I'm sorry in advance to ask a kind of naive question as I'm a person who really knows nothing about business. I live in Japan and I notice that a certain kind of attractive line of pipes aren't represented at all in the Japanese market. I was just wondering: Is it possible to get a wholesale price from a large pipe company to sell their pipes? Is it just in the realm of possibility? Like, some kind of discount for buying a gross? I just feel very silly because I know nothing. I look around at what Japan doesn't have and I see very big holes. I just think...I wonder...Do I need someone to slap me in the face and tell me to stop dreaming? Thanks all and happy holidays!
Naive question about wholesale and business for a patient person
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Thanks. You’re probably right. I was looking at people’s auction businesses in Japan because that’s where I live. How do they do it? Is it just a hobby? It seems like a lot of work for some of them. You know what I was thinking about Japan? Ropp pipes are like a perfect product they dont have. Japanese love tradition and new Ropps are fine looking affordable bits of tradition. They market themselves so well. Pardon the pun, but I suppose I’m not the only bloke who’s had the pipe dream of turning his hobby into more. You’re right, it’s not sensible. It’s a fun idea though. I don’t know why Japan has certain things but not others.
ask away. Remember they want to make money. That's one of the things they're trying to do. So it's worth contacting the makers with any serious offers. The worst thing they can do is make fun of you and say no. But I promise there is literally almost no chance they'll send a hit man after you.
Ha ha. But I think I’m dreaming. I’ve no business sense but I think Ropp pipes would sell like hot cakes where I live in Japan. They look great and they have a great kind of self-marketing quality. I see the way people have these yahoo auction businesses but I wonder if they really make any money. There are certain pipes, like the new Ropps, that simply aren’t available in Japan.
The aesthetic sensibility in Japan may not support pipes other than what you see available—the selection you see may be deliberate and chosen based on the experience of the vendor dealing with customers and what they prefer and buy.
That’s true. I have a hunch though. I haven’t actually been up in the big stores in Tokyo but I see what’s in the tobacco stores in Osaka and I see what’s on the auctions and can infer from that what’s sold and has been sold in Tokyo. I can also kind of see what happened in the bubble years and guess how things went after that. Right now, there are a few people on yahoo auction Japan that find nice looking European pipes, some of them no-name, some of them Danish or French, photograph them well, and people, bid. They always do. The pipes that don't get bid on are the Ivaarson’s with huge starting prices and lots of new regularly priced pipes that may take a while to strike people’s fancy. Also junk. But really handsome pipes at reasonable prices of any sort, vintage ones, they always go, no matter what they are. Of course people always snap up the well known names: Stanwells, Dunhills (on the expensive side), Well-kept Petersons and Savinellis, Winslows, and many, many, many, (Many), more. I just think no one’s ever tried to sell those Ropps here. I haven’t see a one. I’m pretty sure someone would snap it up, especially one with the horn stem. Especially if it were nicely presented on an auction site. Japanese like stuff that looks good, has a good story and history and exudes some kind of taste. These are pioe smokers after all. Just my hunch.
If you feel this strongly about it, just reach out and contact Ropp. You'll probably want to put together a plan including some numbers. As was previously stated, the worse thing that can happen is they'll say no.
Thanks so much for your thoughts. I suppose it’s easy enough to just buy one or two and sell them just to see. Then one can give it more thought. It’s true pipes are market for the audience like anything else. It’s also true that things have changed so much. Now, people buy much more online and also everything is much more limited. When I look at what the big tobacco outlets here are selling, I’m shocked at how expensive it is and how limited it is. Petersons and Savinellis, for example, are much more expensive in Japan than the U.S. Part of it is the shipping and the currency devaluation.
Honestly, it’s better right now to sell the other way, because of currency value. There are so many old people here in Japan. If one loves pipes and has business sense (which I don’t), one should find a way into old Japanese men’s boxes and junk to pull out those Dunhills, Comoys, etc., and export them. Importing when 100 yen only buys you 70₵ Is a fool’s errand. I buy a pipe now and then from this guy. I doubt he makes much money but it’s a nice hobby. I can’t afford to buy so many new pipes but I love touching them. I’d like a way to just keep different pipes in my life: ヤフオク! - happyamericajpさんの出品リスト - https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/seller/happyamericajp
I see some Japanese pipe smokers on Instagram. Most seem to enjoy middle of the road pipes. Nothing fancy. They might enjoy well cared for estate pipes. Wabi sabi and what not. Which might work with occasional Peterson stem issues. On the other hand, S. Korean pipe smokers seem to enjoy most expensive pipes they can get, imperfection will not work. Get couple and auction them off to see how they response.
Things have changed a lot since the bubble years. Back in the 80s, Japanese bought up very expensive beautiful Danish pipes. They're still on auction every week but no one wants to sell their house to meet the reserve prices. I'm not sure I agree about this though. I guess we'd have to go into the details more. Certainly the bubble years are way over. There's a certain amount of variety within a limit in Japan. But yeah, there's a limit. Japanese did buy a lot of Danish pipes once upon a time.