What A Joke

[haparnold]

One other point -- I know some will disagree, but i think its a bit absurd that supply pricing doesn't reflect demand. Does it make sense to charge the same amount of a tin of Astley's 44 or Esoterica as a tin of CAO Bella Vanilla, or even close to it? If tins sell out that quickly -- and they know which ones will -- they should increase the price dramatically. Would make good business sense for them, and would dissuade people from building cellars with multiple tins of tobacco they will never smoke but will eventually try to resell at a huge premium.

Absolutely! Why should third party hoarders make all that money by gouging when the merchants can do the gouging instead. Or even better, blenders and manufacturers, the people who actually create the blends, should raise their prices and maybe cut out the retailers altogether by doing direct sales. Germains can sell Stonehaven for $150 directly and make about 10 times what they currently get for it.
Let's take all those worthless people living on fixed incomes and shut them out economically. They don't deserve access to quality tobaccos because they don't have money. They can get by on corn silk or one of these value bulk bags, or they can quit, which is healthier for them. Yep, makes perfect sense.

I seem to recall somebody getting really beat up on here a couple years ago for suggesting manufacturers should raise their prices to make supply equal demand. Tobacco is the only market I can think of where this doesn't happen, for the record.

I don't agree with you here, Sable. Time spent calling B&Ms, setting up email alerts, etc. is still a cost. Why would we prioritize letting people with more search time have tobaccos rather than people with more disposable cash? At least when you pay more, that money changes hands. When you pay in search time, nobody gets that time you spent.

 

[karam]

It’s because people buy it and resell it for more $$$ just going off the brand name.

Oh yeah of course, I wasn't being specific about people who buy from SP, I include those who buy from resellers.

 

[BROBS]

Oh yeah of course, I wasn't being specific about people who buy from SP, I include those who buy from resellers.

Oh. Because even “low” rated esoterica is good tobacco. ?

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Finding out it's all gone 10 minutes after the alert can lead to.....

 

[ofafeather]

The reality is that it’s not a simple linear equation. There are sources out there where you can usually find at least some of what’s hard to get. Sometimes you pay a higher price because those sellers sell in less volume, plus many don’t offer free shipping. Discount sellers rely on volume of sales so they have to move product in order to offer a wide selection. Some blends already come with a premium built in. Solani, St. Bruno, Seattle Pipe Club. Consider blends from quality producers that range from $9-16 for 50g/2oz. Or go with PS bulk blends or even D&R. They move because they are good quality and affordable.

Why do you smoke what you smoke? You like it, can get it and can afford it. And, let’s face it, we know it’s not the people in WA snatching up all the blends because it can be shipped there. MA can’t get flavored tobacco. There is valid reason to stock up when we can because we can be next.

The resale market is different but I think it’s been strong for many years, even pre-internet. It’s one thing to sell aged or discontinued tobacco but to hoard currently produced tobacco for resale back into the current market is not cool in my mind. That’s like scalping. You bought something years ago and are selling it forward? Go for it. It’s like a wine cellar. Smoke some, Let it age, sell/trade some. You have money and time invested and are carrying the risk of something happening to your stock.

And if sellers like SPc didn’t care about us they wouldn’t institute limits.

Sorry. I think I rambled. Lol.

 

[ofafeather]

BTW, to the OP, your complaint is legitimate and you are not alone! We feel your pain! One thing that bugs me is that SP doesn’t leave prices up when something isn’t it stock. I don’t like that bc then I can’t really compare cost of it is in stock elsewhere so I don’t know if it’s worth waiting. Erinmore Flake is a good example. I was #1 on the queue for email notification but wasn’t sure if I should pull the trigger elsewhere. I finally got the notification and found that it was cheaper at another location plus there was a sale. Not a big deal for a tin or two but I wanted 10, a savings of almost 2 tins.

Another problem I have is I can not smoke tobacco that is worth a lot of money. McClelland’s for example. There are so many great tobaccos out there, how can I smoke a $100 tin? Didn’t necessarily buy it for resale. A lot of things I bought to smoke over 20 years but they are now not available or hard to get. At least with eBay cracking down we don’t really have to deal with bidding wars on the resale market.

I’ll shut up now. ?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

It’s because people buy it and resell it for more $$$ just going off the brand name.

Where are all these people reselling at? I realize it obviously happens some but I don't see it on a large scale like people seem to imply it does.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Where are all these people reselling at? I realize it obviously happens some but I don't see it on a large scale like people seem to imply it does.

I was wondering the same thing. Many of us gift and trade.

 

[BROBS]

Where are all these people reselling at? I realize it obviously happens some but I don't see it on a large scale like people seem to imply it does.

good point.. some is on here. when I first joined there were quite a few people unloading lots of bags of semi-recent stuff.

Now I don't think enough has come out recently for people to do that.

and a lot is probably behind the scenes.. Joe X. knows that Jeff Y. wants a bag of Brighton.. picks it up and sells it to him at a slight markup. Or people buy stuff as trade fodder too.

 

[ofafeather]

Where are all these people reselling at? I realize it obviously happens some but I don't see it on a large scale like people seem to imply it does.

I’m with you on that. It is pretty limited. There are several Online tobacco shops that will sell consignment tobacco. eBay is now a no-go. Forum marketplaces are limited. Some probably at Pipe shows, etc, but you’re not looking at a large %. Probably just a real challenge with distribution, especially now during Covid. It should be an interesting scene after the FDA regs fully kick in.

 

[ofafeather]

I was wondering the same thing. Many of us gift and trade.

Exactly.

 

[ofafeather]

good point.. some is on here. when I first joined there were quite a few people unloading lots of bags of semi-recent stuff.

Now I don't think enough has come out recently for people to do that.

and a lot is probably behind the scenes.. Joe X. knows that Jeff Y. wants a bag of Brighton.. picks it up and sells it to him at a slight markup. Or people buy stuff as trade fodder too.

That’s true. If I could get my hands on some G&H Blueberry I might be able to trade someone on here...

 

[ofafeather]

But then you go back to the other side of the convo...there are so many great tobaccos readily available. My goal this year is to make sure I have a shitload in the cellar of stuff I like to smoke so that when it gets that much tougher to purchase and that much more expensive I only have to buy stuff occasionally that is intriguing. NY Tobacco tax on pipe tobacco is %75!!!!! Plus 8% sales tax. Cigars are only like 25% plus sales tax. Then the blends I like disappear.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I’m with you on that. It is pretty limited. There are several Online tobacco shops that will sell consignment tobacco. eBay is now a no-go. Forum marketplaces are limited. Some probably at Pipe shows, etc, but you’re not looking at a large %. Probably just a real challenge with distribution, especially now during Covid. It should be an interesting scene after the FDA regs fully kick in.

They do. But not hundreds or thousands of tins. My point is, people snapping up large quantities of scarce blends for the purpose of telling them at a profit doesn't seem likely. I believe what is significantly more likely is people buying for long term storage versus short term consumption. That's certainly been the case with me and a number of other pipe smokers I know.

 

[saltedplug]

I had a post deleted ablaut gouging, so I suppose the board subscribes to the free market. I find s similar thought-process allowing gun fanatics to grow threads of 100s of posts crowing about their favorite instruments of death.

 

[BROBS]

I had a post deleted ablaut gouging, so I suppose the board subscribes to the free market. I find s similar thought-process allowing gun fanatics to grow threads of 100s of posts crowing about their favorite instruments of death.

MINE IS THE AK, U?

 

[ofafeather]

They do. But not hundreds or thousands of tins. My point is, people snapping up large quantities of scarce blends for the purpose of telling them at a profit doesn't seem likely. I believe what is significantly more likely is people buying for long term storage versus short term consumption. That's certainly been the case with me and a number of other pipe smokers I know.

+1

 

[trubka2]

Don't the manufacturers set prices? I seem to remember one of the pros telling us that. Maybe he was talking about pipes.

 

[ram74]

Where are all these people reselling at? I realize it obviously happens some but I don't see it on a large scale like people seem to imply it does.

There are multiple closed FB groups that you need to ask to to be invited to where pipe tobacco are “discussed“ and then bartering takes place via private messages since selling tobacco is not allowed on FB. Many pipe smokers are older and are not on social media but tobacco is being sold on every social media platform. Honestly while there is a markup I have also found plenty of good deals for more than MSRP but stil what I consider a good price. For example I recently bought several tins of last years Carolina Flake and Sansepolcro for $15 per tin shipping included minimum 6 tins shipped. Germain‘s 1820 and King Charles mixture can be had for $20. Time is money and sometimes if I want to try something that is hard to get I just pay the slight premium. A tin of pipe tobacco is still It is still far cheaper than a good cigar and you get plenty of smokes for 15-20 bucks. Of course there are also overpriced items which I ignore. I always look for the value items.

 

[americaman]

It’s interesting watching a blend become popular within a few months time. A year ago no one was talking about this blend.