it's certainly complicated. A lot of the higher end pipes are hand carved which equals that the person making it can produce fewer pipes in the same time but also can do things like work with the grain and carve it be free of obvious flaws. But a cheap or expensive pipe can range in how well it smokes. But most of the pipes for sale on reputable sites are good pipes whatever the price.This is something I’ve been curious about looking at the price range of pipes. Seems like the spread can go from $25 to $2500, and everywhere in between. Haven’t found what a guy can reasonably spend for a pipe to be considered “ok” or pretty good.
I recall my father smoked the Dr. Grabow pipes and Borgum Riff forever and never seemed to have an interest in changing up.
I guess if you’ve found something that works, that’s a good thing.
I can see though where buying something and not making a good choice could turn a guy off though from the entire hobby.