Quote Originally Posted by Pugsley View Post
Over the years I've collected quite a number of pipes, some that rarely or never get smoked. Now, for the first time, I'm giving some thought to selling some. Two of them are unsmoked, limited editions, one is a very lightly used Dunhill in what seems to be an unpopular size and shape. My questions are how do you set prices if you can't find similar examples for sale, and how do you sell them? Ebay? List them on forums? Sell to friends? I have a couple friends that smoke pipes but they are both of the "If you aren't going to smoke it you should just give it to me" variety.
I have a pretty strict, "If I don't smoke it, it's got to go" mentality. With that being said, if I like a pipe, I will give it a year or so to get into my rotation. If after a year I still find it more often than not just sitting there, it is gone-zo.

I have a local shop that I deal with from time to time, he is a good guy and buys a lot of my estates and trades with me. Forums are a great place to sell pipes to fellow brothers, if it is a pipe that you like but just didn't smoke, you at least know it is going to a fellow piper who will enjoy it and take care of it. Rarer pipes that you aren't sure of the value of, Ebay is a good bet. Put it up and see what it fetches....seller fees can be steep though.

As far as pricing goes...I guess the more you sell, the more you realize what things are worth. Condition and demand play a huge role. You can use Ebay as kind of a reference guide, but be forewarned that some of those "Buy It Now" prices are just not realistic whatsoever. Smokingpipes also sells estates and you can kind of gauge the market by what they are asking for their pipes....but that is only if your pipe is in great, restored condition. Smokingpipes estates are just top notch and they command top dollar for their work.