Looking for Selling Recommendations for Shigefusa and Carters

[hijackn]

Hi!

I have a few knives I intend to sell, primarily because they are above my skill/level of expertise. I bought these knives used several years ago and am hoping to get advice on what would be fair prices to ask for them. I've never used them and I don't think I ever will, so it's time to move them on to someone who will. Looking over the rules of the BST forum, it seems like this might be an appropriate place to ask for suggestions before posting over there for sale.

Here are the knives I am selling:

They are (at least, according to what others have told me):
- Shigefusa Kitaeiji Nakiri (appears 180mm)
- Carter Funayuki
- Carter Petty
- Boye pairing knife, no handle

I am hoping to sell them at a price that would make you say "that's a pretty good deal," taking into account that I am not the original owner and it would be nice to have someone get them who will appreciate them. Would love any input!

 

[daveb]

This is an appropriate venue for your question. Don't be surprised if you get pm offers without ever going to bst.

Suggest you get measurements on knives to include blade length and height Weight (g) would be good but not critical.

The Carter Petty looks a little rough. Some elbow grease and a little WD-40 will improve your pricing.

And you can google site search for what previous sales have been.

 

[Corradobrit1]

@nakiriknaifuwaifu

 

[McMan]

Just some info for the Carters...
The "W" on the Funayuki indicates white steel.
The "H" on the little knife indicates that the steel is hand-clad not pre-laminated.
I'm not certain when Murray stopped doing "H", but it was at least a few years ago. IIRC, it was pre-apprentice. So Murray would have been more involved in making these knives than he is for the "lesser" offerings these days.
How long are the Carters?

 

[McMan]

[duplicate]

 

[Corradobrit1]

 

[TSF415]

I have a feeling your inbox is probably filling up for that nakiri. GLWS.

 

[Corradobrit1]

Great way to canvas buyers and offers.

 

[hijackn]

Great way to canvas buyers and offers.

I suppose haha. This is the best way I have to learn what a reasonable price is.

 

[hijackn]

t

 

[nakiriknaifuwaifu]

@nakiriknaifuwaifu

OP and I have been in touch since many months ago haha.

@hijackn, I know I PM'd you this as well, but for those curious here's a clip of the box-and-whisker plot that @Zweber12 the Shig Lord made of sales sorted by dollars per mm of knife, including both BNIB to heavily used.

Where it falls within the range of "Kitaeji (D)" would depend on how much the knife has been used and how much the shigefusa geometry has been altered through maintenance, condition/finish including scuffs, scratches, rust pitting, etc., and condition of the handle (relatively minor) including scuffs, cracks, etc.

Kurouchi/Kasumi/Kitaeji are the finish levels
D is double bevel/S is single bevel
Wa is Japanese handle/Yo is western handle

Yours is a Kitaeji double bevel with wa handle

PS: rust will easily half the knife value. get on that petty ASAP

 

[daveb]

How much of a premium is the blue box worth?

 

[Zweber12]

OP and I have been in touch since many months ago haha.

@hijackn, I know I PM'd you this as well, but for those curious here's a clip of the box-and-whisker plot that @Zweber12 the Shig Lord made of sales sorted by dollars per mm of knife, including both BNIB to heavily used.

Thanks for the reference @nakiriknaifuwaifu.
Please keep in mind that these box plots contain all knives and different lengths; some knives are simply valued higher by the market than others, this leads to the wide range.

Below a simple line plot of the average price (in USD) per mm of the 18 entries I have for kitaeji nakiris. First entry point is from 2013, the last two from 2020, with a moving average of the last 6 knife sales.

 

[hijackn]

Thanks for the reference @nakiriknaifuwaifu.
Please keep in mind that these box plots contain all knives and different lengths; some knives are simply valued higher by the market than others, this leads to the wide range.

Below a simple line plot of the average price (in USD) per mm of the 18 entries I have for kitaeji nakiris. First entry point is from 2013, the last two from 2020, with a moving average of the last 6 knife sales.

View attachment 114365

Sorry I'm having trouble interpreting that graph. How should I read it for a 180mm kitaeji nakiri?

 

[nakiriknaifuwaifu]

Sorry I'm having trouble interpreting that graph. How should I read it for a 180mm kitaeji nakiri?

Basically what the graph gives you is price per millimeter of knife.

Take the most recently purchased nakiri at $4.8 per mm.

So for a 180mm kitaeji (assuming the actual length is 180mm) at $4.8 per mm like the last purchase, the price would be 180 millimeters * $4.8/mm = $864.

This is around the ballpark you should be looking at, but it can go up or down given the condition of the knife. A brand new knife would be higher, and a well-used knife could be lower. Damaged (from pitting etc.) would be much lower.

Based on the graph I shared, the box and whisker plot shows 25th, 50th (midline) and 75th percentiles of per millimeter cost.

These look to be around 4.25, 5.25, 5.8 dollars per millimeter.

So the costs of your knife could range from:

25th percentile: 4.25 * 180 = 765
50th percentile: 5.25 * 180 = 945
75th percentile: 5.8 * 180 = 1044


That depends on the condition of the knife, which remains to be seen. If there is any evidence of pitting or if the geometry has been destroyed through improper maintenance/thinning, I would say maybe half of the value of a BNIB ~$600

 

[Moooza]

A thinned, rusted, used nakiri is probably a lot less. But who know in this market.

 

[hijackn]

Basically what the graph gives you is price per millimeter of knife.

Take the most recently purchased nakiri at $4.8 per mm.

So for a 180mm kitaeji (assuming the actual length is 180mm) at $4.8 per mm like the last purchase, the price would be 180 millimeters * $4.8/mm = $864.

This is around the ballpark you should be looking at, but it can go up or down given the condition of the knife. A brand new knife would be higher, and a well-used knife could be lower. Damaged (from pitting etc.) would be much lower.

Based on the graph I shared, the box and whisker plot shows 25th, 50th (midline) and 75th percentiles of per millimeter cost.

These look to be around 4.25, 5.25, 5.8 dollars per millimeter.

So the costs of your knife could range from:

25th percentile: 4.25 * 180 = 765
50th percentile: 5.25 * 180 = 945
75th percentile: 5.8 * 180 = 1044


That depends on the condition of the knife, which remains to be seen. If there is any evidence of pitting or if the geometry has been destroyed through improper maintenance/thinning, I would say maybe half of the value of a BNIB ~$600

Thanks that's really helpful. I'm surprised there is such a detailed price history on these knives. It's helpful because with other things I'm selling I can look at similar listings but it's hard to find comparable listings, at least it's difficult for someone who doesn't know anything about these styles of knives.