no layaway plan??????

Subject: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 3:30 am

I inquired about a pipe at a prominent website no names necessary and i was told that there was no lay-a-way. the pipe i inquired about was expensive, justifiably so, but no lay-a-way? in this economy how is one supposed to acquire ones dream pipe? yes there is always the scrimp and save for a long time plan, but what if it sells?? i dont understand this policy at all!! i would be willing to purchase this pipe and love it like a baby but it would probably sell. Crying or Very sad

is there anyone else out there who laments the no lay-a-way plan? if this website had a lay-a-way plan i would spend a considerable amount of money with them, but alas it seems they are looking for the quick buck. I just dont understand this policy at all!!

Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 4:36 am

First, I don't mean this to sound as buttheaded as it will.

What's the differance between 'scrimp and save' and 'lay-a-way' ? If you can't 'scrimp and save' you can't lay-a-way, its the same process.

If the pipe sales buy another one, while so called 'hand-made' pipes are all unique most are made from a carvers mental or pyhsical pattern, they will make others almost just like it.

Tobacconist profits,even the big names, are small, they can't afford to set back stock and add the extra accounting required for lay-a-way, especially the expensive stuff, anymore. Outfits like Wal-mart with their huge profit margins can't/won't do it anymore, why would you expect diff from a guy running a tightship on miniscule mark-ups?

If you really intend to 'spend a considerable amount of money' why would you even need lay-a-way?
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Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 7:40 am

well.....there are guys who can drop 3000 like that and there are those who cant or wont. its a lot of money. when you go into a car dealer, do you give them 30,000 at once? if you do, more power to you. when you go and buy a house do you give them 200,000? isnt it the same thing? yes they arent making a fortune off of pipes, probably, isnt the point of selling pipes to SELL them???

Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 7:54 am

Even makers who commission pipes won't generally allow something like this. Some will, but in most cases you have to have made them warm and fuzzy with you as a customer first. The issue with a pipe maker, obviously, is different from a seller, but the principal remains. Moving stock and not collecting dust. With a maker, they can't be wasting their time on a pipe that they'll only collect a first installment for and then never hear from the buyer again when that time could be better spent making several pipes that will sell outright. With a pipe seller, they need to get pipes off their shelves as quicly as possible to be able to offer more in the long run. Sometimes they get a one-time payment, then end up holding the pipe longer than they'd like because that one payment is all they get. Which is why you won't ever see it happening.

This isn't to suggest you're one of those types, but they have to cover their tails as much as possible to stay in business.

Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 9:09 am

Big diff between financing and Lay-a-way. In financing you buy money (usually through a third party) at a certain amount called interest. The seller gets what he needs,the buyer gets what he wants or needs, and the moneyman gets what he needs.

Lay-a-way requires aquiring extra stock,just to sit it in the back room in the scenario Hazmat described above.
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Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 10:17 am

Your bank may be willing to offer a loan, but my guess is they'll suggest you use your credit card. Just a guess on my part as I don't know the cost of the pipe nor it's collectability to be used as collateral.

Jim
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Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 10:26 am

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I think most merchants (not just pipe makers) did away with "lay-a-way" when credit card use became prevalent.

Joined : 07 Apr 2008 Posts : 88 Location : Fort Gratiot, MI

If you can't afford to buy the pipe, buy one you can afford. There are lots of great pipes in all price ranges.

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Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 4:41 pm

I'm actually gonna take VP's side on this one folks! I wish these places DID offer a layaway plan. Even two weeks would help in some cases. There have been MANY times when I've seen a pipe that I loved but could'nt pay for it for a short time.Inevitably when I check back on it the pipe's long gone!

This is especially important/true/relevant when we're talking about mega,mega money pipes! Some small concession should be made when you're buying a pipe that costs more than your bills for the WHOLE month! I'm not saying that they should lay it away for months or anything but a short period of time would seem more than acceptable..........

Best,
D.J.
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Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 4:45 pm

Why thank you doc, your a hell of a guy, no matter what the others say about you!!!!!!!!!! lol!

to get back to the issue, this pipe has everything i look for in a pipe...grain, shape name, size, oh wow i think i am going to have to sell some of my eltangs Mad

ever in pursuit!!!!! Very Happy

Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 5:20 pm

Looking at it from a short term perspective.

Smokingpipes hold a pipe for 10 days (I think, may be 7 or 14 ) if you are paying by check or money order.

And a lot of places briarblues for instance has a short term reserve deal.

Not a lay a way,but a short term float.
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It'd be nice for people if the shops that didn't have layaway plans adopted some form of it- but I can understand why they don't.

FWIW I think layaway plans would probably move pipes faster, but that's just my opinion.

Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 6:27 pm

A gun shop that I deal with has a short lay-a-way plan. 20% down and they hold the firearms for 60 days. You don't pay the balance in the 60 days the 20% is theirs. The do make considerations for unforeseen difficulties in life and are pretty understanding if you don't make the sixty days. Of course I've done a lot of business with them, not to mention the fact they have guns and know where I live lol!

. It has helped me pick up some nice firearms that were in the $1000+ price range and has really built in customer loyalty with me. I can see the retailers point of view though in the fact that you end up having a lot of stock in limbo for "X" number of days. I personally don't see a problem with a thirty or sixty day lay-a-way option. They just might move more product in the end IMHO.
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Subject: Re: no layaway plan?????? Fri May 30, 2008 10:40 pm

I've seen more places [tobacco or not] actually drop their lay-away services...the biggest being sportsmans warehouse [its big...kinda like cabelas...but not THAT big] so much for that gun purchase I was going to make
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I think the crux is the word "policy. " What is done for a customer who has proven to be reliable and supportive (and discreet) in the past may not be done for a customer with whom the merchant has no experience. The degree of flexibility a merchant shows when discussing a pipe that has sat in inventory for a while may be greater than that shown when the pipe has just arrived and there are three other emails in the queue from willing buyers. It is unlikely that a merchant will establish a policy that will oblige him to commit a pipe that would otherwise sell quickly to an unknown customer who may or may not pay a balance in the future. The confluence of factors that initially made a pipe desirable to a number of buyers may or may not be present in three months, when the clock has run out and the layaway customer has not made good. And, has been pointed out, there's a big difference in the bookkeeping required when a customer says "if you'll hold this pipe, I'll buy it in three weeks" and when he says "I'd like to make payments on this pipe -- is $100 a month OK?" Not that the merchant won't do the latter, it just depends on the pipe and the people. Pipe sellers do want to sell as many pipes as possible, and they do wish to make customers happy, but without a solid base of practicality they can't stay in business.

Jack