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Pipes on ebay
Corey562
Master
Has anyone ever bought any pipes off ebay. I am asking because I was browsing and come across some pipes that just did not look right, and I was wondering about the return policy if by some odd chance I did not get the pipe I bid on.
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Most of my collection is from ebay, you just have to read the description, if its to vague, I won't bid, otherwise no issues.
I've bought a number of pipes through Ebay, you have to know what you're looking at which means sharp photos of all features of the pipe. I restore the pipes myself so I'll buy a pipe on the rough side if it is the right one. I got burned by a figurative Meerschaum that went cheap, looked great. stem glued on, shining a strong light through the stem showed a piece of stiff wire rammed through it to hold it together and the 1/4 20 bone screw broken in the stem. Looked at it as a challenge. I razor sawed it apart, removed the pieces of broken screw, my buddy made an adapter to mate the stummel to the bowl. It worked out well. A Versingetorix Figural that I wanted for $7.
Oh, another seller I have had good dealings with, is Pipestud (Steve Fallon.) The difference in Pipestud's offerings, is that most of the estate pipes have not been restored, which usually means that they end up selling a little cheaper than they would otherwise. He also has unsmoked pipes in his listings on a regular basis as well. You can save a lot of money buying old pipes in good condition and restoring them yourself.
Here is an example of one of those type pipes, that looked a little rough in the auction pics, but cleaned up really well. A friend of mine from Maryland restored the pipe for me, and did a fantastic job. He has the restoration documented on the reborn pipes blog dated 09/13/2015, but I can't cut and paste a link. Here is a pic of the pipe though, a late 30's Peterson Acorn Paneled P-Lip, stamped EIRE on one side of the diamond shank, and "Petersons Dublin K" on the opposite side. I picked this one up from judperl (Judd Perlson) on ebay a little over a year ago. He is another seller I have had good dealings with over the years. I just had a hunch that this pipe was still solid, and would clean up nicely, and luckily I was correct. I have recently dedicated this pipe to Gawith and Hoggarth's Black Irish X rope.
1. Generally more money means better pipe. Real bargains may be found, but if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Most of the Made-in-China pipes that say “quality” are pure junk.
3. Stick with reputable pipe makers if you’re not pipe-savvy.
4. Look for pipes made from Briar and Meerschaum only.
6. Before buying or bidding, research the pipe on various pipe forums and websites groups to see reviews and information.
7. Be sure you examine the photographs, read the description and determine whether the seller is reputable.
I bought two used pipes and am happy with them.
I've bought several pipes this year on Ebay and have been fortunate to received exactly what was advertised. Two pipes I purchased from H.S. Studio are superb looking as well as smoking. And have even bought a few of the pear wood pipes which I'm quite happy with as well. I was kind of leery about buying a pipe made of any material other than briar or meerschaum, but they all proved to be durable good smokers. So in my experience, I've been quite happy with my EBAY pipe purchases. But I must add that all but one pipe purchased was advertised as new and unsmoked, and not an estate pipe. The one estate pipe I bought was a '221B Baker Street' pipe made in Israel, which is an exact duplicate of one I already own purchased back in the mid-80s' - but it is one of my favorite pipes so when I saw another listed for under $30.00 I had to get it as a spare. It's my only estate EBAY purchase - and it turned out fine. But when purchasing a quality or name brand pipe like my Petersons or even the Big Ben pipes in my collection, I stick with established online pipe and tobacco retailer rather than an EBAY vendor.
Been lucky so far on EBAY with pipes but wish I could say the same for multi-disc DVD collections. It seems like every time I get a complete season DVD collection at least one disc in the set is faulty.