Buying A New Pipe - Online Or In Person

[dottiewarden]

My success from all four methods is pretty much the same. It doesn't matter how it looks or feels that makes or breaks a deal. It is, how does it smoke???? Can't tell that without burning baccy in it.

Any reliable dealer wouldn't sell you a defective pipe intentionally, and if a pipe doesn't smoke well for you all other characteristics are null and void. What has surprised me is that many of my favorite pipes were selected for me as gifts from friends that don't share my fondness for pipe smoking. In other words, many pipes that came to me without the value of inspection have turned out to be very fine smokers!
All this talk about fine smoking pipes puts me in the mood to spark up one of my briar beauties. ::

 

[lavarockpuffer]

Best case for almost any purchases would be to have in hand and hold for feel, check airway flow, etc.

That being said, I live out in the middle of the pacific and have bought over a hundred pipes online from eBay

Personal friends, reputable dealers and a solid dozen from Scott and Jesse Jones at Blue room Briars.

Keep saying I’m going to save up and get to a show but would rather spend the airlines scratch on pipes and

Tobacco.

 

[ukbob]

I usually buy online for a new pipe mainly because there aren’t any tobacconists around here.

 

[tschiraldi]

I have purchased pipes from many on line retailers, several overseas. I have yet to have a bad experience. I have also purchased from forum members and Ebay. I only had one issue there, from a reputable Ebay seller that sold me my first, and only, Dunhill that was advertised as original. After receiving the pipe I noticed the stem was a replacement. The seller took it back, then promptly blocked me from buying from him. We exchanged a few emails, but he refused to let me buy from him because I had returned a pipe. SMH. I now only buy artisan (Jesse Jones & Chal Goussard) pipes that I see in person. Not because I dislike buying on line, but because I just love those pipes and Jesse is a short drive away. I will make an exception for old Sasieni pipes, at the right price.

 

[haparnold]

I was fortunate to 'grow up' in pipe smoking near a well-stocked B&M, and I got to handle a lot of fine pipes that I couldn't afford as an undergraduate, which helped develop my eye for pipes. However, the bulk of my purchases have been online, both due to my preference for older English estate pipes, and due to my desire to get a good deal. I'm willing to pay a markup on tobacco to support my current B&M, but their pipe prices are unreasonable to me (example: they currently have a Dunhill Cumberland group 4 billiard for over $1,000 that's been sitting on the shelf so long the stem is getting oxidized). No matter how much I support my local B&M, I'm not paying more than double what I'd pay online for a 'new' pipe that would need to be worked on before I smoked it.

 

[crashthegrey]

I really prefer in person, but I buy online often to get what I am looking for. When I commission a pipe, even if I buy in person, I'm still trusting the maker to make what I wanted. It is not often you refuse a commission. So I take the same gamble buying online. If we lived in a perfect world, we would smoke a few bowls through it before deciding. Oh, interested anecdote. I bought a pipe from a maker in Serbia. I told him I prefer to buy in person and he mailed me the pipe to handle before deciding if I would buy it. Talk about instilling confidence in your buyers. It was a great pipe and I paid for it immediately upon inspecting it. It is an olive wood carved to look like a leather wrapped pipe, including real stitching. Great pipe.

 

[cigrmaster]

I would much rather buy in person but that is no longer possible. I use a strict set of criteria when I buy a pipe and the internet makes it pretty easy. Between pictures and dimension descriptions I am never surprised when I get the pipe in.

 

[instymp]

For me its like Mail-A-Bride, prefer to see & feel them in person.

But do buy online with a guilty conscious..

 

[bijimangga]

For me here is hard to buy good quality pipe in the fair price, all pipe expensive :roll:

there is cheap pipe too but...you know we all want a good pipe

 

[lifesizehobbit]

I'm a mix dependent on the item and the potential vendor. Certain items like instruments, tools, etc. I like to see, feel and experience before I buy; when I do, I like to support local when possible. Other things I won't hesitate to buy online since there would be nothing on the box I could read that the internet and reviews couldn't tell me.
As a person of shorter stocky stature, I can honestly say I've had fair luck buying shoes/clothes online once I know the manufacturer and the vendor and how they match up to my sizes. Amazon has been a huge thing for me with their return policies and their expanding model especially for clothing.
Where pipes are concerned, my nearest B&M is over 45 minutes from me so getting there isn't as simple as it could be. I've had excellent experience with our sponsoring vendors so I don't shy away from an online pipe purchase.
YMMV