Is the Cue Market Dead Now and Forever?

[Balabushka_Man]

You are dead wrong. I started this thread because the cue market is dead and wanted to see if others agree. I'm fortunate to be able to buy any cue I want whenever I want. This thread is no ploy to get any body to part with a cue at a price below what he or she paid. At this point in time, I'm a seller, not a buyer, of cues. I'm certainly not a want to be, having owned numerous cues by the best cue makers alive and deceased.

Wrong-Like hell...Convince someone else. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it and no I'm not in the business of selling or flipping cues. The Nevada market is VERY strong here-period. Maybe you should consider a move...Some things never change, good luck with your sales, outta here, and have a nice day. uttahere:

Ps-Ya can buy any cue ya want ? Tell ya what, ya can't buy mine...

 

[jhanso18]

I will say again, cue market is what it is. people that do well, do well because the know what they are doing and choose there prices to buy and sell wisely. If you are on the primary market, meaning selling NEW cues to customers, life seems to be good if you have a very good product.

 

[cuesblues]

This thread is total BS and only a scare ploy by some cheap want to be owners so that some folks will sell their top end cue makers high end cues for less then they paid for them. You won't ever get my Tasc.....NEVER ! In fact all high end owners I encourage to raise their prices now which will send a message to all the cheap want to be owners ! :angry:

I have no idea what you are talking about, and I promise not to take your Tascarella
I.'ve purchased two Tasc's of my own in the last few weeks, not that hard to find.

 

[Quality Cues]

I have no idea what you are talking about, and I promise not to take your Tascarella
I.'ve purchased two Tasc's of my own in the last few weeks, not that hard to find.

In fact, there are more Tascarellas for sale right now than I can recall in recent years. Pete, Sr. and Jr. make great cues, no doubt about it. Play great with the ones that you recently purchased.

 

[Shooter08]

The cue market is not dead, it's just having a correction due to the economy, the same as the housing market. To many people used their disposable income on high dollar items because they could access the equity from their homes so easily. Some markets are still strong, however many are very weak. I would say now is the time to buy the under valued known builders, they should rebound the most when the market comes back. IMHO

 

[cueaddicts]

Not dead, just on a 30 year old life support machine.....

 

[ribdoner]

This thread is total BS and only a scare ploy by some cheap want to be owners so that some folks will sell their top end cue makers high end cues for less then they paid for them. You won't ever get my Tasc.....NEVER ! In fact all high end owners I encourage to raise their prices now which will send a message to all the cheap want to be owners ! :angry:

RELAX,

what cues sell for dictates market value and it couldn'd be manipulated if ALL the dealers, flippers, pimps and vultures that hover here conspired to do so as long as that ebay thingy rears its ugly head

 

[Moet.1977]

Yea

I will say again, cue market is what it is. people that do well, do well because the know what they are doing and choose there prices to buy and sell wisely. If you are on the primary market, meaning selling NEW cues to customers, life seems to be good if you have a very good product.

You are correct, and just to add to your quote the ones that do well buy with
their head and not their heart. Same goes in house flipping.

 

[DJSTEVEZ]

I have been buying, selling and trading cues for the past 12 years. Each year the market has gotten progressively worse. It appears to be impossible to sell cues for real money anymore. I've seen the same cues being offered for sale at reasonable prices for several months in the Wanted/For Sale section of AZ and not selling. Is the cue market dead now and forever?

IMHO, the science behind making a quality cue has not only been figured out, but due to technology, can come at a very competitive price. When I was younger man, the thing about a Balabushka was the mystery of the perfect balance. The How & Why aren't secrets anymore. Manufacturing is less expensive too AND more people are doing it. So long as there's not an NFL team or a Beer logo on it, even an entry level cue can be of very decent quality today.

That leaves the elite cue market to the dwindling number of people who are willing to pay for Art. Decreased demand, decreased prices. It's not unlike what has happened to Hummels. In the 80's & 90's it was all but guarenteed any given piece would go up in value. Today, most of the people who are willing to even pay the initial release price of a new piece are in their late 70's and older. The Hummel market has decreased by attrition, and thusly so has the value any one piece is held in. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. If the vast majority of people who were willing to pay high prices for a Hummel are in a Nursing Home...well, I think you get my point.

 

[Shooter08]

What the heck is a Hummel

IMHO, the science behind making a quality cue has not only been figured out, but due to technology, can come at a very competitive price. When I was younger man, the thing about a Balabushka was the mystery of the perfect balance. The How & Why aren't secrets anymore. Manufacturing is less expensive too AND more people are doing it. So long as there's not an NFL team or a Beer logo on it, even an entry level cue can be of very decent quality today.

That leaves the elite cue market to the dwindling number of people who are willing to pay for Art. Decreased demand, decreased prices. It's not unlike what has happened to Hummels. In the 80's & 90's it was all but guarenteed any given piece would go up in value. Today, most of the people who are willing to even pay the initial release price of a new piece are in their late 70's and older. The Hummel market has decreased by attrition, and thusly so has the value any one piece is held in. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. If the vast majority of people who were willing to pay high prices for a Hummel are in a Nursing Home...well, I think you get my point.

These things were actually worth money? Learn something new everyday. Sounds like a Beanie Baby before they were around or a Cabbage Patch kid. Does anyone want to buy a Tickle me Elmo for $350, I'll include a Lee Peppers cue, jk.

 

[jalapus logan]

You are dead wrong. I started this thread because the cue market is dead and wanted to see if others agree. I'm fortunate to be able to buy any cue I want whenever I want. This thread is no ploy to get any body to part with a cue at a price below what he or she paid. At this point in time, I'm a seller, not a buyer, of cues. I'm certainly not a want to be, having owned numerous cues by the best cue makers alive and deceased.

The OP here is exactly correct and is a straight shooter both on and off the table. I've seen some of his cues and his collection houses some of the finest cues I've ever seen (especially that Schick).

 

[HelloBaby-]

- bad ecomony
- a lot of pool players finally realize that a $3000 stick won't help
- and one thing people forget, the invasion of very good and afffordable production cue. I'm talking about predator and now OB and Mezz. When at least 2/3 pros shoot with one of the 3 branches mention above, amateur will think twice about what cue to buy.
The market now downs to collectioner or rich guy who can spend few thousand dollars for fun.
Otherwise, all the "not top notch" cuemakers can't compete to ob mezz or predator. I still cant understand how people buy a 400 500 sneaky pete or 600 700 plain jane for some casual sticks when they can spend half to buy an OB.
I've shot with more than 20 different custom cue, to be honest, only few of them worth the money. Even SW is controversial, SW hit is inconsistent, some hit like a dream, some hit like a house cue.

 

[DJSTEVEZ]

These things were actually worth money? Learn something new everyday.

There was an extremely active market with "Blue Books" dealers, all that. There was even a museum. Most if not all the pieces are released in very limited numbers (of course limited is a loose term) My mother's collection was once appraised by someone in the know at circa $20K. Today if she got $5K for it, it'd be a coup. For Christmas in 1989, my father purchased (for my mother) "Let's Tell The World" which commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall. That was a particularly important event to Hummel as they are based in West Germany. It was larger than most of their figurines. It is still the centerpiece of her collection. He got it pre-release and I know paid well over $1K for it. If you're interested, here's the wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummel_figurines

 

[rhinobywilhite]

These are my favorite. Cues are not a good investment, unless bought in the 80s, or before, maybe a few 90s, but there are some who claim that their currently bought Southwest, Barry S, Hercek, Tascarella, or Searing will be a good investment.

A good tax free muni fund will return about 6 to 7 percent, and if you're in a decent situation, after tax will be about 9 percent, annual rate. The consistent stock funds do better, in a ten year timeframe. Try that on a cue purchase. I'd like someone to show me a cue bought in the past ten years (fairly long time in investment terms) that returned greater than about 9 percent annual. Sales slips, please.

Go ahead, make my day.

I would like to know on what planet you are buying munis with a 6-7 % return in 2015. If you can find one at 5%, the add on for the 5% bond will take all the interest earned for 3-5 years.

 

[cubswin]

Thinking that about the time the op poster started selling cues, I was buying up scruggs sneaky's for 200-250. Selling them here and elsewhere for 3-350 as fast as possible.

Now those cues sit at the 700 dollar mark as a asking price. Odds are they are now in worse condition, yet sellers think they should be worth much more. Sure, they are a scruggs, no more going to be made, but most are conversions and other than the name you can buy a sneaky for far less, made the same way, that will play very close to the same way.

People have a distorted view of what a cue should sell for. I had a sugartree sneaky I got new, played with it for a few years and then sold it. I more than doubled my money on that cue, that same cue now is asking price 3-4 times more than I paid new for it. I've seen it come up for sale a few times, and nothing has changed on it to make it worth that much more. Last time I saw it, wasn't moving, probably because it had reached it max selling price and now is on a downward trend.

 

[Nostroke]

I would like to know on what planet you are buying munis with a 6-7 % return in 2015. If you can find one at 5%, the add on for the 5% bond will take all the interest earned for 3-5 years.

I think Athens is paying 7% and Detroit too maybe

 

[WildWing]

I would like to know on what planet you are buying munis with a 6-7 % return in 2015. If you can find one at 5%, the add on for the 5% bond will take all the interest earned for 3-5 years.

Vanguard intermediate tax free (Admiral). 7.3% last year, approximately 5% since inception. Comparative after tax should be a couple percent higher compared to taxable investments. Just an example.

 

[nick serdula]

Collectors? Dealers?

No the Cues suck. Most collectors have what they want so we have stopped buying.
Everyone is trying to hustle dead meat.
There is no hustle. Most the Cues being made have little value to an educated collector. We know exactly what we want and it for the most part isn't out there any more.
We buy what we always have in the past.
You just don't have it. The pool is dry.
Dealers can try to sweet talk a costumer but what that accomplishes is one less repeat buyer.
Old collectors like old stuff. New collectors get soured fast with BS Cues with big names and bigger prices.
They can only deal the cards on the table though.
Predator any one?
Nick

 

[grindz]

There are many overlapping "cue markets." Compared to 5-10 years ago activity with new cues has slowed with some good reasons already mentioned. It's more difficult today for sure. I'm thankful I don't have to live off of my cues business. The area where cue new sales are not happening like they used to are places like Super Billiards Expo I did this show 8 out of 9 years. More and more sales are online and increasingly outside the USA. As long as people play pool and can afford nice things there will always be a place for new cue sales. The biggest problem with new cues today is having inventory that people want (that is inventory with good traction). In general, like fine watches and perhaps musical instruments like boutique guitars, fine new cues require a longer floor time in general before a sale happens. It looks like some AZers who are otherwise smart cannot comprehend this. Lastly, with some exception everyday AZers are not my market for new cues. I'm much more likely to sell them a wrap. I have no plans to head for the sidelines! Martin

Martin, I met you when you and Jay came to Phx. last year.... so Hello. I have to say that
almost w/out exception you pick the nicest cues to sell.... and if I had the cash and wanted a closet full, I would buy most of what you offer. Seriously.... you have good taste!! (maybe just because it matches mine!! ). I still remember that wrapless Bender........ WoW!

td

 

[J$Cincy]

Yes the cue market is dead..... Mainly because there are so many people here who give these cue makers endless amounts of money to make a cue... or.... to be bumped to the head of their prospective lists.... The end result is a cue custom built for the liking of one man that will ultimately be used to prop the coffin open when the guy who originally bought it dies...!:thumbup: