Most buyers of a cue like this are bidding bc they “think” they may be making a killing on a valuable cue - if someone actually knows that the cue is a possible “steal” they would not bid until the very end in an auction setting.
EBAY CUE
- Thread starter Biloxi Boy
- Start date
For shits and giggles. Idle entertainment.
To investigate them.
Lots of people have knowledge of mainstream customs and big name cues. They comment often on others and are wrong. Not everyone. But frequently.
I like to dig into the obscure and even strange. It has broadened the horizons of what I understand.
Certainly if you don't have the money don't waste it.
That's a lot of what I'm thinking.It's a crooked cue!!!
Butt and shaft length don't match, inlays are diff lengths, OMG what a piece of **** for what they're asking!! Color is kinda cool tho.
This week a guy put a Scruggs cue one bay for $725 buy it now- he said that PROFICIENT HAD REFINISHED THE CUE. - it was a very nice looking four pointer. The cue sold immediately, I saw it about 3 hours after the listing hit e bay- already gone. I think that the seller just did not do his homework and that the buyer got one of those once every six months cue deals on the internet. I know that someone here bought a nice Searing about six months ago for around $600.
So these things do turn up rarely, but you have to be looking every day at a minimum to get lucky. I have sold a few cues for way less than actual full market price- sometimes I just feel generous as long as I am not losing money - sometimes I just want someone else to enjoy a cue that I enjoyed, who maybe could not afford it- my way of giving back . I have been on the winning end of many a cue deal- so I never feel cheated in the long run.
So these things do turn up rarely, but you have to be looking every day at a minimum to get lucky. I have sold a few cues for way less than actual full market price- sometimes I just feel generous as long as I am not losing money - sometimes I just want someone else to enjoy a cue that I enjoyed, who maybe could not afford it- my way of giving back . I have been on the winning end of many a cue deal- so I never feel cheated in the long run.
If you are talking about seller krgdj_1 with 1 feedback I am pretty sure that was a scam and buyer may never get the cue. That seller listed a number of good cues for around the same amount and they all sold as everyone likes a deal. I know the unknown cue he listed was actually a John Robinson cue that sold several weeks ago by another ebayer for $1275.00. I doubt this guy bought it for $1275 and then turned around and sold it two weeks later for half of what he paid for it.
I saw that.
Yup.
Yup.
I saw the TS cue for sale, checked seller, and walked.
Interesting observations. The Ebay pictures are not that sharp, but they more remind me of the very light green dacron that was supposed to look like linen. It had a very light green spec or strand, which this appears to be. Of course I'd have to hold it to be sure what it is. Anyhow, this is what it more reminded me of, the dacron on my second catalog Palmer Model D.
We kill for pictures.
My thoughts exactly. The only way to know anything about the quality of the cue is to hold it in your hands and hit some balls with it. I have played with Asian imports that were well made cues and U.S. made cues that sucked. The only cues I ever bought online were from known dealers with good reputations or people I personally knew. Name brand cues for the most part like Schon, JW, Gina and Tad.
E bay will end up owing all the money back for undelivered cues, if the guy figured out a way to take the money and run even from e bay. Allowing someone to sell thousands in merchandise with only 1 recorded feedback seems like a disaster for e bay if they have no way to recover the money from the seller.
To be fair, I think it's common to buy a playing cue without trying it today.
If you order a cue from any of the big makers like McDermott, Viking, Joss, Pechauer, Jacoby, Meucci, etc, you don't get to try it first. We trust the makers, maybe played with their cues before, and the makers have reputations for a certain "hit", but there is still variation.
If you order a custom, you buy it without trying it first. We trust them to produce a certain consistency, but again there are variations. The best tend to be very consistent. If you ordered a SW you got it many years later without trying it, but we trust it will play like a SW.
Plenty of people buy new cues without trying, and used cues without trying, while they are looking for a player. We see them for sale here on AZB every day. People say outright they have the cue or cues for sale because they bought them while looking for their player and the cue or cues for sale were not it.
The online retailers are huge. People buy without trying first commonly, more common now than ever.
This is true of shafts as well. We see lots of discussions here when people ask about a shaft before ordering one.
Yesterday I played for five hours with my block letter Joss, a Joss I got from a pawn shop, an E series McDermott, A Pechauer, and three different ebony full splice conversions with several different shafts. I enjoy doing that. I played most of the time with an ebony full splice conversion with an unknown shaft I got recently that has an ivory ferrule, When we put some money on the games, I used my Joss with a Scruggs shaft.
Of all those cues the only one I tried first was my block letter Joss back in 1985 when I bought it used. Honestly, they are all excellent players, though slightly different.
Even when you try a cue, there is an adjustment period anyway.
So, I don't know for sure but is it really so different or unusual for people to buy a player without trying it? Is it really crazy?
I never hit a high end cue yet, nothing better than a Runde Schon (which was great) and D series McDermotts. I have a Titlist conversion that plays nice but I would not think that whoever does the conversion has much influence on the hit of the cue.
I've been in a drought for too long. I hope I run across one of his deals!!
very cheaply looking make
not worth the time to search for who the maker is
not worth the time to search for who the maker is
it is crazy to buy off the internet, but not if from a maker or business that you trust. top cues are or can be a good buy but unseen from a stranger it has too many pitfalls.
this is for a playing cue not a wall hanger as then you are mostly paying for looks. or collection. that is totally different. as the internet is the only easy place to find such.
and if it has a buy it now price and is a good deal it will usually be gone before you see it. and if still up there likely isnt a good deal.
this is for a playing cue not a wall hanger as then you are mostly paying for looks. or collection. that is totally different. as the internet is the only easy place to find such.
and if it has a buy it now price and is a good deal it will usually be gone before you see it. and if still up there likely isnt a good deal.
I agree that for the most part you won't know how well you will like a cue until you can hit with it.
One good reason for buying online anyway though is that it significantly widens the options that are available to you. For most people you can see a hundred times more cues and cue makers online that you can in person. Some people might never come across the right cue for themselves if they are limited only to what they will come across in person.
Another good reason is for the convenience. A few button clicks and shortly thereafter you have a new cue to try without having to expend much effort or endure much hassle. If you don't like it you sell it on to the next guy and try again. Even if you take some loss on it by doing that, it is worth it for the convenience to many people. We all pay for convenience all the time and the only thing that differs between us in that respect is how much we are willing to pay for convenience and on what things and how often. We all value our time and effort differently.
Another reason is that you usually don't know for sure how well you will like a cue until you actually play with it a few times, so even test hitting has some limits to its usefulness. For the most part you have to buy a cue in order to be able to play with it for a few days.
you should be able to hit a few center ball hits with an un chalked cue off the rack and see or tell if it gives the hit you like.
and many pool rooms will let you test hit like that if you are going to buy from them. how could that not be better than buying in the blind.
for a playing cue.
and many pool rooms will let you test hit like that if you are going to buy from them. how could that not be better than buying in the blind.
for a playing cue.
I mentioned three of the reasons. Reasons buying in person might not be as good as buying online is because by buying in person you are significantly limiting your selection, leaving yourself without enough time to know if the cue is truly the right fit for you, and having to endure a lot more inconvenient time, effort and hassle in the search for the right cue. You may not care about any of those things, but I would guess most experienced players care about at least one or more of them.