Kato a quarter of the price in Japan?

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Hassanbensober said:
I can’t stop it. Do as you please. Was definitely not cool in earlier years. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way.
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Pretty weird view mate no matter if other people feel like that too....if people are looking for a rare knife like a shig or kato and someone else finds one for sale they should share. Personally, I don't even know how to navigate any of the japanese auction websites so it's very helpful as a buyer when other people post them up. Racking my brain to think what is "not cool" about linking knives for sale. That is what 95% of this forum is(I know I spend all my time in the knife finding thread where people post rare or interesting knives they find for sale)
 
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jedy617 said:
Pretty weird view mate no matter if other people feel like that too....if people are looking for a rare knife like a shig or kato and someone else finds one for sale they should share. Personally, I don't even know how to navigate any of the japanese auction websites so it's very helpful as a buyer when other people post them up. Racking my brain to think what is "not cool" about linking knives for sale. That is what 95% of this forum is(I know I spend all my time in the knife finding thread where people post rare or interesting knives they find for sale)
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jedy617 said:
Pretty weird view mate no matter if other people feel like that too....if people are looking for a rare knife like a shig or kato and someone else finds one for sale they should share. Personally, I don't even know how to navigate any of the japanese auction websites so it's very helpful as a buyer when other people post them up. Racking my brain to think what is "not cool" about linking knives for sale. That is what 95% of this forum is(I know I spend all my time in the knife finding thread where people post rare or interesting knives they find for sale)
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I said what I said and don’t regret it. I respect your view on it as well. If posting these helps identify blatant flippers on our forum then I’m for it I suppose.
 
Hassanbensober said:
I said what I said and don’t regret it. I respect your view on it as well. If posting these helps identify blatant flippers on our forum then I’m for it I suppose.
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There are plenty of "blatant flippers" on the B/S/T anyway. And again, most of these auctions are japanese auctions that are posted, not ebay. These are not forum members. If you look on knife findings and search "auction" you will see that the guys who are sharing these japanese auctions are established members in the community who are just trying to share cool knife finds.

No one is forcing anyone to bid, but I think sharing more knives is better than less. Helps people find rare stuff they are looking for, and educates others on market value of their knives. I just don't get hating on no reserves auctions but that is just me.
 
jedy617 said:
There are plenty of "blatant flippers" on the B/S/T anyway. And again, most of these auctions are japanese auctions that are posted, not ebay. These are not forum members. If you look on knife findings and search "auction" you will see that the guys who are sharing these japanese auctions are established members in the community who are just trying to share cool knife finds.

No one is forcing anyone to bid, but I think sharing more knives is better than less. Helps people find rare stuff they are looking for, and educates others on market value of their knives. I just don't get hating on no reserves auctions but that is just me.
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I have no dog in this fight or strong opinion either way but I suspect the thought is that by posting a live auction it can bring in a lot of bidders and disrupt some people's chances.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
I have no dog in this fight or strong opinion either way but I suspect the thought is that by posting a live auction it can bring in a lot of bidders and disrupt some people's chances.
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Ah that is something I did not think about. For a guy like me who doesn't browse the auctions its nice to have someone find them for me, but you're right, other people might not like they have more competition lol
 
Yeah, it takes a long time to learn the right search terms and methods to navigate the Japanese sites. It also takes a lot of work to keep track of auctions, time bids, etc. It’s much more time intensive than keeping track of western retailers instagrams and websites. I know it used to be a faux pas here to post active auctions as a form of deference to those who spend that effort on an ongoing basis. I can see both sides of the coin of this argument - good to share the opportunity with others in the community if you plan to pass, but annoying if you’ve spent a few weeks, months, years hunting down something only to have it posted to a group of interested people who haven’t invested that effort.
 
I can understand that, but I also spend a lot of time checking sites and hopping on instagram very frequently for what I am most interested in getting. I don’t think it’s that different. I’m not personally interested in auctions or Kato knives at the moment. But if I saw something that might benefit someone else here, I would post it. If that’s not ok as far as KKF rules, I would follow those, but again I am not sure it’s that different. I’m open to hearing why I’m wrong though.
 
To put it into perspective, as an EU citizen buying a Kato/Shigefusa/whatever on this proxy auction site is going to cost me:

knife 200 000
commission fee 16 400
bank fee 300
shipping 5 500
duty and tax 55 000

= 1900 €
= 1990 USD
= 20775 SEK
= 14242 DKK
= 19 680 NK

(or = your exchange rate for JPY, do the maths)

As far as I can there are 3 people selling 85% of the Kato's and Shigefusa's over Yahoo.jp auctions. I have seen the person I linked sell maybe 30 knives over the last couple of years or so, maybe a few more. Prices fluctuate +/- 20 000 or so depending on the size/finish/type. A KU Kato nakiri recently went for around 180000.

Morihei put me on the waiting list with a ticket price of 165 000 - I do not ever expect to actually get my hands on one, and if he ever gets in touch to say it is ready, I will definitely have to re-think how many Mikami I could pick up for that money. The temptation is to buy and keep to re-sell, but as another wrote these are tools; tools for making bigger pieces of food smaller, and somehow it seems to defeat the purpose of the makers entire working life and endeavours to improve their abilities, to buy a tool and never use it. Similarly while I appreciate the avid collector's passion, the avid collectors' passion bangs the price up because the price is always going to be what the last person was prepared to pay over and above - same for anything, knives, watches, cars, truffles. A few years ago a KU Shigefusa santuko auction typically started at 0 or maybe 1000 Y. Now they sometimes start at 20 000, or in the case of the auction I linked, the nakiri (ok a larger one) started at 40 000.

Have a fine day.
 
Find me a brand new Kiyoshi Kato 240mm now that sells for even half price retail (600 USD) now.

I’ll buy it and cut off my d!ck while yelling Teeeeeeee Eeeeeefffffffffffff on livestream to prove how awesome and sharp it is 🙃
 
lemeneid said:
Find me a brand new Kiyoshi Kato 240mm now that sells for even half price retail (600 USD) now.

I’ll buy it and cut off my d!ck while yelling Teeeeeeee Eeeeeefffffffffffff on livestream to prove how awesome and sharp it is 🙃
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Hahahaha. You're in the wrong decade—you should've been a performance artist in the 70s! Wonder what Kato prices were like in the late-70s?
 
DitmasPork said:
Hahahaha. You're in the wrong decade—you should've been a performance artist in the 70s! Wonder what Kato prices were like in the late-70s?
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If I had the foresight to buy Katos in the 70s, Warren Buffet would be asking me for financial advice today.

I would be drowning in Berkshire stock and flipping off Elon Musk whenever I can.
 
lemeneid said:
If I had the foresight to buy Katos in the 70s, Warren Buffet would be asking me for financial advice today.

I would be drowning in Berkshire stock and flipping off Elon Musk whenever I can.
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If I had foresight—time machine—I'd have saved up allowance money and buy Apple stock in 1980 from their IPO. I'd read that Kato started doing kitchen knives in '77, ...would've bought a bunch from that young maker.
 
Things can be cheaper in Japan for sure, but it also depends on the person buying. I had a young asian colleague of mine in Japan a couple years back attempting to buy Kato for me. She doesn't speak the language and is clearly American. Price was the same. Locals may do better.

That said... considering it is the single most over-hyped knife in the game (fk yeah I said it), I wouldn't be in a hurry even at 50% unless it was to turn and sell.
 
simona said:
To put it into perspective, as an EU citizen buying a Kato/Shigefusa/whatever on this proxy auction site is going to cost me:

knife 200 000
commission fee 16 400
bank fee 300
shipping 5 500
duty and tax 55 000

= 1900 €
= 1990 USD
= 20775 SEK
= 14242 DKK
= 19 680 NK

(or = your exchange rate for JPY, do the maths)

As far as I can there are 3 people selling 85% of the Kato's and Shigefusa's over Yahoo.jp auctions. I have seen the person I linked sell maybe 30 knives over the last couple of years or so, maybe a few more. Prices fluctuate +/- 20 000 or so depending on the size/finish/type. A KU Kato nakiri recently went for around 180000.

Morihei put me on the waiting list with a ticket price of 165 000 - I do not ever expect to actually get my hands on one, and if he ever gets in touch to say it is ready, I will definitely have to re-think how many Mikami I could pick up for that money. The temptation is to buy and keep to re-sell, but as another wrote these are tools; tools for making bigger pieces of food smaller, and somehow it seems to defeat the purpose of the makers entire working life and endeavours to improve their abilities, to buy a tool and never use it. Similarly while I appreciate the avid collector's passion, the avid collectors' passion bangs the price up because the price is always going to be what the last person was prepared to pay over and above - same for anything, knives, watches, cars, truffles. A few years ago a KU Shigefusa santuko auction typically started at 0 or maybe 1000 Y. Now they sometimes start at 20 000, or in the case of the auction I linked, the nakiri (ok a larger one) started at 40 000.

Have a fine day.
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I’m not being funny, but with your numbers, does that mean the Kato listed for $4800 on BST is insane? I don’t really know the market price of Katos but I’ve never seen one that high.
 
Kato wa handle =/= Kato western

I feel like you can find a Kato of some wa flavor at least a few times a month on BST, this is the second time I've ever seen a western handled one
 
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hold up

so you're telling me i can pick up a wa kato for <2k, get my tig welder out, add some steel, get someone to put a western handle, and sell it for 5k

what's the catch
 
There is a Kato western integral out there. Can’t remember who owns it though. It has a brass ferrule.

The majority of western katos are without bolster. Don’t think there are any full tang forged bolster katos ever made. If there were one, probably @Markcg has it 🤔
 
lemeneid said:
There is a Kato western integral out there. Can’t remember who owns it though. It has a brass ferrule.

The majority of western katos are without bolster. Don’t think there are any full tang forged bolster katos ever made. If there were one, probably @Markcg has it 🤔
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Mark has a rally nice Western Kato with a wide bolster ala Hiroshi Ashi. Not forged though.
 
lemeneid said:
There is a Kato western integral out there. Can’t remember who owns it though. It has a brass ferrule.

The majority of western katos are without bolster. Don’t think there are any full tang forged bolster katos ever made. If there were one, probably @Markcg has it 🤔
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This would’ve been a sweet grab.

D8982696-3462-4669-97EC-21D55BCE538A.png
 
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