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Paid Too Much?


thorin6
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Did you ever pay too much for an edged weapon? I know the saying: you never pay too much, you just bought too early; but in reality, do knife collectors sometimes buy something that seemed like a good deal at the time, but upon reflection they realized that they paid too much. I'm not talking about buyer's remorse, which comes when you realize that what you have isn't as good as you may have thought. I'm talking about spending two to three times what the item is really is worth, although it is precisely what you wanted at the time.

Here is my knife of shame. I had seen other such examples with asking prices in the general range and didn't ask myself whether it was worth what the asking prices were. It's not that I dislike the knife; on the contrary I like it and have no desire to get rid of it. But every so often I do the face plant when I thing of how much I paid for it about 4 years ago.

It's a Clyde machete that has been converted into a fighting knife. The neatest thing about it is the sheath, which shows the shaping that comes from being carried with the knife in it. If I'm correct, the Clyde machete was made during the Vietnam era, but the sheath has the brass hooks reminiscent of WW2. The seller obvious thought enough about it to display it with the plastic plate shown in the pictures. I sometimes wonder if that may have colored my judgement. Here it is, and if anyone has opinions about the era, please let me know.

 

 

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Sometimes if you really want something enough youll pay more than what its worth, sometimes that isnt a bad thing. My father talks about all the items hes passed up, but now are worth a small fortune. But at the time we 2-3 times the value.

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If you are buying something for your own pleasure, not for intrinsic or investment value you can not pay too much. You paid what it was worth to please yourself.

 

(I found that in a fortune cookie)

 

Art

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Bill- You don't see a lot of "CLYDE" machetes floating around, at least I don't. The blade obviously met something to the original owner. You're right about the scabbard, it is similar to WW2 type scabbards. I wouldn't let it bother me, think of all the great deals you made over the years, it will more than balance out! SKIP

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Issue is, you liked it, so you bought it, would’ nt worry about it. Not a fake or put together piece. Thinking about things I did’nt buy, back in the late 70’s, early 80 had chance to buy M203 for $30, talk about regret! 268th and I were at show at SCOPE.

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Collecting is about buying with your "Heart" not necessaily your "Head"

 

Don't worry you are destined to make mistakes if you keep collecting - We've all been there!!

 

Bill

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Skip,

I have a full length Clyde machete in a Vietnam era scabbard, and picked that up before I bought this one. I knew Clyde's were not all that common.

And others,

Thanks for your comments. It's back in its place with the Ka-bars, Mark 2s, M3s. and assorted theater knives. As for price paid, let's just say that I actually got the seller to drop the price by a fair amount before I paid for it, and it was still north of a hundred.

One last comment; this isn't the only thing I've wondered if I spent too much. Most of the time I come to the feeling that I've learned something and knowledge is often more valuable than the thing itself.

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LOL, if you are married maybe a problem,” Honey what did you buy at the show?”Oh an old weed chopper, how much?......

 

We were both at an antique mall and she had to write the check for her stuff and mine. Kind of hard to hide.

 

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Yeah wife's. I am finally creating a man cave in my home office. My wife was not happy to see the amount of knives I have picked up over the last 11 years. Some I can't even remember getting. Have to thin out the collection some. That will keep her happy till she sees what's in the other storage containers.

 

Yeah I did a couple of times buy a knife that was not what I thought it was. I have also bought a few that I paid too much for. But then it evens out when you get some good deals. I don't collect as an investment just as a hobby. I like old things even stereos, radios, one old 1982 Vette. Some toys from my youth and some Cleveland Browns items. I keep all the non WW stuff in the closet. Built some shelfs and it looks good.

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For me, I have more regrets about things I didn't buy than the things that I did. How many more of these Clyde machetes cut down to fighting knives have you seen since you bought this one? More likely than not, you would kick yourself every time you went to a show and saw something similar. You would mentally beat yourself up with the thought of "Yeah, I should of bought it when I had the chance."

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