This Just Makes Me Sick
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I always think of the pipe community as being a better group of people. Most of the time it is correct. This is a shame.
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The way I see it, there are plenty of rich people with more money than sense. And they didn't have the sense to buy McClelland when the gettin was good.
Now, if they want to piss away their yacht gas money and overpay for some tins late to the game, all is fair. Hopefully, the seller is just a poor shnook looking to pay his bills or sees an opportunity to stock his cellar deeper on the cheap by flipping a few tins. That's capitalism, supply/demand, and nobody is twisting the buyer's arm.
That said, there is no way I would pay these ridiculous asking prices either, no matter how much I want it.
It's really no different than what happens after an Esoterica delivery. The scalpers descend to snap up the goods, then turn around and sell it for a 500% profit. The only difference is the scale of it, because there are literally tons of McClelland around. Granted, scalpers are capitalizing on the shock caused by the unexpected disappearance of one of the pillars of the pipe tobacco scene. And buyers are willing to be screwed. Without willing to be screwed buyers, there are no scalpers. It remains to be seen how far and how long this will go, especially after the shock wears off.
Who the buyers are, I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were overseas buyers who had limited access to these blends and just want a tin or two to have. Here's yet another reminder that we pay far less on average for a tin of tobacco than anywhere else on earth. And then we bitch about the cost.
So, while this freak show continues, I'll watch it, because it's interesting behavior. And, I'll be happy that I listened to others and started cellaring years ago, so that I have what I want when I want it.
And it reminds me of a truism that is being reinforced:
Never give a sucker an even break.
Who the buyers are, I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were overseas buyers who had limited access to these blends and just want a tin or two to have. Here's yet another reminder that we pay far less on average for a tin of tobacco than anywhere else on earth. And then we bitch about the cost.
So, while this freak show continues, I'll watch it, because it's interesting behavior. And, I'll be happy that I listened to others and started cellaring years ago, so that I have what I want when I want it.
And it reminds me of a truism that is being reinforced:
Never give a sucker an even break.
I agree with chasingembers, at this point I'll just smoke it and enjoy it.. (I wonder what my Wilderness would go for now..) :
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Well said, Sablebrush. Very true that the current prices on ebay we consider exhorbitant are within the normal realm of prices for europeans, australians, etc.
And my quest to cellar some McClelland tins really only started in earnest with the demise of 5100, which I wish I had more of, and that was the writing on the wall for me.
And my quest to cellar some McClelland tins really only started in earnest with the demise of 5100, which I wish I had more of, and that was the writing on the wall for me.
It may be geezer advice -- it is -- but I think it's the time to sample around and see what long-standing less expensive blends are appealing to you, either as-is or mixed with other similarly available blends. If you follow your heart's yearnings, at this point in pipe smoking history, you're going to get ripped off for sure. I don't mean stop buying your favorites, just have a plan B. Some bag, pouch, and tub tobacco is far better than its image.
Really? The goods are not something essential to life (though I might and we might argue differently).
It's unfortunate and unpleasant, but there's nothing unscrupulous about supply and demand.
I was never heavily into McClelland, except for their red Virginias, and I had stocked up on those. I did buy a few tins of other McClelland blends to smoke when the handwriting was on the wall. But this just isn't a big deal for me because my smoking interests mostly went in a different direction.
I still have the 5100 I bought several years ago because I found it too monochromatic to smoke on its own, so it's been jarred until I find the time to start blending. 2015 and 2010 I have stocked, great blends for the buck.
Hopefully the majority of McClelland fans were able to cellar their favorites over the years, because McClelland was always going to end at some point, according to the founders.
Time to go exploring and find other great blends. There are a LOT of them.
I still have the 5100 I bought several years ago because I found it too monochromatic to smoke on its own, so it's been jarred until I find the time to start blending. 2015 and 2010 I have stocked, great blends for the buck.
Hopefully the majority of McClelland fans were able to cellar their favorites over the years, because McClelland was always going to end at some point, according to the founders.
Time to go exploring and find other great blends. There are a LOT of them.
Buying all the bottled water in an emergency and then marking it up 500% is unscrupulous.
Selling tobacco for the price you can get for it is not.
Selling tobacco for the price you can get for it is not.
I tend to agree with this if the tobacco in question comes from someone's cellar with some age on it.
When you buy something from a retailer and turn around and sell it for double the price the next...then you are taking advantage of people. Maybe not unscrupulous, but certainly not a very nice thing to do. Some of the people paying those high prices on ebay could have perhaps purchased the same tin of tobacco at the normal price if these sellers had not scooped up lots of 50 or more tins at a time from SP or P&C.
I don't take it as a given that this happened to any appreciable degree. Even if it DID, people who decided to last minute buy so they could try something they hadn't felt the need to up to this point might just have to deal with their indecisiveness. That's the boat I'm rowing and I'll not get to try a lot of things because I won't pay any more than $6 or $7 an ounce for anything. Ever. C'est la vie. It would have run out sooner than later anyhow, "flippers" or no.
It's just quite simply not taking advantage of people. There's no shakedowns happening here. People are bidding on things they want to buy of their own free will.
Not sure how you can consider it unscrupulous. If there's nobody there to buy it, these sellers will end up holding the bag and wondering how they're going to pay off their credit card bills. It's no different than drugs, take away the buyers and the sellers are out of business.
The word on McClelland was out since some time in December. There were numerous times on the internet big three where there were discounts of up to 20% offered. Frankly, if you ignored the obvious writing on the wall while some opportunistic jackleg didn't, blame yourself and not the jackleg.
The exact same thing appears to be happening with Dunhill at this very moment. If you're a Dunhill fan, you best be stocking up right now. Otherwise, you're going to be posting on a thread a few months from now complaining how someone is selling Dunhill tins for $100 each. As the old saying goes, you can shit in one hand or you can hope in the other (hope that Dunhill really isn't going out of business), then see which hand fills up first.
The word on McClelland was out since some time in December. There were numerous times on the internet big three where there were discounts of up to 20% offered. Frankly, if you ignored the obvious writing on the wall while some opportunistic jackleg didn't, blame yourself and not the jackleg.
The exact same thing appears to be happening with Dunhill at this very moment. If you're a Dunhill fan, you best be stocking up right now. Otherwise, you're going to be posting on a thread a few months from now complaining how someone is selling Dunhill tins for $100 each. As the old saying goes, you can shit in one hand or you can hope in the other (hope that Dunhill really isn't going out of business), then see which hand fills up first.
The moral compass is lacking in some. While you can justify it and consider it not unscrupulous and not taking advantage of someone, the sad reality is that buying tins at a low price knowing that they will get jacked up to unprecedented levels is shady. I have no problem with guys hoarding for their own cellar, but by definition, taking advantage of includes, "exploit or make unfair use of for one's own benefit." I'm not buying any of the price jacked McClelland or Dunhill tobacco, so I am not whining about it. But if we are honest with ourselves, anyone buying this tobacco just to charge someone more later lacks a moral character that I look for and respect in my fellow human beings.
I'm not doing it, but I couldn't care less if someone else is. Buy low sell high isn't in-and-of itself immoral. Who is being exploited here exactly? Doofuses who are using their own money as they please?
I don't see the shadiness, this seems like business 101 to me.
Take the above sentence and substitute gold coins, houses, beanie babies, gasoline, whatever........ or are you saying capitalism in general is shady?
I once sold a house for twice what I paid, does that make me shady?
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