I want to share a fantastic shopping experience I recently had with one of our Pipes Magazine sponsors: Alpascia located in Italy.
I have come to love Peterson "Darwin" B42 System pipes, and have a small collection of them, but I was missing one with a sandblast finish. Alpascia had one; a Peterson Kapries Sandblast for a surprisingly low price. I can count on one hand the number of times I have ordered something from a non-USA retailer, so I was apprehensive to do an online purchase, but I needed this pipe and took a chance. I ordered it Monday evening here in NH, and here it is in my hand right now, 36 hours later! I did not request overnight delivery, I simply chose the FedEx shipping option with seemed to be the least expensive shipping choice. It was gift-wrapped like a Christmas present, with a pretty pipe-themed ribbon, nice wrapping paper, and a hand-signed note. Well-packaged, safe and sound, ready to smoke. (And I did not have to pay for VAT, which seems to be some tax that I was exempt from.)
I did let them know when I was ordering the pipe that I saw their advertisements on the Pipes Magazine website, and now I am letting you all know about my very positive experience with Alpascia. I will be shopping with them again, for sure!
I have come to love Peterson "Darwin" B42 System pipes, and have a small collection of them, but I was missing one with a sandblast finish. Alpascia had one; a Peterson Kapries Sandblast for a surprisingly low price. I can count on one hand the number of times I have ordered something from a non-USA retailer, so I was apprehensive to do an online purchase, but I needed this pipe and took a chance. I ordered it Monday evening here in NH, and here it is in my hand right now, 36 hours later! I did not request overnight delivery, I simply chose the FedEx shipping option with seemed to be the least expensive shipping choice. It was gift-wrapped like a Christmas present, with a pretty pipe-themed ribbon, nice wrapping paper, and a hand-signed note. Well-packaged, safe and sound, ready to smoke. (And I did not have to pay for VAT, which seems to be some tax that I was exempt from.)
I did let them know when I was ordering the pipe that I saw their advertisements on the Pipes Magazine website, and now I am letting you all know about my very positive experience with Alpascia. I will be shopping with them again, for sure!
