Did They Read The Description And Look At The Pictures?

[sablebrush52]

A recent eBay listing caught my eye for Family Era Barling LF Canadian in a Special grading:
Barling LF
It had a perspex stem, but something about the stem's shaping didn't look right. Closer examination showed the stem to be a replacement, a determination that was confirmed in the description of the pipe. Moreover, the nomenclature is highly buffed as is the pipe, and there is significant wear and tear including dents to the rim.
I had no interest in bidding on it as I already have enough serviceable burners and need no more. Anything that I now add will have to be in excellent condition, or very interesting from a historical standpoint. But I followed this auction anyway and was very surprised to see what the pipe sold for. If this trend of paying money of this kind for Barlings in this condition continues, I may have found my retirement fund.

 

[dmcmtk]

Look at the bids, the second highest bidder bid WAY too much, way to early. All I'll say...

 

[mrenglish]

Wow, that is an insane price.

 

[mephistopheles]

8O That's crazy. It's weird how the bids bounced so high all of a sudden. From 55 to 90 and then from 110 to 222 and up in one go.

 

[misterlowercase]

Dudes got long flat money,

not a very wise buy.
But it is *special*

:D
The same pipe sold on Oct. 23rd for $134.50, guess that buyer returned it.
Here's what a real Barling perspex stem looks like:

...that replacement doesn't even have a V channel,

pretty lazy.
When did Barling first use the clear perspex?
I think they did it before GBD?
I also have a morbid curiosity with such pipes,

watching this thing to see how she goes,

interesting that it's stamped John Cotton,

and possibly an old orific button stem,

(thanks for learning me that term Sable!),

but the odd part is how it's poorly topped,

although it is kinda neat how it gives a sort of cross-section view!

Boxed Vintage Barling’s Barling Ye Olde Wood John Cotton Briar Pipe
8O

 

[tbradsim1]

. GBD with dual.

 

[sablebrush52]

Look at the bids, the second highest bidder bid WAY too much, way to early. All I'll say...

Hi Dave,
I don't think it's so much when the high bid went in as that it went in at all. And apparently more than one bidder thought that this price point was a good idea.
After all, it was Christmas day and the early buyer, let's call him buyer A, probably wasn't going to be around to wait. Perhaps buyer A had to drive to his detestable mother-in-law's for Christmas ptomaine dinner. So he uses the "put in an insanely high price so that I'm sure to get this pipe at any cost" theory of eBay bidding. The bid is like a hidden minefield lying in wait for someone to run into it.
Buyer B is biding his time, waiting for the very end of the auction to make his play. He has no Christmas activities to split his focus. Divorced and alone, hated by his kids, he sits at his terminal, the words "MINE! MINE! MINE!" spoken in Daffy Duck's voice, repeating in his mind.
Two minutes before the auction's end buyer B fires his first torpedo, only to hit Buyer A's minefield. Shocked and enraged, Buyer B, his manhood wilting, starts firing torpedo after torpedo, seeking to break through the minefield. At last he does so, and in a burst of testosterone induced paranoia, not only outbids buyer A at an insane level, but actually raises his maximum bid to assure that Buyer A can't recover. This is the "I'll bid whatever insane amount I need to at the end to assure that I will get this pipe and thus ensure the validity of my manhood" theory of eBay bidding.
Employing any theory of eBay bidding that includes "victory at any price" as part of the strategy is a recipe for disaster.
Unless you're a seller, in which event you're delighted this strategy.
I just find it hard to believe that either of these two had actually read the description, looked at the pictures, or knew what they were doing.

 

[dmcmtk]

Troy, interesting pipe, a little rough, orific, yes like 'artford, 'errorford, and 'ampshire! Note the larger arched Barling's Make mark.

 

[dmcmtk]

Employing any theory of eBay bidding that includes "victory at any price" as part of the strategy is a recipe for disaster.
I just find it hard to believe that either of these two had actually read the description, looked at the pictures, or knew what they were doing.

Jesse, you've got that right!!!

 

[sablebrush52]

Troy,
Aren't you pining to buy a nicely burnt out pipe with ginormous heat cracks radiating out from the chamber? And, people are bidding on it! You could list a dog turd on eBay and someone would bid on it!

 

[mso489]

That's why they use auctions to liquidate old family homes and farms that wouldn't bring much

at a yard sale. Auctioneers pull their commissions by pumping up interest and getting competition

going between bidders. If you have saavy buyers, they keep the increases incremental, and the good

ones have their price in mind and quit when they get there no matter what. The discipline at an auction

is to get something at the right price, not to get something. If you just want to "win," you'll buy some

of those dog droppings.

 

[buroak]

I saw that pipe, but hadn't even enough interest to "watch" it. To me, the most shocking aspect of the whole thing is that the winning bidder is obviously no newbie.