Hi there, can anyone help? I am looking to buy a wooden Irish flute, currently I have a plastic one just to get the hang of it but want something a little more, does anyone know if its worth spending £75 and buying the New Traditional Keyless Irish Flute pratton style ebony wood sold on ebay and various other websites. So I have something more substantial and rewarding to practice on. In a few months I will be looking at buying a professional one when I have the cash. Thanks for reading
No. Have a look at this. Keep your plastic flute until you can afford a good wooden flute. Those cheap ebay jobs are plain bad.
Read the “Beware the cheap eBay Flute” stick at the top of the threads.
Do not buy. You will waste your money on garbage. We can help you find a reasonable flute for your budget if you ask.
Welcome here. We’re glad you asked so we can save you from joining the huge number of frustrated suckers fooled into buying those things, some of whom even give up because their inability to improve and develop as a player on (what they may not realise is) an unplayable instrument puts them off terminally. That’s a shame.
Don’t waste your money or effort on anything like that, and keep asking for advice here. 
Oh, and it tends to be helpful to know where in the world you are!
It might also help to know exactly what the maker of your “plastic flute just to get the hang of” is, as well as your average budget. But yes, the others are right, DON’T BUY IT!!! When I was looking for my first flute, I was literally this || close to getting that one, or one like it. But I was sucked away by a lucky $30 flute that was there instead. 
But, as mentioned, I got very lucky. That one was playable, pretty in tune, pre-oiled ( 
), and it helped me along for quite a few months. Now that I look back, I have no idea what the odds are that I got a relatively good one, but I do know that they were pretty darn low.
Anyway, from the looks of it, you’re wanting an upgrade. 
That’s pretty much why we need to know about where you are right now, flute-wise. But, just to save a bit of time, the flutes in the popular beginner list normally end up to be Tipple, Sweetheart (especially his Shannon flute), M&E, Casey Burns’ Folk Flute, Copley, Forbes, Hammy Hamilton’s Practice Flute, Tony Dixon’s 3 Piece Conical flute, and that’s all that I can pull off the top of my head right now.
BTW, don’t underestimate plastic! (aka, delrin, pvc, etc.). I play a Copley delrin flute, and it is just fantastic!
Using my almost miraculous powers of detection, I note that the price quoted is in pounds sterling and the e-mail address is something about London, and I jump to a wild conclusion. Mind, I could be completely wrong and yer man might be miles away. In the Home Counties, say.
Great thanks guys for your help. I will save my pennies, the plastic one I have is fine for now as I am just starting out. Thanks again, oh ye I am in Exeter, England. Richard, and I also play Uilleann pipes (for nearly 5 years). My plastic flute is a Tony Dixon and it is a nice sound.
Ben - your powers of observation put Sherlock Holmes to shame…I bow down before your inductive genius. 
Seanchi123…do you have Tony’s 3 piece polymer flute or one of his newer conical two piece flutes? The three piece is made just like any traditional wooden flute (although the tone holes are smaller) and really ought to serve you well for quite some time. If it’s the thinner walled model, I can understand you’re wanting to move up with time (although Tony’s new conical designed cheapies really do sound great for the price).
You’ll need to plop down at a minimum $275 USD for a good traditional made flute (other than Tony’s three piece conical, which actually is a better flute than anyone gives it credit for being). Walt Sweet (not Sweethart anymore - he’s gone solo) makes the Shannon which is great for $275 and good enough I paid nearly as much to get an Eb key added to it. For the low $300 USD range M&E and Casey Burns make great flutes. Then, costs slowly go up and if you’re talking $400 plus range the world is your oyster.
Eric
He got it wrong! In GB, yes, which had I looked at the eBay listing and seen it was a £GBP listing I would have agreed was likely. But the fact the vendor was in the Home Counties would not have suggested to me that the prospective purchaser was also likely to be there. And our OP is not: he’s in Exeter, Devon - in the West Country.
Would have been my next guess. Honest. 
… besides which, tell me, is the market for flutes radically different in the West Country? Hmmm?
Irrelevant. The issue was the guesswork, not the material hinterland being guessed about.
What’s 'e on about? There ain’t no “hinterland” in the West Country!
Of course there is. Dartmoor. Or Central Southern England (Wiltshire, Hampshire etc.).
You’re just deflecting. You asked a daft question. So nuh nuh na-nuh nuh!
BTW, back on-topic, to the OP: if you do decide to look into getting a decent-ish wooden flute, though it pains me to say so, you could do worse than ask Mr “theflute” if he has anything or knows of anything that might be worth acquiring.
And I were brung up in Devon!
I’m deflecting?! And I asked no question.
Always happy to help. 
P.S. I think the snow must be affecting his brain…
Hi, ye, I’ll be looking to spend $400+ as I want something for a lifetime. or atleast a very long time. ~ I have a two piece Tony Dixon, plastic flute. Its not a conical shape though, same length all the way through, my friend gave it to me and said it was one of his initial prototypes or atleast an early model. I should contact Tony really, I am lucky, as he is based only around 50 miles from me. Thanks for all the advice so far. I know of good existing and legendary pipers/recordings as I come from that field, but who are the ‘big names’ in the flute world? I like Colm O Donnol’s album ‘Farewell to Evening Dances’ I like it as the songs make a good complete album with the tunes. I’ve also heard Mcsherry and McGoldrick. Armorica by Nicole Rabata is good, I like Grey Larsen too.