Something wonderful has been brewing for some time and today is the day that it all comes together.

Let’s face it: pipes can be expensive. Sometimes very expensive. Rarely even “Honey-I’m-Going-To-Stay-At-My-Mother’s-For-A-Week”-Expensive.

One of the most common ways to avoid some of the high prices without sacrificing quality is to make a deal with another pipe collector, either buying or trading. Selling pipes that one owns is not a new concept, though the notion of estate (used) pipes has experienced a relatively recent boom, especially in America. With the increased prevalence of technology, this exchange of pipes has become even more common, especially over Ebay.

While Ebay has its advantages, it is not the most convenient medium for trading and selling pipes. One of the major problems that comes with searching for pipes on “the bay” is sorting through the noise, so to speak. Whenever I go into the “Tobacciana” section and click on pipes, I am flooded with hookahs, pipe screens, glass pipes (for tobacco purposes only, of course), and cheaply made imitations. For this reason, it often takes a long time to find something worth your attention, and, by that point, the frustration has set in and the enjoyable experience of hunting for a new pipe is gone.

Luckily, pipe-people are not inclined to sit idly by and allow a problem to persist. Enter Kevin Godbee and Greg Pease. Both of these men clearly have a great deal going on in the pipe world, but they saw this problem as something that needed fixing.

So, say hello to Briar Bid.

Visually, you might think that you stumbled onto Ebay again, but this auction site is devoted solely to high quality, real auctions of new pipes, estate pipes, tobaccos, and accessories.

What makes this new site really flippin’ cool, aside from the targeted audience and auctions, is the realistic auction format. While the auctions start with an ending time, much like a real auction, the time for bidding will be extended if a new bid comes in during the closing minutes. What does this mean for you? No more having your pipe sniped by someone hovering over the keyboard, waiting for the seconds on the auction to tick down to one before placing their bid. You will have time to up your offer, like it should be.

There are a lot of other, smaller advantages to Briar Bid: lower fees for those listing auctions, Want Ads, Keyword Notification, and fully integrated forums that serve to create a community in addition to an auction site.

Pipes may have been around for a while and some parts may be slow to change, but it is advances in the way we enjoy our hobby, like Briar Bid, that work to ensure its continued proliferation.

Well done, gentlemen. Well done. Did I mention it went live today?