boreen wrote:Let’s face it. If you read between the lines, this thread was never meant to be a real question about how the value of pipes is determined.
If one reads carefully, Gland’s initial and subsequent posts were designed to do three things:
1. Advertise and re-sell a set of pipes he had recently purchased from two respected makers.
2. Justify making a significant profit from that set.
3. Get in a few digs at the makers for perceived slights and/or shortcomings.
This has much to do with innuendo, gripe-airing, and the power of money.
It has very little to do with music and the generosity of spirit which is usually at the heart of the piping community.
Perhaps it's time to move on to another topic.
No, you're wrong.
In fact, the pipes were sold BEFORE I made the first post. S-O-L-D. B-E-F-O-R-E. Get that?
I made the inquiry as I had a some difficulty in arriving at my decision to sell the set. I had to really determine what was important to me about the instrument. The circumstances led me to ponder and the thread was really to stimulate discussion about value. So, read my initial post. I proposed the things that cause me to value a set...and asked others what they thought contributed to the value of their sets. The rest of you derailed it. Typical internet sh*t. Reminds me as to why I have not had much to say on this forum for the past 8 years or so.
As I said, I made no profit off of the set. I sold it for more than I paid...at FMV!! I recouped my costs, multiple shipping costs, and interest. When I agreed to the purchase, I paid the maker MORE than he was asking as I felt it was worth more and I encouraged him to charge more. I did lose $1000 on the sale of a chanter of their make. Does that make you happy? That I lost money?
Money IS powerful. It buys gasoline. Electricity. Food. Shelter. Your internet subscription (unless you're pirating off your neighbors wireless). And Uilleann pipes. That's a lot of power.
In their defense, one of the makers offered to purchase the set back from me..... at a time that I was ecstatic with the set! Who does that?!?!?!? That offended rather than appeased me. That offer was the one circumstance that finally negatively colored my entire perception of the set and led me to begin to think about selling it to whom I damn well pleased. As far as generosity of spirit is concerned, I made the set available to one who has hoped for a K&Q set for 10-15 years thus creating opportunity that did not exist. I championed the cause of a good friend! And, he is now making good music!!!! I didn't sell it to the man I could've, my best friend who admired the set and knew the asking price, as I did not wanna see it at his home when I visited! That is a mark of my visceral responses to the set. Imagine that!!! A negative visceral response to a set that a professional player with about 35-40 years of experience remarked is "the best D set I have ever played." Now, THAT is a valuable set...worth a lot of money!!!!
Truthfully, I am a champion of Quinn pipes. And Koehler reeds. In fact, I absolutely adore my C set and play it regularly. Tonite even!!!
The negative attitudes towards the sale says a lot about this group. The banter should be "Whoa...a K&Q set sold for $16,250!! Awesome!!!!! Worth every penny!!!! That's the spirit of appreciation. David and Benedict must rise to the difficult task of deciding what to do in regards to pricing in light of this information. Honestly, I feel they deserve that amount for their sets.....and I'm the one who was disgruntled with a recent experience!! Go figure!!! Some of you have not been smart enough to figure this one out.
And yes, boreen, you're very welcome to move on to another topic.....if you will, please. But, wait.....you did not answer the question....how do you ascribe a value to your pipes?