Selling knives online: allowed types, banned designs and the words that matter

A chef's knife and a fighting knife can share a blade shape. What separates them on a marketplace is mostly how they are described and shown. Walmart allows most kitchen, utility and hunting knives unless they are marketed for fighting, combat or self-defence, and Etsy bars knives presented for battle or protection, along with violent photos. On top of that sits a short list of designs no marketplace allows, led by the switchblade.

This page covers the designs that are barred, the words and images that take a listing down, and what Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, eBay and Canada say.

What this page covers: kitchen and pocket knives, fixed blades, multitools, swords and machetes.

The short version

• The Federal Switchblade Act bars the interstate sale of switchblades; state laws differ on other types.
• Automatic, butterfly, gravity, push dagger, stiletto, out-the-front and disguised knives are barred on the big marketplaces.
• Kitchen, utility and hunting knives are allowed, unless they are marketed for fighting or self-defence.
• Etsy bars violent imagery in photos.
• Canada treats knives that open by gravity, centrifugal force or a spring as prohibited weapons.

Which knife designs do the marketplaces bar?

Switchblades, butterfly knives and disguised blades are barred on Amazon, Walmart and eBay, and Etsy bars knives designed to be concealed or deployed quickly. The Federal Switchblade Act bars switchblades from interstate sale, and state laws set different rules for other types. The marketplaces go further:

What words get an allowed knife barred?

Words that market a knife for fighting, combat, battle, protection or self-defence move it into the barred list on Walmart and Etsy, where most kitchen, utility and hunting knives are otherwise allowed.

Words to leave out of titles, bullets, keywords and images:

• self-defence, self-protection, personal protection
• tactical combat, fighting, battle
• concealed, hidden, quick-draw

Words that describe a knife's work instead: the food it cuts, the trade it serves, the hobby it belongs to, the steel and the edge.

What should knife images show?

Knife images should show the knife at work, never in a threatening pose: Etsy bars violent imagery in photos. Shoot every knife listing this way:

• The knife on a cutting board, a workbench or a camp table, at work.
• The closed and open positions, for a folding knife, so the opening mechanism is clear.
• The sheath and any lock, shown plainly.

Leave out scenes of a knife held in a fighting grip, pointed at the viewer, or beside a person in a threatening pose.

Which knives are prohibited in Canada?

In Canada, knives that open by gravity, centrifugal force or a spring are prohibited weapons under the Criminal Code.

How Commicorn helps

• Your knife, as photographed. On the Untouched product route your photo's pixels are never redrawn, so the blade, the lock and the markings stay as they are.
• Scenes at work, not at war. Type the scene you want, such as a kitchen counter or a workbench, and look at every scene before you export.
• Your words, from your details. The listing copy is written from the details you give us. Describe the knife's work, and read the copy against the list above before you export.

Questions sellers ask

Can I sell a switchblade online?

No. The Federal Switchblade Act bars the interstate sale of switchblades, and Amazon, Walmart and eBay bar them.

Can I sell butterfly knives on Amazon?

No. Amazon bars balisongs (butterfly knives), along with switchblades, stilettos and disguised blades.

Can I call a knife a self-defence knife?

No. Walmart and Etsy bar knives marketed for fighting, combat, battle, protection or self-defence.

Does Walmart allow hunting knives?

Yes, unless they are marketed for fighting, combat or self-defence.

Are gravity knives legal in Canada?

No. Knives that open by gravity, centrifugal force or a spring are prohibited weapons under Canada's Criminal Code.

Before you list

Before the listing goes live, check the knife's design against the barred list of every marketplace you sell on, write the title and bullets around the knife's work, and have images of it at work, open and closed. On a borderline knife, the opening mechanism settles it: the Federal Switchblade Act, each marketplace's barred designs and, for Canada, section 84 of the Criminal Code, all linked below.