The cue market sucks! (for sellers)

yally

yally

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Man, I've been on this board for a while, and I have never seen cues move this slowly! Just a year ago you could move a good cue in a day or two.

Now, they have to be bumped for weeks. Seems the only thing selling are giveaway deals and the uber-exotics. I've been trying to sell a steal of a Jensen for awhile, and barely had any action. Last year this would sold in a day! What the F#$k! Definitey a buyers market now...

Any other sad stories???
 
Yep, if you have to sell a cue now you are screwed because you have to give it away. Cuemakers even have to be cautious now. Ive noticed new completed cues are'nt even selling at 450.00.
 
In my opinion, most of the cues in the for sale section are WAY over priced. There are some good deals, but for the most part, I see cues that you can buy new from the maker for about the same price. The economy is in the toilet, no doubt, but I don't think people are desperate enough, yet, to dump cues cheap. Conversely, nobody is buying because they are worried about what the future will hold.

I think that AZbilliards should charge a fee to list a cue for sale (even if it's only $5). This would eliminate all the "what the hell, I'll list it at some crazy price, and see if I can hook a sucker" ads. I no longer waste much time going through the for sale area, since decent deals are few and far between. IMHO.

Actually, your Jensen seems fairly priced. I just prefer 13mm shafts....
 
For the most part, a ton of the cues are overpriced. Did you ever notice how the cue touts claim this cue and that cue are the greatest thing since sliced bread, then all of a sudden, a little while later, they show up in the for sale column. People jump on them based on what they have read and get stuck with others hand me downs and almost no chance of getting their original investment back.

I realize some folks do not have access to cues in their area, and depend on the internet for purchases. My advice is to wait for a very large event, with tons of vendors, and plan on attending to actually see and hit balls with what you are buying.
 
Yep, after I posted, I thought i was reading what I wrote, and thought it was strange that my name was Salamander. You got me by one minute.
 
I'm not much of an expert on the high-end cue market but I have noticed a constant stream of Gina Cues and Southwest's for sale over the last few months which I don't recall ever seeing before.

Makes you wonder how many of these cues people ever play with. I mean, if they are that great who would ever want to sell them?
 
Personally

I stay away from those that are only in it for a buck. Profit has never been my motive whether buying or selling.
JMHO of course.
Don
 
Economy is really really tough. Just look at ebay and all the over priced Schon's, Joss's, Mcdermott's, Meucci's and other mass produced facory cues.... There are alot of really great custom cues, but sellers are really over pricing the current market ( the economy as a whole and the cue market as well as the cost of getting the same cue from the maker themselves).

Maybe President Obama will come on here and address this issue and put into effect/affect some policy regarding the Pool and Billiards economy....:wink:
 
JustPlay said:
Maybe President Obama will come on here and address this issue and put into effect/affect some policy regarding the Pool and Billiards economy....:wink:
Click to expand...

I think Obama needs to stimulate the cue market before I go broke and lay off all my employees (me).

He should give Robin Adair one million dollars and allow every player in Corpus Christi and the surrounding area to go get a free cue from Robin's pro shop.

Free health care for all pool players plus gambling debt insurance.
Free drinks during play.
 
Williee, I know that you take pride in your work and a big part of your motive is to put the right cue in the hands of a player. I commend you for that my friend. I wish you all the success in the world.
My responce was not regarding you or other cue makers like you. Keep up the good work.
Don


WilleeCue said:
I think Obama needs to stimulate the cue market before I go broke and lay off all my employees (me).

He should give Robin Adair one million dollars and allow every player in Corpus Christi and the surrounding area to go get a free cue from Robin's pro shop.

Free health care for all pool players plus gambling debt insurance.
Free drinks during play.
Click to expand...
 
yes the cue market is bad right now. I agree with the previous posts about Southwests and Ginas. It does appear to be a lot of higher end cues going up for sale. It has to be in conjunction with the bad economy. Some of these cues are decent buys and others are WAY overpriced. In the same respect though I dont understand how someone can wait ten years to have a Southwest made for them and then in 2 weeks they turn around and sell it. To me buying a cue always comes down to playability. Some cues look really great and dont play worth a damn and I have seen many sneakie petes and plain janes that play miles above a $5000 gina with an ivory joint. Just my opionion but i agree that if these cues were really all they are cracked up to be, they wouldnt be being sold so frequently. I mean you dont see many Szamboti or Spain cues on here which are similarly priced and i think that its not only that they are collectors pieces but they also play lights out so people are not as quick to get rid of them. just my .02
 
63Kcode said:
Willee for Pres. !!!!!!

If you think the cue market is bad, try selling a collector muscle car!

Larry
Click to expand...

I would love to see what you got. Lean a cue and a for sale sign up against it so you won't get blasted. LOL
Don
PS; If it a 63 Split Window Corvette Coup, you got my attention!!!
 
i think a lot of people are having trouble selling cues for a few reasons.

people are asking too much for their cues
people won't post how much they're asking they say "make offer"
people won't negotiate...... times are tough people trade+cash is might be the way to go
 
It wasn't going to take very much to pop that over-inflated bubble. I'm surprised the market stayed so heated as long as it did.
 
LC3 said:
It wasn't going to take very much to pop that over-inflated bubble. I'm surprised the market stayed so heated as long as it did.
Click to expand...

with the exception of a few makers i thought most of the cues were close to fairly priced. i mean things were always a hair expensive but there "were" some good deals
 
The cue market is going to be driven by the economy of pool players....many of us are making less/need cash, and many peoples source of cash when money runs out is selling cues....there have been some really good points in this thread already:

Simply put, many more sellers than buyers....cash is tight for a number of folks and cues are not a big priority....

Cash only - previously, the market supported itself, many folks could trade up with a few hundred out of pocket....you see a lot more posts where it is cash only, which limits buyers....again, many are cash poor....

"Steal of the day" - this phrase or others like it are a joke....if you bought a cue for $800 a year ago, believed it was well worth $1000, and now are selling it for $750, that is not a steal.....now, the same cue, but you are selling for $550....that is a steal....too many steal of the days that simply are not a special deal...

Feelers - a lot of folks are getting close to needing cash, so cues are being posted for sale, but not at a price that will really move the cue....they don't really want to sell, but they are getting close to needing to sell, but they aren't quite willing to move it.....therefore, you just post a price higher than the market and then sit....

A cue I used to own in showroom condition that was easily valued at $600 and paid for at that price just recently sold at $400.....it started much higher, but he wanted to sell and dropped the price until the market hit it's price point....I would venture to say cues are actually roughly worth 2/3's to 3/4's of previous sold value....as always, some will still appreciate/hold value better, and some will bleed value much, much worse...
 
I haven't tried to sell a cue on the wanted section in about a year. A couple of weeks ago I offered three cues for $750 each, what I thought was a bargain basement price. A beautiful Jacoby with a lot of nice work in it (retail from Jacoby over $1,000), a premium Sigel with all ivory inlays (originally $1,600) and a custom Kent Davis with gorgeous wood and two shafts (he values it at $1,250 minimum). All are in new condition.

A lot of people asked for photos but not one was sold. And that's the way it goes in the cue market today I guess.
 
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