All collectors are familiar with “Book Prices”.   People selling knives online will often say something like: “This knife books for $325.”  And if you watch, the knife will frequently sell for less than this.  Sometimes much less.  Here’s a true example:  I saw a book list a knife for $400.  In the same month, I saw a dealer price list that offered the knife for $185.   Two days later, the exact knife sold on ebay for $90.     Now if you were interested in buying this knife in the future, which price would you want to know?  Yep, the price the knife traded hands at–$90.

And that is what KnifeDB.com gives you, the price the knife was bought and sold for and the date of the sale.  Further, the trading price is adjusted for inflation so you know what that price would be in today’s dollars.

Here’s an example:  This is the price table from KnifeDB for a 1940 6202 ½ – the knife ID is 113.

Here’s what this table tells the interested collector:

1. The knife sold for a wholesale price of $1.00 in 1942. Today, this dollar would be $16.33 after it is adjusted for inflation.  The condition of the knife at this sale was a 1.  (1 = New, 2 = Used, 3 = Worn, 4 = broke).
2. In 2011, a knife in Condition 1 sold for $92. Adjusting for inflation, this knife sold for $108.89 in today’s money.  The knife increased from a 16.33 price in 1942 to $108.89 in 2021, a nice jump in actual value.
3. Then in 2017, the knife sold for $46. While this seems like a dramatic decrease, look at the quality code.  The 3+ code indicates that this price is for a clearly worn knife but does not have any other serious issues.  This tells the collector a reasonable used value.

By adjusting for inflation (making prices in current dollars) the collector knows a price range based on condition (In this case about $110 for a new condition knife to about $50 for a used one).  This is simply put, the best, most accurate, realistic pricing information available.  KnifeDB.com is the Case collector’s home.  Join today.