Auction Agony

[petergunn]

I used to buy on Ebay but that was several years ago, I never spent more than $50.00 and instead of competing on the big names I bought the older lower tier types like Digby, Mountbatten, Hardcastle's all good smokers for a pittance.
Now I prefer to buy estates already cleaned and ready to smoke from a reputable dealer.

 

[foggymountain]

Bid as much as you are willing to pay, and if you lose there will be no agony. If the other bids are less than yours, you will only have to pay a little more than the next highest bid. Or you can email the seller & make a direct offer. Usually they will sell it for a little less than on Ebay, which charges a hefty commission. Then they will end the auction. You can't wait for the last minute for this though, or Ebay will not let them out of the auction. The seller's email has been concealed by Ebay recently to avoid this, but you can find it if you are diligent. Use only Paypal to pay. Never send a check to an Ebay seller you do not know.

 

[pruss]

Silver lining...
I just won an auction for five estates in good condition that should clean up well; a nice Pete, a BBB, a lovely Sav and a couple others. I'll soon have a few hours in the Pipe Cave as balm, and the end of the day, I'll be further ahead and have a bigger nest egg to invest in new additions to the collection.
Lose some, win the rest.
Happy puffing.
-- Pat

 

[kashmir]

Ah, the vagaries of fate. And lady luck. If I find a pipe I absolutely must have - and this has happened only a few times in the last five years - why, I'll bid five or ten times its true value. I always get the pipe, and have never had to pay much over what I'd pay for the pipe in a Buy it Now. It's an absolutely crazy strategy, but if you can't live without it, shoot for the moon. There was a Michael Parks I had to have. True value probably around $500. I bid $1000. Got the pipe for $620. Obviously, this is not routine. But if its a once in a lifetime acquisition, I'll play the crazy card.

 

[pruss]

But if its a once in a lifetime acquisition, I'll play the crazy card.

Preach on brother Kashmir.
I haven't found that pipe yet. Thankfully. I haven't built up the war chest with enough loot to play that game yet, without significant risk to life, house, and most importantly relationship. I covet a Von Erck, but I know that if I work hard at cleaning up and re-selling estates I'll eventually be in a place to be better able to afford one (and a Parks, and a Cooke, and a Davis, and a Butera, and a...).
-- Pat

 

[kashmir]

A few years ago, I was really into the estate market. I'd buy old beaters, clean them up till they looked like new, and relist them. Sometimes I'd get ahead. At the highpoint, I'd have close to 50 pipes a month listed. But I never made any real money with it. Maybe its a volume thing. But I was competing with eBay powerhouses who did the same thing, and had better named pipes.

 

[pruss]

I'm nowhere near those numbers. Since the beginning of the year I've bought and sold about 50 pipes, 20 or so estates that I've cleaned up, and 30ish NOS pipes from a single collection. I've managed to get ahead of my material, equipment and pipes costs. The tricky bit is staying in the black. So far, so good.
In terms of "real" money... I'm sure I won't be able to quit my day job at this rate. But it's truly lovely to have a hobby which is paying for itself.
-- Pat

 

[kashmir]

Your lucky Pat. Or more precisely, you have better business acumen than I do. Good luck with it. My feeling was, it'd be great to one day buy a nice artisan pipe solely based on my winnings - err, earnings. But that day never came for me. Hope yours comes soon. Keep up the good work. At the least you're propagating the faith and making many pipe smokers happy, I'm sure. Which is a reward in and of itself.

 

[pruss]

At the least you're propagating the faith and making many pipe smokers happy, I'm sure.

You betcha! Rescuing pipes from the rubbish heap, and putting them in the hands of folks who will enjoy them is absolutely the best part of this gig. The second best part, for me anyway, is watching grain poke through when cleaning off a couple decades worth of oil, stain and smoke. Man I love that.
-- Pat

 

[juptierspipe]

I was out bid 3 times on my last eBay endeavor. I'm much wiser now after reading this post. Thank you gentlemen for all your insight. Next time you better believe I'll be sniping there ass big time! (One shot one kill) :twisted:

 

[pruss]

I was out bid 3 times on my last eBay endeavor. I'm much wiser now after reading this post.

Go get 'em bro. Did you land that Moretti?
-- Pat

 

[captainsousie]

Don't forget to look at the BIN lots. I just scored one with an Astley's and 2 Arlingtons for less than what I sold my last pipe for.

 

[pruss]

Nice score Captain! I've been avoiding the BIN lots, nice to know that there's value in there. I'll have to widen the scope of my searches.
Treasure trove of tips and advice in this thread folks. Thanks!
-- Pat

 

[juptierspipe]

@ Pat nope, missed that one too.... :crying:

 

[mso489]

It's enough anguish to review what's available and simply buy a pipe without engaging in a contest

to do it -- that's just one point of view. I think the bidding game is invigorating and fun up to a point,

and the thrill of landing a coveted pipe at an unusually good price is a real buzz. However, I know I'd

get too hung up on the process, following the bidding every few hours, and tracking the bidding down

to the last seconds. I suspect the people who really enjoy auctions are those who invest enough emotionally

to really get a high when winning, but inevitably feel worse when they miss an item. So the pleasure depends

on the vulnerability of getting hurt. Jeeze, sounds like love. Sorry to get psychological about it. If you can

bid well and win now and then, and not take it too seriously, and not spend most of the day on it, I say,

go for it. Some Forums members buy some real treasures at auction.

 

[plateauguy]

Yesterday I lost 3 bids, I had set a limit and refused to go over it. The pipes sold for $2.00 to $4.00 over my bid. I may have to re-evaluate how badly I want something and go big.

 

[pruss]

I feel your pain plateauguy.
You can, as I do in the same scenario, always tell yourself that the winner likely was willing to spend WAY MORE than you were, and you only lost out by a hair because they scooped you at the last minute. Who's to say that their max bid wasn't hundreds more than you wanted to pay for those pipes?
-- Pat

 

[plateauguy]

Good point pruss. Patience is a virtue, and there are rewards, I just need to learn more patience, FAST.

 

[smokeybear]

Agony is for the defeated i never accept defeat, i find out where the winning bid resides and i sound my trumpets of war to gather my troops and head out of the man cave, only to be stopped by the gatekeeper (my wife) who holds the trials and tribulations (choirs) that i must complete to continue my quest for vengeance. And mark my words once those trials are complete (about a year from now) i will be coming for you all hahahaha(evil laugh).
but mostly no, i don't sweat it, plenty of pipes to win out there.