never had to use it but I'd rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

Sorry for your troubles my friend.


Mike

I would begin the dispute process through eBay making the point that a knife with no snap is not a "NICE COLLECTOR KNIFE."
if it is a mint knife with no snap, I would say its value is half of mint value or less. What do you other guys think?

Lack of "snap" is my biggest pet peeve. When I'm interested in a knife and the seller doesn't include the "snap" condition in the listing, I tell them that "snap" can't be shown in a picture. The lack of that information is just as often laziness on the seller's part or knife ignorance as it is deceit.

That's a dirty shame Suitcase. It's not worth sending back and it's not worth keeping. Keep it for the annual POS Roundtable.

Exactly Jerry! I will make this knife a problem for one of you fine gentlemen...

The back spring doesn't seem to be broken (at least not where I can see it), and the secondary has excellent snap. I'm thinking the the problem is probably on the tang of the primary blade itself, or perhaps on the end of the the spring. It's just not creating tension.

If you don't see any rise on the back spring on opening or closing the blade, this is most likely your problem. Very expensive to fix. Blade has to be removed and the tang welded, then ground to shape.

If a seller doesn't describe a knife's opening and closing snap in the listing I always send a message asking about that.

I once bought a knife from a well-known eBay seller who stated "good snap on all blades" in the listing. It was a new knife, still in the box. When the knife arrived two of the three blades were completely lazy - zero snap on opening or closing. I immediately contacted the seller informing him that despite the listing description, the knife had lazy blades. Asked him for a refund and "how can you state in your listing it has good snap when it has completely lazy blades?" He sent a link to print a pre-paid return shipping label and responded saying "I don't write the listings." That was his lame excuse!!! And that was it - no I'm sorry, no nothing.

Either no one checked the snap, or he thought the buyer wouldn't return it despite the lazy blades. To be fair, in earlier times you wouldn't expect a NIB knife to have lazy blades. But nowadays that's no given!

How's that for a rant!?

Ken

In my opinion, a knife that has no snap on one or more blades is not of collectible quality nor is it suitable for normal use. I'd send that knife back and never think twice about it.

I'm thinking that this knife makes up for the really neat Fulton Cutlery Co. knife that I snagged a couple of days before this stinker. The universe is now back in balance...

I think you should leave FB to inform other potential buyers. Nothing to adversely affect his business, just a few words to encourage seller to be accurate with description. Maybe a "Neutral" so more people will read it.
kj

Not very often do sellers tell you about the snap and wobble, even people who are principally knife
sellers.

When you ask specific questions, most of the time in my experience the seller answers only one.
I immediately take the knife off my watch list when that occurs.

Buying something without actually seeing, hearing, and feeling is difficult.

I am currently interested in a knife that the seller says has "slight wobble"
No returns. mmMMM

Bob

Don't get me wrong - I think part of the devil's bargain I make when I bottomfeed on ebay for old, big name (Case, Camillus, Queen, etc) knives under $25 is that I am taking a huge risk. I might get a bargain, or I might get a stinker. It's probably part of my nature that I remember every time that I got a stinker, and also all the times I got a real bargain, but not all the times (which are probably the majority) when I simply paid a fair price for a fair knife. I have to take the accountability of making the bid even when the description is inadequate, and also recognize that there is a measure of greed involved - I'm hoping a poor description or poor pictures will make you smarter guys shy away from a bargain. That's all on me. But when I think the seller has mislead me either directly or by omission, that's on the seller. But at the end of the day, this wasn't much money, just annoying. When you roll the dice, sometimes it comes up cr@ps...

I do hate that detail omission, and hate it more when I don't ask. Bought a very nice looking knife recently with a basically dead secondary blade, and I am now very dissatisfied with my purchase, and the forum member that sold it to me. Not asking, regardless who's selling it.... it won't happen again.

TwoFlowersLuggage wrote:I just got a knife in the mail from an ebay auction that has ZERO snap on the primary blade. I've done all my usual tricks of a good cleaning, blowing it out with compressed air, re-oiling - but that primary blade just lays there like Brett Kavanaugh after a Saturday night beer binge. Here is the seller's complete description of this knife:

UP FOR AUCTION IS A VINTAGE CASE XX CLASSIC POCKET KNIFE
SOLD AS IS LOOK AT THE PICTURES GOOD SHAPE FOR IT'S AGE

3.25" CLOSED JIGGED BROWN PEACH SEED WOOD

NICE COLLECTOR KNIFE

I guess my first clue should have been that he called it "peach seed wood" - it's bone. The seller had other knife auctions and over 700 in feedback, 100% positive. However, it looks like most of the auctions are fixed blades, not folders - but still, I'm having a hard believing the seller didn't know exactly what he was selling.

I paid very little for this knife, and it's really not worth the hassle of sending it back - but even at the little I paid, I paid too much and that still annoys me. I think I'm going to swear off bidding on any knife that says "good shape for its age". I sent the seller a message with my disappointment and I won't leave feedback, but other than this rant, that's all I'm going to do. I just wish sellers would simply be honest and forthright in their listings.

Ahh well, this is the life of a bottomfeeder - sometimes what you suck up is just the cr@p from another bottomfeeder...

....."brett Cavanaugh after a sat. nite beer binge"?????.........why don't you save your political crap for a political forum???........................... .........................

Oh good grief - triggered...

How about if I had said: "but that primary blade just lays there like Hilary Clinton on her wedding night." Would you have still been upset?

I'll only say I hate when you have to pull every detail out of a knife seller on eBay - most of them are not knife people but if you are going to sell it I suggest knowing it... like most I've been there like you TFL in that situation and is why I am pretty much done with eBay except on rare occasion... I should say on top of lack of detail in the description there are photographic experts as sellers who hide aspects in the photos that they don't want you to see - that is another huge pet peeve of mine of some sellers that pisses me off ... Thank goodness there are some good honest sellers but finding them sometimes is a big gamble unless they are known entities....

Lack of knowledge from a seller about the knife being sold is one of the reasons that I despise knives like Northwoods listed on Ebay the same day of the drop. The seller obviously doesn't even have the knife yet and couldn't comment honestly on it if his/her life depended on it.

Ebay shouldn't allow something to be sold which is not yet in the hands of the seller.

TwoFlowersLuggage wrote:Oh good grief - triggered...

How about if I had said: "but that primary blade just lays there like Hilary Clinton on her wedding night." Would you have still been upset?

....hey, I like that one, but you misspelled your heroine's name!!!........ ............