Bulk Chinese Knife Prices

[noboundaries]

The information below is only for an educational purpose. I own knives made in Germany, Spain. Japan, China, and the good ol' USA.

I found and lost the link below a while ago. Found it again this morning. It shows bulk knife purchase prices on Chinese knives you can easily find or recognize on Amazon and other knife sites. Click on any of the knives and see what the purchase price is based on the number ordered. I was SHOCKED at the price difference from the bulk purchase price to what I see on seller sites. But hey, free enterprise. Buy low-sell high.

Most of the knives are made in Yiangjiang, China, which is the country's knife making center like Soligen is to Germany, Seki City to Japan, etc. In the pricing, it appears a dash is often used as a period.

Anyway, if shopping for knives, and open to ones made in China, you might find this info interesting.

China Kitchen Knife, Kitchen Knife Wholesale, Manufacturers, Price | Made-in-China.com

 

[Hockeydudde]

Wow. Incredibly cheap. How do you make a knife and make money for under $1.00?!

 

[Retired Spook]

Wow. Incredibly cheap. How do you make a knife and make money for under $1.00?!

By using the lowest quality materials you can find anywhere on Earth, and hiring slave-workers.

 

[Hockeydudde]

By using the lowest quality materials you can find anywhere on Earth, and hiring slave-workers.

I know they do that stuff, but still amazed. The profit margin is very high for stuff on Amazon!!

 

[Retired Spook]

I know they do that stuff, but still amazed. The profit margin is very high for stuff on Amazon!!

The real question is how can anyone buy a knife for a dollar and then sell it for $50.00 and not care that they are destroying their own Country for the sake of their own greed...

 

[normanaj]

Pass one of those things thru the knife sharpener a few times and you probably won't have a knife anymore.

 

[noboundaries]

It was a real eye-opener for me. This link was also the reason I stopped shopping for Japanese knives on Amazon. Many are marketed as Japanese with prices in the hundreds, but are in fact Chinese knives. Most Amazon Damascus knives are actually laser etched, not layered.

There's one famous Japanese brand that is actually a Chinese knife. Another well-known Japanese knife maker has started making a line of their knives in China and "finishing" them in Japan. A company that REALLY pushes their location in the USA is actually selling Chinese knives for $20‐$40. Those knives, BTW, actually perform well in my kitchen. I own two.

The link also sent me down the rabbithole of steel types, Rockwell hardness, ease of sharpening. and edge retention, all details that are valuable for kitchen knife users. The two German knives I own are 100% made and sharpened by machine. I trust the steel and the hardening process, but those can't be expensive to make. After an initial 5-minute touch-up upon receipt, those knives have only needed honing and stropping to maintain their edge.

If I ever need another kitchen knife, it will probably be a 100% machine-made Victorinox. Inexpensive, good steel, and made to last. Probably costs less than a $1 each to make.

Bottom line? I won't spend more than $20‐$30 on a knife. I've focused on sharpening. For the price of an average Japanese knife and a little time, you can buy a sharpening system that will turn the knives you already own into joys to use.

 

[noboundaries]

Another point: knife steels for the home kitchen.

My favorite: X50CrMoV15 is the most commonly used stainless steel type for kitchen knives. German steel. Many Chinese manufacturers use the same steel. The rust resistance is high, the edge retention good, and cutting characteristics are excellent. Easy to sharpen.

Great for family use and professional use where not everyone is careful with the knives. X stands for stainless, 50 for 0.50% carbon and 15 for 15% Chrome. In addition the steel contains small quantities of Molybdenum
and Vanadium to improve the grain structure and durability. Rockwell hardness HRC 54-58.

Close second: Thyssen-Krupp 1.4116. HRC 56-60. Once again, widely used in Western and German style knives, even in China. Characteristics similar to above. Victorinox uses a 1.4110 (X55CrMov14) steel (HRC 56).

Mixed favorite: 420-J2 Lower grade Japanese stainless. HRC 52-56. Edge retention on my knives from different makers is poor to good. Two of my most used knives have this steel. Two of my least used knives have this steel.

Kitchen knife steels can send you down another rabbithole, especially the sandwiched steel knives. Once again, you can't always trust what you read on Amazon, especially the sandwiched steels (VG10, AUS10, etc).

 

[old sarge]

Interesting link to be sure.

 

[jkc64]

We buy the white handle knives at Sam's. They have 4 packs of paring a 2 pack of boning and a 2 pack of butcher. Cheap and very sharp, lasting good for now, I haven't tried sharpening, haven't needed to yet.

 

[jcam222]

The information below is only for an educational purpose. I own knives made in Germany, Spain. Japan, China, and the good ol' USA.

I found and lost the link below a while ago. Found it again this morning. It shows bulk knife purchase prices on Chinese knives you can easily find or recognize on Amazon and other knife sites. Click on any of the knives and see what the purchase price is based on the number ordered. I was SHOCKED at the price difference from the bulk purchase price to what I see on seller sites. But hey, free enterprise. Buy low-sell high.

Most of the knives are made in Yiangjiang, China, which is the country's knife making center like Soligen is to Germany, Seki City to Japan, etc. In the pricing, it appears a dash is often used as a period.

Anyway, if shopping for knives, and open to ones made in China, you might find this info interesting.

China Kitchen Knife, Kitchen Knife Wholesale, Manufacturers, Price | Made-in-China.com

Have you ever ordered any?

 

[noboundaries]

Have you ever ordered any?

Nope. I have zero interest in buying in bulk, but that link helped me understand what the seller paid for my Chinese knives.

The three Chinese knives I own, a 7" cleaver ($40, 1.4116 steel), 6" chef ($20, X50CrMov15 steel), 5.5" utility ($19, 1.4116 steel), hold an edge almost as well as my two $75 German knives (7" rocking santoku and 7" chef, both X50CrMov15 steel).

I'm done buying kitchen knives, but should anything need replaced, and I get pushback on the lifetime warranty, Victorinox will fill that space.