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Post by qmechanics on Sept 23, 2019 19:55:39 GMT -5
For me the pipes I go after are from reputable Meerschaum pipe houses like CAO, SMS, IMP etc. , even though the name of the carver is not always known. Many of these pipes are not signed, but indicate the company on the stem or in the case. All are/were known for quality block Meerschaum with notable carvers contributing. So far I have not been disappointed. Bottom line, selling pipes from known, reputable companies also goes a long way towards selling the pipes on eBay. It is likened to holding a Ben Wade Danish pipe. You kniw it came from Denmark, It was made by someone in Preben's company (A number of well known carvers passed through there), but you do not know by who (Educated guesses can be made.).The pipes have a solid reputation and typically sell for much more than unmarked freehands. My suggestion is your title should include block Meerschaum, the carver and/or company name and any other eye grabbing honest information that brings folks to click on your items. I think Paykoc is a pretty well-known name, or used to be. They've been in the industry for decades. There are other Meerschaum distributers, importers, pipe houses besides the four STHF and I have mentiined. A good search engine will reveal a number of them, past and present, through company websites, pipe stores, articles, forums etc. With the company name in hand, one can further explore the reputation of the Meerschaum dealer. Another idea is to sell them through a very well regarded eBay pipe seller. The upside is you have an experienced seller who knows how to promote, display etc.the pipe auction, takes care of communication and boxes/ships the pipes for you. The well regarded pipe seller is also trusted by the pipe buying community. So the traffic and bids are often higher, especially compared to those with little to no past exposure. The downside is you will be charged a fee that will included the eBay fee and an additional charge for the independent seller's services, usually a percentage of the winning bid. For those with little to no eBay credentials, especially with nice pipes and who want to sell ASAP, I recommend the good eBay sellers. Often the winning bid makes up for the seller's charge and surpasses what one might do on their own. If you sell them yourself and they are not smoked,listing them as used condition should not appear in the title or description. What I mean is state unsmoked ______ pipe in the title, take a clear picture of the inside of the bowl and in your written description restate it is unsmoked with a brief explainatiin as to the reason the listing says used to avoid confusion. STHF covered a good part of the last paragraph. I embellished his thought to help move thiags along. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Sept 23, 2019 20:22:28 GMT -5
For me the pipes I go after are from reputable Meerschaum pipe houses like CAO, SMS, IMP etc. , even though the name of the carver is not always known. Many of these pipes are not signed, but indicate the company on the stem or in the case. All are/were known for quality block Meerschaum with notable carvers contributing. So far I have not been disappointed. Bottom line, selling pipes from known, reputable companies also goes a long way towards selling the pipes on eBay. It is likened to holding a Ben Wade Danish pipe. You kniw it came from Denmark, It was made by someone in Preben's company (A number of well known carvers passed through there), but you do not know by who (Educated guesses can be made.).The pipes have a solid reputation and typically sell for much more than unmarked freehands. My suggestion is your title should include block Meerschaum, the carver and/or company name and any other eye grabbing honest information that brings folks to click on your items. Q, you picked poor example in Ben Wade. Ben Wade pipes of varying quality were made in England for most of the iterations. The best were made in Leeds before 1966. They are being made in made in London for at least the second time. The Danish pipes were made from 1971 to 1989. |
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Post by qmechanics on Sept 23, 2019 20:37:02 GMT -5
For me the pipes I go after are from reputable Meerschaum pipe houses like CAO, SMS, IMP etc. , even though the name of the carver is not always known. Many of these pipes are not signed, but indicate the company on the stem or in the case. All are/were known for quality block Meerschaum with notable carvers contributing. So far I have not been disappointed. Bottom line, selling pipes from known, reputable companies also goes a long way towards selling the pipes on eBay. It is likened to holding a Ben Wade Danish pipe. You kniw it came from Denmark, It was made by someone in Preben's company (A number of well known carvers passed through there), but you do not know by who (Educated guesses can be made.).The pipes have a solid reputation and typically sell for much more than unmarked freehands. My suggestion is your title should include block Meerschaum, the carver and/or company name and any other eye grabbing honest information that brings folks to click on your items. Q, you picked poor example in Ben Wade. Ben Wade pipes of varying quality were made in England for most of the iterations. The best were made in Leeds before 1966. They are being made in made in London for at least the second time. The Danish pipes were made from 1971 to 1989. I believe I was fairly clear in stating Ben Wade Danish pipes and defined the line further as those made by Preben Holm's company. Never did I endorse the entire Ben Wade labeled pipes through the years nor the company's sorted history. I think the Ben Wade Prebens were solid smokers. I own many of them and am very familiar with this history. Besides the point was that to a lover of freehands, Ben Wade Danish freehands have some weight and are well thought of by name. This weight is exemplified by good materials, mechanics and nice pipes by Preben and the artisans under his employ, men like Winslow. This is similar to SMS CAO etc pipes, though the logistics and history varies (Like gathering pipes from multiple independent pipe making shops as opposed to being made in a shop or two and sometimes Meerschaum carvers adding their signnature or mark to their creations, to name a few.). I suppose one can state the difference is CAO, SMS etc. did not suffer from the troubling years Ben Wade did. By limiting my scope to the Ben Wade Danish Freehand years (During the Lane years), I hoped this problem would be avoided and the comparison understood. Oh well,... lol PS If one wants a blow by blow history, I can provide a bit of help. Freehand pipes, from plays on traditional forms to more radical variations, are some of my favorite pipes and a healthy part of my PAD (as witnessed by my avatar and past posts 😀 ).. |
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Post by smellthehatfirst on Sept 23, 2019 21:29:15 GMT -5
If you sell them yourself and they are not smoked,listing them as used condition should not appear in the title or description. What I mean is state unsmoked ______ pipe in the title, take a clear picture of the inside of the bowl and in your written description restate it is unsmoked with a brief explainatiin as to the reason the listing says used to avoid confusion. Yeah. You only need to mark it as "used" in the ebay "condition" field, because otherwise you will get lumped in with the dreck from drop-shippers and scammers. |
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Post by Legend Lover on Sept 24, 2019 7:08:11 GMT -5
A gentleman died and had an amazing collection of pipes, tobacco, and paraphernalia. He seemed to have a love for meerschaum pipes and I told the family I would try to sell anything I could for them. I am often amazed by meerschaum pipes but I already have enough of them so I am not buying any more.
I have listed some of his on here and on Ebay and there just doesn't seem to be much interest and maybe you can help me understand why? I fully understand that the audience here is very different than the audience on Ebay 
I included the tin of Presbyterian for size reference as I know a lot of meerschaums are small. The Bacchus on the left and the Indian on the top are "large" pipes which I see selling on line for $125 or more but there has been no interest on Ebay at far lower prices which surprises me.
Can anyone help explain why these don't sell? And don't worry about hurting my feelings.....I don't have many left 
It all comes down to three things.
1. Keywords.
If you don't have "paykoc" (the importer), "meerschaum," and "pipe" in your title, no one will ever find your auction.
Also, mark condition as "used" in the flags, even if they are not actually smoked. These are pre-owned, and you are a private seller, so this belongs in the "used" category. I know I, personally, filter out all "new" items because it's always fly by nights selling garbage.
2. Listing quality.
Take lots more photos than you think you need. Even if you note that the pipes are unsmoked, you still want to get photos of the inside of the bowl.
3. Starting bid.
eBay is set up with the dumbest possible auction system, because eBay the business values "user engagement" more than they value a good buying/selling process. You have to rely on folks competitive instinct and poor impulse control to get a good selling price.
If a pipe is worth say, $300, marking it with a starting bid of $100 is likely to result in a sale price of $100, because only one person ever bothered to bid.
Marking the exact same pipe with a starting bid of $10 might result in a $400 final sale price, as six bidders clobber each other to get a "deal."
Setting a reserve price, or a high initial bid, is a really great way to scare off most bidders before the action even gets started. Sure, you take a risk with a low initial bid and no reserve, but you know what they say -- no risk, no reward.
If you're too risk averse for that, set up a "buy it now" auction and let people "make offers." This will reduce your total profits but also curtails risk, since you will see each offer before accepting / rejecting it.
Some great advice here. |
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stone
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Post by stone on Sept 24, 2019 7:43:16 GMT -5
Does anyone know what the this number indicates? It's a Paykoc pipe.
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stone
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Post by stone on Sept 24, 2019 7:49:34 GMT -5
A gentleman died and had an amazing collection of pipes, tobacco, and paraphernalia. He seemed to have a love for meerschaum pipes and I told the family I would try to sell anything I could for them. I am often amazed by meerschaum pipes but I already have enough of them so I am not buying any more.
I have listed some of his on here and on Ebay and there just doesn't seem to be much interest and maybe you can help me understand why? I fully understand that the audience here is very different than the audience on Ebay
I included the tin of Presbyterian for size reference as I know a lot of meerschaums are small. The Bacchus on the left and the Indian on the top are "large" pipes which I see selling on line for $125 or more but there has been no interest on Ebay at far lower prices which surprises me.
Can anyone help explain why these don't sell? And don't worry about hurting my feelings.....I don't have many left
It all comes down to three things.
1. Keywords.
If you don't have "paykoc" (the importer), "meerschaum," and "pipe" in your title, no one will ever find your auction.
Also, mark condition as "used" in the flags, even if they are not actually smoked. These are pre-owned, and you are a private seller, so this belongs in the "used" category. I know I, personally, filter out all "new" items because it's always fly by nights selling garbage.
2. Listing quality.
Take lots more photos than you think you need. Even if you note that the pipes are unsmoked, you still want to get photos of the inside of the bowl.
3. Starting bid.
eBay is set up with the dumbest possible auction system, because eBay the business values "user engagement" more than they value a good buying/selling process. You have to rely on folks competitive instinct and poor impulse control to get a good selling price.
If a pipe is worth say, $300, marking it with a starting bid of $100 is likely to result in a sale price of $100, because only one person ever bothered to bid.
Marking the exact same pipe with a starting bid of $10 might result in a $400 final sale price, as six bidders clobber each other to get a "deal."
Setting a reserve price, or a high initial bid, is a really great way to scare off most bidders before the action even gets started. Sure, you take a risk with a low initial bid and no reserve, but you know what they say -- no risk, no reward.
If you're too risk averse for that, set up a "buy it now" auction and let people "make offers." This will reduce your total profits but also curtails risk, since you will see each offer before accepting / rejecting it.
This is helpful! I would not have thought this to be the case but I will make sure to do this! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2019 12:28:02 GMT -5
I have and have seen those numbers on Meers. Always thought they were an inspector or an indicator for a particular stem/style.
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