selling a cue is not like hustling pool,don't try to get the best of it
Well said Dean :thumbup2:
selling a cue is not like hustling pool,don't try to get the best of it
As someone in the midst of selling a HUGE collection. It is an undertaking for anyone. You cannot price it "fairly" because even when you do, its not fair enough and you're going to see the meaning of the word low ball. You will never here the words "I'll take it" at any price you list. If you list your Searing for $900, you'll get offered 6, this you can take to the bank.
You will be cherry picked and left with the marginal to hard to move items. The person I am working with was "cherry picked" out of some very key cues. I am a patient man, and I enjoy buying and selling. Some people that sell, when they find out the real way people get stupid and want to nit pick your weight off by .02 ounces, or they see some mysterious blemish that they must have looked at the cue through the Hubble. That is when they see selling, its not so easy.
Good luck.. any way you go...
JV
people should use pictures ,good pictures and complete instructions
I don't foollow that rule because I am a professional salesman
I use ads to make the phone ring
I then qualify my prospects
Its not talking them into something that I do
Its finding out if i have anything they would like
Also by requiring people to call I cull out the ones who are tire kickers or picture watchers only
so by the time my phone rings I usually sell something
If you are not comfortable with this interaction,then put your info out there so they either want it or not
And when or if they ask routine questions like will you take less
You can confidently say,no I won't and I'll tell you why.
This cue is ;already priced right,all you need to do is pay for it and you already have a bargain priced cue
of course if you are high,good by sale
The trouble with dealers that I have found is this,a very able customer calls on your cue with the cash,but he can make more by selling his own so the dealer directs your customer to his product
And he is getting 20% for what,now he tells you that you are too high
They also have the ability to take trades and this usually means two sets of books
Not all dealers are like this ,but some of the better named ones I have used
are.
Now Kicken chicken has been very honest with me in dealings as have others,I don't really know is they take consignments.If they do,you might try them
This coming from a person that doesn’t post pics. Weird place the AZ Billiards.
Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums
Without someone actually holding a cue how do you relate its balance? "Well its a tad butt-heavy?" Doesn't knowing the BP give you an idea if its front or back heavy? Why is it a "cop out" question? BTW, i rarely buy cues without holding them first just for this reason. I don't see how asking it makes a buyer any less viable. Buying a cue without seeing, imo, is insane. I don't give a rat's-a^* who the seller is.A lot of that makes sense and I wish it were that easy for normal people.
Dean, you can pull it off because you are far from normal, and I highly doubt you get the stupid questions like "what is the balance point."
I like the part about the "picture watchers."
My problem is the question asking fools who have no intention of buying anything even if they make a deal.
There are a handful of guys who go around asking the same questions over and over, even negotiate deals before they disappear
I've seen similar behavior since my first days on AZ back in 2006, but with social media a new wave of these guys are coming at me from all over the world.
There must be something I do to attract them because I let it go for a while before I cut it off completely.
The sure sign that you have one of these flakes on your hands is the balance point question.
In 12 straight years of doing this stuff, quite a bit in the last 6 years, I have never sold a cue to a guy who asked what the balance point is.
I don't and won't respond to the balance point question, which is a cop-out question.
No serious buyer has ever asked me about the balance point.
I really wish I could do things they way you do, and others who have tried it have failed miserably, because it only works for you.
As someone in the midst of selling a HUGE collection. It is an undertaking for anyone. You cannot price it "fairly" because even when you do, its not fair enough and you're going to see the meaning of the word low ball. You will never here the words "I'll take it" at any price you list. If you list your Searing for $900, you'll get offered 6, this you can take to the bank.
It isn't hard to sell them yourself, unless you are just looking to give away money to some resellers. I would rather price them right or slightly below market and pass along a good deal.
If you price them fairly, they move pretty quickly.
What I see too often is overpriced cues and folks complaining that the market is terrible.
(Cues, houses, cars, guns, etc.) If priced fairly, they will move pretty quickly.
JMO,
Ken
Hi and welcome to Azb. Deanoc is so cool he is frozen.
Without someone actually holding a cue how do you relate its balance? "Well its a tad butt-heavy?" Doesn't knowing the BP give you an idea if its front or back heavy? Why is it a "cop out" question? BTW, i rarely buy cues without holding them first just for this reason. I don't see how asking it makes a buyer any less viable. Buying a cue without seeing, imo, is insane. I don't give a rat's-a^* who the seller is.
After my unofficial retirement in 2012, I spent the next 4 years selling all but 6 of my
150+ cue collection, along wih dozens of cases I no longer needed, and I had zero
issues or problems doing it.
As I went along I bought, ordered, and traded for cues, and have an accumulation of
different cues and will be doing it all over again.
Last year was my first year on Facebook and I've had over 400 of the lamest trade
offers you could imagine.
I've also encountered more than my share of bullying, flakes, and lowballers, but I'm
ready to do it all over again.
My local market has actually become healthier so that will be fun to get more involved in.
My biggest problem is picking one cue to play with because I'm at the point where it is affecting my game.
Good luck, you can do it yourself
Thanks for the nice JW cues you sold to me. I love Billy's cues! Some of the best playing cues ever made. My collection is rather small compared to yours, but somehow I've accumulated around fifty cues. Most of them are not "expensive" cues in the thousands of dollars, but are cues that I like for their playability. The majority of my cues would be in the 500-1,000 price range, but I do have several Gina's, Tad's and JW's that are more valuable. Like you, for every cue I sell I seem to acquire two more.
Sotheby's
I'll talk anyone out of using Sotheby's.....for anything. I'll be glad to tell my experience with a rare Japanese sword.
i have a bunch of cues i want to sell
all from respected cuemakers,,scruggs /gilbert/webb/ eddie cohen/tad /josswest/gina/bobby hunter/searing
most 4 point 4 veneer
some with modest inlays
some ivory joints and /or inlays
ie no szambotis or bushkas
who do you think has the best turnover of cues and gives the buyer the best prices ??
pms ok
If you have a good idea about the current market value on your cues, and you have a good quality weight scale, digital caliper, and a decent quality digital camera, then you could sell the cues yourself.
Billiard Bill's is a very nice, and honest seller though, that would probably do a great job at selling your cues for you, at a fair price to the buyers out there.
https://www.billiardbills.com/