Would you buy an estate pipe from a pipe smokers collection?

[Lysander]

It's not unusual to see estate pipes offered from a pipe smokers that are "thinning the herd". From my limited experience I know that some pipes are good smokers and others are not. It's not necessarily related to price or beauty of the pipe. You can only know if it's a good smoker from smoking the pipe. In my own collection, there are some that I would not offer to sell. Others I'd be happy to see go. So, would you buy an estate pipe from an active smoker, unknown to you, who is thinning the herd?

 

[bosun1]

The pipes that I would keep will often have a pleasant memory attached to them. A few others I find pleasing to my eye, and a few have always been a good smoke for me for some reason. The rest of the hundred or so I have I have as much attachment to them as a used car salesman to his cars. But you might like a particular shape/brand/finish that I can take or leave so you might be quite pleased with your purchase..

 

[RDPipes]

I smoke pipes and collect pipes and I also on occasion sell pipes from my collection
either because I'm upgrading or just tired of them and use the term "thinning the herd".
Some of the pipes I've sold were smoked by me but, most were not. The few I have sold  out of my smoking rotation were sold mainly because I just lost interest in them and had replaced there spot in my rotation with another. Even fewer, say 2 I've sold just because I didn't like the way they smoked, not that they gurgled or anything, just didn't like the way
they smoked for one reason or another. I have NEVER had an unhappy buyer yet, all have been very happy with there pipes. I've found that just because you don't care for the way a pipe smokes doesn't mean and very rarely means that someone else will feel the same of it.
And most of my pipes 99% of over 300 pipes are and were bought as Estates.

Oh!, so the answer is Yes!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Estate pipes are almost nearly exclusively preferred in Weissland. Granted, there's some hurdles, like ghosting and perhaps a bit of a cleaning, but considering the value and possibility some pipes simply aren't made anymore, you take a chance on a bad-smoking pipe when it's new or when it's estate. Plus, estate pipes are often broken in quite nicely (hopefully not too much)...

... 8)

 

[monbla256]

I wouldn't buy an "estate" pipe as I don't collect pipes, I SMOKE 'em !! If I bought a pipe to put in a rack and "collect" it, I'd buy an Estate pipe, but since I smoke the few I have, I buy USED pipes ! My former brother-in-law buys and sells Vintage Collector cars and I reall when his nephew brought over a fully restored '64 Mustang and was going on about his "vintage" car and his uncle asked him ",,, do you drive it?" He replied "... yes every day" at which point his uncle said "... then you have a used car" So yes I have and would buy a used pipe from a bro if it was one I wanted, could pay for and we all agreed about the deal :twisted: :twisted:

 

[SpeedyPete]

Yes!!

I would say 75% of my pipes were used when I bought them. And I look for well used (smoked) pipes because that tells me the previous owner liked the pipe a lot!

What I'm careful about are those "almost new" estates. Why didn't the first owner smoke the pipe? Maybe it's a bad pipe?

On the other hand, I was gifted an almost new Sav Punto Oro by a very close friend. He did not like the way it smoked. I just love this pipe!

As Kyle mentioned we take a chance everytime we buy a pipe, be it new or used. Difference with a used pipe is that it's (or should be) cheaper than buying a new one and it's been broken in for me. So if it's not a good smoker I won't suffer buyer's remorse to the same extent as when it was a new pipe.

And then, I've had more new "bad" pipes than "bad" estates although only 25% of my herd were bought new. Go figure!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

It's kind of a generalized cop-out, but it holds true that everyone probably smokes a different pipe with different tobacco, quite differently. One guy's hellish smoking mess might be another guy's cool, dry puffing heaven. Plus, since you can't try 'em out in the store when new, if the thing feels like crap in one guy's jaw, it might be a swell smoker, but might fit another guy's bite ideally. Pipes are worse than shoes or clothing, because if you buy it and try it, there's no going back if all parameters aren't met. Woe is us. :lol:

There's been this mythos around that all estate pipes are on eBay for a reason: they smoke badly and someone is trying to get rid of them. Somehow I've made quite a few work, if that's the case. Pilot error is a factor sometimes.

8)

 

[Briar Spirit]

I do understand your concern Lysander and I too in the past have oft' wondered 'why' are so many pipes being sold second hand, I've often figured the pipes being sold off must be duds. The fact is Buddy that many of them will of course be duds but possibly only considered duds by the present owner due to not using the pipe properly or with a less than suitable tobacco.

I myself have often freely given away pipes to friends that are in fact excellent smokers, some of them have been 'used' pipes, pipes I myself have smoked and I know them to be superb smokers. Not everyone gives away crap or sells off just dud pipes, yes there are of course some less than nice folk out there looking to turn a fast buck but that's just a part of the territory Buddy.

There are a lot of guys here on BoB you can send a PM to and get their opinion on a pipe you are looking to buy, most of them wont even try to out-bid you too which is nice. If you see something you like then PM one of the chaps you see posting a lot about pipes, Kyle knows a fair bit about pipes as does Daveinlax, Ron, Monbla, hufflepuff, heck the list could go on for an age. Most folk here are very willing to help out where they can, don't be afraid to ask questions, I wouldn't ask about a specific pipe in the open forums as you might well find a few extra bidders turning up.

 

[KevinM]

Y.E.S. I won't repeat the very good responses above, but I'd like to add that pipers' preferences change over time. They might decide they prefer a certain brand ,,, or smaller bowls ... or bents ... or whatever. This naturally leads to "thinning the herd, " but it needn't mean that the pipes that are thinned are stinkers. F'r instance, I passed along to a chum a very nice group size five+, because I'd rather sit out under my trees next Spring and smoke two bowls from a size three than one from a five. Sorry to see it go, but even my friend said, "This pipe looks almost new." Yes, but it's because my smoking style changed, not because it wasn't a good pipe. I suspect there's a natural churning that takes place -- for every piper who moves to smaller bowls (or whatever), there's another moving to something larger. Don't tell the missus, but I have sitting on that bookcase over there, seven pipes I've bought and have yet to smoke. Five of them are refurbed estates. It would take a little experience to ID which are new and which are refurbed.

 

[Retrogasm]

...but I'd like to add that pipers' preferences change over time. They might decide they prefer a certain brand ,,, or smaller bowls ... or bents ... or whatever. This naturally leads to "thinning the herd, " but it needn't mean that the pipes that are thinned are stinkers.

This bears repeating. As a fairly recent pipe smoking convert I'm already seeing a shift in taste with regards to which pipes I favor, to the point where some early pipes simply don't get smoked at all. Starting out it takes a while to figure out what kind of stems and shapes works with your bite, and I'm fairly certain that as my technique developes I'll shift have further shifts in what kind of pipes I enjoy the most. I think the natural progression of that is that I'll eventually sell some perfectly good pipes that simply don't appeal to me anymore.

Where I'm located the estate market is nigh on non existent and so most of my pipes come from Ebay. Out of those there are some obvious duds that less than scrupulous sellers have put up where the drilling is off, the majority are average smokers and a few are outstanding. If I were to only have bought brand new pipes I suspect I'd still be sitting here with approximatly the same type of distribution among them.

Just going by my own experience, as a buyer and future seller, I don't see a reason to assume that a pipe is sub par simply because it's being sold by an active smoker.

 

[Brewdude]

Half or more of my pipes are estates. And all of the estates have been fine in performance, restoration, etc. I've used trusted sources gleaned from this site and haven't been disappointed.

To date I've not experienced estate sales from private sellers on the bay, but that has more to do with my refusal to get a PP account.



Cheers,

RR

 

[herbinedave]

Brewdude, I have sold several estate Petes to you. As far as I know you where generally pleased. I thinned "My Herd" and you received some good smokers!

 

[Brewdude]

Brewdude, I have sold several estate Petes to you.  As far as I know you where generally pleased.  I thinned "My Herd" and you received some good smokers!

Yes, this is true. I stand corrected Dave.

And you, along with brothers like riff, BH, ikeenum, and others were those trusted sources I mentioned. My post was directed at ebay sellers and not you.


Cheers,

RR

 

[herbinedave]

Brewdude, I have sold several estate Petes to you.  As far as I know you where generally pleased.  I thinned "My Herd" and you received some good smokers!

Yes, this is true. I stand corrected Dave.

And you, along with brothers like riff, BH, ikeenum, and others were those trusted sources I mentioned. My post was directed at ebay sellers and not you.


Cheers,

RR

This was directed at the OP not you Brewdude. showing him that good deals can be found here on the forum.

 

[user 2031]

Ebay in itself is not a bad place to pick up estates. Just be sure to check the sellers feedback, paying special attention to any previous estate pipes, read all descriptions and condition details, check out the pics closely and ask for additional pics if needed, and ask questions about the item if further information is needed. If you follow those guidelines, you'll do ok most of the time.

I have bought and sold over 1500 items since I started there and have only had less than a handful of annoyances. Also, unless it's an item like a cheap book or something, I don't do business with anyone with feedback of less than 99.8, my own feedback is 100%. It's not hard to maintain high feedback if you are detailed and honest.