bayonetman Posted April 7, 2015 Share #1 Posted April 7, 2015 Although I admit I follow eBay auctions and have both bought and sold regularly, I still wonder at some of the things that are listed. The first wonder?? is the total mislabeling of some items. Whether they are an effort to fool a prospective buyer, or just that the seller has no idea but is going by what someone has told them is always in doubt. But some of them are just plain laughable. For those that are not aware, the knife is advertised as WW2 with the Ordnance Shell and Flame acceptance mark. However, the knife is actually a post-1974 knife that has had a spurious mark added, the blade has been polished, and it MIGHT bring (as a curiosity) $25-$30. They are asking a mere $189.99! http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-Military-U-S-Camillus-Flaming-Bomb-Fighting-Knife-Leather-Sheath-/321717423820?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae7da4ecc The second, and most common, is the Buy It Now items that are so often priced at WELL above the actual value. I am seeing this so often now that I seldom pay any attention to anything that is listed as BIN. This one is a typical example. Again, for those that are not into these. it is what it says it is, but it is a common knife and MIGHT on a good day bring $75-$100. They have an opening bid of $595.00 and a Buy It Now price of $775.00. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-USN-MARK-1-Knife-Made-By-Camillus-NY-/181709794110?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4ebf6b3e These days you better know what you are doing BEFORE you buy. I watch Camillus as they are an interest of mine, and I will have to say that probably half of all the Camillus military blades advertised on eBay (and Gunbroker) are either misrepresented or greatly overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted April 7, 2015 Share #2 Posted April 7, 2015 I buy a lot of sharp pointy things direct from families and veterans and I suspect those ebay prices reflect what I encounter a lot in person: bad research. They see something online that has some vague similarity to their weapon and assume their's is worth what the online item is, never mind they're not even the same model. Add to that a failure to understand how much importance condition plays in the value of edged weapons. If a buyer gets suckered by one of these ingnorant sellers with their farfetched descriptions, then apparently neither of them bothered to learn much before trying to buy or sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted April 7, 2015 Share #3 Posted April 7, 2015 And to top it off on the Mark 1, $22.76-economy shipping. This is the third time now that I've seen a flaming bomb stamped on a 1219C2 pattern knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted April 7, 2015 Share #4 Posted April 7, 2015 If I were to post all the questionable and outright misrepresented knives on Ebay I've seen, I'd be making well over 20 posts a night. And that's just the one's I bother to read. As for over priced, I would say well over 50% of the military edged weapons are two to three times what they are generally worth. I see M7 bayonets (BOC, Imperial, etc.) priced into the hundreds of dollars. Theater knives are probably the worst of the lot; a minefield to be avoided unless you really know your stuff. I know this subject has been addressed multiple times before, but one should get a copy of Cole's III or other solid reference book and read it thoroughly. Then go through these forums to find out the mistakes (like the SWI marked machettes) and other helpful hints. Also, be careful with sellers who do not offer a return period. You can use the Ebay guarantee process, but many times the description is so wishy-washy that the seller can claim he was truthful in the write up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted April 7, 2015 Share #5 Posted April 7, 2015 yea you have to be careful, I have been looking a machetes and did see a nice one turn out the makers mark is SWI 1943. I saw another a while back, genuine WWII knife bowie fighting knife he was selling a JPK. This one realy got me a WWII mess kit with knife it was a better one stainless steel but $590.00 come on. To many people think vintage military means big bucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOLO Posted April 7, 2015 Share #6 Posted April 7, 2015 Yes, I noticed the trend of pricing items way over the actual value, I think those sellers do it because they hope to find a sucker dumb enough to buy it to them it's kind of like going fishing, if they can fool somebody into buying it, it's like a going fishing and catching the big one Ive also been seeing this trend a lot at swap meets & antique malls lately, I guess tv shows causes them to have the American Pickers syndrome, they think everything is valuable, even the items in very poor condition I was the surplus store and the employee wouldnt believe me when I told him his WWII US M1 helmet was NOT US ISSUE , it was actually a European clone the Austrian M58 made in Austria, but he kept insisting it was US issue and wouldnt believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted April 7, 2015 Share #7 Posted April 7, 2015 Ebay Insanity ! I saw the Camillus yesterday, love the ordinance bomb, and buffed out finish. Didn't see the Mark 1. It's like that PAL guard marked, fake M3 that sold for $763 the other day. Collectors have to be knowledgeable or you're gonna get taken. Craziness!!! SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayonetman Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted April 7, 2015 Even with what we are saying here, sometimes they do sell for out of line prices. I browse the eBay SOLD section from time to time just to keep in touch with some prices. These are ones that have actually sold, not just posted. Imperial M6 bayonet, clean with correct scabbard, nothing special but decent, SOLD for $130.50 + 9.50 shipping. Imperial M6 bayonet, same condition maybe even slightly better, SOLD for $53.75 + $6.90 shipping These were about 2 days apart. Several others sold in between these prices, some in the $75-$100 range where I could see no significant difference in condition. Selling on eBay is very much a crap shoot, buying is OK if you are PATIENT and know what you are looking at. Awhile back I followed a Camillus knife that I was somewhat interested in. It was advertised Buy It Now for a price that I thought was somewhat high. It did not sell, was relisted, did not sell, relisted again, still no sale. The 4th time it was relisted at a HIGHER price and did not sell, the seller then changed the ad to mark it as discounted (back to the first price) and it sold almost immediately! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted April 7, 2015 Share #9 Posted April 7, 2015 And for every over priced, hyped-up poor conditioned (or faked) blade, there are bargains to be found. I was helping a friend at a gun show a couple of weeks ago, and late in the day looked at a table right next to us. There was a "mint" (unused, unsharpened, no nicks, finish 100%) PAL 1942 dated M1905 bayonet in an unused USN/MK1 scabbard with a price tag of $175. I picked it up, and sort of asked about the price. His response was "How about $140?". Needless to say, it now resides in my house. The most unusual part is that it sat there most of the day without being purchased; meanwhile a seller about five rows down from us was asking $395 to $450 for several very nice AFH and UFH M1905 bayonets in regular scabbards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOLO Posted April 7, 2015 Share #10 Posted April 7, 2015 when I see the prices sellers are asking these days, I feel lucky to have bought most of my collection before this madness, youi can still get good deals, but it takes patience and being in the right place at the right time before someone else sees it all those years of collecting paid off, I have more knowlege, I try to research everything before buying if there is time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted April 8, 2015 Share #11 Posted April 8, 2015 as little as I know about knives I have to laugh at some there is an early JPK sheath listed for 79.79 the sheath is used and of color, nice patina and looks pliable from use problem is it is a 5" sheath and he is selling it for a inch made in the 1950s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V42 Posted June 25, 2015 Share #12 Posted June 25, 2015 The 'new' sellers on eBay just don't have a clue of what they are doing. They do no research at all or see something that is similar looking and if it's way up there is price, then that's what they ask. But to be more accurate, they are hurting the market for everyone but I also see these stupid prices now showing up at gun shows, military shows so it is infectious. No sense in trying to understand them so the best thing is to move on and forget about them. They're just new sellers trying to get on the bandwagon and it's like these so called armchair 'experts' who have maybe 1 or 2 years in the hobby and think they know everything. Go out and get some real OTJ training like us guys with 10, 20, 30 or 40 years experience. I've meet and talked too many so called 'expert's' and that is an eye opening event, so before I ask a person who only has 1 year or so in the hobby, I go to my friends who have from 10 to 40 years experience for answer's. Nobody knows everything there is so be careful who you ask. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted June 25, 2015 Share #13 Posted June 25, 2015 IMO it one thing for an uneducated seller to ask more $$ for an item versus an seller who is deliberately misleading or out right faking an item...the latter being criminal IMO fraud.... As far as experts and opinions... I had a Cable Raincoat A-2 legit WWII, no tag ( but was authenticated), made of goatskin... a veteran A-2 collector berated me in public Because I was claiming the jacket to be legit issue...because everyone knows A-2s where never made of goatskin...only horsehide and never of cowhide...and now of coarse we know they were made from cow, horse and goat...never say never Please excuse the rant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted June 25, 2015 Share #14 Posted June 25, 2015 I'll echo what has already been said, it's a mixed bag out there. I do think it's a buyers market these days, but that doesn't mean one should just go into the market place without having done their homework. I'm still not confident that I can always tell the difference from a willfully ignorant seller who's convincing themselves that everything they have should be in a museum and the deliberate frauds who prey on the uninformed. That's why I make up my own mind on what I think something is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V42 Posted June 26, 2015 Share #15 Posted June 26, 2015 It's the old saying of 'buyer beware'. If you have any doubts about what you are buying, then it is time to get all the information you can from reliable sources and sort it all out. I will ask friends I have known for many many years for their trusted opinion. I still have to make up my mind to buy it or not. The sad part in today's world, there are a lot of great fakes out there and they are getting better with each new generation that they even fool the experts (if not up to date) as proven in the world of German collecting so it stands to reason they are everywhere. Plus the tons of just repo's. Someone new into the hobby is just overwhelmed. You have to keep up to date with what you are collecting and some of what you're not. Even an honest dealer can have a fake and not know it so that should not make him a criminal. Have to look at his track record. Look at how it's made. Is it quality or shoddy. Check out everything. Of course if at a show, you normally can take the item to a friend you trust and see what he says and then return to the dealer as most honest dealers will let you get an inspection of it. If he doesn't, that should be a little red flag. If someone gets in your face, then it's time to move on as he doesn't know what he is talking about. I've ran up with those people also but I just leave them standing there looking stupid but most of the time, it's just better to not say anything and leave. What goes around will come around and they will get there's somewhere, sometime. I've seen heated arguments and try to stay away from them as it really doesn't solve anything. If the dealer is a honest one, he'll take it back with no questions asked or he may want to know what he has as he may not be up to date on it and you'll be helping him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted June 26, 2015 Share #16 Posted June 26, 2015 I watch the JPK listings and I go by price because most of them are way to high for what they are, there was one a rare variant with a high price that was customized, the pommel was ground round and the cross guard was ground way down as well. I can't post pics because the listing is gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted June 28, 2015 Share #17 Posted June 28, 2015 I just saw a MKI machete for sale price was reasonable but the shipping was 25.99 from Illinois . He offered free return shipping so I think he was getting paid for return even if you kept it. rediculous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayonetman Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share #18 Posted June 28, 2015 I just saw a MKI machete for sale price was reasonable but the shipping was 25.99 from Illinois . He offered free return shipping so I think he was getting paid for return even if you kept it. rediculous There has been a M8A1 scabbard on ebay a couple of times that I was interested in but price was too high. He had minimum bid of $19.99 and shipping of $16.00. I sent him an email saying if he would relist it as Buy It Now at a total of $25 including shipping I would be interested. A week later he relisted it at $14.99 but raised the shipping to $19.00. Priority mail shipping would be about $6.00. I think he thinks that he does not pay ebay fees on the shipping cost. Used to be some sellers would list an item at $5.00 and shipping of $25.00 since at that time ebay did not charge their fees on shipping - they learned their lesson and now charge fees on the total of price plus shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted June 28, 2015 Share #19 Posted June 28, 2015 at that price even with fees on shipping he would still be making out good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillus Posted June 30, 2015 Share #20 Posted June 30, 2015 just found this machete, 125.00 but it is so rusted it will not come out of holster, in his discription he says he only has one of an item get them while they are in stock great deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 3, 2015 Share #21 Posted July 3, 2015 Just stumbled on this Norwegian M4 bayonet on ebay. Item # 252008150337. How's $1275, Buy It Now, sound? CMP was selling these for what, $50-$60 a while back. I don't believe this is a decimal point error. It never ends! SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayonetman Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share #22 Posted July 3, 2015 Skip is correct, there were some in the CMP offering, and although they are uncommon, they are not rare. Scabbard is not correct for that bayonet, the Norwegians made the scabbards also, so that should lower the value somewhat. Some patina on the blade, wrong scabbard, might be worth $100-$125 if on auction. For those that might be interested, here is the correct scabbard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted July 3, 2015 Share #23 Posted July 3, 2015 Thanks for the input Gary! SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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