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Pensacola Tiger said:
It says that posts need to comply with PayPal rules, which forbids asking for the buyer to pay the fee or for asking for F&F. If the post explicitly says "No PayPal", then how can the PayPal rules be violated?

Bottom line is that it appears that you can only sell on B/S/T if you have and use PayPal, and that's ridiculous.
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Any and all options can be discussed in DM's. You are not as a seller obliged to take G&S and neither is the buyer allowed to demand G&S. You just can't say "No Paypal" in the listing. It has to be an option, but if both parties are not happy with the arrangements after a convo in DM, then the deal is off.
 
No it lays out the guidelines for posting in bst. It then goes on to specifically state deals can be arranged in PMs.

“BST ads will comply with PP Rules or be taken down.

Any agreement negotiated between the buyer and seller via pm is between them and KKF has no interest in it.”

That is the clarification I thought you were looking for.
 
Pensacola Tiger said:
The problem is that a price without any disclaimers is likely to be assumed as PP G&S, and then bringing it up in the DM might appear "shady".

Looking for clarification from Dave or another admin.
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FWIW, I routinely have listed PP G&S or USPS MO in my open listings with no staff issues.
 
Maybe refer them to other users you’ve made deals with, to get them some assurance.
 
Someone could correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think getting reported for insisting on other payment besides PayPal gets you into trouble per se. It’s not an offense that warrants banning or anything. Scamming gets you banned. Many many scams here at BST start with using something other than PP G&S. As uncomfortable as getting reported might be, I think it’s a good precautionary measure as there’s been so many scams in bst sometimes even honest intentions can appear less than honest at times depending on the situation.
 
Having bought a lot more knives than I’ve sold, I try to approach my sale/trade listings from a buyer’s perspective.

I agree that it seems really dodgy as a buyer if a seller lists one price publicly, and then conducts further negotiations over PMs — e.g. say they want me to pay another price with G&S (which has happened with one or two rare knives).

Similarly, as a buyer, even if I’m OK to pay that seller with F&F, I feel like I should be getting some kind of consideration (ideally more than 3.5%) for voluntarily giving up my right to dispute the transaction and shifting the balance of power way over to the seller. But it should really be the seller proposing an amount, not the buyer asking for a discount.

Ideally IMO, sellers would be able to openly say we can offer one G&S price and another F&F/Wise/Venmo/MO price, and allow the market to dictate over time what this differential should look like. But as far as I can tell, that would fall foul of the rule against explicitly charging extra for G&S.

I’ve tried to thread this needle with my own BST listings and haven’t been called out for it on KKF yet, but it’s something I’ve done with a degree of trepidation. I do think there’s a certain grey area that could be made a little bit clearer.
 
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dehory said:
I agree that it seems really dodgy as a buyer if a seller lists one price publicly, and then tell me over PMs that they want me to pay another price with G&S (which has happened with one or two rare knives).
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That is report worthy and likely to get as response from a mod. Shady.
 
On another forum this is acceptable:

"Payment by US Postal Money Order or personal check if I know you, as I do not have PayPal".

This is very clear upfront that PayPal is not involved and it doesn't violate thie B/S/T guidelines.

Question to admins - is this acceptable, and if not, why?
 
"Looking for clarification from Dave or another admin."

Mod on. PP is indeed the coin of the realm. Perhaps that should be reconsidered but for now it's the only medium that affords some protection for buyer.

It was not long ago that USD was currency of the realm and some of our Euro members successfully made the argument that Euro should be accepted in Euro transactions.

Mod off. Hypothetically in situation described above - if a listing was for knife, $200, without citing a method of payment, I doubt that by itself would rise to mods level of attention. It would not for this mod. Negotiate in PMs and hopefully the mods will not have to referee.

Mod off 2. Rick, if you're going to sell a knife, pm me first. You know I buy most everything you list.
 
daveb said:
"Looking for clarification from Dave or another admin."

Mod on. PP is indeed the coin of the realm. Perhaps that should be reconsidered but for now it's the only medium that affords some protection for buyer.

It was not long ago that USD was currency of the realm and some of our Euro members successfully made the argument that Euro should be accepted in Euro transactions.

Mod off. Hypothetically in situation described above - if a listing was for knife, $200, without citing a method of payment, I doubt that by itself would rise to mods level of attention. It would not for this mod. Negotiate in PMs and hopefully the mods will not have to referee.

Mod off 2. Rick, if you're going to sell a knife, pm me first. You know I buy most everything you list.
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Thanks, Dave. Appreciate the clarification.
 
Pensacola Tiger said:
On another forum this is acceptable:

"Payment by US Postal Money Order or personal check if I know you, as I do not have PayPal".

This is very clear upfront that PayPal is not involved and it doesn't violate thie B/S/T guidelines.

Question to admins - is this acceptable, and if not, why?
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I've dealt with this buyer on multiple occasions...
 
Seems like one solution would be to start buying and selling on IG if aversion to PayPal is so high for some. Atleast there it’s not so much a community but avid collectors chasing drops anyway, so buyer protection is less of a concern.
 
Just a friendly reminder:

Not to target anyone in particular, but thoroughly inspect your knives for any defect/flaw before listing and shipping out. Even if you are the second owner and you are reselling the knife/item in the same condition you received 2 weeks ago.

Make sure nothing is wrong with the knife or the item you are relisting! Or describe the item in the actual condition.

Thanks!
 
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gentiscid said:
Just a friendly reminder:

Not to target anyone in particular, but thoroughly inspect your knives for any defect/flaw before listing and shipping out. Even if you are the second owner and you are reselling in the same condition the knife you received 2 weeks ago.

Make sure nothing is wrong with the knife or the item you are relisting! Or describe the item in the actual condition.

Thanks!
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Having just gone through this very same scenario a couple of weeks ago on a high value knife, I completely concur. Huge time suck and even bigger disappointment. But at least the seller facilitated the return and ensured I was not out of pocket, so all good.
 
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Can someone explain what is going on with users who frequently post knives on BST with captions like "used once" or "BNIB" and sell for below retail?

What's going on? Are they really buying a new knife every week, then selling it without using it, or using it just once for "a few test cuts"? Or are they buying from sales (or used from another site) then lying about what they paid and/or the knife's history when they sell it on BST? For example you'll see users who say "BNIB" or "test cuts only" and say "Paid $300, selling for $250, shipping included", but they post knives like that once a week.

What's the deal?
 
yoyoma said:
Can someone explain what is going on with users who frequently post knives on BST with captions like "used once" or "BNIB" and sell for below retail?

What's going on? Are they really buying a new knife every week, then selling it without using it, or using it just once for "a few test cuts"? Or are they buying from sales (or used from another site) then lying about what they paid and/or the knife's history when they sell it on BST? For example you'll see users who say "BNIB" or "test cuts only" and say "Paid $300, selling for $250, shipping included", but they post knives like that once a week.

What's the deal?
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Some people have lots of money. And some people really like to try different knives. And if you buy at retail price you can’t really sell without a loss, since a buyer will generally prefer dealing with an established retailer than taking a chance online.
 
yoyoma said:
What's going on? Are they really buying a new knife every week, then selling it without using it, or using it just once for "a few test cuts"? Or are they buying from sales (or used from another site) then lying about what they paid and/or the knife's history when they sell it on BST? For example you'll see users who say "BNIB" or "test cuts only" and say "Paid $300, selling for $250, shipping included", but they post knives like that once a week.
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You can always judge for yourself whether the knife looks BNIB or not or at least acceptable to yourself. In the end, it comes down to trust buying things based on a few pics on the internet. If you feel iffy about a knife/seller, do not buy.

Yes people churn through knives on here, like you said just look at number of bst posts. Everyone's aims/styles are different. And in certain phase of knife collecting, you just want to try as many blades as possible and BST enables that by selling used at a smallish loss. Edit: I also have bought knives that haven't touch a board yet, haha..

My personal experience from buying on BST has been great. In the one instance I had an issue with how the knife arrived, after a little back and forth I resolved the issue with seller, still 5 star experience.

The good thing is KKF mod take BST etiquette seriously and complains about misrepresentation are looked at and bans have resulted from it.
 
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yoyoma said:
Can someone explain what is going on with users who frequently post knives on BST with captions like "used once" or "BNIB" and sell for below retail?

What's going on? Are they really buying a new knife every week, then selling it without using it, or using it just once for "a few test cuts"? Or are they buying from sales (or used from another site) then lying about what they paid and/or the knife's history when they sell it on BST? For example you'll see users who say "BNIB" or "test cuts only" and say "Paid $300, selling for $250, shipping included", but they post knives like that once a week.

What's the deal?
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I’m guilty of this. For me, this is a hobby and I enjoy trying out different knives but can’t afford to keep everything I buy. I’ll try a knife out and try to determine if it’s one I want to keep before it sees much use. It’s much easier to sell when it’s lightly used and unsharpened. For me, the small loss I take is the cost of supporting a hobby that I enjoy.
 
jacobwilder5 said:
I’m guilty of this. For me, this is a hobby and I enjoy trying out different knives but can’t afford to keep everything I buy. I’ll try a knife out and try to determine if it’s one I want to keep before it sees much use. It’s much easier to sell when it’s lightly used and unsharpened. For me, the small loss I take is the cost of supporting a hobby that I enjoy.
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It's basically like a subscription service that allows you to demo multiple knives that you'd otherwise never have the opportunity to evaluate in person.
 
jacobwilder5 said:
I’m guilty of this. For me, this is a hobby and I enjoy trying out different knives but can’t afford to keep everything I buy. I’ll try a knife out and try to determine if it’s one I want to keep before it sees much use. It’s much easier to sell when it’s lightly used and unsharpened. For me, the small loss I take is the cost of supporting a hobby that I enjoy.
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I do this too. I justify it in my mind as renting the knife to see if I want to keep it. And I also do sometimes impulsively buy something that doesn’t really suit my taste and then I end up just selling it.
 
jacobwilder5 said:
I’m guilty of this. For me, this is a hobby and I enjoy trying out different knives but can’t afford to keep everything I buy. I’ll try a knife out and try to determine if it’s one I want to keep before it sees much use. It’s much easier to sell when it’s lightly used and unsharpened. For me, the small loss I take is the cost of supporting a hobby that I enjoy.
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Just curious, how much do you "float" to support your hobby, if anything, or is it knife dependent?
 
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