Buying Knives online can be a tricky business but unless you live close to a ridiculously great bricks and mortar knife store then it’s something you’ll have to do. Ideally we should be able to pick up the knife, see how it feels in the hand, check the quality control, and then decide whether or not to buy the knife. I don’t have that luxury and neither do most knife collectors, so it’s important where we buy our knives online.
Buying New Knives Online
The best places to buy knives and EDC gear online will depend on what country you’re in but I’ll focus on the United States as that’s where most of my readers are from. I’m half way around the world in Australia and I still buy a lot of my knives from America. The prices, the range of knives, and the service are pretty bloody good compared to a lot of Australian retailers online.
Buying Knives from Amazon
Amazon needs no explanation. They have great prices, an excellent range and they always put the customer first. Jeff Bezos didn’t become the richest man in the world for no reason.
If you’re based outside of the US it can be a problem using the American Amazon.com website though as they won’t send a lot of their products outside of the country. You might have a local version of Amazon like Amazon.com.au for Australia or Amazon.co.uk for the United Kingdom but they may not have the same products available as the American Amazon website.
If you’re in America you’ll have none of these problems though. Amazon.com is awesome. Go to Amazon here.
Buying Knives at Blade HQ
Again this is another store based in the United States, but hey, it’s where all the biggest and best knife stores in the world are! They do ship internationally but obviously you’ll pay a little more than Americans pay. Blade HQ are currently offering free shipping for all domestic orders over $99.
Blade HQ offer a dazzling selection of folding knives, fixed blades, flashlights, multi tools, axes, machetes, saws, scissors, shovels, batons, tactical pens, backpacks, camping gear, wallets, and other outdoors and EDC gear.
The number of brands they stock are just as impressive as the number of items they have available. All the big knife brands like Spyderco, Zero Tolerance, Cold Steel, CRKT, Kershaw, Benchmade, Boker, Microtech, WE Knife, Kizer Cutlery and more. They also stock plenty of smaller companies and custom knife makers like Chaves Knives, Custom Knife Factory, Chris Reeve, Ferrum Forge, GiantMouse, Medford Knife & Tool, Strider and many more.
Blade HQ has some of the best prices online. They stick to MAP pricing for brands like Spyderco and Zero Tolerance. This is a “Minimum advertised pricing” policy that many large companies require retailers to stick to. Blade HQ will price match products from other online retailers, so if you can find it cheaper elsewhere, contact Blade HQ and they will match it.
Check out the range of products from Blade HQ Here.
Buying Knives from Knives Ship Free
Knives Ship Free is what it says, a company that ships knives for free (unless you want it expedited or sent to a country outside of the United States and then you’ll pay for postage).
They tend to focus on fewer brands but focus on quality and a great range of each brand. For example they have one of the best collections of Bark River Knives to choose from online. If you’re a BRK fanboy like myself you’ll already have spent many hours drooling over the photographs on the Knives Ship Free website!
Fixed blades are probably more represented at KnivesShipFree but there’s plenty of folding knives too.
KSF supply smaller, premium knife brands like Todd Begg Knives, Bradford Knives, Casstrom, Chris Reeve Knives, Dark Timber Knives, Fiddleback Forge, Jesse Hemphill Knives, Lon Humphrey Knives and Medford Knife & Tool. And they also offer the big boys like Spyderco, Buck, Zero Tolerance, Benchmade, Cold Steel, LionSteel and more.
If you’re into traditional pocket knives you’ll know about Northwoods Knives as they have some of the sweetest looking traditionals on the market! Well Knives Ship Free owns the company so they obviously have the best selection available online. Northwoods Knives are also making some very interesting fixed blades and kitchen knives.
So they’re not trying to represent every maker on the planet but it’s still a very impressive selection. Knives Ship Free provides great customer service, very good prices, has an excellent returns policy and will bend over backwards to please their customers. I definitely recommend buying from them.
Check out the products at Knives Ship Free Here.
Buying Used Knives Online
Buying and selling on the secondary market is a whole other game with many things to consider so just be careful. eBay still has plenty of fake knives for sale but they usually take care of the customer if a seller tries to rip you off, so if you’re just starting out it’s probably safest to shop there.
Alternatively knife forums and Instagram are great places to buy used knives. The knife community is a pretty tight bunch of people and quickly expose those who can’t be trusted. Look for sellers who have been around for a while and have a good reputation. Avoid new sellers like the plague as they have nothing to lose.
One more thing, many sellers in the United States will only post knives within the USA as postage costs and customs can be an added pain that they just don’t want to deal with. Some sellers will make an exception if you pay the extra postage and explain that you will take responsibility for the knife in transit. I’ve personally had a few knives magically vanish while going through Australian customs so I completely understand why an American seller wouldn’t want to send a knife to Australia!
The vast majority of my knives are bought new though. It’s usually only discontinued, sprint runs, customized, or other rarities that are bought from private sellers. Everything else is bought from trusted online retailers like Blade HQ, KnivesShipFree or Amazon who have good return policies, great customer service, and an excellent selection of knives and EDC gear.
Where do you buy most of your your knives and EDC gear from online? Let me know in the comments below.
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