The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

**OC Richard** · 10th March 26, 01:27 AM

Further off the beaten track is this seller, who has put up several lots of bagpipes and bagpipe parts they know nothing about.

They have a list of the items made by the previous owner but they don't know how to interpret it. I've messaged the seller trying to match up the list with the auctions, which randomly group items that don't go together in several instances. They've changed the titles of some of the auctions to make them more accurate.

This listing has two complete Bulgarian Gaidi, a Kaba (deep) Gaida and an ordinary-sized Gaida (often called a Djura Gaida) which the seller called a "Dobruja" Gaida.

Though the wood will make Highland pipers think of the cheap Sheesham wood used in Pakistan, it isn't. It's the "dogwood" which is the traditional hardwood used for Bulgarian bagpipes and flutes. Like Cocus, Dogwood varies from a light brown to a quite dark brown, sometimes in the same piece.

Since the seller doesn't know what bits go together, the listing has random other stuff too, including what look to be two Highland pipe chanters with Practice Chanter tops.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27778769448...ndition=4%7C10

**OC Richard** · 8th April 26, 04:34 PM

A set of Gibson pipes, look to be in good condition, priced low at $800, by a seller with a ton of good feedback.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26763343975...102140.m167418

EDIT: these were snapped up quickly!

**SF Jeff** · 10th April 26, 11:07 AM

I like that these pipes have some provenance - name tags inside the case and a photo of the piper. Interesting that the seller put the lower section of the bass drone in the chanter stock.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/387543936895

**OC Richard** · 11th April 26, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by SF Jeff

I like that these pipes have some provenance - name tags inside the case and a photo of the piper. Interesting that the seller put the lower section of the bass drone in the chanter stock.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/387543936895

Yes you see that sometimes, sellers who don't know what parts go where. When those sellers tell you they don't know anything about bagpipes, you know it's true.

About provenance of that sort, that's one of those things that antique dealers who happen to be selling a set of pipes thinks is important, but doesn't mean much to most potential buyers, who are pipers looking for a set they're going to play.

Also people not in the piping community, when selling pipes on Ebay, will have tons of photos of the case, of all the junk in the case, the bag, the bag-cover, etc none of which matter to pipers, who will change all that stuff anyway.

Pipers are just looking at the "sticks and stocks", the wood parts. Oddly, non-pipers selling pipes will take several photos of the pipes but always from exactly the same angle, sort of looking up at the drones, and no photos showing any other angle. Pipers have to contact the seller and ask for photos taken from different angles, say, showing the tops of the drones.

The photo pipers most want to see is a closeup of the maker's stamp on one of the drones, but the sellers never know where to find these stamps.

An odd thing about (purported) provenance is sellers claiming that the pipes they're selling were "recovered from a WWI battlefield". Pipes made by people who were born after 1918, and crappy Pakistani pipes, will have this claim attached. I've seen it so often that I get a mental picture of a WWI battlefield so strewn with bagpipes that you can't walk across it without stepping on one.

**OC Richard** · 11th April 26, 02:24 AM

Here's an old set of Lawries, possibly interwar, which are getting a lot of bids.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/38985069449...ndition=4%7C10

Talk about provenance, William MacLean? What if they were owned by THIS William MacLean, Glasgow! Pipers will be crawling over each other to get these despite the split I see in one of the Tenor drones.

https://bagpipe.news/2020/02/26/trib...-from-a-pupil/

The pipes are in the UK and at least one of the bushes is ivory so can't be transported across international boundaries. (Which I suppose now means they can't be shipped to the EU.)

**SF Jeff** · 11th April 26, 10:37 AM

Totally agree about the sticks and stocks. Pipers want nice sounding pipes and provenance may not be a factor in their decision to buy. If I were to buy a set of vintage pipes (however you want to define that) I think it would be cool to know who played them before me.

**cessna152towser** · 11th April 26, 10:49 AM

The pipes are in the UK and at least one of the bushes is ivory so can't be transported across international boundaries. (Which I suppose now means they can't be shipped to the EU.)

An exemption certificate for importing ivory to the EU can be applied for and obtained if it forms an essential (and not merely decorative) component of a pre-1975 musical instrument.

**PiperPadre** · 11th April 26, 11:18 AM

That's a lot of money for entry level Hardie's either fake ivory mounts.

Similar sets go for $700-900 on Bagpipe Central.

Originally Posted by SF Jeff

I like that these pipes have some provenance - name tags inside the case and a photo of the piper. Interesting that the seller put the lower section of the bass drone in the chanter stock.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/387543936895

**OC Richard** · 15th April 26, 03:08 PM

That beautiful William MacLean Lawrie set went for only around $600 which amazes me.

There's been a set of overpriced Atherton pipes up for a while. Dave has been selling his pipes new for much less than this.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22730197915...ndition=4%7C10

And a set of Kenny Pettigrew pipes for a low price. I've heard a couple sets of his pipes, they sounded very nice.

These are claimed to be Naills. They don't look like Naills to me, and of course there's no photos of the stamps on the drones given. They probably just have a Naill practice chanter and/or pipe chanter with them.

They're a bit odd-looking and I can't place the maker.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27787301310...ndition=4%7C10

This set has the exact projecting mounts I've seen on a number of old Hendersons, but there's no photos given of the drone stamps, and it only has one Tenor drone.

The price is really good for such a Henderson (if indeed it is one) but you'd probably want to get another Tenor drone made.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20616390961...ndition=4%7C10

This is a gorgeous c1900 Cocus set with plenty of sapwood showing. It's probably a bit overpriced, especially because the seller doesn't have all that much feedback.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/267640358860

**YOJiMBO20** · 15th April 26, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

A set of Gibson pipes, look to be in good condition, priced low at $800, by a seller with a ton of good feedback.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26763343975...102140.m167418

EDIT: these were snapped up quickly!

That was me. I submitted a low offer to see what they would counter with and they accepted it.

The pipes just came in the other day. I haven’t had a chance to play them yet, but once I do I’ll decide if I want to keep them or sell them to one of the local high school kids in hopes that they continue on playing after high school.