How to Resell Knives and Multitools: A Comprehensive Guide

Reselling 101

By RC Staff

08 November 2023

Like knives? Lots of people do. In fact, collecting knives and multitools has been a popular hobby for decades. There are all kinds of different models and tools out there made from a variety of materials, and collectors are willing to pay remarkable prices for the right knife. Stick around as we go into everything you need to know to make a profit flipping knives.

Why Should you Resell Knives?

Considering just how much stuff is out there in the world, why focus on knives? It seems like most resellers prefer to stick with what they know like clothes, shoes, and cards, and never get out of their comfort zone.

The truth is that there is an incredible amount of money to be made by flipping unconventional items. Reselling knives is a great example. Knife collecting is nothing new, and like any hobby, there’s a lot of money in it.

Both modern production and vintage makes are of interest to collectors, and prices for them can range widely. From $10 cheapo tools with plastic hilts to $2,000 works of cold-forged art, knives are a great opportunity for resellers. Any hobby where people are willing to fork over significant sums of cash for an item at retail also means they’ll be willing to pay up to a reseller as well.

Additionally, there’s an incredible range of variation in knives and multitools. It’s sort of ironic, but the very fact that a multitool is designed to do everything also means that no two tools are the exact same. Collectors will split hairs over minute differences and end up buying multiple versions of the same tool just to keep every base covered.

The bottom line? Knives are a perfect market for flipping, yet many resellers don’t even bother with them. If you’re willing to take the leap, you can walk out with some serious profits.

What are the best knives to resell?

So first, let’s talk about the basics of reselling any product. The formula is pretty simple: you need lots of demand, and not enough supply to go around. These two factors need to balance against each other so that products will sell out at retail and start reselling.

“Limited edition” isn’t super common in the knife world. There are a lot of knives out there, and a lot of expensive ones at that, but most of them can be purchased at retail.

What does that mean for resellers? You’ll need to keep an eye for special drops. Companies do produce limited edition knives on certain occasions, and these are what you’ll be going after.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about some of the big names when it comes to knife and multitool manufacturers.

Reselling Leatherman

This is probably the most obvious. Even if you know next to nothing about multitools, you’ve probably heard of Leatherman, or maybe even have one in your home. Leatherman has been making high quality multitools since 1980, and they’re consistently ranked as one of the best manufacturers around.

That kind of reputation has also made them quite popular among collectors and therefore resellers. While most of what they make is mass-produced, there are plenty of rare Leathermans out there, like the Leatherman Garage Series (more on that later).

Reselling Victorinox

You might not recognize the name, but you’ve definitely heard of the term “Swiss Army Knife”, and Victorinox is the company behind it.

They’ve been around since the 19th century, which means there are a lot of vintage Victorinox pieces floating around for collectors to bid on.

In addition to their multitools, Victorinox also produces fixed blade knives, kitchen equipment, and various cutlery. In short, a whole lot of options for the discerning reseller to make a buck.

Reselling Militaria

Of course, knives and multitools have been an important part of military kit for centuries. Militaria collecting is nothing new, and there is plenty of money to be made by flipping the right pieces to the right buyers.

Military knives come in a wide variety of designs, purposes, and countries of origin. Even a single military may have issued hundreds of different knives over their history, and collectors are interested in every one.

Obviously, values can vary wildly. No one will be paying anything significant for a rusted Ka-Bar, but the right piece in the right condition can be a serious payday.

Examples of Knives that Resell

Here at RC, we cover everything. We say that all the time, but it’s true. Since we started this blog, we’ve talked about several knives that have resold for a profit.

We generally go after new production items. While it is possible to make money by flipping vintage items, newly made products are much easier to find and sell, and are typically worth more.

Some of the notable knives and multitools we covered are:

Leatherman Garage 40th Anniversary Tool

Part of Leatherman’s Garage Series, the 40th Anniversary tool was a culmination of the brand’s identity. Under 2,000 of these were made and sold for $275.

Collectors absolutely loved these pieces, and Leatherman sold out of them in minutes. Since then, resellers have been able to flip them for over $1,000 at a time, and many more have sold for $700 to $800.

The 40th Anniversary tool was the fifth entry in Leatherman’s Garage Series, which is the company’s way of producing limited edition and highly collectible tools. Anyone serious about reselling knives for a profit should be paying attention to future Leatherman Garage releases.

Santoku X Supreme Collaboration

When you see the “Supreme” name branded on something, you know it’s worth paying attention to. Hypebeasts and kids with their parents money are a well known target for resellers, and this drop was no exception.

The Santoku X Supreme collaboration produced a single chef’s knife that ended up reselling for close to $500 at a time. These were advertised well in advance, and a reseller needed to do was be there when they dropped.

Civvivi Dessert Warrior Donut Knife

This donut-themed knife looks straight out of a video game, but it was decidedly real. These were sold last year through BladeHQ for $58, and the knives were available for sale for several hours.

After resellers bought up the majority of the stock they were able to turn them around for about double what they paid. Pretty sweet flip, all things considered.

So what do we have? A multitool, a chef’s knife, and a larper’s pocketknife. What do they all have in common?

Scarcity. That should be no surprise for any experienced reseller, but its scarcity and demand that drives value on the resale market. You need both to make a profit, and that’s exactly what these knives and tools had going for them.

When evaluating knives to resell, you need to evaluate the manufacturer, the intended purpose, and the popularity of the tool. People need to be excited for this release, and they need to trust the manufacturer. Once you’ve confirmed that there’s actually a market, you’ll need to find production.

Ideally, the manufacturer will come right out and state it. This is uncommon, but for truly rare pieces the manufacturer will explicitly provide production numbers. Otherwise you’ll need to do some digging and get a sense of the real production.

Past knives, product histories, checking in with collectors, anything you can to get a real gauge of the production. There’s no better way to torpedo an item’s resale value than overproduction, and companies will do anything to make a buck.

Sound confusing? You don’t have to do it alone. RC Elite is a one-stop shop for finding the latest and greatest flips, knife or otherwise. We post profitable items to resell daily, along with locations, prices, suggested list prices, and estimated profit.

We provide members with everything they need to resell anything. All you need to do is show up with your wallet, and start doubling, tripling, or quadrupling your money. Sound interesting? Maybe you should join RC Elite too.

If making money isn’t your thing, you can still subscribe to our newsletter. Seeing other people’s success is almost as fun as doing it yourself, right?