Just floating an idea...

[Butter Side Down]

Just floating an idea here. Curious to see what people think. Maybe it's a good idea. Or maybe I need to leave the thinking to the people who have some experience at it.

Ok. So background: I recently picked up the pipe again after a long hiatus. Back before, I was smoking 5-6 pipes a day. Now I'm at somewhere around 5 pipes a week, and due to some health crud I don't want to get into, it's highly unlikely it's going to increase. Anyway, the offshoot is that the time I spend doing it now is a lot more precious to me so I'm trying to stick to things that are known, reliable favorites. I don't really want to waste a pipe smoking something that I think is just "pretty good" and I sure as heck don't want to waste time experimenting with things that I may like because I like X (but very likely won't enjoy as much as I enjoy X).

Which leads me to... I have some things in my cellar which, though "Meh" to me, are probably desirable to someone else. We're not talking sealed balkan sobranie from 1984 desirable, but still, stuff that someone would probably be pretty happy to get their hands on. Before I go any further, I want to put this right up front. Please don't send me PMs asking me what I have cause I'm not even sure I want to get rid of it yet and even if I did, I don't even have enough posts yet to do business in the FS/FT threads, and aside from that I don't want to get banned because I tried to circumvent forum rules.

But I digress. Now, as part of the way I was raised, I think of it as sinful to let things go to waste, especially things you have that you don't really want that someone else would be quite happy to have.

So I'm thinking about, when I have enough posts, maybe putting some of that stuff up in FS/FT. I want to make it clear about another thing. I'm not looking to make some kind of huge profit here. I just want the stuff to go directly to someone who actually wants it and will smoke it and enjoy it. But it seems like there's some mixed feelings about that due to a whole bunch of stuff that I don't really understand about flippers and China that happened some time during my hiatus. And I don't really want to get into that and please god, don't let me be responsible for starting a flame war just because I mentioned it. But the fact that people still seem to get pretty hot about it got me thinking. Finally, now we get to the floating the idea part!

Has anybody ever tried to do an auction here? Like "Here's what I have. It's from this date. Minimum bid is X dollars. PM me your bid. Highest US bidder by 5pm Friday gets it." My idea/hope is that would mean it would sell for what it's actually worth, which would make it not worthwhile for a flipper, and it would go to someone who wanted it for their own use.

Now, I generally start off with the expectation that people are going to behave in a way that's decent and honest. More often than I'd like, I'm disappointed in that expectation. And unfortunately, I don't really have the kind of mind that's great at anticipating all the vulnerable cracks in Utopia that unscrupulous folks are going to try to start trying to jimmy open the minute nobody is looking. In short, I need someone to bring me back to reality by explaining all the ways that the idea, well-intentioned though it may be, will obviously lead to the downfall of civilization.

So I come to you guys...

 

[warren]

My idea/hope is that would mean it would sell for what it's actually worth, which would make it not worthwhile for a flipper, and it would go to someone who wanted it for their own use.

Worth is determined by the buyer, not the seller. Despite your disclaimer it appears to me that you are indeed looking to make a few dollars off the membership.

That's a lot of verbiage to justify your methopd of selling. I wonder how many here will actually read all of it? Good luck with it though.

 

[blackpowderpiper]

If you have some good tobacco, and you offer it at a fair price, you'll have no trouble getting rid of it. If you're concerned about flippers, place a minimum post requirement for potential buyers. I would suggest a minimum of 250 posts. Will help eliminate some of the riff raff.

 

[Auxsender]

TL;DR
Wanna turn this into an auction site? What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Sobrbiker]

I’d selfishly suggest (if not letting things go to waste is truly the intent) getting some samples into the pipes of those new to the hobby rather than expanding the hoarding cellars of the highest bidders.

 

[Butter Side Down]

I’d selfishly suggest (if not letting things go to waste is truly the intent) getting some samples into the pipes of those new to the hobby rather than expanding the hoarding cellars of the highest bidders.

Fair point. This is definitely worth considering as an alternative.

Do gifts/giveaways need to go in the FS/FT area?

 

[AJL67]

A) I made it through about 30% of that post before I started to just scan it.
B) This isn't an auction site nor is it intended to be.
C) Tinbids IS an auction site and are a sponsor of this site, they are set up for auctions it's what they do and you should probably just post your stuff there.

Best of luck.

 

[PA Piper Mike]

I’d selfishly suggest (if not letting things go to waste is truly the intent) getting some samples into the pipes of those new to the hobby rather than expanding the hoarding cellars of the highest bidders.

This is solid idea. If you have some harder to get or discontinued tobaccos, you could break up some tins and sell off "samples" for any of us who've never had the chance to experience those tobaccos. Of course, you'd want to get a sense of interest before you crack a tin. Maybe, something where if you receive 5 interested people, then you move forward.

The actual auction though, probably best to leave that to tinbids.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Fair point. This is definitely worth considering as an alternative.

Do gifts/giveaways need to go in the FS/FT area?

As I’m no moderator, I can’t answer that. As a neophyte I’d be happy to pay shipping/handling to be able to try new blends.
With no local brick and mortar tobacconists it’s tough on the budget to have even narrowed down what genres are appealing.

 

[Butter Side Down]

Well, I'd like to say it's the first time I've had a bad idea, but that'd be a lie.

And thanks for the tips about post length. I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Unless I'm really trying to hide something.

 

[AJL67]

Well, I'd like to say it's the first time I've had a bad idea, but that'd be a lie.

And thanks for the tips about post length. I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Unless I'm really trying to hide something.

What that wasn't that just one long fishing post for people to PM you questions and try to buy your tins, in a very long winded beat around the bush manner? Dang guess i missed the entire point!

 

[pipingfool]

There are a couple of ways you could go about this....

1. As others have suggested, if you are looking to sell the blends to the top bidder and at least get your money back, then Tinbids is your best bet; Pipestud.com is another avenue that hasn't been suggested yet (Steve Fallon's site; he sells on consignment).

2. If you're less concerned about selling the blends and more about not wanting anything going to waste, then you could use the Search function on this site and enter the name of the blend to find posts related to that blend. That way you can either find people that really love the blend or people who really want to try the blend. Then you can PM them to see about getting it in their hands.

I'm not sure about the rules concerning this, but if you're giving them away as samples, I wouldn't think there would be an issue with the exception of people thinking that you were trying to scam them.

"Hey there Pipingfool! I saw that you really enjoy aged GL Pease Quiet Nights, and I just so happen to have some 10 year old tins that I would like to send to you. Just send me your address and their yours!"

"Not today, Nigerian Prince!" BLOCKED

Keep us posted on how it goes.

Cheers!

 

[fireground_piper]

Tinbids. Solved your entire post and you don’t even need a post count!

Bidding in a closed/private bidding system sounds terrible.

 

[jpberg]

Just a thought here, but next time you have an idea on how to do something on a forum that isn’t done on a forum maybe pm a mod.

 

[Streeper541]

Try Tinbids, one of the site sponsors. I bet they can help you out.

 

[JJ_JJ_JJ_JJ]

If you have some good tobacco, and you offer it at a fair price, you'll have no trouble getting rid of it. If you're concerned about flippers, place a minimum post requirement for potential buyers. I would suggest a minimum of 250 posts. Will help eliminate some of the riff raff.

This is the way

 

[DeerparkDays]

I kind of got bored reading your post, and honestly I have not even read anyones response, my two year old needs to get out of the bath.
It’s simple, look through your tobacco, put aside the stuff you don’t want, list it on here at a price you want and think is fair and sell it. Job done.
I mean absolutely no harm in what I’m saying either!

 

[BriarsAndBottles]

I kind of got bored reading your post, and honestly I have not even read anyones response, my two year old needs to get out of the bath.
It’s simple, look through your tobacco, put aside the stuff you don’t want, list it on here at a price you want and think is fair and sell it. Job done.
I mean absolutely no harm in what I’m saying either!

I feel you on the 2 year old bath situation. I got one of those too, they make life…..interesting. I also got a 5 month old too to add to the insanity.

 

[BriarsAndBottles]

Responding to the OP. I don’t think you need to necessarily need to have a minimum post count. You can tell someone’s engagement by the types of posts. Padding here is exceptionally easy with the “what are you smoking” thread, imo that should almost be eliminated from the count for that very reason. You said not to PM you so I won’t, but there are some of us like me that don’t mind spending a hefty amount on something special, that aren’t quite at 250 yet.

All that being said, Tinbids is your best bet.

 

[Zamora]

I’d selfishly suggest (if not letting things go to waste is truly the intent) getting some samples into the pipes of those new to the hobby rather than expanding the hoarding cellars of the highest bidders.

When I first joined a member was nice enough to offer to send me a starter pack of tobacco samplers from his cellar, curated to give a survey of the different blend types. Sadly I had to decline the offer because of my state's bullshit laws, I'd hate for somebody to get fined or for their hard work to be confiscated.