Quote Originally Posted by WalesLax View Post
I feel like there are three very distinct buyers of pipes on eBay:

Scotland seems to have a plethora of pipes, but they are overwhelmingly "average" pipes.

People in the US are looking for pipes, but I get the sense that they are looking for something "special," which is why the plain sets and sets with Catalan mounts don't sell for a lot. I can't lie, I am definitely one of those Americans always on the lookout for an ivory set that doesn't have to cross borders, silver, and/or something rare/with a story.

Canada sort of is a mix of those two, but I have noticed that there are a lot more non-eBay options in Canada than the US, primarily Kijiji.
Very interesting! I never noticed that, I will have to keep an eye out.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me one difference between US pipers and UK pipers is regarding the "restoring" of vintage pipes. From what I've seen there's a greater tendency in the UK for pipers to like shiny new-looking pipes, and they would rather have a vintage set "restored" to make look new, while many US pipers don't mind vintage pipes looking their age. (I know there's both kinds of pipers in both places.)

There used to be a guy named Steve McVeigh (Ebay name "bugpiper") in Northern Ireland who was, to my way of thinking, criminal in what he did to vintage pipes. I don't think he did the work himself, I think he sent the old pipes to Kintail. He would have them turn down the ivory mounts to get rid of the patina layer, and have them turn down all the wood parts to cut away the original combing & beading and cut new combing & beading.

Even worse is how he would slap on hideous CNC engraved silver mounts.

I don't know how many beautiful old Hendersons he desecrated in that way.

About the "stories" that come with pipes, I think generally those are bogus. I've seen so many pipes on Ebay said to have been "recovered from a WWI battlefield" that after the Great War the ground must have been so covered with bagpipes that you couldn't walk without stepping on them.

Oh, and pipes "played in the Boar War" (sic)