Dealers in WTB Threads: No Photos, PayPal F&F, and the r/knives Etiquette Debate
Buying a knife on the secondary market is a trust exercise. You are spending real money on a knife you cannot hold, based on photos you hope are accurate, from a person you hope is honest. So when a dealer answers a WTB post with none of the usual protections — no photos of the actual knife, a demand for PayPal Friends and Family, and silence on return policy — buyers are right to raise an eyebrow. This week, one of them raised it in a thread on r/knives that hit a nerve: "Does anyone else find this annoying on knife buying/selling forums?"
The poster's position is measured, not hysterical. Dealers responding to WTB posts with inventory is fine, they say — if the pricing is genuinely competitive. What grates is the hybrid nature of the transaction: you are getting a dealer transaction without dealer protections. The whole reason to buy on forums rather than from a retailer is the ability to see detailed photos of the exact knife before committing. "If I'm basically getting a dealer transaction without dealer protections," they write, "I'd at least expect them to be willing to snap a few photos of the actual knife."
The PayPal F&F detail is the one that makes collectors wince. Friends and Family payments carry no purchase protection — once sent, the money is gone, with no path to dispute. For an individual seller with an established reputation, F&F is a common trust shortcut. From a dealer, it reads as an attempt to have it both ways: operate like a business, but without any of the accountability that comes with one.
The comments split along predictable lines. Some recount their own brushes with photo-shy dealers; others argue that forum norms are self-policing, and buyers who skip due diligence have only themselves to blame. A few point out that legitimate dealers usually have reputations to protect and happily provide photos, making the photo-refusers an easy self-identifying red flag.
No rules changed because of the thread. But threads like it serve as the community's memory — a shared reference point the next time a dealer goes quiet on a return-policy question.