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Some antique shops are way overpriced...

Visited a couple of antique shops about 30 miles from me yesterday. One store had a relatively large collection of pipes and tobacciana but were way overpriced in my opinion. Took the photo to share.

The Porcelain pipes all looked in pretty good condition but mostly looked to be ones made for the tourist trade. The prices tags on them seemed to be all over $135. The large Meerschaum in the meerschaum case was priced at $325. None of the other pipes were priced below what you would pay for a new pipe. There was an old, beat up bent bulldog that was priced at $100. Now, it was old but I don't think it was worth the price.


The shop manager didn't like it when I said all the items were way overpriced. As an example, the had an abused Nording Signature just like one I gave my son for his birthday last year. Their price was $300. They also had a couple of different pouches of tobacco one was priced at $85 and the other was $125. 

I won't be going back there for awhile.

Comments

  • @PappyJoe Seems like some of the antique shops do a little homework before pricing an item which is why the nicer shops seem to charge the highest prices. They seem to have someone in the back room with a computer checking what the pipes are going for. I get my best deals from garage sales, flea markets, and second hand consignment shops where things are kind of messy and stacked all over the place with no rhyme or reason. When I walk into a shop and start looking at the old estate pipe scattered about and the girl behind the counter says ... "Why would you want to put an old pipe in your mouth that someone else smoked?" Then I know I'm in the right place.   

  • @PappyJoe I noticed that when I saw this picture in another thread. Some people think they have gold on their hands with these old pipes. I once found an old cob priced at $55. Sorry, if I wanted a cob, I'd order one for under $10 online.
  • @ghostsofpompeii This particular shop used to be fairly reasonable with their prices and I have bought several from them over the past 4 or 5 years. Seeing them put a $300 price on a Nording Signature that sells for under $90 just irritated me. That and trying to sell mass produced porcelain pipes as antiques.
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