When I turned eighteen I was presented with the choice of smoking tobacco or not. I was old enough to buy it should I want to and had extra money. Problem was I didn't particularly want to smoke cigarettes. Cigars were good, but costly, and cigarillos were so hit and miss it was surprising when one was worth the little money I spent on it.
A pipe seemed the frugal choice. For a fairly small introductory cost ($5-10) I could smoke good tobacco for a relatively small cost by weight. Usually $3.00 an ounce for my favorite chocolate Cavendish. I bought a cheap Corncob pipe for $5.00 and over the course of the year eventually burnt through it. It was unusable, so I tracked down a cigar shop in town, and started asking questions, and what I learned would surprise the average person.
1. The average person is overpaying
2. Material doesn't always indicate quality
3. The best pipe should only cost $60.
Simply put, the average uninformed pipe purchaser is spending to much on the pipe's design. Aesthetics play a big role in picking a pipe, the hand feel, the look, and the ever lingering question, "What does it say about me?" After $65 even the best pipe's function and material cost have usually been paid for, so after that you would be paying purely for the design.
Problem is most people aren't particularly worried about the pipe, even amongst smokers the vast majority do not seek to smoke a pipe, let alone learn about the possible costs involved in its production. To most a pipe is a pipe. The aesthetics sell this product, because the knowledge needed to sell it based on material is just not something people care to know. It's just not that important to most. The fact that the pipe is a meerschaum or made of pure briar means very little beyond bragging rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment