Should I Buy This Pipe?
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Okay, so I'm going to grab a hunk of briar, cut two holes in it, shove a stem inside, dye it black and polish it to a mirror shine then stick it up for sale for 20 G's. Maybe someone will be just crazy enough....
Holy shit. Well, there you have it. Someone that had the money thought it was a good buy, hence why these pipes keep showing up. I sometimes wonder about the people that can afford things like this, like what they do for a living. I also wonder if this pipe will be smoked or set aside and receive the white glove treatment forever. What would be the estate price for it in a few years? Would it fetch about the same price if unsmoked, or is it like a brand new car, losing about 20% of its value the minute it's driven off the lot?
Xu Hai was Lars Ivarssson's last apprentice. He's been carving for a fairly decent amount of time as far as I know. His name is REALLY big in Asia and he's made a splash in the European market as well. That's why the pipes are fetching those higher price points. When Xu first came on to SmokingPipes some collectors were absolutely losing their minds at the prices which were around $3,000 plus or minus a grand or two. Some collectors were even saying on social media that it was outrageous this new carver was fetching those kinds of prices and some established American carvers weren't getting those kinds of prices. Personally I don't fault SP for carrying a new carver at the current international prices. If a carver has proven their self in the Asian market or European market to warrant those prices I totally understand SP one bringing them on and two putting the prices where they are internationally.
I learned recently to never say, "I'd never spend that much on a pipe!". I do however feel I can say the only way I could buy one of those pipes is if I somehow inherited a fortune or hit it big at one of the casinos here in Las Vegas. I don't see that happening, but if it does maybe I end up with a few Xu Hai pipes.
I learned recently to never say, "I'd never spend that much on a pipe!". I do however feel I can say the only way I could buy one of those pipes is if I somehow inherited a fortune or hit it big at one of the casinos here in Las Vegas. I don't see that happening, but if it does maybe I end up with a few Xu Hai pipes.
carolinachurchwarden - That price point, I'm saying probably when you hit like $3,000 and up, is really a very small select group of collectors. I regularly go to the West Coast Pipe Show and I don't think I've ever run into a collector that's had pipes in that range. My uneducated guess would be that whoever bought it knows that Xu Hai was Lars' last apprentice and is anticipating it growing in value in the next 5yrs or so because of that, especially if it's left not smoked. Maybe even guessing that collectors of Lars might, down the road, be interested in amassing pipes from carvers he trained. It's a possibility that collectors may go in that direction and the pipes Xu is putting out now are very close to Lars' passing which some may view that it has more of Lars' influence on them. That or someone was signed in, looked at it, and accidentally fat fingered the checkout button lol.
I was in the area when it happened, but I did not buy it. I did just take possession of my S.T. Dupont lighter, delivered at $25.00.
Sold!!! Ha, I love it when that happens. People with funny names always get a higher price on their work. :
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I know a wedding photographer who was doing well enough at competitive rates in a major metro area. He decided to place a few ads in some select markets with a listed price of $20,000. Within a year his business was booming and he was well into six figures and working less than previously, with clients from around the world. It was a huge gamble but it paid off handsomely.
I know it doesn't work that way for most, but that perception of exclusivity based on price alone is a tempting draw for those who have the means.
I know it doesn't work that way for most, but that perception of exclusivity based on price alone is a tempting draw for those who have the means.
It blows my mind that being the apprentice to someone can cause your value to go up to those levels. I am not agreeing or disagreeing, I am just amazed at the reality of that concept.
Sometimes it is just presentation. and +1 on what Techie says. Sometimes all you have to do to get the big fish to bite is raise your prices. But, selling at lower prices can kill your chances of ever doing any big game fishing. Also, raising your prices can cause the cheapskates to all bitch and complain. And, oddly enough, the low end buyers bitching and complaining can attract the big fish back. The market is a weird place, and not intuitive at all.
Trust me! The buyer of that pipe gave absolutely no thought to resale value or pondered if the price was right. It wasn't purchased as an investment. He might smoke it regularly, display it or, fondle it once or twice then, put it aside and forget he owns it along side the Patek watch his wife gifted him. He has people to tell him what time it is so he doesn't want a watch.
Or, it could have been purchased by someone with money who pinches every penny simply because it scratched an itch he had.
Or, it could have been purchased by someone with money who pinches every penny simply because it scratched an itch he had.
Trust me! The buyer of that pipe gave absolutely no thought to resale value or pondered if the price was right. It wasn't purchased as an investment. He might smoke it regularly, display it or, fondle it once or twice then, put it aside and forget he owns it along side the Patek watch his wife gifted him. He has people to tell him what time it is so he doesn't want a watch.
Or, it could have been purchased by someone with money, who pinches every penny, simply because it scratched an itch he had. He possibly suffered from PAD.
Or, it could have been purchased by someone with money, who pinches every penny, simply because it scratched an itch he had. He possibly suffered from PAD.
It's difficultr to infer anything on whomever bought it, because it would merely be guessing. Who knows, maybe it gives him a hardon every time he looks at it, and his wife needs all the help she can get. ::
Maybe it is the last one in a long series of pipes by Calligraphy masters from across China, or maybe the guys has to spend $500,000 by noon today, or else he doesn't get to keep his inheritance.
:Maybe it is the last one in a long series of pipes by Calligraphy masters from across China, or maybe the guys has to spend $500,000 by noon today, or else he doesn't get to keep his inheritance.
And, if we took into consideration, resale value, none of us would ever buy a pipe. ::
Like a car, you've pretty much ruined resale value as soon as you fire it up and drive it off the lot.
:Like a car, you've pretty much ruined resale value as soon as you fire it up and drive it off the lot.
Right. If my net worth was, say, 20 billions of US dollars, none of those purchases in the pipe world would be noticed. The Ferrari, probably, and my accountant might cluck his tongue a few times.
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