Like many things, pipework varies in price depending upon more than
just supply and demand.  Sometimes, the seller just wants to get rid
of the material.  Sometimes, the seller wants to make as much money
as possible.  Brass theatre organ ranks are notoriously expensive,
even though (according to tradition) many of them have at one time or
another been stolen.  Since original ranks ran about 2 to 3 times the
cost of non-brass ranks, they were used on a regular basis only by
a few builders (Wurlitzer, mostly).  Since they are visually attractive,
they naturally command a higher price.  Trivo makes new ones (they buy
the resonators from someone else), but they also make non-brass replicas
that are supposed to sound just the same; these are the "Brass-less Trumpet"
and "Brass-less Saxophone" stops.
 
My own experience has been in non-theatre ranks, and there the prices are
usually much more tolerable.  I recently paid $100 each for some fine
Hinners ranks (Dulciana, Aeoline, Vox, and Cornet) in perfect condition.
I have paid $0 to $150 for other ranks, the highest being
for 2 stops from the old Cincinati Music Hall organ, and the lowest
being for a Skinner Fluegel Horn and Cornopean that a church was
throwing away!
 
If you want something particular, you will have to get lucky or pay more.
My own advice is to offer what you want to pay, being reasonable.  If
you are building an organ for your own home (and not for resale), then
you may not be able to afford more than, say, $100 per stop.  By answering
enough ads, you should be able to find much of what you want, but not
everything.  (Again, I'm not really referring to theatre organ stuff,
although I suspect that you could make a fairly nice home theatre organ
using 1920-ish church ranks with some re-scaling and re-voicing.)
 
If you assume that the pipes will cost about 1/4 of the total price of
the instrument, then you might be able to guess how much you can
afford to pay.
 
(I just read Tom Dimock's note -- from across campus -- and I agree fully.
He and Cullie Mowers and I once bought a 2m Austin for $1000 and then
split up the parts as we each needed them.  The church had installed
an electronic and was happy to get rid of the Austin; it was suffering
from Perflex problems, which Tom has inherited, but that is another
story.  I have since traded most of my portion of that organ for
other -better- parts.  You do have to do some driving, though, to get
things that are available a few states away!  It is entirely possible
that others on this list or in your area have ranks available for sale
or trade.  You should also ask your local organ builders what "junque"
they have around or what they might know about.)
 
Larry Chace ([log in to unmask])