Buying Estate Tobacco Tins
- Thread starter wyfbane
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I've only bought 5 so far, and have only opened one. This was an ancient tin of Edgeworth and there was no real "seal" to begin with, but the dried out tobacco was in great shape.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/edgeworth-sliced-vintage-tin-opening-pics
The other 4 tins (Murray's Erinmore, 2003 Christmas Cheer and a couple others) appear to be in good shape after close inspection, so I'd say 5 for 5 at this point.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/edgeworth-sliced-vintage-tin-opening-pics
The other 4 tins (Murray's Erinmore, 2003 Christmas Cheer and a couple others) appear to be in good shape after close inspection, so I'd say 5 for 5 at this point.
Thanks guys. I am thinking I will take a stab and let you know.
I did get out of WA this weekend and made it to a B&M so I appeased the TAD a bit anyway. Got some Rattrays, Frog Morton, Dunhill, Mac Baren and a several 1-2 oz bags of bulk to try out.
I did get out of WA this weekend and made it to a B&M so I appeased the TAD a bit anyway. Got some Rattrays, Frog Morton, Dunhill, Mac Baren and a several 1-2 oz bags of bulk to try out.
I'm late to the discussion, but I'll add that I've bought probably a dozen or more estate tins on eBay and have never had any problems.
Know what you're buying before you bid. I'm seeing a lot of listings these days for "vintage" tins that are "no longer available in stores" that clearly aren't vintage and clearly are available in stores, and almost always at lower prices. Some sellers seem to believe that if a tin is dated last year, it is "no longer in production." And some seem to believe that if it's currently out of stock, then it's "out of production." I've seen undated tins of Penzance being offered like this. (Or maybe they're just playing games with eBay restrictions; I don't know.) But especially if you're bidding on a tin from Rattray's, Dunhill, Balkan Sobranie -- or anything else that has been manufactured by multiple blenders or reissued in any way -- you need to know what you're looking at. Because most sellers are either completely ignorant about specifics or coy about them, hoping that you'll bid $200 for a 2oz. tin of the new Balkan Sobranie.
Case in point: I just did a "sealed tin" search on eBay and found one seller who has brand-new tins of Orlik's version of Dunhill's Nightcap and Early Morning Pipe. . . priced at just over $35.00 each! I don't get it. At the same time, I saw a truly rare tin of Sullivan Powell's Gentleman's Mixture which still has days to go but is already over $100, which actually seems fair. (It's a tall 50g canister rather than the round flat tin, and I've never seen one before in my life for Gentleman's Mixture, which is an outstanding blend in its own right.)
If the seller doesn't provide enough photos for you to see what you need to see in order to get at least a general idea of the age, then ask for additional photos. Some sellers are also in the habit of posting no information whatsoever about a tin's age. Unless a tin is clearly older, ask. (Just don't be surprised if they're actually trying to sell brand-new tins for vintage prices.)
This sounds like a no-brainer, but read any descriptions carefully and look at all of the posted photos. It's not unusual to see tins that appear to be sealed in the photos, while the description includes a note that the tin has been opened and there is no tobacco in it.
Finally, there are bargains to be found if you look carefully or if you're searching for something a little off the beaten path. I just sold two 6-year-old tins of a Virginia tobacco that went for about $2 more per-tin than I originally paid. I think that was a steal, given that the blend has six years of age on it. (And this auction got just a single bid; it went for my base asking price, even though there were multiple "watchers.") I've also seen a wide range of winning bids for the same blend over the course of a month; I've seen one of Pease's discontinued Syrians go for $35 one week and $60 the next. It just depends on who happens to be looking for it at any given time. So if you see an auction surpass your maximum, be patient; unless the tin is extremely rare, it's going to come up for sale again.
Bob
Know what you're buying before you bid. I'm seeing a lot of listings these days for "vintage" tins that are "no longer available in stores" that clearly aren't vintage and clearly are available in stores, and almost always at lower prices. Some sellers seem to believe that if a tin is dated last year, it is "no longer in production." And some seem to believe that if it's currently out of stock, then it's "out of production." I've seen undated tins of Penzance being offered like this. (Or maybe they're just playing games with eBay restrictions; I don't know.) But especially if you're bidding on a tin from Rattray's, Dunhill, Balkan Sobranie -- or anything else that has been manufactured by multiple blenders or reissued in any way -- you need to know what you're looking at. Because most sellers are either completely ignorant about specifics or coy about them, hoping that you'll bid $200 for a 2oz. tin of the new Balkan Sobranie.
Case in point: I just did a "sealed tin" search on eBay and found one seller who has brand-new tins of Orlik's version of Dunhill's Nightcap and Early Morning Pipe. . . priced at just over $35.00 each! I don't get it. At the same time, I saw a truly rare tin of Sullivan Powell's Gentleman's Mixture which still has days to go but is already over $100, which actually seems fair. (It's a tall 50g canister rather than the round flat tin, and I've never seen one before in my life for Gentleman's Mixture, which is an outstanding blend in its own right.)
If the seller doesn't provide enough photos for you to see what you need to see in order to get at least a general idea of the age, then ask for additional photos. Some sellers are also in the habit of posting no information whatsoever about a tin's age. Unless a tin is clearly older, ask. (Just don't be surprised if they're actually trying to sell brand-new tins for vintage prices.)
This sounds like a no-brainer, but read any descriptions carefully and look at all of the posted photos. It's not unusual to see tins that appear to be sealed in the photos, while the description includes a note that the tin has been opened and there is no tobacco in it.
Finally, there are bargains to be found if you look carefully or if you're searching for something a little off the beaten path. I just sold two 6-year-old tins of a Virginia tobacco that went for about $2 more per-tin than I originally paid. I think that was a steal, given that the blend has six years of age on it. (And this auction got just a single bid; it went for my base asking price, even though there were multiple "watchers.") I've also seen a wide range of winning bids for the same blend over the course of a month; I've seen one of Pease's discontinued Syrians go for $35 one week and $60 the next. It just depends on who happens to be looking for it at any given time. So if you see an auction surpass your maximum, be patient; unless the tin is extremely rare, it's going to come up for sale again.
Bob
To update my post from yesterday. . .
I actually contacted the eBay seller who had those Orlik Dunhill tins offered for $35+. I asked him if there was something special about them that justified his price. He said no. . . and that he didn't know anything about tobacco. So I explained the Dunhill history for him briefly and told him that while it was impossible to say whether his tins were from the first Orlik wave (which ended when they lost, briefly, US distribution) or the second, current one (when they picked up a new US distributor), I really couldn't see anyone paying more than $20-25 for what was just possibly a five-year-old tin (and might actually be just a month or two old). And I told him that he could buy those exact blends in brand-new, identical tins for less than $10/tin.
What really killed me: He told me he bought them for $13/tin. Which is perfectly reasonable, especially if he picked them up in a B&M. But then he's trying to resell them for $35?! And then, after our e-mail discussion, he said that, based on the information I provided him, he'd be dropping the price to around $22/tin. This was after he learned he could buy the exact same thing from a retailer for less than $10/tin. Who's going to pay more than $20 for a brand-new tin of Dunhill tobacco? I really don't get it.
I told him if he really wanted to reap a return on his investment, he should date the tins and cellar them for 5-10 years. But I guess he'd rather find a sucker than wait. . . or even enjoy them himself.
Bob
I actually contacted the eBay seller who had those Orlik Dunhill tins offered for $35+. I asked him if there was something special about them that justified his price. He said no. . . and that he didn't know anything about tobacco. So I explained the Dunhill history for him briefly and told him that while it was impossible to say whether his tins were from the first Orlik wave (which ended when they lost, briefly, US distribution) or the second, current one (when they picked up a new US distributor), I really couldn't see anyone paying more than $20-25 for what was just possibly a five-year-old tin (and might actually be just a month or two old). And I told him that he could buy those exact blends in brand-new, identical tins for less than $10/tin.
What really killed me: He told me he bought them for $13/tin. Which is perfectly reasonable, especially if he picked them up in a B&M. But then he's trying to resell them for $35?! And then, after our e-mail discussion, he said that, based on the information I provided him, he'd be dropping the price to around $22/tin. This was after he learned he could buy the exact same thing from a retailer for less than $10/tin. Who's going to pay more than $20 for a brand-new tin of Dunhill tobacco? I really don't get it.
I told him if he really wanted to reap a return on his investment, he should date the tins and cellar them for 5-10 years. But I guess he'd rather find a sucker than wait. . . or even enjoy them himself.
Bob
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