The One That Got Away....

[addamsruspipe]

I spotted in the distance. Just a glimmer in the morning mist. The pot at the end of the rainbow. The powerball lottery. The treasure chest under the X. The siren calling to you. The one you have been searching for. Your soul mate. That pipe you have been searching for. And in the last seconds as you are waiting to hit the confirm on your bid your computer locks up and you lose. A 1950's Stanwell #34 rusticated. Any one else have a story of the one that got away.

 

[alan73]

Oh, I feel your pain. there was this awesome Vollmer and Nilsson Pipe I was bidding on, about a year ago. It was awesome, the shank and stem were thick and curved, maybe the fanciest stem work I’ve ever seen, it was like artwork. I was waiting til the end and was willing to pay $200 more than the final bidder paid. My stupid phone froze up . I was pissed. I think about that pipe all the time. Out of the hundreds or thousands of auctions I have participated in, that is the only auction I regret losing.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

That happened to me with a high grade Nording earlier in the year. Lost my internet connection. It's heartbreaking. Other times I've done it to myself. Found a pipe online, figured I'd go back to it in just a few moments while I browsed elsewhere... and poof! Gone. Sorry you lost your pipe.

 

[ssjones]

Quite a few....
This 2nd year Ashton Author. At that time, a $200 plus pipe was unobtainable, so I didn't bid. I've never seen another Ashton like it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASHTON-PEBBLE-GRAIN-XXX-PIPE-CHUBBY-AUTHOR-1985-/111202239811?hash=item19e42b8543&nma=true&si=eRjkQZWJwY2FU9JEwSoMi5bi6GE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Lost this one by about $25,never seen another like it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/COMOY-S-SILVER-BAND-PIPE-EARLY-SCRIPT-LOGO-/382144552831?hash=item58f9971f7f&nma=true&si=eRjkQZWJwY2FU9JEwSoMi5bi6GE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Lost this one by $40 or so, but I did find another this year.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GBD-VINTAGE-ESTATE-PIPE-BENT-9242-LONDON-ENGLAND-/262046223699?hash=item3d032c0d53&nma=true&si=eRjkQZWJwY2FU9JEwSoMi5bi6GE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[sablebrush52]

I've lost quite a few over the years, but the only one that I still think about from time to time happened about 10 years ago when I was bidding on a cased set of Barlings from 1915 (my father's birth year). The other bidder, from Singapore, just wanted it worse than I did. We were at well more than three times the market value for the set when that voice of sanity whispered, "Just let the asshole have it." and I stopped counter bidding.

 

[piffyr]

Within the past year. 1923 Dunhill Shell. Dirty but solid. All nomenclature intact. I just forgot about it. It sold for about $60. I'm still waking up at night thinking about it.

 

[cigrmaster]

Jesse, that must have been tough to let go, sorry you had some jagoff jack the price too high.
I let a 1957 Dunhill get away from me as I couldn't justify the price for a pipe that I just didn't love. If it were not a 1957, I would have never looked twice at it. Unfortunately there are not a lot of 1957's that come around.

 

[mso489]

Don't feel too badly. That's ebay. Consider my situation, ordering a pipe from one of the large sponsor retailers and having someone else click on it ten seconds before I did, and my receiving the bad news. At least I've never had anyone grab a pipe from my hands at my local independent pipe shop. We're not there yet. That would be pipe rugby. In that case, I would curl my body around the pipe and fall to the floor feigning a seizure.

 

[crashthegrey]

Al, you torture yourself by holding onto those links? You are a glutton for punishment.

 

[joeman]

I saw the buy-it-now listing for that pipe...I was tempted to snag it, but didn't. However, that's the second one I've seen in the last few months...so it'll only be a matter of time. You'll get another chance...and let's hope your PC supports you better next time.

 

[addamsruspipe]

It can definitely be scream worthy. There are pipes that you like, and then there are pipes that just sing to you. The shape, the grain, the rustication. When you lose out on one of those it really bites. But I will find one. I have sworn on life of my oldest daughters first boyfriend that one day it will be mine.

 

[ssjones]

I try to remember to save interesting Ebay auctions under "My Collections". They hold the photos and info for at least several years, good for research later and self-flagellation.
They can only be save before the auction ends, that function is not available after it ends.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

It never gets away. That's what the credit card is for, to ensure that it doesn't. Although, I have found the 'one' usually ends up not being the 'one' for one reason or another. Usually because there's another 'one' that comes along.

 

[mikethompson]

The only pipe I regret not having is any of my grandfathers. I have a great picture of him bouncing a young mikethompson on his lap with two of his pipes on his side table. He gave up the briar years ago and the pipes disappeared. Either of them would be a great momento of his.