Cue buying hypothetical question....

classiccues

classiccues

Morgan set complete...
Silver Member
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
 
classiccues said:
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
Click to expand...

Good on the know-it-all guy for making the owner aware.

I know, I know....a seller should know what he has, if at all possible ("unmarked" cues and lack of time/ability to do research nothwithstanding).

Fact remains, though...if it's a good cue with a possible decent sale price attached to it...it's the "right" thing to do to not take advantage of the man who owns it.

We all want the smokin' deals...but taking a guy's JW (for example) for $300 bucks just isn't right.

Just my opinion, sir.

Got any "unmarked" cues??!! :thumbup::thumbup:

Mark
 
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classiccues said:
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
Click to expand...

I hate nit's who will attempt to block your action or Cue Blockers in any shape or form. But, I have a very simple policy when dealing with people who I don't know who walk into my Pool Room trying to sell cues.

First if the person and the cue do not look like they go together I am very reluctant to buy it in the first place, but if I do I will not even pay half the asking or actual value. In many cases in this situation the Cue is stolen, and if I can find the owner and have to return it he may not want to pay a large finders fee's.

Second, if I do buy the cue in addition to the above precautions I also hold it for at least a year to see if I hear about a similar model cue some one is looking for.

Last, you wait until the cue blocker leaves the establishment and you kick his ass, in order to help him learn what he has done incorrectly in the past.;) In reality he is more than likely a Broken Nit trying to get a taste of the action by helping the seller anyway.

Here is why I do things in this manner.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=142896

How I conduct business!!:smile:
 
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classiccues said:
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
Click to expand...

a long time ago i was playing in my local hall and i noticed some younger kids playing in the adjacent room....out of the corner of my eye i noticed the cue one of them was playing with and it sparked my interest....i asked him to see it and told him it looked like a nice cue and where did he get it from...he said his friend owed him money for a stereo he installed for him and that's what he accepted as trade for what he was owed....i told him i would give him $100 for the cue RIGHT NOW.... he accepted....the worst part is i had no money on me and had to go to a cash station to get the money....before i left i went around to everyone in the room that i knew would jump on this if they saw it first and told them if they screw this up i'll KILL EM!.....any way the cue was a very early 6 point no veneer JF Sowthwest cue with both original shafts and the cue was used but in great condition ( pretty sure it was goncalo alves into birds eye with a brown spec irish wrap ) .....because the guy waited for me to come back i gave him an extra $50 which at the time peaked his curiosity a bit but it was all good for him....this was back in the late 80's when these cues weren't selling for more than 6 to $700 or so.....i got a great deal then sold it to the owner who bugged me about it for 4 months for $350....i knew i lost out but since this was the guy that taught me how to play i took it as payback for the education.......wish i had that cue back now...it was a players GEM!......

as far as what you ask, if it's something i want, i'd pull the guy aside immediately away from everyone whip out cash and make a deal....if i didn't have cash on me i take him with me to get it.....
 
classiccues said:
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
Click to expand...

you should wait until the guy's taking a drink of something and punch him in the throat with everything you've got. then you should scream why you did it to him while he's choking
 
it's funny you should mention this. a recently widowed woman offered me a cue for a hundred bones. before i could get back from the atm to give her the cash someone had let her know it was a balabushka and she decided to sell it to someone else for more.

i was heated!
 
I've seen know-it-alls who don't know the time of day. Let him knock your action. Remind the seller that if the cue was all that, Mr. Know-it-all would be making an offer instead of blowing smoke.

At the end of the day, it is worth what someone will pay...not what the peanut gallery thinks.

There are two cuemakers (who shall remain nameless) who consistently provide dollar values to their customers as to the secondary market. The values are grossly inflated and the result is an asking price that is rediculous. It is frustrating that so many people are open to hearing only what they want to hear.
 
Definite catch 22 Joe. Sometimes you get lucky which happened more yesterday than today. Today, absolutely everyone has an opinion. Funny stories I remember that aren't really funny but they happened:
The guy who found a Bushka in a porn shop. SCORE
The guy who bought a Gus, that wasn't a Gus. OUCH.
 
classiccues said:
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
Click to expand...


Joe, what's even better is when this happens right in front of your booth that you paid $$$ to have at a show. Answer....I think it sucks. :angry:
 
Well here is the scenario.. but first I'll qualify my opinion by saying I don't buy from e-bay, unless it's something I have to have. That hasn't happened in 5 years. BUT I notice when a Palmer, or unknown cue surfaces, there is ONE, maybe more, people hell bent on hearing themselves sound like know it alls it is amazing. They HAVE to chime in, they HAVE to say something that gets put in the comment / question section, they HAVE to hear themselves sound like an expert. I have noticed it in about 10-12 of these cues over the past few years. A few of the cues that were pulled then relisted with reserves, ie; you're paying more if you want them.

I bet that this guy, or guys partake on this forum. Instead of letting the auction run off, with their mouths SHUT, they are driving the prices up for YOU guys that want to buy them.

If a person cannot be bothered by doing the proper legwork on his item, why the hell would you reward him just to make yourself feel like an expert? In doing so ruining it for some of you guys that may have a real interest in getting the cue without paying a lot of money for it.

Maybe the right thing is letting the people you hang with get a deal once in a while. I know for some people the opportunity to sound like a know it all is an overwhelming chance to spout off your superior (hehe) knowledge to some stanger while sticking it to your friends. But if it's me, I'm helping my friends first...

JV
 
classiccues said:
Well here is the scenario.. but first I'll qualify my opinion by saying I don't buy from e-bay, unless it's something I have to have. That hasn't happened in 5 years. BUT I notice when a Palmer, or unknown cue surfaces, there is ONE, maybe more, people hell bent on hearing themselves sound like know it alls it is amazing. They HAVE to chime in, they HAVE to say something that gets put in the comment / question section, they HAVE to hear themselves sound like an expert. I have noticed it in about 10-12 of these cues over the past few years. A few of the cues that were pulled then relisted with reserves, ie; you're paying more if you want them.

I bet that this guy, or guys partake on this forum. Instead of letting the auction run off, with their mouths SHUT, they are driving the prices up for YOU guys that want to buy them.

If a person cannot be bothered by doing the proper legwork on his item, why the hell would you reward him just to make yourself feel like an expert? In doing so ruining it for some of you guys that may have a real interest in getting the cue without paying a lot of money for it.

Maybe the right thing is letting the people you hang with get a deal once in a while. I know for some people the opportunity to sound like a know it all is an overwhelming chance to spout off your superior (hehe) knowledge to some stanger while sticking it to your friends. But if it's me, I'm helping my friends first...

JV
Click to expand...

I agree Joe, even on here with people posting links to ebay that no intention of buying, Total B.S. They just want to get noticed. Usually when someone selling something says, The famous inmature selling pitch of, Make me an offer, I say, FREE, Hows that! or just walk away.
 
I can see both sides of it. If I had a Bushka and thought it was just an old nameless cue and was asking you what you would give and you knew you could get it for near nothing, and someone took me aside and told me what I had, I would be appreciative to them. But then as a potential buyer I would have been aggravated. My late wife was two different times at estate sales and made a verbal deal with the person selling things, only to have someone butt in and tell them not to sell the item for that price. She was mad both times.

What really irritates me when dealing on cues, is often the guy that takes the seller aside gives the guy an inflated price of twice or more what it is worth. So now I have no chance at buying the cue for a fair price, let alone a real deal. I don't mind someone looking out for a friend and telling them what they have, but to give a inflated price totally kills any chance of a fair deal for either side being made. Then the person holds onto the cue forever thinking he has something worth much more than it is.

It has happened over and over to me when buying Ivory Tusks. We will make a deal on price, and then have the seller back out, because someone read about near record size trophy condition tusks bringing hundreds of dollars per pound. So they think all Ivory is worth hundreds of dollars per pound.
Then there are others who think their cue is in 98% by Blue Book pricing when it is really maybe a 70% condition cue.

Buying and selling used cues is fun, and a headache all at the same time.
 
classiccues said:
Well here is the scenario.. but first I'll qualify my opinion by saying I don't buy from e-bay, unless it's something I have to have. That hasn't happened in 5 years. BUT I notice when a Palmer, or unknown cue surfaces, there is ONE, maybe more, people hell bent on hearing themselves sound like know it alls it is amazing. They HAVE to chime in, they HAVE to say something that gets put in the comment / question section, they HAVE to hear themselves sound like an expert. I have noticed it in about 10-12 of these cues over the past few years. A few of the cues that were pulled then relisted with reserves, ie; you're paying more if you want them.

I bet that this guy, or guys partake on this forum. Instead of letting the auction run off, with their mouths SHUT, they are driving the prices up for YOU guys that want to buy them.

If a person cannot be bothered by doing the proper legwork on his item, why the hell would you reward him just to make yourself feel like an expert? In doing so ruining it for some of you guys that may have a real interest in getting the cue without paying a lot of money for it.

Maybe the right thing is letting the people you hang with get a deal once in a while. I know for some people the opportunity to sound like a know it all is an overwhelming chance to spout off your superior (hehe) knowledge to some stanger while sticking it to your friends. But if it's me, I'm helping my friends first...

JV
Click to expand...

Sir,

I see where you...and others on this thread...are coming from. I didn't respond to your post by giving undue (or due) credit to the "know it all" or his (perhaps) over-inflated view of his breadth of knowledge. I responded, solely, on what I think is the "right" thing to do as a cue buyer AND human being.

Unlike the cue dealers/traders/flippers/etc. on here who have cue dealing as all (or part) of their monthly income, the vast majority of us on the boards are recreational cue owners, at best. From that perspective...and taking your initial scenario at face value...it sounded as though the "know it all" guy did the cue owner a great service by not letting him get cleaned out. If the owner HAD time to figure out what he had, and decided to sell at rock-bottom dollar anyway, then he gets what he deserves. If the man genuinely didn't know what he had, or for some reason didn't have the time or knowledge of where to go to figure that out...it doesn't mean he deserves to get robbed.

I'm sure most of us have been in a poolroom where somebody came in looking to sell a cue...for whatever reason. Taking the thieves out of the equation completely (I agree with manwon on handling those in a very particular way)...a guy that comes into a room to sell a cue PROBABLY has a general idea of what he's carrying. For those that don't...and just come to a poolroom to sell it...may not have all the info he needs to make an intelligent decision. In my personal opinion, his genuine lack of knowledge does not give anyone the right to take advantage of him. I guess it comes down to whether or not a buyer is looking at the deal from a purely business perspective, or from a personal one.
 
i feel sorry for a cue thief when someone actually tells fthe seller the truth about his cue,i see that "do unto others as you would have them do unto you has no place with people like these.
I am taking the names of all you who feel that way and I now know that you will never tell me the truth either so call me a nit too,just never call me to buy or sell me a cue,because your own words reveal a rotten spirit.

DEAN
 
cueman said:
I can see both sides of it. If I had a Bushka and thought it was just an old nameless cue and was asking you what you would give and you knew you could get it for near nothing, and someone took me aside and told me what I had, I would be appreciative to them. But then as a potential buyer I would have been aggravated. My late wife was two different times at estate sales and made a verbal deal with the person selling things, only to have someone butt in and tell them not to sell the item for that price. She was mad both times.

What really irritates me when dealing on cues, is often the guy that takes the seller aside gives the guy an inflated price of twice or more what it is worth. So now I have no chance at buying the cue for a fair price, let alone a real deal. I don't mind someone looking out for a friend and telling them what they have, but to give a inflated price totally kills any chance of a fair deal for either side being made. Then the person holds onto the cue forever thinking he has something worth much more than it is.

It has happened over and over to me when buying Ivory Tusks. We will make a deal on price, and then have the seller back out, because someone read about near record size trophy condition tusks bringing hundreds of dollars per pound. So they think all Ivory is worth hundreds of dollars per pound.
Then there are others who think their cue is in 98% by Blue Book pricing when it is really maybe a 70% condition cue.

Buying and selling used cues is fun, and a headache all at the same time.
Click to expand...

Great post, Chris....very well put.
 
classiccues said:
You're in the local pool hall.. a stranger, a nobody.. comes in with a cue and wants to sell it. He is not solicitating opinions, he just wants an offer and he'll probably sell to the guy with the best offer. So after you and your friends haggle with the guy, your local pool room know it all. You know the guy, every room has one, takes the guy aside and lets him know what he has. He has ZERO intention of buying the cue, but just tells the guy what he has anyways... therefore knocking your cue action...

What do you think????

JV
Click to expand...


I have bought and sold hundreds of cues in pool rooms, infact that was 50% of my income and the other 50% from action for years, sometimes cues were even more than half my income. Thats my credentials.


Now my opinion. If you come to a agreeable deal on a cue, dont let the seller off the line, close the deal and buy the cue right there. Sometimes this takes a bit of work to convince the seller not to "shop it around", Since I was only buying cues for profit, I had to buy right abd when I had the oppertunity I never let my seller of the line-to the best of my ability.


Because I bought so good, I could sell cheap too. Money is AWALYS made on the buy not the sale. So I would do everythin in my power to buy right. I didnt try and steal cues because then if the seller got word, it would be bad for my reputation.


There was one exception one night in Reno at the pool room a bunch of college kids were playing-bangers. one kid had a Frank Paradise(I think) It was a monster cue, I walked up to him and offered him $100, he was a good kid and was very careful with the cue I noticed. I went up to $1000 after a few more offers. It was his grand father and he wasnt selling it for anything

But as a rule I never robbed anyone who was selling a cue, If I got a vibe it was hot. I wouldnt let greed get in the way of good biz sence-i'd pass. This was all before the internet so people wernt as informed as they are now.


Futhermore if you present yourself the right way in pool rooms or anywhere for that matter you will be respected by most people and hated by the minority, Thats how I carry myself. Loved my most, hated by some, but known by all. That right there will take you far in life alot farther than a one cue transaction. I look at the big picture.


eric
 
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