Jim Murnak Cue Cases get dramatic price hike on June 30th

J

jimM

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Here's the deal. I don't make enough on the cases to hire a full time person to help me, so I have to do them myself. I can't make them fast enough by myself, to make them in a timely manner. So I'm stuck in the middle. I have a choice to either quit making cases because of the pressure factor or change the way I work. So, I am choosing to raise the prices to a level not to exceed the value, but enough for me to pay for help. This will go into effect on June 30th. For example, a case that is now $399 will cost
$559. The fact is that I would rather not make them, than be caught in this time and work issue. I like making cue cases and I like making people happy when they finally receive them, but usually until people get their cases they don't realize what they are getting. I will honor the current prices till June 30th, but expect a 3-5 month wait. The new prices will hopefully bring me back to 6 weeks. I'm prepared for any outcome.

Thanks,
Jim Murnak
 
I have never personally seen one of your cases (to my knowledge) but from what I hear they are very good cases and very much desired. You also didn't jack the prices up too high so I think anybody that understands the value in your cases and wants one will have no problem paying the extra little bit. Jmho
 
No Wonder!

I had a guy offer to buy my 3x5 just last week!! He must of known something or just had a hunch. Sadly for him I said no really quickly shutting that deal down. I have one of Jim's first cases and have put er thru hell! These were his proto type cases that he offered right here on AZ some time ago. Outside of the usual scuffs around the edges (from my tossin it into the truck) the only thing I seem to be breaking is the metal rivets!! I'm guessing they were made in China. All the fasteners coming from there suck, I turned the heads off lag bolts building my raised garden bed. The metal must be garbage and I know we are stuck with it because that's were its all coming from. Anyway Good Luck Jim, let me know if you take trade ins, you can get a look at what your case looks like after all my aging techniques!!! LOL......
 
jimM said:
Here's the deal. I don't make enough on the cases to hire a full time person to help me, so I have to do them myself. I can't make them fast enough by myself, to make them in a timely manner. So I'm stuck in the middle. I have a choice to either quit making cases because of the pressure factor or change the way I work. So, I am choosing to raise the prices to a level not to exceed the value, but enough for me to pay for help. This will go into effect on June 30th. For example, a case that is now $399 will cost
$559. The fact is that I would rather not make them, than be caught in this time and work issue. I like making cue cases and I like making people happy when they finally receive them, but usually until people get their cases they don't realize what they are getting. I will honor the current prices till June 30th, but expect a 3-5 month wait. The new prices will hopefully bring me back to 6 weeks. I'm prepared for any outcome.

Thanks,
Jim Murnak
Click to expand...

I, for one, have been highly pleased with the time Jim has taken to consult with me about my order. I know the wait will be well worth it, and urge anyone looking to obtain a custom case, to consider ordering one of his fine cases.
 
Rep to you sir just for coming on here to give us a heads up and offer an explanation that you don't owe anybody!
 
Jim, your cases are worth every penny of the new prices.

My cases from you are the best built and best looking cases i've ever owned. And i've owned PLENTY.
 
Here's a pic of one of Jim's cases...keep looking, you'll spot the case eventually. :thumbup:
 

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Jim,
Everybody is rising prices - no need for explanations.

In addition to making the finest cases on the planet, yours have been grossly underpriced, IMHO.

Look at what others charge for a simple cowboy-style case with limited tooling, (or stamping for some - u know who u are).

Bentley charges more for a car then Ford does. I don't think any of your customers will argue that you are the Bentley, yet you've been pricing your cases for the mid-market. Maybe not Ford-like pricing, but certainly not super-luxo pricing either.

Go upstream, continue with the hi end cases (like my latest you're working on), and charge a premium for them. I will pay it, and carry it with pride.

For that matter, I highly recommend that you discontinue the "Standard Line". Let peeps go elsewhere for a med-priced standard case. THey probably take 3/4 as long to make yet you charge 1/3 (or less) than your other stuff. Be a Searing, not a Schon.

So the way to cure bandwidth issues is to reduce the lower end offerings and continue with the high end cases.

RE: timetable, please don't change your business or biz model to accommodate folks who don't understand that you create HandCrafted works of Art. True Art with unwavering commitment to quality takes time. Lots of it.

We're OK with that. Just PLEASE keep making cases. Please?

-von (Rhett)
 
VonRhett said:
Jim,
Everybody is rising prices - no need for explanations.

In addition to making the finest cases on the planet, yours have been grossly underpriced, IMHO.

Look at what others charge for a simple cowboy-style case with limited tooling, (or stamping for some - u know who u are).

Bentley charges more for a car then Ford does. I don't think any of your customers will argue that you are the Bentley, yet you've been pricing your cases for the mid-market. Maybe not Ford-like pricing, but certainly not super-luxo pricing either.

Go upstream, continue with the hi end cases (like my latest you're working on), and charge a premium for them. I will pay it, and carry it with pride.

For that matter, I highly recommend that you discontinue the "Standard Line". Let peeps go elsewhere for a med-priced standard case. THey probably take 3/4 as long to make yet you charge 1/3 (or less) than your other stuff. Be a Searing, not a Schon.

So the way to cure bandwidth issues is to reduce the lower end offerings and continue with the high end cases.

RE: timetable, please don't change your business or biz model to accommodate folks who don't understand that you create HandCrafted works of Art. True Art with unwavering commitment to quality takes time. Lots of it.

We're OK with that. Just PLEASE keep making cases. Please?

-von (Rhett)
Click to expand...

Kudos to you, sir. Heartfelt and very well written. I have no doubt I will be equally as pleased.
 
Thanks to everyone.

I really appreciate your responses. Thanks to everyone.

Now John, I have been trying to get in touch with Roy Mallot at IndyQ for about a year now because he owes me about $650. It seems that you have been taking over the site, so please try to resolve this for me.

Thanks
 
jimM said:
I really appreciate your responses. Thanks to everyone.

Now John, I have been trying to get in touch with Roy Mallot at IndyQ for about a year now because he owes me about $650. It seems that you have been taking over the site, so please try to resolve this for me.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hello Jim,

Roy's phone number is 317-780-0042 He is very surprised that you are having such difficulty because he works 14 hours a day and when the phone rings he picks up in less than three rings.

Roy has over 40 of your cases in stock. He does not recall that you had any difficulty reaching him when you asked for payment in advance for the large orders that he placed with you.

He is also easy to reach via email and returns emails promptly. Naturally he was not pleased to read that you have tried to connect to him as you claim and have not done so. The problem is not on his end I don't think.

Regarding being owed that is something between you and him and I don't think it is my place to address any business between you and Roy. As a fellow supplier to Roy I can only vouch for how he pays his bills with me.

With us Roy pays his bills faster than any living human being in the history of the billiard industry as long as I have been in it. He would rather cut his arm off than owe money and no matter the size of the bill he pays it promptly.

As to your comment about taking over the site I am not entirely sure what you mean by that. Roy has our cases and he has yours and both of them are on sale right now as he would like to clear out old inventory and invest in new inventory. Seems to me that Roy has been a good dealer for you with amount of cases he stocks of yours. I believe it is over 40 that he has in stock right now. He certainly does not have 40 JB Cases in stock.

Maybe you are unhappy that he has a large stock of GTF cases as well, which we make. Understand though that this is a separate brand that I did not create. Nor did I create the design. Just like you were asked to replicate the old Brunswick cases for Roy, which you did, I was asked to replicate the old Fellinis, which I did. In any event it is my understanding that while Roy was buying thousands of GTF cases he was also investing a lot into inventory of Murnak cases right beside it.

Say what you want but I doubt you will find any other dealer who will purchase as many of your cases at once as Roy did.

You know full well that he is easy to reach. Pick up the phone and call him. I would bet ten million that anyone on planet earth can reach Roy within the space of 24 hours if he is physically capable of answering the phone and it has been this way for the entire 18 years that he has been in the billiard business.

He is expecting your phone call.
 
jimM said:
Here's the deal. I don't make enough on the cases to hire a full time person to help me, so I have to do them myself. I can't make them fast enough by myself, to make them in a timely manner. So I'm stuck in the middle. I have a choice to either quit making cases because of the pressure factor or change the way I work. So, I am choosing to raise the prices to a level not to exceed the value, but enough for me to pay for help. This will go into effect on June 30th. For example, a case that is now $399 will cost
$559. The fact is that I would rather not make them, than be caught in this time and work issue. I like making cue cases and I like making people happy when they finally receive them, but usually until people get their cases they don't realize what they are getting. I will honor the current prices till June 30th, but expect a 3-5 month wait. The new prices will hopefully bring me back to 6 weeks. I'm prepared for any outcome.

Thanks,
Jim Murnak
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

I recognize the name. You make pistol holsters too, don't you? Nice stuff.

http://www.fist-inc.com/
 
You do go on John

What actually happened is that we had a lunch date a year and a half ago at Valley Forge. He used to call me pretty much once a week or two. He didn't show up for our lunch and I never heard from him again. I tried calling and emailing. The phone was out at the time I tried. I new that he was having problems with his health so I figured something happened. His website was also out for a while. You're making it sound like I haven't tried and I just am talking bad about him. I have no problem with him unless nothing happened and he just stood me up and I never heard from him again. So, I assume that you are saying that nothing bad happened to him at that time, and everything has been normal since. Well, one thing, considering how upset he is, apparently, why didn't he call me when he found out that he owed me money? My number is still the same too. I'll try him on Monday. Keep answering and say as much as possible so this thread stays up front.

Thanks,
Jim
 
jimM said:
What actually happened is that we had a lunch date a year and a half ago at Valley Forge. He used to call me pretty much once a week or two. He didn't show up for our lunch and I never heard from him again. I tried calling and emailing. The phone was out at the time I tried. I new that he was having problems with his health so I figured something happened. His website was also out for a while. You're making it sound like I haven't tried and I just am talking bad about him. I have no problem with him unless nothing happened and he just stood me up and I never heard from him again. So, I assume that you are saying that nothing bad happened to him at that time, and everything has been normal since. Well, one thing, considering how upset he is, apparently, why didn't he call me when he found out that he owed me money? My number is still the same too. I'll try him on Monday. Keep answering and say as much as possible so this thread stays up front.

Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

Jim,

I don't want to argue with you. I posted in this thread to let folks know that Roy has your cases for sale which is a good thing for you to help relieve the pressure you are under.

The way you wrote this made it sound as if you have been trying constantly to reach Roy and that he is avoiding you for $650. That's how he read it when someone sent him the link.

His website has also never been down for more than a day at best. You obviously have some reason to want to slight Roy here and that's between you guys.

I do not think it's very fair of you to expect him to pick up the phone because you made an insinuation on a public message board.

I think that if you were really that concerned then you would have called him to ask what happened that he didn't make your lunch date. I talk to Roy just about every day and if I don't hear from him for a few days I call to see if he is ok.

You are in the wrong to do this here and you know it. I understand your situation and hope you are able to relieve the pressure you find yourself under. It's not easy to be a cue case maker and get paid well for your time unless you are already retired and living in a paid for home that you work out of and have a great reputation that brings you plenty of repeat business.

I think that most cue cases are under priced for the quality and work that is in them compared to other cases. Some are overpriced in comparison to what you get for the price with other cases. We all know that pricing is arbitrary for most people and hard to pin down to make it work for everyone involved.

But that's another discussion for another time. I don't think you're going to get much more play out of this thread through me. Just wanted to point out that IndyQ Shop has a lot of Murnak cases on sale and ready to ship and that Roy is easy to reach and doesn't welch on invoices that are due.
 
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