Is there a story to how a McDermott dealer retired with enough stuff that he ended up with about 155 cues (most new) and loose shafts, a few dozen cases, and 200+ balls?
I don' think you ended with one cue that sold as bad as this one from an eBay auction and described on AZ:
If there is, my friend isn't telling. Its my understanding that he was a huge dealer out of Bay City MI for years and outsold most local brick and mortar storefronts, doing business right at bars/halls/tournaments. A good handful of my buyers recognized his name and had stories to share of their run-ins with him years ago. Why he pulled the plug just to sit on tens of thousands of dollars is still a mystery to me though.
With my volume, I had the luxury of experimenting with different approaches to maximizing return, including enticing interest with a low starting bid on eBay. If we're looking at percentages, I had some sell at/below 33% similar to the example you cited here. However, I never allowed that to happen with cues valued over $500, so the impact was minimal. The example you shared would have certainly shaken my confidence! I will say that timing/audience is also a very real aspect in sales. There were times I dropped the price on a cue hundreds of dollars for a while, only to have it sell later for my original listing price. I'd be willing to bet that H series cue could've gotten $1000 or more a week/month later.
Additionally, I see your note in that post about add-ons and customizations and would agree, even with new cues. The sticker price is the benchmark. I saw little/no return on items that had extras - they sold as if the extras were not present. Surprising in some cases for sure, but in my case study, the data is there.
-Ryan
