Pipe Prices On The Rise???

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Dock

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Has anyone else noticed that e-bay pipe prices are on really the rise now? Pipes that were selling for $100- last year are now in the $125-$140- range! Also, pipes on carver's sites seem to dissapear within hours of their posting. Estate pipe dealers seem to be doing well too as several pipes I was interested in the piperack's reminder last week went very quickly!..

It seems that we're back in a definite "seller's market" again folks!

Best,
Dock
:pipe:
 
Tax return time.

Weak dollar also.

I did get a reasonable bargain on eBay last night. Those Dunhill Murray tins selling for huge sums. A few went much more reasonable last night. I bid on a couple. Got one. But I made minimum bids, so I was easy pickings for a snipe.
 
Naw Carlos,

everyone read this post from Dock yesterday and reacted accordingly...

Hello All,

Now that I've sold around 40 pipes in the last two weeks my pockets are flush w/ cash and I'm in full on buying mode! I'm looking to buy high quality lightly smoked grp 3-5 tan,brown,tan or dark sandblasted billiards,volcanos,brandys,lovats,canadians ect.ect.Cumberland stems are a definite plus.

If you'd prefer a trade,I can probably accomidate you.If you want cash, I got some a' that too

E-mail me with pics & we'll go from there....

Best,
Dock

:D Paul
 
Slow Puffs":ekmegxq9 said:
Naw Carlos,

everyone read this post from Dock yesterday and reacted accordingly...

Hello All,

Now that I've sold around 40 pipes in the last two weeks my pockets are flush w/ cash and I'm in full on buying mode! I'm looking to buy high quality lightly smoked grp 3-5 tan,brown,tan or dark sandblasted billiards,volcanos,brandys,lovats,canadians ect.ect.Cumberland stems are a definite plus.

If you'd prefer a trade,I can probably accomidate you.If you want cash, I got some a' that too

E-mail me with pics & we'll go from there....

Best,
Dock

:D Paul

:lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: :lol!:

Paul is a real :joker: today!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best,
Dock
:pipe:
 
As Carlos said, a weak dollar. Anything coming out of Europe is over inflated!
 
Well, according to what I sold both here and on e-bay they certainly are on the rise! I'll give an example.I bought a large new and unsmoked Italian pipe at a show three years ago for $200-. I smoked that pipe once and sold it for $225- last week. That is nothing short of amazing! :affraid:

We are most surely in a seller's market now folks! This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it means that pipe smoking is on the rise and there is a renewed intrest in our little hobby...

Best,
Dock
:pipe:
 
D.J. Perry":6n8y6qk4 said:
Well, according to what I sold both here and on e-bay they certainly are on the rise! I'll give an example.I bought a large new and unsmoked Italian pipe at a show three years ago for $200-. I smoked that pipe once and sold it for $225- last week. That is nothing short of amazing! :affraid:

We are most surely in a seller's market now folks! This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it means that pipe smoking is on the rise and there is a renewed intrest in our little hobby...

Best,
Dock
:pipe:
Dock, you just have a horse shoe up your a**................... :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Am I missing something? Does a $25 profit in 3 years make it a sellers market? Just wondering--I'm kinda new at this.
 
Considering it was smoked, yeah probably. Pipes are kind of like cars..most lose half the value as soon as you drive em off the lot. There are a few 'investor' grade pipe makers but Dock really isn't offering this type o pipe. The screwy thing is he is giving these pipes away, most of what he has offered have been snapped up within 24 hrs.
 
puros_bran":2k7g2aqj said:
Considering it was smoked, yeah probably. Pipes are kind of like cars..most lose half the value as soon as you drive em off the lot. There are a few 'investor' grade pipe makers but Dock really isn't offering this type o pipe. The screwy thing is he is giving these pipes away, most of what he has offered have been snapped up within 24 hrs.
Thanks, I did not know that about pipes. Glad I asked in case I ever decide to buy a few for a potential resale for profit kind of thing.
 
Sumo":ha8j4zp3 said:
puros_bran":ha8j4zp3 said:
Considering it was smoked, yeah probably. Pipes are kind of like cars..most lose half the value as soon as you drive em off the lot. There are a few 'investor' grade pipe makers but Dock really isn't offering this type o pipe. The screwy thing is he is giving these pipes away, most of what he has offered have been snapped up within 24 hrs.
Thanks, I did not know that about pipes. Glad I asked in case I ever decide to buy a few for a potential resale for profit kind of thing.
That would be a bad idea. On the whole, pipes don't make good "investments".

They are mainly just good for smoking. :D

Rad
 
Good day all;

As Rad has pointed out pipes are not a wise investment. There are other " goods" that will garner a far better return.

Now to the topic at hand. Are prices on the rise? IMHO I would say no. With the US economy as it is, it is more a buyers market. Yes, on occasion you will see something sell for a high price, but over all prices are down. Your basic group 3 - 4 Dunhill Shell is still a $100.00 - $125.00 pipe, unless in show condition, or very old. A Castello Sea Rock 3 or 4 K is still in the $100.00 - $150.00 range depending on shape, size and age.

A week ago I sold a number of Castello's and some went for UNDER $100.00. That does NOT a sellers market make. I am not complaining either. I am glad that buyers have some great smoking machines.

I would say that right now, IF you do a little looking around and bide your time, you can scoop some awesome deals.

Now if we wish to discuss new pipes, the answer is indeed yes. Prices are on the rise. The Euro value compared to the US dollar has forced a number of over seas carvers to increase prices. So how does this affect the US market? A few ways. First buyers in Europe have a buying advantage as their currency carries a value higher than the US dollar. So a $150.00 US priced pipe is a 100.00 Euro priced pipe. I have seen a dramatic increase in buyers from over seas. Second it slows purchases of Euro carvers goods and US buyers start to look at home. Thus the US carvers sit poised to have some banner sales. IF they offer good quality. Many do. I can look at a number of top US carvers work and IF these were stamped by a noteable Euro carver the price would be close to double.

If you use E-Bay as your ruler for prices, you are getting a false reading. All it takes is a bidding war, a shape to get "hot", or a brand / carver to get "hot", and it appears values increase. The opposite can happen also. If anyone recalls the 1980's and the name Baldi they know what I mean. Here we are in 2008 and Baldi prices have come back to 1980's prices. Prices move up and own. Pipe buyers can be a fickle group. So can pipe sellers and collectors. I can't count how many times I've altered the direction of my collection. These also affect the market. A notebale collection of a certain maker comes available and prices can change. Sometimes up and sometimes down.

I can say this as over the past few years I've been fortuante enough to have gone through this for clients. 40 + Barbi's at one time. 30 + Ruthenberg's at one time. Over the past year 100+ high end Castello's with more to come. Each from a single ( but different ) client.

There is no real buyers or sellers market. There are bargains and there are also not bargains. Those that do their homework will find the bargains.

Regards
Michael J. Glukler
 
I agree 100% with Rad & Mike G.

If it came of as me saying pipes are good investments, it was unintended.

I was refering to the UberGrade Pipes that rise in value,usually after the carvers death(Sixten and Bo come to mind). As I said the vast majority of pipes lose value as soon as you touch them.

FWIW: if you haven't checked out www.briarblues.com do so. Mr G's site is like getting the Uptowns Estate Catalog everyday.
 
MG & Rad........Thank you for the informative input. Especially coming from two suchhighly-esteemed gentlemen!!! Gracias, FTRPLT
 
If anyone could comment accurately on pipe prices it would be Mike as he's one of the net's leading sellers of highgrades...

My view may be slightly skewed as most of the estate pipes I sold were purchased when prices WERE quite low in 2003-2004.

Of course anything new coming out of Europe is higher than this time last year as the dollar is so weak vs the Euro.

So, perhaps it's a bad time to buy new european pipes and a good time to buy American & European estates...

Dock
 
Good day again all

Thanks for the kind words, but I think there are others that sell far more high grades than I do, and have far greater knowledge.

In some cases buying a pipe at just the right time will be break even or a slight profit. In 2003 if you bought new pipes by Peter Heeschen, Kurt Balleby, Tom Eltang, JT Cooke, Larry Roush, Brian Ruthenberg and a few others, and smoked them, then decided to sell them now, you'd probably do well. However IF you bought Dunhill, Castello, Stanwell, and the likes, you'd probably get 50 - 60% of the current new un smoked price. That might sound steep, but not really as prices on pipes have risen since 2003, the hit is not so large. The big hit comes when you buy a new pipe and decide to sell it within months, or days. As soon as the flame lights the tobacco, in a new pipe, ( in most cases ) the value drops 50%. Yes there are excpetions. Roush, Ruthenberg and JT Cooke will still get 70 - 80% of the new price and sometimes go for more than an un smoked pipe. BUT these are the exceptions.

I never suggest anyone invest in pipes for profit. That being said ..... I wish I'd bought more pipes from a few makers a few years ago and left them un smoked. Those are far and few between. No one really knows if a newer carvers skill will develop and IF they will stick with carving long enough to create a following.

With the world pipe market as it is, IF I was thinking of creating a collection or altering the direction of my collection, OR thinking of taking a step up in quality of pipes I was buying I'd be looking at a few US carvers as my corner stones.

I probably shouldn't offer suggestions as I know I'll leave someone off the list, but here goes.

Mark Tinsky - are you kidding me? You can still get a great pipe for under $200.00 ! Mark does not get near the recognition he deserves!!!

Rad Davis - sand of the Rad Davis and stamp Euro carver X's name and double or triple the price! Great shapes! Superb stems! Great smokers!

Russ Cook - Excellent quality. Great internals. World class stem work.

Brian Ruthenberg - these are smoking machines!!! Most open draw on the market today. You can still get a great pipe in the $250.00 range.

John Eells - I know many are going who? John quietly goes along making great pipes. Never gets any hype. John's skill at creating pipes is only topped by his abilities to repair watches. The man has exacting requirments for his pipes.

The above would be my corner stones. If I wanted to get into a higher dollar range, I'd also add Larry Roush, Jody Davis, and JT Cooke.

If I was into large pipes without a hesitation I'd seek out Paul Bonquisti's. No one cuts a large pipe and keeps the lines as nice as Paul. You look at one of Paul's pipes and from pictures you can't tell if it a group 2, 3 4 or a Magnum.

Geeez I guess I could go on and on about the US carvers. Look at Jack Howell, Will Purdy, Darius Christian, Michael Lindner, Todd Johnson, Alexy Florov, Ron Fairchild, Alan Stevenson, John Crosby and on and on. Right now there are a super group of US carvers and all are worth searching out. The skill levels of the US carvers is certainley on par with the rest of the world's best and better carvers.

The other HUGE advantage is they are almost all approachable. At shows or by email or sometimes the phone.

I can not suggest strongly enough that the grass is not always greener. Sometimes looking in your own back yard pay off big time.

Regards
Michael J. Glukler

That's no S on my chest, I'm just a regular man.
 
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