Ebay Sellers - Info

A reminder of shinypipes and their Photoshopping habits:

(Can't remember who posted this here but I'd saved the photo)

Shinypipes also has awful reactions to anything other than 100% positive feedback, very heavy handed and coercive. After my one and only experience, I will never even consider a pipe from them. Plus, yes, they photoshop the heck out of everything.

I'm in the same camp as Cosmic, but for the sake of fairness - I got what was I shown trouble-free in my sole transaction with ShinyPipes.

If you are looking for over-priced, over-buffed pipes that may look very different in person than they do in the listing, by all means - Shiny Pipes.

Now I have a question for you ..... what do you see as the difference between an E-Bay selling photo shopping ( which will easily be seen upon receipt ) of a pipe and those that re coat the tobacco chamber and thus hide cracks in the briar and spider webbing etc, which you will never see until you sand or ream the chamber back to the wood?

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Both are scumbags!

There are always risks and issues associated with eBay sellers. And eBay seller ratings are worth ZERO, if that much.
I won't touch Shiny Pipes because of their past abusive practices and because you can't cure crazy. Some recent correspondence with a friend who is a member of the Austin pipe club, concerning his recent face to face with them, indicates that crazy has not subsided. Evidently, they are obsessed with finding ways to wreak revenge upon those who criticized their practices on line and do not accept that they did anything wrong.
Rodrigo - Treasure pipes - is one of the sellers who I trust, but a lot of his stuff has been given a face lift, which never gets mentioned. That said, he's always been a straight shooter in his dealings with me, never any problem with the occasional deal that gets undone.
So too with Great Estates - there is occasionally some very heavy cosmetic surgery as well - which also never gets mentioned. Haven't bought from them, just noted the extensive facelifts.
Coopersark was the dean of cosmetic restorers for years. I'll buy from him, but I've had to do some serious cleaning on recent purchases, so don't buy into that "ready to smoke right out of the box" statement. He doesn't put the time in on pipes that he thinks are possibly low dollar sellers. I'll still buy from him, some of my best pipes have come through him. But now I have the cleaning kit at the ready.
I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned Pipestud! Steve is one of the hobby's true treasures and he conducts auctions with information that is simple and straightforward. He's very honest and reliable. Again, one of the few that I will buy from.
I've bought from Secondhand Smokes, but will no longer do so after I caught some blatant dishonesty in one of his recent auctions. Deliberate deception rubs me the wrong way. I don't want to be the next victim.
My basic rule with eBay sellers - believe none of it. Claims like "original stem" are meritless and are an excellent indicator of a bullshitter. Do diligence, ask questions of the seller, ask for extra photos, etc. Know what you are doing or go elsewhere. Don't ever bid on a "no return" auction. Pictures are NEVER enough.
If you're really looking for good deals don't look at eBay. That's not what they're about, any more than any auction house. That's the come on. Instead, look at reputable on line stores like briarblues, or pipestud.com or any of the dealers like smokingpipes. eBay is OK for those who know what they're doing and who have the stomach for "adventure", but it's not for neophytes.

Yep, Pipestud is outstanding for sure sable. I am surprised by the second hand smoker comment though, I always thought they were straight shooters.

Tim West has some nice looking work, including leather pouches and briar pipes.

tim west

I've bought plenty of pipes off of ebay, and for the most part have been pleased. Maybe it's because I only buy inexpensive pipes, and try to be a smart shopper by carefully looking at the pics, and asking questions as needed. I have however bought a couple of clunkers that weren't as good as I expected them to be, but still at the price I paid I wasn't too upset as they cleaned up nicely. Only one seller stiffed me by sending the wrong pipe and never responded to my contacts, so I got my money refunded by ebay.
One seller not mentioned here is colwright, whom I've bought from and was very pleased with. He seems to do a decent job cleaning the pipes up although it wasn't as clean as I would like it inside. Again the claim is made often that his pipes are "mint condition, ready to enjoy" which is I feel is a stretch considering the pipes have been used, and I feel mint should apply only to unused items, or ones that actually look brand new. Just my opinion...

Yep, Pipestud is outstanding for sure sable. I am surprised by the second hand smoker comment though, I always thought they were straight shooters

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Not any more.
Misleading Seller
I used that think he was a straight shooter as well. That's over.
The issue isn't about restoration. It's about deceiving the customer. Deception is widespread. You need to know what you are doing. You need to know what you are looking at. Think critically about claims. Original stem? Prove it. Original box? Prove it. Lightly used? How do you know that? Were you watching all those years? Don't believe sales pitches. Absolutely DO NOT buy a "no return" item.

I would hate to think that any seller on E-Bay might try that. I see the problem being further down the road, as the buyer re sells without having smoked the pipe and the next person assumes the pipe is unsmoked. There are a few sellers that are hands above others in their "cleaning" processes.

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It happens. I've seen claims of "unsmoked" Barlings, Dunhill, and others that were clearly false. Barling didn't coat their bowls, and I seen "unsmoked" Barlings with coated bowls. A month or so ago there was an "unsmoked" Barling with a replacement stem and considerable wear on the stampings.
Want to be "safe" on eBay? Believe nothing.

Ebay is a good source of pipes at low end pricing. I have bought quite a few pipes there but as sable pointed out only buy what you know about and don't take things at face value. Beware of "fuzzy" pictures, they usually camouflage things the seller doesn't want potential buyers to notice. If you are looking at higher end pipes extreme vigilance is in order. There are all sorts of unsupportable claims being made and unfortunately all to many potential buyers believing them. The seller doesn't care because somebody out there will buy it. Here knowing the vender is critical. The better sellers highly value their reputation and protect it by conduction business with honor. They are usually knowledgeable and present their offering in an honest and complete way. One of the best ways to avoid getting taken is to ask other forum members for an opinion. There are some very knowledgeable people here and they are usually willing to share what they know. I swap notes all the time with members that share my preferences just to get another opinion.

I have purchased at least 20 pipes from Pipestud. His listing are 100% fact and he is honest and pleasant. Steve +1000

mwreschke is another straight shooter with reasonable prices. The pipes are well cleaned but not overly buffed as are ShinyPipes. I have had good interactions with Coopersarc and Pipestud.

FWIW, I received a Custombilt from valitchka last week and am very pleased with the entire experience. As he stated in his description, he did a superb job cleaning and refurbishing the exterior, bowl, shank, and stem to like-new condition but did not touch the interior of the bowl or the airway. I appreciated actually cleaning those to my standards and will keep a watch on all his auctions henceforth.

The thing about listing all of these sellers as "reputable" is a slippery slope. It only takes one to make you wonder how many more slipped thru over the years. As sablebrush found that deceptive Barling, it makes me ponder how many other pipes have been sold with other non mentioned refurb tricks by this and other sellers. Some people have had good experiences with ShinyPipes but most here avoid them like the plague because they have been caught as well. Another one listed in the first post is valitchka. The first pipe I ever sold on ebay was bought by valitchka. A few weeks later it was relisted by him as mint and lightly smoked. Let me just say that I, like most of us, only had one pipe for quite awhile when starting out. Don't get me wrong, it was still a nice little entry pipe, but it wasn't lightly smoked. It just cleaned up really nice because it was well taken care of.
I think the best advice when buying estates off ebay is to be prepared, ie do you research, look at the photos and descriptions closely, and make sure they have a return policy because stuff does slip through. Just because the seller states in his auction that the stem is slightly loose doesn't mean that it won't fall out when you receive it (yes, this happened to me).

Hey, peteguy, did you follow through on your former pipe and check the feedback from its new owner, assuming he sold it, of course? Just curious. In my instance, the pipe had not been reamed and the airway was untouched. From that I deduced the veracity of the description.