Do I have a factory second?

thallium · #1

I bought a blue stretch a while back which has now been discontinued. I got it from a reputable dealer at a reasonable price.

When I got it I noticed that on the very back of the spine just below the jimping there was what appeared to be a grind mark on the right side as you're looking down at the spine. It is not deep and I don't think it is even very noticeable to feel it but it is visually quite noticeable. My concern is that after seeing how Spyderco marks seconds, that this is a factory second. The seller did not describe it as such and the box was a normal box and did not have a xx in the model number. I have seen pictures of the seconds mark and this does not look like most of those. The ones I've seen look like they ground the spine on the corner of a grinding wheel, in kind of a "v" shape. This is mostly flat.

After looking the knife over more in depth there are some things that might possibly suggest it was a second.

If you look down the spine it appears uneven on one side like it was ground/polished just a little too much but it does not really feel uneven. I compared it to my Para 2 which has a perfectly even looking blade spine and the stretch looks funny in comparison.

This may be common on lock backs (this is my first Spyderco lock back) but the end of the blade is not flush with the lock bar in the handle. It sits higher. Maybe this is to give room for the lock mechanism to wear, I don't know.

There is a small patch of rust on the left just under the spydie hole about the diameter of a pencil eraser. It's just specks of rust in that area not fully rusted.

Overall I'm fairly happy with it and I'm not too concerned by any of these issues as I plan to keep it but my concern is that if I ever do sell it, do I need to disclose that it is a second? Also, if it was a second was the dealer knowledgeable of this? Maybe somebody swapped a second for a new one and returned it. I don't know. In any case I'd just like to know one way or the other if it is a second.

tvenuto · #2

Pictures needed.

Mr.Sparkitle · #3

From what you describe is definitely sounds like a factory second. But pictures will confirm.

thallium · #4

I can try to post some pics tonight.

I've contacted the dealer. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and want to know what they think.

Can anyone confirm that there were seconds of the blue stretch sold?

michaelm466 · #5

I'm fairly certain the only way to get a factory second is the from the Spyderco Factory outlet sale that happens once a year and they will be marked as such. The rust is probably due to ZDP not being very rust resistant and sitting in the dealers storage area for several months to a year. The other things are probably just some minor oddities that are within spec.

Blerv · #6

I highly doubt it and echo the responses of the folks above. Reputable dealers don't stay reputable long by selling factory seconds as new stock.

thallium · #7

Blerv wrote:I highly doubt it and echo the responses of the folks above. Reputable dealers don't stay reputable long by selling factory seconds as new stock.

I don't disagree. I'll post pics tonight and see what the forum thinks, but if it is in fact a second, I'm wondering if somebody bought a second, then ordered a new one, swapped them then returned it and the dealer didn't inspect it well enough to notice. I don't know how likely that is though and it seems like a lot of trouble.

What kind of discount do they put on the seconds? Is it cheap enough for it to matter? I paid the same price as the green stretches are now.

Blerv · #8

thallium wrote:I don't disagree. I'll post pics tonight and see what the forum thinks, but if it is in fact a second, I'm wondering if somebody bought a second, then ordered a new one, swapped them then returned it and the dealer didn't inspect it well enough to notice. I don't know how likely that is though and it seems like a lot of trouble.

What kind of discount do they put on the seconds? Is it cheap enough for it to matter? I paid the same price as the green stretches are now.

I would like to think knives returned to dealers end up going back to Spyderco but I'm not sure.

A second does not have a warranty but is sold on the basis that is completely safe for the user. Often it's an aesthetic issue and most of the time something the average person wouldn't be able to detect. I sent in an Orange Dodo with a lock that was sticking, it was completely fixed but the lock was "noisy" so they sent a new one and decommissioned mine for the Seconds Sale.

From what I have seen just as a spectator the seconds sale is pretty darn cheap. Like half-price off cheap retail to 1/5th of the price. I don't think they come with boxes though. The dealer would have to cross all sorts of moral and physical lines to make it happen. The average person on eBay though? Perhaps.

If you bought the blue one from Jeff at Cutlery Shoppe I would bet my left arm on it. Well, maybe a few fingers. :p He's a solid guy.

jabba359 · #9

thallium wrote:What kind of discount do they put on the seconds? Is it cheap enough for it to matter? I paid the same price as the green stretches are now.

If I recall correctly, my factory 2nds were approximately 75% off MSRP.

The Deacon · #10

Pictures would most definitely help. But, as others have mentioned, seconds are not sold through regular channels but rather in person at Spyderco's plant in Golden. So, unless your dealer is both unscrupulous and located within a reasonable drive from Golden, the chances of it being one go down exponentially. Did it come in a box? Did the box have a slash mark through the bar code or an XX prefix on the SKU number (XXC90BLP). While lack of them does not rule out a swap, it at least further lowers the odds.

Also, FWIW, the marks are not just "grind marks", they're definite notches. Some are wider than others, some deeper, but all I've see were obviously done intentionally.