You saw it (ebay), bought it. Don't like it. What do you do?

[kieveryuu]

Ok. So the newest pipe came in the mail today. Honestly. It does not grab me the way I thought it would. When you are confronted with such a situation, do you try and like it anyway, ebay it or trade it?

In this case it is not the pipe shape specifically but rather a collection of little things. Like the highly visible fills. The style is new for me so I will give it a try or two. How knows, if it smokes well I may give it a pass, overlook the flaws and keep it.

That said, so far so good, of 10 estates from ebay, only 1 that leaves me a little meh.

 

[Rusty Mouse]

Ok. So the newest pipe came in the mail today. Honestly. It does not grab me the way I thought it would. When you are confronted with such a situation, do you try and like it anyway, ebay it or trade it?

In this case it is not the pipe shape specifically but rather a collection of little things. Like the highly visible fills. The style is new for me so I will give it a try or two. How knows, if it smokes well I may give it a pass, overlook the flaws and keep it.

That said, so far so good, of 10 estates from ebay, only 1 that leaves me a little meh.

You could try and force yourself to like it, usually that doesn't work. Sometimes in life you've got to cut your losses and move on, you'll feel better than if you were to stare at this pipe and just cringe every time, that's the downside of buying things online, things aren't always what they seem. Some people have great return policies, lots don't.
That being said, is it just the fills you're rattled about? If so, that may be something you might want to try to overcome as I'm sure you know they're fairly common. Appreciate your pipe for the unique little markings or "flaws" it has, remember nothing's ever perfect.

 

[Smoker99]

Just get rid of it. The shortcomings will always be present in your mind.

 

[kieveryuu]

Rusty, it is not that the pipe has fills, all but one of my pipes has fills. It that the fills look like common wood putty. Like a junkyard door in the wrong color on a car. Perhaps more importantly, this pipe is just lacking that certain something that makes it hard to wait to smoke it. Think I will take smoker99’s prod and dump it back into the ebay pool.

Meanwhile, filling that PAD void, am looking at a really nice poker style Savinelli Venezia right now that I think just might be my next pipe.

 

[riff raff]

Almost every Ebay purchase is a roll of the dice. I've been lucky so far (maybe 15 pipes) and not been burned, but that luck is bound to run out at some point. A pipe with a lot of visible fills would turn me off, there are too many out there with no fills (or visible at any rate).

 

[Josjor]

I think just about everyone needs a "garage" pipe: A pipe that you can take to the garage/shop/driveway and toke on while working away and you don't care enough about so that if it got crushed, run over, dropped, or mangled you won't cry.

 

[plumbernater]

Im with josjor, keep it for a work pipe/truck pipe. Or check return policy from seller before you smoke it.

 

[Tim_Haggerty]

Yup, there's nothing wrong with a lawn mowing pipe. Though if if doesn't smoke well, to hell with it.

And chalk it up as a tuition payment and use it as a lesson to refine your eBay criteria further: you'll find that there's a reason why the same names and dealers will come up as reputable on the site repeatedly. People auctioning off pipes they've acquired from random sources -- garage sales, grandpa -- can't really be faulted for not knowing the nomenclature; bid accordingly.

Supply and demand seems to be at work here too: there may not be more pipe smokers (though I think there are) but there are more of them on the web with better access to more information. eBay's been around for 17 years so the days of the dollar Dunhill are long over, if they ever existed.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I'm kind of with the latter of the comments here. Clean it up and see how it smokes. Make it a "truck pipe" or, as was said, a lawn mowing pipe. If it gets dropped, just more "meh" for a meh pipe. Who knows, it may be your best smoker.

My very first eBay estate was grossly misrepresented. I got it and the stem had been bitten all the way through, the pipe was leaps beyond clean and it smelled like it had been used to smoke road tar. Luckily the gal who sold it to me was cool, and I was able to return it.

From that point forward, it's been the luck of the draw, I ask for more info and pictures the best I can, but sometimes sellers just ignore, and I move on. My last few no-names have been awesome. Live and learn.

Don't give up on it yet, unless there's some physical parameter preventing you from actually smoking it.

 

[docwatson]

I sell pipes on the Bay and try to show many photos so that folks bidding will not be disappointed in what they buy. Also, I don't sell junk pipes, but quality estate and new briar. I also have bought some from other sellers that were not quite what I expected and sometimes I keep them for fishing/outdoor pipes or just give them to new folks getting into the hobby. If your concern is that you're not sure about a pipe on eBay you should ask questions before bidding and save yourself and the seller any hard feelings. Just my .02 cents worth.
Oh yea, if interested I have several listings on the Bay right now ending on the 15th. My eBay ID is charatn
Andy C.

 

[kieveryuu]

Doc, nice ebay store, will be keeping on eye on it. Eyeing that Brandy right now, really want to add a brandy to my small collection.

You guys are making a good point. I had not considered keeping it as a “meh, sh*t happens.” pipe. I really like that idea. Especially as I am really careful with my pipes. A working collection.

Excellent feedback. Thank you guys for making a new brother feel welcome.

 

[PipeCulture]

I think just about everyone needs a "garage" pipe: A pipe that you can take to the garage/shop/driveway and toke on while working away and you don't care enough about so that if it got crushed, run over, dropped, or mangled you won't cry.

The famed "beater" pipe---aka the workhorse.

 

[docwatson]

Thanks for the kind words Kiev. Good luck in your search for some fine briar.
Doc

 

[jlong]

One man's trash is another man's pleasure. Post a pic and tell us what you paid.

 

[RDPipes]

I buy a lot and sell a little on eBay and I've had my bad buy's and just live with them most the time because the price was right. Sometimes you think you've seen all you can see of the pipe and then in comes in the mail and you look at it like "did they switch pipes on me?" I find it way to much hassle to return or argue with the seller so, lesson learned and I either give it away or I try fix'en er up. Thankfully my good buys make up for the bad ones. Just picked up a Victorian meer for about $9, that made all the bad buys go away. (pacratat51)

And Doc, I'm keep'en an eye on ya too. Nice Radice and Willmer. Can't afford either of them now but, I'm keep'en an eye on ya.

 

[docwatson]

Thanks CartaPhilus, for watching my auctions. I'll have many more selections in the future. I don't put reserves on any of my eBay sales and occasionally some pipes can be had for extremely reasonable prices.

 

[kieveryuu]

One man's trash is another man's pleasure. Post a pic and tell us what you paid.

Here is a picture of the pipe (cost total with S&H was $20):


It is not an ugly pipe, especially for the price, just has the numerous fills all around the bowl and a few deep scratches and badly oxidized stem. Just lacks that little something that makes me really want to light it up. That said, I finally had a chance to smoke it today and all in all it is not too bad. A deeper bowl, that does hang the way I was hoping it would. Think it will make a good “working“ pipe such as when I am at my drafting table or similar. If I come to actually enjoy it I will put some time into refurbishing it.

Will try and post a set a photos of my full (small) pipe collection to photos thread sooner than later.

Question for Doc, what are you smoking in your avatar photo?

 

[hornalum]

I bought an unnamed pipe on ebay a while back that had only one picture in the listing for $10. I was really dissapointed when I got it and although there wasn't anything really wrong with it, I decided to trash it. My conscience got to me the next day and I cleaned it up. It's hard to believe, but it's my go to pipe right now and smokes great. Hopefully you'll find that one smokes well...if not, it didn't cost you very much money.

By the way DocWatson, I just won the Ser Jacopo stacked bulldog you had listed.