Look at what you get after that 10 year wait!
- Thread starter findcue4u
- Start date
What does it matter if you wait ten years if you have no money tied up? All you have is an order in and when the order comes due you can elect to pay for it or not. If not the cue sells to someone else with a few phone calls. If you take it then it's an easy flip.
This is why there are many people on SW and other cuemaker's waiting lists for one cue a year. It artificially inflates the market for the cues with so many people acting as mini-dealers except that it goes in the reverse direction and forces the prices up instead of down which is what a nomal competitive cycle does.
It's great for SW and a few other cue makers whose cues are so desired that they can fill the order books years in advance with speculators who are going to flip the cues to those who don't want to wait.
In some ways it's win/win/win because it affords the cue maker steady income and guarantees a steady supply of his cues to the market and makes them available to people with a lot of money and no patience.
Oh and nice cues. I wish I hadn't flipped mine when I got it after 10 years :-(
This is why there are many people on SW and other cuemaker's waiting lists for one cue a year. It artificially inflates the market for the cues with so many people acting as mini-dealers except that it goes in the reverse direction and forces the prices up instead of down which is what a nomal competitive cycle does.
It's great for SW and a few other cue makers whose cues are so desired that they can fill the order books years in advance with speculators who are going to flip the cues to those who don't want to wait.
In some ways it's win/win/win because it affords the cue maker steady income and guarantees a steady supply of his cues to the market and makes them available to people with a lot of money and no patience.
Oh and nice cues. I wish I hadn't flipped mine when I got it after 10 years :-(
As I understand it the flipping is not as lucritive as it used to be.
Southwest has raised the prices to reflect today's cost and isn't honoring prices that the cues were originally ordered at .
They just started this a short time ago.
Someone who knows more than me can feel free to elaborate.
Southwest has raised the prices to reflect today's cost and isn't honoring prices that the cues were originally ordered at .
They just started this a short time ago.
Someone who knows more than me can feel free to elaborate.
YUP, they're goin for self (as they should) leaving us cue pimps to fend for ourselves.
I don't understand it.
I couldn't agree more with your statement. Granted they are really nice but 10 years is too long a wait.. And if you flip'em as soon as you get them that makes even less sense to me. To each his own.
On the postitive side thanks for posting the great pictures of the cues.
Kevin
I couldn't agree more with your statement. Granted they are really nice but 10 years is too long a wait.. And if you flip'em as soon as you get them that makes even less sense to me. To each his own.
On the postitive side thanks for posting the great pictures of the cues.
Kevin
Ok, I am not a SW guy, but is the shaft ringwork NOT supposed to line up with the opposing butt?
I have seen other cue makers get picked at for this same thing?
Please don't think I am insinuating these cues are not fine instruments.
Thanks for your comments,
Dom
I have seen other cue makers get picked at for this same thing?
Please don't think I am insinuating these cues are not fine instruments.
Thanks for your comments,
Dom
I have been told that this is in fact the case with SouthWest. At one point I commented to Laurie that a ten year wait list is job security and she made the observation that the problem is that they are (were) selling cues at prices of 10 years ago.
In a way the cue flippers also drove SouthWest prices to this level. On a purely business standpoint Laurie could look at the market price and decide that they would prefer to make less cues and still have the same amount of revenue OR make the same about of cues and have more revenue. SouthWest was never oriented towards having dealers.
I don't know if the cost of materials and labor has increased so much over the past decade.
I know from my own business that in three years my labor cost has gone up a lot because the people are now more skilled and as such worth more to me to keep them. So I pay them much more than they could make elsewhere.
But it is what it is and business goes how business goes.
Supply and Demand.
If I were in the market for a SouthWest then I would be willing to pay the going price for one. I have owned one for about an hour and I wish I had never sold it. The other one I bought turned out to be a Les Blevins and so I gave it back to the guy I got it from and got my money back.
I was at my friend's place the other day and he has about 14 SouthWest cues as well as cues from plenty of other makers.
So I got to hit with some of the SouthWests and compare them to the other makers. Personally, for me SouthWest is worth it. I don't know what sort of magic fairy dust they put in the cues but the cues hit fantastic. There are a lot of cues on the market which feel "similar" but they aren't the same, in my opinion.
I am not saying that SouthWest is the best hitting cue. It's not even my favorite cue to play with, but there is not a doubt in the world that you are playing with something special when you pick one up. For me the SW is a touch too stiff and that is of course totally subjective. But I would be totally happy playing with one and wouldn't think for a second to worry about my cue's performance.
So I guess what I am saying is that I feel SouthWest deserves to be where they are and the market will never be soft on them because there is only one SouthWest cue company.
hey john...
john...
i don't usually disagree with you. but regarding sw, imho i think i know a bit more than you. i think they could sell their cues for much more money and at the same time make more cues per year to boot.
they walk away from that. mickey's back is not in good shape. al is getting older [but still plays great pool]. they are just a small operation and keep it that way. i don't think they made more that 90 to 100 cues in a year for most of the last many years.
my 'guess' [i don't know for sure] is they just want to make what jerry would be proud of. i find them to be 100% honorable folks.
and as far as a good cue goes, i think they are outstanding.
again, jmho.
best,
smokey
john...
i don't usually disagree with you. but regarding sw, imho i think i know a bit more than you. i think they could sell their cues for much more money and at the same time make more cues per year to boot.
they walk away from that. mickey's back is not in good shape. al is getting older [but still plays great pool]. they are just a small operation and keep it that way. i don't think they made more that 90 to 100 cues in a year for most of the last many years.
my 'guess' [i don't know for sure] is they just want to make what jerry would be proud of. i find them to be 100% honorable folks.
and as far as a good cue goes, i think they are outstanding.
again, jmho.
best,
smokey
I ORDERED THESE IN 1998!............ONE IS SOLD!!!!!!THE OTHER IS MAYBE AVAILABLE!!!!!FOR THE RIGHT PRICE!!!
QUOTE]
Am I the only one that thinks the singel ring looks better on the buttsleeve of SW cues? Looks like these were well worth the wait.
Cmon Tim
We both know it doesnt take ten years to get one of these from China.
I ORDERED THESE IN 1998!............ONE IS SOLD!!!!!!THE OTHER IS MAYBE AVAILABLE!!!!!FOR THE RIGHT PRICE!!!
We both know it doesnt take ten years to get one of these from China.
I think we are on the same page here. I wasn't saying that they should do anything different. I was just saying that from a business standpoint I feel like it makes sense to adjust the prices to reflect current market prices, whether the reason is because of inflation or simply because they don't want to have to make more cues to achieve the revenue that they want to have.
Laurie and Jerry were one of my earliest contacts in the billiard industry. They welcomed me into their shop and patiently showed me what they do and why they do it and Jerry took time to go over my cases and give me some constructive advice. They are two of my favorite people. I miss Jerry as I am sure many do.
I happen to be a huge fan of SouthWest cues and especially of the fact, again in my opinion, that they have stayed true to Jerry's vision of how to build cues.
I am sure that you are right that they could make more cues. I don't know where the market would top out though on what they could charge but that's again a supply/demand thing. I think Laurie is doing what she needs to do to keep the shop running as it needs to.
I don't mind the cue flippers with the only exception being that they make it tough for people who don't intend to flip cues to get a cue that they have ordered from any particular maker. I think that if they want to place orders and give the cuemakers some security then that's good for the cue makers. And the fact that they are into flipping the cues means that SouthWest stays visible in the marketplace instead of just disappearing into people's cue cases.
What I mean is that a flipper gets a cue and they immediately lists it for sale and this keeps the brand in front of the public and further encourages discussion and sparks desire. It's really a great cycle for everyone involved for the most part.
On another note, it's good to see you back in action on AZ - what you did in the Blackjack thread was awesome! You're a real asset to the AZ community.
To the OP - good luck on your sale - sorry for all the discussion. Your cues look great and I already know that they hit great.
This bump is free
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Look at what you get after that 10 year wait!
Hey Tim
You ordered these in 1998.....................How's that math thing working out for ya? Sorry......I can't help myself.
Regards, Roger
Hey Tim
You ordered these in 1998.....................How's that math thing working out for ya? Sorry......I can't help myself.
Regards, Roger
