I find the opinion of someone who plays with gold and jewels all day suspect. He has "scrap" gold and silver. :crazy:
Why So Much?
- Thread starter sparrowhawk
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Ha ha, Snag, it's all of that lead I'm turning into gold. Eventually, it gives you super powers, like talking to squirrels. :
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Having spent a few years away from our fabulous hobby, I recently started looking on Ebay again for some bargain briars. I am astonished by what appears to be happening with prices these days. Now, as we all know, there have always been Ebay Dreamers who inflate the price of their offerings to insane levels, and this will always be with us. What would have been a thirty dollar pipe is now commonly offered for $70.00-$120.00 and so on. It is unbelievable. So, my question, dear friends, is, are e seeing pipe inflation, perhaps due to increased demand? It certainly seems like the prices have escalated lately. I remember picking up a 1904 Peterson bulldog for $50.00, and it doesn't seem like it was too many years ago. Today the thing would be $250.00 or more, I'll wager.
It's a weird circle of self-destruction. You find a place that has cheap pipes. You tell all of your friends, post it on the forums, and next thing you know, you secret cheap place is no longer cheap, but overpriced and busy.
I say this all the time. If you post a link to a pipe you are bidding on, or one in a store, it will get gone before you can buy it. And, unless you have twenty pounds of it stored up already, it is best not to make a huge deal out of your favorite blend, nor post a link to where you are getting it on the cheap. So what if no one else knows about something that you have become passionate about. When I mention a blend that I love, you will know that I do have twenty pounds stored up already, and I am no longer cellering it.
Without researching the pipe, I'd guess sixty is high. Pete's without bands are usually low-end, like my Shannon B11. Good pipe, but not expensive. The trouble with ebay is, it's an auction, a competition, so the purpose and intent is to get buyers above the market price, and it often does. I'd look at online retailer sales; their motive is different. They've made a calculated decision, and they'll still make money at the prices offered, or hope they will on your additional purchases. Online sales, pipe shop baskets, and pipe shows offer some real discounts, as long as you know what you're looking at.
Having started this thread and now received the pipe, perhaps I can offer some details to properly end the thread.
The pipe was a reasonably refurbished Peterson 106, probably the best representive pipe Peterson offers. It has a few grain holes, nothing to get upset about. The stem was on uncommonly (for Peterson) loosely. Glaringly was a couple of gouges on the inner chamber rim. The nomenclaiure was clere and read REJECT Made in Ireland.I
I returned the pipe. I couldn't afford to throw $60 away for such a cumativelively damaged pipe.
Why do people buy this kind of pipe? Because it's a Peterson with that REJECT stamped on it. This is the kind of pipe who collects pipe not because they smoke well (the 106 does consistently smoke well) but because its a officially acknowledge defective pipe, and that somehow adds value to it among such collectors. I'm not among their number. I buy a pipe solely for two reasons: it smokes well, and it looks cool, emphasis on its smoking ability. I don't keep pipes that just sit there for months at a time.
Hope this ends this story.
The pipe was a reasonably refurbished Peterson 106, probably the best representive pipe Peterson offers. It has a few grain holes, nothing to get upset about. The stem was on uncommonly (for Peterson) loosely. Glaringly was a couple of gouges on the inner chamber rim. The nomenclaiure was clere and read REJECT Made in Ireland.I
I returned the pipe. I couldn't afford to throw $60 away for such a cumativelively damaged pipe.
Why do people buy this kind of pipe? Because it's a Peterson with that REJECT stamped on it. This is the kind of pipe who collects pipe not because they smoke well (the 106 does consistently smoke well) but because its a officially acknowledge defective pipe, and that somehow adds value to it among such collectors. I'm not among their number. I buy a pipe solely for two reasons: it smokes well, and it looks cool, emphasis on its smoking ability. I don't keep pipes that just sit there for months at a time.
Hope this ends this story.
The pipe was listed as a Reject, and that was it's supposed charm. If after the pipe was received in the mail and the buyer came here to ask the value and was told he got a deal, saving over a hundred dollars, would you expect the buyer to send the seller an extra hundred?
Wait, did I read this right? You willingly bid on a pipe, higher than you could afford, not knowing why you were bidding so much, then ask people in this thread why you bid so much, then sent it bad because you bid too much? Do I have it straight?
You are a strange cat.
You are a strange cat.
No, you've missed it. He typed his bid in error, wrongly placing the decimal point. He knew the pipe was marked "reject" but, thought it would do for his uses. (Damn! Why am retyping this for someone who obviously misread the OP.) Luckily he dealt with an understanding seller, anyone can make such a mistake. He acknowledged his mistake and now simply wonders if he should have kept it as a collectors item.
There are collectors of all sorts who specialize in seconds, rejects, counterfeits, etc.
There are collectors of all sorts who specialize in seconds, rejects, counterfeits, etc.
Warren, in the third post the mistyped decimal story already changed to a different excuse.
I don't think unkleyoda missed a thing.
I don't think unkleyoda missed a thing.
Edited: Nevermind... in re-reading this thread. The whole story is silly.
I am glad that it worked out for you, and can't help but empathize with the saintly vendor. Did you contact Petersons? Have they seen your thread yet? ::
I am glad that it worked out for you, and can't help but empathize with the saintly vendor. Did you contact Petersons? Have they seen your thread yet? :
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MORE glaringly is the fact that 3 of the 4 images presented as part of the sellers description clearly show the damage that you're posting about. (images below, straight from the listing). "PeterPipes" (the eBay seller) is far more than kind to allow you to return such a pipe, especially when his listing provided full disclosure, via these images.
I think Sparrowhawk gets a buzz out of buying then returning pipes....he does it often.
Personally if I had bid on the pipe knowing its faults, decimal point error notwithstanding, I wouldn't have the gall to ask for a refund. It was listed as a reject with clear photos so the seller was in no way at fault.
Regards,
Jay.
Personally if I had bid on the pipe knowing its faults, decimal point error notwithstanding, I wouldn't have the gall to ask for a refund. It was listed as a reject with clear photos so the seller was in no way at fault.
Regards,
Jay.
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