Pipe Collection Succession Planning

[dunnyboy]

What do you plan to do with your pipe collection once you cease to smoke? I realize this a morbid question, and likely a private one too, but I doubt I'm the only one who's thought about it. Especially for those gentlemen and ladies with large, high caliber collections, succession planning must be a consideration.

Many of these collections, I suspect, will be broken up and put up for auction. Considering the time and love and erudition that went into amassing them, that seems a shame. What we need is a pipe museum to which these collections, including their pipe-related paraphernalia, can be donated (for a tax deduction)—with a digital catalogue that can be referenced and enjoyed by pipe smokers around the world. I have no idea who would sponsor such a museum but the great folks at Laudisi come to mind.

My plan, yet to conveyed to my wife, is to send my small collection to Smoking Pipes estates. My heirs can realize a modest return and the pipes can have a future life.

 

[username]

I'm going to do like a member of our pipe club did and leave it to the club to be disseminated amongst the members.

 

[ashdigger]

My plan, which my offspring already know about, involves five contacts and this Forum with my information.

I have pipes way too valuable for Smoking Pipes, no shade on them, but there are better ways.

Mind you, I’m 62 and have no plans of sucking starting a pistol or ending up in a ditch anytime soon.

 

[captainsousie]

My nephew has a catalog with values and will sell them and distribute the funds to the family. Should be a couple thousand dollars altogether.

 

[Hillcrest]

Mind you, I’m 62 and have no plans of sucking starting a pistol or ending up in a ditch anytime soon.

Neither would work with that giant 1923 Deluxe 01 in the way !!! Now that's smart planning !

 

[bootlegpipes]

My plan, which my offspring already know about, involves five contacts and this Forum with my information.

I have pipes way too valuable for Smoking Pipes, no shade on them, but there are better ways.

Mind you, I’m 62 and have no plans of sucking starting a pistol or ending up in a ditch anytime soon.

If one of those 5 croak before you do, let me know how I can apply for his spot.

 

[Mike N]

I think most of us who have built a pipe and tobacco “collection“ after a few decades have a dealer or two we trust to be fair with our heirs. I plan on giving those names to my executor and telling him who to contact to obtain a quote to purchase the lot, less any my two adult sons and son-in-law may want to keep as a momento. Selling hundreds of pipes on eBay is just too arduous to ask. Perhaps a table at the Columbus show would be a good way to offload my tobacco cellar,

Also, like many of us, I have artisan (J Alan, Tom Eltang, Adam Davidson, etc.) and high grade “factory” (Castello, Ser Jacopo etc.) pipes in my case that are unsmoked that I just like to look at on occasion. I hope I break down and smoke a few bowls from each eventually. Sure, an estate pipe that has been smoked is worth much less (60 cents on the dollar?) than an unsmoked pipe. But every time I see a non-smoking great nephew selling his uncle’s “unsmoked” pipes on eBay for a few extra bucks, I admit I feel sorry for the decedent’s lost experience.

 

[Steddy]

I suppose what ever is the easiest way for my family to deal with and profit from my pipes and tobacco. Smoking pipes estates and Pipestud perhaps.

Maybe if I end up liking at least one of you bastards I’ll send some your way.

 

[forloveoffreedom]

Throw it all in a box and ship it to Pipestud. Hopefully there isn’t much tobacco left and all the pipes have burn holes lol. Now I just have to live to 150.

 

[Servant King]

I'll be taking mine with me to the afterlife. Duh!

 

[VDL_Piper]

Bury me with one……….just in case and I will give the rest to my children as I feel that as stinky as they are my kids will love being able to hold them and reminisce. They are a tactile piece of me and I think they will be loved in a different way other than how I have loved them.

 

[Sig]

The same thing will happen to my pipes as the rest of my collections.
The wife will move out, then burn the house down.

 

[ClinchKnot]

Best way to have a say in the destiny of your collection is to do something about it yourself while you still can. I’ve known two pipe smokers with world class collections whose wishes were completely ignored. One collection was trashed. The other was sold by a consignment company who did a real hack job with the listings.

 

[Mike N]

Best way to have a say in the destiny of your collection is to do something about it yourself while you still can. I’ve known two pipe smokers with world class collections whose wishes were completely ignored. One collection was trashed. The other was sold by a consignment company who did a real hack job with the listings.

Yet further evidence that while it is hard to control the actions of your loved ones when you’re above ground, it is nearly impossible to do so from six feet under. Best you can hope for is to raise ‘em up right and smoke ‘em now if you got them.

 

[Waning Embers]

What do you plan to do with your pipe collection once you cease to smoke?

 

[bootlegpipes]

View attachment 392086

Please send the location of the trash collection company you use.

 

[NookersTheCat]

This is essentially the same dilemma I've run into with my antique firearms.
I definitely think there's just as many deluded collectors who think their collection is worth a Bill Gate's fortune as their are ones who think they're worthless... the truth, as with most things, is usually somewhere in between.
And with most collectibles, the value can be highly subjective based upon small variations in the piece as well as the amount of enthusiasm/delusion of the person you find to make a deal with.

I'm still relatively young at 32.. so while I hope/pray that one day I'll have children who are interested in my hobbies and happy to make my collections their own.. in the meantime my solution is to just make a simple hand written list with each item enumerated and a rough, conservative value estimate of each.

Along with simply explaining to the people in my life who'd be responsible (parents right now, perhaps my significant other one day if things keep going well) The idea that "These things are probably more valuable than you realize, so do not just sell them in a single lot to the first guy you can find with a few hundred/thousand bucks in hand"

But I definitely think the way to view most collectibles is as "a fun way to spend time while also leaving behind a nice bonus for family" rather than as a literal "nest egg"

 

[Sobrbiker]

Like my other hobbies, support personnel are advised to tell my wife what I really spent on them.

 

[Terry Lennox]

Do not underestimate your loved one's need for the easiest most painless option. They may just include pipes in a general estate sale. Tobacco is even harder to deal with, and many pipers overestimate what their tins are worth (minus fees and shipping etc). Best to deal with it yourself, before it becomes an issue. Raise the cash for yourself, and just keep a few smokers for the end by your bedside. Try to be realistic and practical.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My mother threw away eight sets of my granddad's golf clubs when he passed, and he was a semi-pro golfer. And, she gave away his golf cart. Making money off of the dead or cashing in on their belongings just isn't a part of the way my family does things. When my dad passed I was left with his land, and I already had inherited land, so I just gave it to other family members who needed it. We aren't a greedy bunch.
I've seen way more families turn into evil greed monsters that would not let go of a single inch till real estate held up in courts just collapsed with neglect.

My family can have whatever they want, and have instructions to just do away with whatever's left. The more we give away, the more that comes back to us in times of need. Faith in the good father is more powerful than trying to nickel and dime your way through this land.
YMMV