I just hit one a few days ago with a 314. Thought it felt great.it was a reverse sneaky. Ebony forearm. Most of that increase in price was prolly since covid. They are on a runaway with regard to pricing.20 years ago when I started playing, I bought a Predator sneaky pete with green veneers and a wrap (SPJLW). I bought it for around $350. Nowadays, to get a similar Predator sneaky with a wrap is at least $800probably over $1k if you want a carbon shaft.
Gotta hand it to Predator thoughthey do a great job marketing. There’s never been a time in my life where i’ve seen so many low rank players with over 1k worth of equipment lol
Your thoughts on outrageous cue prices
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vintagecollectibles831
Active member
I bet that you can still can get a simple Merry Widow for around $750, from a great cue maker like, Chad Carter, for example.
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vintagecollectibles831
Active member
I love Crossroad cues youtube videos. He seems to know a lot about cues, and is a great salesman. Rarely see one of his cues for under $2k though. I see that he does have some cues for under $2k on his website. He seems to mostly just sell high end cues though.
Billiard Bills cues seem to be much more reasonable, but still pricey, for the most part.
Watch enough of them and you realize it's the same story on every cue. One of the best cuemakers, hits a ton, nothing hits like it, etc
vintagecollectibles831
Active member
He likes to use the terms Super clean, and Pre Loved too. The cues he sells are so freaking nice though. They could sell themselves, without any of the talk. His prices do seem really high though.
Another thing in my mind and I think it is others, is the wack job cuemakers, who make promises and rip people off. I felt like I was the golden goose maybe 10 years ago. I was commissioning (2) or more cues from various cue makers EVERY YEAR. Finally, after getting ripped off from Showman, it has left a bad taste in my mouth. So now the prices on the secondary market is up, because we trust unseen sellers more than actual cuemakers!
One of my friends posted this on Facebook posted this. Yes, I asked if I could repost it.
I've been waiting probably 3-8 years for 7 different cues, all from makers who had a year or two wait or promise time. Some people vouched for them and said, 'he never misses a date.'
Well, here we are. You know who never misses a date? Seyberts, Pooldawg, Predator, Cuetech etc…..
All companies that 15 years ago, if you played with a cue from one of those places, you would have been considered, saying you couldn't make a ball. Now, these are the best companies around to order products from.
I play with Predator Trusplce butt and a Josey shaft. Josey does unreal work and has never missed a deadline with me! I can assure that I’d rather play with a custom cue but no one hits my specs and there’s literally no telling when it will ever come. Deposit or not.
What do you think?
*ive had over 100 custom cues at one time. Over 50 Motteys alone at one time. And sold well over 700 cues at last spreadsheet count. This is from experience.
One of my friends posted this on Facebook posted this. Yes, I asked if I could repost it.
All of a sudden, all these production cues and overseas cue companies are more popular and selling more than ever! Cues that us custom cue lovers would have laughed at years ago.
Do you know why? It's thanks to custom cue makers - not all, but those who thought taking and stealing money or leading customers on for years was acceptable. It's finally taking a turn.I've been waiting probably 3-8 years for 7 different cues, all from makers who had a year or two wait or promise time. Some people vouched for them and said, 'he never misses a date.'
Well, here we are. You know who never misses a date? Seyberts, Pooldawg, Predator, Cuetech etc…..
All companies that 15 years ago, if you played with a cue from one of those places, you would have been considered, saying you couldn't make a ball. Now, these are the best companies around to order products from.
I play with Predator Trusplce butt and a Josey shaft. Josey does unreal work and has never missed a deadline with me! I can assure that I’d rather play with a custom cue but no one hits my specs and there’s literally no telling when it will ever come. Deposit or not.
What do you think?
*ive had over 100 custom cues at one time. Over 50 Motteys alone at one time. And sold well over 700 cues at last spreadsheet count. This is from experience.
simple send no money or a tiny good faith deposit until the cue is finished or a small amount at halftime. if they wont do that dont do business with them.
and almost all the time it is easy to find out if the cue maker doesnt follow up on his promises. if yuo are stupid enough to then send money to that person you get what is dished out by him.
the reason people go to the production companies and i dont blame them at all is you order a cue on your credit card and it comes when they say it does. and if it doesnt you can cancel it on your card with no loss.
southwest does it right. they take no money until they are ready to start your custom cue. and then do it and send it out.
they dont use your money to live off of and hope you die before its time and get to keep your deposit or full payment.
and almost all the time it is easy to find out if the cue maker doesnt follow up on his promises. if yuo are stupid enough to then send money to that person you get what is dished out by him.
the reason people go to the production companies and i dont blame them at all is you order a cue on your credit card and it comes when they say it does. and if it doesnt you can cancel it on your card with no loss.
southwest does it right. they take no money until they are ready to start your custom cue. and then do it and send it out.
they dont use your money to live off of and hope you die before its time and get to keep your deposit or full payment.
Maybe SW does that because the absurdly long wait for them to start making your cue. If they did require a deposit
upon placing an order, they’d need a omnibus account for all this money and pay customers interest on their deposit
because the cumulative total of deposits could be rather substantial. If you are going to wait a decade or longer before
your cue gets started, a deposit shouldn’t even be required. As you draw closer to your cue being started, a deposit is
expected and it should be 20%, not any less. That demonstrates the buyer is serious and isn’t likely to cancel. As their
cue is being made, there should be progress payments too. A cue maker should be compensated as the cue is made.
When your number is called from Laurie at Southwest she requires a 50% deposit, not 20%.
Ken
Ken, I wasn’t so much referring to what Southwest’s Policy is but rather custom cue makers in general.
In fact, what Laurie does should be emulated by all custom cue makers which most don’t do or at least
the ones that built my cues didn’t. They were 20% and a progress payment before completion. The
cue maker doesn’t want to be outta hunk of money to be paid upon completion only to see the customer
stiff him and say they don’t want the cue any longer. Cue makers are entitled to be compensated for work
performed but not yet completed. Many Azers are totally naive about the operating costs for a pool cue shop.
the cue maker if takes money along the way and customer has to back out then cuemaker needs to rebate to the original buyer money on his sale after its finished.
a deposit can be forfeited if said so as part of the deal.
but thats all wasted as all big name makers can sell immediately anything they make and the customer backs out on. and most times probably for more.
and if you cant give your customer a real completion date then you have no right to get money in advance. my opinion. and thats because i am not a cuemaker ass kisser. they are just a tradesman selling a product.
a deposit can be forfeited if said so as part of the deal.
but thats all wasted as all big name makers can sell immediately anything they make and the customer backs out on. and most times probably for more.
and if you cant give your customer a real completion date then you have no right to get money in advance. my opinion. and thats because i am not a cuemaker ass kisser. they are just a tradesman selling a product.
I'll try to refrain from references to ass.
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No offense meant I assure you. The wood I was referring to is the old growth maple trees in forests on the northern part of the continent that have all been decimated and cut down.
I'm sure there's still fine wood to be had or you guys wouldn't still be making cues. Perhaps I should have been more specific and included over 40 years old, hard as a rock, tight grain, heavy and straight as an arrow.
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Add me to that list.
Lucky dawg!!Apparently Jesus.
My pleasure.Thank you. I've certainly been called a lot worse.