Step 1 - Make Pipes, Step 3 - Profit!

[WCannoy]

If you never, ever want to sell a pipe that you have made, please stop reading this and move on to another post.

If you have even the slightest thought that you might someday want to earn a living making pipes, keep reading...

Since joining this forum not too long ago, there is one big issue that has been weighing on my mind. I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty bull headed, stubborn, and hard to dissuade when I get the idea in my head to accomplish something. Even so, I think if this forum existed when I started making pipes, then it would have been a short lived endeavor for me. The level of exacting criticism on here is exhausting! Now, don't get me wrong... I have read nothing but good advice on this forum (aside from a comment or two), and lots of it.

Yep, lots of good advice. So much good advice that a fresh young aspiring pipemaker could quickly learn how to perfect his work to the point where he could hang with the greatest of any Scandinavian names out there, quality wise.

So, now you've got Heeschen selling a billiard for $700, Eltang selling the same one with his stamp on it for $1000, Knudsen selling one for God only knows how many thousands of dollars, and then there's John Smith who just spent a crap-ton of time, money, and energy to finally make a pipe that he thought was good enough to put out there to sell... Same grain, shape, fit, finish, and engineering as the others.

So John Smith takes his pipe to a pipe show, sits down at his table, and watches people walk on by, until someone finally stops, inspects his billiard, considers it for a minute, and then offers him $150 for it. Then he glances over at the next table and sees a guy shelling out $400 for a partially rusticated American estate freehand with an un-modified molded acrylic stem.

Now John Smith is frustrated, upset, and confused... He decides, boldly, to approach the guy who just bought this freehand and ask why he would pay so much money for such an inferior quality pipe. The guy explains to John that there is no other pipe in the world that is the same shape as this one, and even so, he spotted this pipe from two rows over and immediately knew who made it, what to expect from the craftsmanship (good and bad), and about how much to expect to pay for it. He also knew that if he decided that this particular pipe didn't smoke well for him, he could sell it to someone else for what he paid for it, his investment was protected. Oh, and it turns out that this buyer was one of many pipe buyers who prefer acrylic stems with thick buttons. Hey, everybody's different!

Learning to emulate the forms and qualities of high-grade pipes is a worthwhile endeavor as an exercise in learning pipemaking, and one that this forum is an excellent resource for. But in pursuit of that perfect billiard, don't forget to find your own voice in the briar. When you develop your own style to the point that someone can pick out your pipe from across the room, and know that they want it, then your pipes become what is called "marketable" and gains an inherent value that is more than the sum of its craftsmanship.

You'd be surprised how far that marketability will go when selling pipes. Now, I'm not saying to cut corners in your work. Strive to make the best quality pipe within your means. I'm saying, don't get tunnel vision while exercising your ability to make standard shapes. If you think a line or curve or proportion will look good if you changed it, then change it 'till you think it looks good to you. This is where you start finding your voice in the briar. Make the shape so that it looks good to you, retaining all of the quality in craftsmanship within your means. Alot of folks won't like your changes, and will point out that it is not the proper shape... but there are plenty of pipe buyers out there, and lots of them will love it!

That's what I think, and I could be wrong... but I don't think so.

FWIW, I have never measured the thickness of my stems at or behind the button.

[Ocelot55]

Great post, Walt.

I would like to add though, that most of the time, our individuality cannot or is extremely hard to suppress in our work. There is just something inherently "you" about your pipes that I don't think anyone else can emulate; things that you aren't even doing consciously. I can see this with bit work, and not just bits that are stylized by the artisan to be unique. Another is basic proportions and curves. If we all made a billiard within pretty exacting guidelines I'd wager that they would all look much different from each other.

A note to branding, your name is obviously very important. That's why Dunhill can sell a grp. 4 root briar for $800, but an artisan pipe from Mr. Smith is better finished, shaped, and ultimately is a much better smoker for $200. It all depends on your market. More than likely the guy that buys a Dunhill buys it because it is a Dunhill.

All this marketing, pricing, and branding stuff makes my head spin. Probably my least favorite part of the hobby.

[DaGamba]

Some good thoughts and tips in there. Thanks for posting.

[the rev]

It is all well and good to think, if I make a superior product people will pay me what its worth. But that is just not the case. I would suggest that sometimes it is so far not the case, that is makes me disgusted. You find this often in the world of arts, music being a great example, some of the greatest money makers are crap music, and some of the finest musicians never can quit their day job. Luckily we do have a target market that tend to be a bit more educated than your usual pop music fan. But learning or hiring someone to help with branding, self promotion and product marketing, as well as learning to use social media is very important in todays business world.

rev

[WCannoy]

Great post, Walt.

I would like to add though, that most of the time, our individuality cannot or is extremely hard to suppress in our work. There is just something inherently "you" about your pipes that I don't think anyone else can emulate; things that you aren't even doing consciously.

Indeed, but many of the pointers in this forum are pointing in the direction of conformity, removing the distinctness... and that's fine. It's a fine way to learn what you're doing. Then there comes a point where it's time to pull back from that conformity and let your inherent "you" make "your" pipes!

All this marketing, pricing, and branding stuff makes my head spin. Probably my least favorite part of the hobby.

Marketing, pricing, and branding should have no place in a hobby!

[WCannoy]

It is all well and good to think, if I make a superior product people will pay me what its worth.

The perfect technical excecution of a pipe alone is worth maybe $100, $150 tops. After that, it's all aesthetics that establishes demand for the brand and higher prices (99% of the time... Let's leave the Dunhill marketing machine out of this), and the aesthetics are the jumping off point for the marketing.

[Sasquatch]

This is a great post, Walt. Let me not hijack the thread but tie it into something that's been brewing in my mind lately.

One of the things that this forum allows is for some pretty big-league pipe makers to interact with guys who are just cutting their teeth. With that comes a sort of "god love" towards pipe maker x or maybe pipe style x, and with that comes a very natural desire to produce pieces that are "as good as" or "good in the way that" those pipes are.

Not every pipe is going to be a work of art. It just isn't going to be that way, partly because of skill, partly because briar is such treacherous garbage. Some pipes are just going to be pipes, and that's okay.

I cut a pipe recently, the grain was nothing special, the finish plain. It was shaped okay. It sold in 5 minutes, and then again later that night. I have straight grain pipes on the site for the same price, but there's something about this particular pipe that people just... want. So, okay. That's the goal. Make pipes that people want, and hopefully make pipes that you like in doing so. How you go about it.... is nobody's business but your own.

There's a balance to be found by keeping your own personal tastes, your own personality, making "your" pipes, but still making them objectively "good" pipes. You can't get by for long making poorly shaped, poorly balanced pipes, pipes that aren't comfortable, pipes that don't smoke great... whatever. You can't fool most of the people most of the time, I guess.

Recently a couple pipes of mine sold on eBay as estates, and the vendor took a "hey this guy's like a big-time secret in the pipe making world, but those who know....." and damned if the pipes didn't go for more than I sold them for in the first place. Reputation + spiel = sales. That's just the way it is. And that's why people will pay more for a brand they've heard of rather than "gamble" on that pipe you took 20 hours to make.

[oklahoma red]

Great post Walt. I would ask this: If step 1 is making pipes and step 3 is profit, how would you describe step 2? Utter frustration or???
I also very much agree with Sas's comments about "god love" and figuring out what people want. This is very much a "niche" business. Find one. I found one when I founded my small aerospace company and it has kept a roof over my head and food in my gut for 29 years.
The really exotic pipes (I classify them as "art" pipes) are great, collectible pieces of "art" for those that can afford them (there's that niche). But are they practical to the vast majority of pipe smokers? I think not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and practicality is the realm of the consumer. But then again, I could be full of crap and this is all a dream.
Chas.

[Charl]

Step 2 is time...
and money..

[d.huber]

Great post Walt!

The really exotic pipes (I classify them as "art" pipes) are great, collectible pieces of "art" for those that can afford them (there's that niche). But are they practical to the vast majority of pipe smokers? I think not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and practicality is the realm of the consumer. But then again, I could be full of crap and this is all a dream.
Chas.

I agree with this completely. If you're going to make "sculptural" pipes, they've got to ride that fine line between display art and functional art. If they're sculptures that can be smoked, they aren't pipes in my book. I think Alex Florov does this very well. His pipes are all his own; they lean into the sculptural but retain their pipeness.

[WCannoy]

Great post Walt. I would ask this: If step 1 is making pipes and step 3 is profit, how would you describe step 2? Utter frustration or???

Ask the underpants gnomes...

[oklahoma red]

OK all you underpants gnomes out there, let's hear it. What constitutes step 2? Inquiring minds want to know.
Chas.

[WCannoy]

[the rev]

Great post Walt!

The really exotic pipes (I classify them as "art" pipes) are great, collectible pieces of "art" for those that can afford them (there's that niche). But are they practical to the vast majority of pipe smokers? I think not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and practicality is the realm of the consumer. But then again, I could be full of crap and this is all a dream.
Chas.

I agree with this completely. If you're going to make "sculptural" pipes, they've got to ride that fine line between display art and functional art. If they're sculptures that can be smoked, they aren't pipes in my book. I think Alex Florov does this very well. His pipes are all his own; they lean into the sculptural but retain their pipeness.

the key phrase there is "i think"

Many would say that some of his designs are not anywhere near "pipeness" While others like myself say as long as it smokes well, push that boundary as far out as you can, and its still a pipe. This is completely and totally subjective.

rev

[d.huber]

This is completely and totally subjective.

Exactly.

[Bryan Johnson]

Personally, I think the best pipe buyer is someone who has tried to make a few has a hobby -- just as a hobby, with no intention of every going into the business himself. Just the attempt of trying to flog a piece of briar into a semblance of a pipe is a humbling experience and teaches the wise pipe buyer to look for quality, quality, quality.

There are people who buy the brand, not the object. Always have been, always will be. Nothing you can do about them.

I think the way to build a following of your own, particularly if most of your sales are going to be through the Internet are:

1) potograph the hell out of each pipe, so the potential buyer can see all the details. Lots of closeups so he can see that there aren't big gaps between the stem and the wood, that the curves are true and smooth, all the stuff he'd look at in person if he could;

2) absolutely guarantee money-back if returned (unsomked) within X days

3) be willing to make custom pipes, even if it's a matter of copying someone else's style ("here's a photo of a Nielsen bent ball that I can't afford -- can you make one just like it?")

4) find your own signature style, materials and approach (I know, it's the opposite of point #3) and a certain percentage will be attracted to it

And, just keep making pipes.

I've been selling a lot of articles this past year (I'm a full-time freelancer writer), but I've been writing for over 30 years. Sometimes I'll end up working for peanuts, other jobs I'll make a decent time/effort to paycheck ratio. Beats shoveling wet sand in the rain, though.

Good luck. Post lots of photos on the Forum.

Best wishes,
Bryan

[longford]

Thankyou to all that have posted in this thread. As a new guy to the world of pipe making it has been very helpful. I guess my step two would be establish your own style.

[taharris]

I think that step 2 is repetition and perseverance.

In order to get good at making pipes you have to make lots of them and I think that it is important to practice daily if possible.

I have a full time "grown up" job that takes up a lot of my time, but I get up extra early to spend an hour in my shop every day making pipes.

No, I don't get a lot of pipes out the door, but the ones I do get out are half way decent and I sell them for a price that I think represents my skill level.

No one is going to buy a Todd Harris pipe for $500, but a lot of people are happy to pay $150 for a well engineered and reasonably shaped pipe.

I think the other key point for any pipe maker is to define his or her nitch. What is your business model? My business model is that I want my customer to feel that my pipes are a good value. If they feel that they paid a reasonable price for a good smoker then they will come back.

Todd

Note to all of the full time pipe makers out there. I only refer to my job as "grown up" because I envy your ability to get up every morning and do something you love rather than going to work for The Man.

[WCannoy]

Note to all of the full time pipe makers out there. I only refer to my job as "grown up" because I envy your ability to get up every morning and do something you love rather than going to work for The Man.

I took it at face value, yet I was not even slightly offended... Wonder what that says about me?

[taharris]

Note to all of the full time pipe makers out there. I only refer to my job as "grown up" because I envy your ability to get up every morning and do something you love rather than going to work for The Man.

I took it at face value, yet I was not even slightly offended... Wonder what that says about me?

I hope it means that you love your profession.

Todd