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The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by tingjunkie » Mar 5th, '13, 22:16

I gotta say, I'm starting to feel much less guilty about all the money I've spent stocking up on good small Yixing pots in the last three years. The prices on the reliable English-speaking websites are really going bananas.

For example. Sure, it's a lovely pot, but it sold for that price in a very short amount of time? Two years ago I think a pot like that would have been priced closer to $100- $120 tops. This hobby is starting to get too rich for my blood.

Advice for non-wealthy beginners to the hobby: stick with a gaiwan and spend your money on good tea! :shock:

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Mar 5th, '13, 22:48
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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by AdamMY » Mar 5th, '13, 22:48

Oddly I felt the same way about the Hagi Market in the past few years. Though I think the biggest difference is the biggest price increases were in nice but not special pieces. Oddly the higher end market at least for Hagi has stayed seemingly much more stable.

About the pot you posted, is that some Yao bian ( or what ever the Chinese term is for kiln fire effects is) going on? Unless the photos have weird lighting going on it looks like half the pot is darker and pinker than the other half.

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by tingjunkie » Mar 5th, '13, 22:56

Hmmm... you mean the streak in the bottom left photo? Not sure. If a pot is yao bian, Jing will usually list that I think.

If I had to take a guess, I'd say the clay wasn't mixed in a completely uniform way? I think that might be what happened with this pot too. Maybe an expert can offer more insight.

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by yalokinh » Mar 5th, '13, 22:58

I've seen posts from 2006-2009 and i'm pretty jealous.
Everything was cheaper back then, anyone know why?

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The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by Abracadaver! » Mar 5th, '13, 23:07

I think that it's just something about how Jing lights and shoots their photos. I bought a teapot from them a couple of years ago that, based on the photos, I thought had some Bizen-level yohen happening on it, and was very surprised to find the clay totally uniform when it arrived.

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by tingjunkie » Mar 5th, '13, 23:12

I think the Chinese are becoming wealthier, and far more people from many countries outside Asia are learning about serious Chinese tea too.

When I very first started learning about Yixing pots here on TeaChat over 3 years ago, I remember the general consensus was that if you got lucky, real zhu ni pots from the 80's could still be found for about $200. :lol:

Well, with 35 pots acquired (and probably 10 more sold or given to friends) in the last 3+ years, I really can't complain. Now if I could just go back in time to the 70's and buy Yixing pots and Apple stock...

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by TIM » Mar 5th, '13, 23:15

IMO that was a used pot. Right guys?

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by tingjunkie » Mar 5th, '13, 23:19

Likely used, but that doesn't look like a tea stain or uneven patina to me. I'll default to your better trained eye though TIM.

I think abracadaver might be on to something. He's got a half decent photo eye. (jk buddy :wink: )

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by gingkoseto » Mar 5th, '13, 23:57

Compared with several years ago, 25% price rise of many things is due to currency exchange rate. Probably another section of price rise is due to 10-25% increase of postal charges. I feel rmb prices of yixing within China didn't change that much in past years, but I didn't do any strict comparison either.

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by Maitre_Tea » Mar 6th, '13, 00:04

Perhaps it has something to do with the growing scarcity of smaller pots, maybe these richer mainland Chinese are more interested in buying larger pots that have more space for artistic expression. Also, the scarcity of older clay.

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by futurebird » Mar 6th, '13, 01:11

I'm glad I'm not really going crazy think it's hard to find simple small pots. That said. I've found a few. And they are very functional and lovely. I don't know how "authentic" they are, but I'm not that obsessed to care.

I do think that tea culture is becoming more popular. Especially in NYC.

Naturally this will annoy those of you who keep it real and were there back before it was cool... but the bright side is someone will start making pots for less.

How hard can it be to make a simple small clay pot, with un-glazed walls that brews tea well?? (hard apparently)

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by theredbaron » Mar 6th, '13, 02:37

futurebird wrote:I'm glad I'm not really going crazy think it's hard to find simple small pots. That said. I've found a few. And they are very functional and lovely. I don't know how "authentic" they are, but I'm not that obsessed to care.

I do think that tea culture is becoming more popular. Especially in NYC.

Naturally this will annoy those of you who keep it real and were there back before it was cool... but the bright side is someone will start making pots for less.

How hard can it be to make a simple small clay pot, with un-glazed walls that brews tea well?? (hard apparently)
When i visited No 1 factory in '96 (or so) a master potter there explained to me that making small pots well is more difficult than large pots, and that large pots draw much better prices as the Asian collectors preferred larger pots. Her pots were then already priced way beyond what i could afford - starting from several thousand dollars up. She had though a box with very nice older shui ping pots to present visitors with, which she gave me one. It's a bit larger - maybe 150 cc, or so, and i use it for when i have several guests.

I don't see prices of pots going down. I have prices only going up, especially for older pots or very well made pots, since i began drinking Chinese tea 22 years ago.
The market is hardly driven by westerners now increasingly exploring Chinese tea, but to the most part by mainland China itself. While back in the 80's/90's the market was driven by Taiwan and Malaysia, nowadays many mainland Chinese are actually going and buying back pots (and stored Pu Erh's) which overseas collectors and sellers from bought back then from China. Mainland China's rising middle class is now finding Tea culture and has the wealth to indulge in both precious pots and teas. Unless China's economy collapses, prices will only continue to go up for the foreseeable future.

I haven't bought a Yixing pot in about ten years, and don't plan to either (unless i win the lottery). I feel very lucky that i began drinking Chinese tea. But i also stock up on Pu Erh - i have almost a lifetime supply now. I still need to get a stock of good Yancha, as i have seen prices for really good Yancha going up massively as well.

All dealers and tea people i know have said to me that this does not look like a bubble this time around, but a real growth. More mainland Chinese finding tea - and a limited amount of tea gardens that grow the top quality, and rising labor costs for hand picked and processed teas, and of course for handcrafted pots.

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by futurebird » Mar 6th, '13, 02:47

The market is hardly driven by westerners now increasingly exploring Chinese tea, but to the most part by mainland China itself.
I was speaking about the sites in English, I'd think those would be driven by the west.

Is there a small teapot shortage on Chinese sites too?

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by the_economist » Mar 6th, '13, 02:53

Vendors wouldn't sell pots that are worth more money in the East to Westerners at a discount. Geographical/Linguistic distance doesn't mean that much to pricing. The shortage is everywhere :)

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Re: The Current Yixing Market... jeeze

by bagua7 » Mar 8th, '13, 02:13

tingjunkie wrote:Sure, it's a lovely pot, but it sold for that price in a very short amount of time?
What was the price as once Jing sells a pot the selling price is rounded down to "0."
tingjunkie wrote:I think the Chinese are becoming wealthier
Yes.
theredbaron wrote:The market is hardly driven by westerners now increasingly exploring Chinese tea, but to the most part by mainland China itself.
That's a fact and plus all of the above reasons; in the times of old cha dao was a costume of the ruling classes now thanks to Communism and modern China having embraced the capitalistic system cha dao is everyone's property.

Keep your current Yixing pots as "Gollum keeps the ring" because in the near future you'll be begging to find $250 pots.

Btw, Shouzhen (ZishaTeapot.co.uk) no longer sell pots to the Western market, they are "busy, busy" supplying to the local market. Why would you worry with a bunch of Westerners when you have a market of 1.3 billion of keen Chinese!

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