...all depends, if its the only shop you have access to then it may be your best chance at a quality piece. I know around my town there are a good 4-5 shops and the prices fluctuate drasticly. I have a realy nice pyrex piece thats about 4.5" in length and its indestructable (been dropped many times) and I only paid like $20 for it. I say shop around, you can definatly do better if there are more places to shop. If not buy what you feel comfortable with. If you spend $30 on a "nice" pipe that turns out to be thin and easy to break off the internet you will just be looking for a new pipe soon after (and end up spending even more money than you had to.