Are we dreaming ???

[Jan]

Reading recent treads about top prices of pipes one would smoke, made me wonder if we, pipe smokers are realistic or not about or passion.

Time and time again we hear from members who would not buy pipes for more then $100 dollars, and many would like to stay bellow the $50 mark.

The problem I have with this is,that I've seen this argument over the years, and the price people are willing to pay is not changing. How this can be, when everything around us did. Most of things are increasing in price all the time, including our wage and salary. Groceries, gas, rent, power, phone bills, everything is slowly but surely going up every year.

But people are expecting to pay the same for their pipes as they did 10 or more years ago. Are we stuck in some time warp here or what ???

I am talking about pipes in general, and that's including both, factory and hand carved pipes. All would have large material and labour increases over the years. Both briar and rods are now more expensive, so is the labour cost... yet pipe smokers expect the prices to remain the same as many years ago..WHY, can anyone explain this strange phenomena to me!

Is your wage or salary same today as it was 10 years ago? Would you be happy to work for the same wage as then? If not, how can you expect that people in pipe trade will.

So lets be realistic and allow people in pipe trade, being factory workers or individual artisans, same standard of living as any other trade or business today.

Complaining about prices, or worse, not supporting the pipe factories and artisans today with your new purchase, because you believe you've being ripped off, will have only one effect. Few years from now, they'll be all gone and so will be your chance to purchase new pipe, and I don't think all of us are into estate pipes...

I think it would be sad day indeed, if our much enjoyed hobby and life style would come to such a tragic end...and all because someone would refuse to pay more then $50 for a pipe...

Please let's keep on puffing and buying pipes...for ever

Cheers, Jan
http://www.zemanpipes.com

[KurtHuhn]

Excellent thoughts, Jan. A pipe maker has to eat too, and pay for the car, the house, the tools, the electricity, etc, etc....

It's a simple matter of economics. A pipe *could* be made in a short enough time by hand to justify charging $50, but it sure wouldn't be much to look at - and it probably wouldn't smoke too well either. Like people are fond of saying, time is money - so pony up!

[LexKY_Pipe]

Here here Kurt !!! :thumb:

[Tyler]

Jan,

Fun discussion.

I suspect your thoughts are instigated by a post on Smokers Forums. I read with interest a thread there that was polling folks as to there pipe price range. The general answer was surprisingly low. That said, that forum is different from many others. It is not, generally speaking, a high-grade forum. As such, I'm not sure it is representative.

I think there are plenty of folks that are willing to pay more for a pipe. If we think back fifty to seventy years people are definitely willing pay more today. Back then, a Dunhill could be had for $15-ish, and that was top of the pile. Even if we only go back twenty or thirty years, the number of pipes sold in the $250-$750 range is probably (I don't know for sure) much lower than that market today.

There always has been a market for cheap pipes, and always will be, but I bet THAT category of pipe is more in danger than the artisan pipes are. Collectors will survive through tobacco persecution, while the fellow that wants a cheap pipe to smoke like a cigarette will be more likely to quit.

Tyler

[marks]

I don't think there is any shortage of people buying pipes in the sub $50 category. If I am not mistaken, I believe that Dr. Grabow is still the highest volume seller out there (they are around $20 at my local drug store).

I've also known a few people over the years that to them price is either the sole or primary determinant on a pipe. The cheaper the better.

Heck, I've even been blessed out on a bulletin board that my prices were too high. This from someone that to my knowlege has never seen them except in pictures on the internet. Yes, I believe the sub $50 market is alive and well.

[Tyler]

I don't think there is any shortage of people buying pipes in the sub $50 category. If I am not mistaken, I believe that Dr. Grabow is still the highest volume seller out there (they are around $20 at my local drug store).

I've also known a few people over the years that to them price is either the sole or primary determinant on a pipe. The cheaper the better.

Heck, I've even been blessed out on a bulletin board that my prices were too high. This from someone that to my knowlege has never seen them except in pictures on the internet. Yes, I believe the sub $50 market is alive and well.

I don't think anyone is disputing that.

If you are responding to me, what I am trying to say is that I believe that the sub-$50 category is going to feel the tobacco-discrimination pinch more so than the collector market will. I am not suggesting that the sub-$50 market does not, or will not, exist.

Tyler

[Nick]

Just glad i'm a hobbiest. That said, I think there will always be a niche for pipe artisans out there. Just a matter of how big it is I suppose.

[Frank]

I don't think custom pipe makers have much to fear from factory pipes.

If you've ever watched the Antiques Roadshow, you'll know that people love to collect, especially Americans, and if they're passionate about their collections, they will spend on it, big time. I mean this in a positive way, especially in this "disposable" age we live in.

The discerning pipe smoker will happily pay $100+ for a decent custom pipe, as will the collector. A case in point, this pipe by Dan, a member of this forum: http://cgi.ebay.com/GABRIELI-by-DAN-CHL ... dZViewItem.

Bear in mind, you custom pipe makers are both artisan and artist. The pipes you make are functional and beautiful to look at. The people who buy your pipes are interested in their functional use as well as their beauty as an item of handcrafted art. It is possible that even some non-smokers probably buy your pipes purely for their aesthetic beauty.

Generally speaking, the serious pipe collector is an entirely different class from the everyday $20 pipe smoker. They have been collecting for decades and will continue to do so. I do not think they are a "dying breed".

[smokingpat]

I have pay about 300 for an estate pipe. I have also payed 250 for a new pipe.

I have owned basket pipes as well.



As a collector/smoker i tend to buy what i like.

Lets face it, even the hobbyist pipe maker would like to at least break even.

Personally i cant think of anything better than paying for what one likes to make.