It is amazing how many naive, business uneducated posters there are.
None of them have an inkling what it truly costs to operate a business.
They think like someone is working for a salary when in fact that is not true.
Cue-makers are paid equivalent to a commission only position but they still
have to cope with all the implied operating costs. Any time anyone wants to
have an intelligent conversation about this, drop me a line and I’ll elaborate.
Just think of it this way.....allow for 2 weeks vacation......a cue-maker works
2000 hrs a year based on 40 hrs week x 50 weeks. So we all know that work
is never just 40 hrs week so let’s bump that number from 2k to even 2300 hrs.
That amounts to 46 hrs. week.......not enuf, how about 50 hrs. week then.....
that comes to 2500 hrs. annually. ......how much is a cue-maker’s time worth?
I know auto shops and car mechanics charge a high hourly rate $60 to $90/hr.
Own a BMW, Mercedes, Acura, Lexus.......stop by and see what they charge hr.
So what is a cue-maker’s time worth. Remember the sale of cues is what drives
their business and how many cues can a cue-maker produce annually? That is
why even noteworthy names in cue-making often maintain other professions too.
Then the cue-maker has to cope with all the business overhead from shop costs,
inventory, payroll taxes, insurance (general liability and health coverage), utilities,
equipment, advertising or trade shows, rent, depreciation, breakage, new capital
expenditures, accounting & bookkeeping, inventory......want me to list more factors?
Now if you produce a volume of cues, there’s also employee payroll costs & other
expenses to include but let’s assume the cue-maker is a one man shop. Famous
names in cue-making do not produce a high volume of cues. Names like Szamboti,
Prewitt, Hercek, Manzino etc. make a small amount annually. The number of hours
a cue requires varies with its design complexity. But when you are making less than
a couple dozen cues annually, those cues will be more expensive and often, a lot more.
If a cue-maker made 20 cues a year and charged $5000 each, that’s only a gross income
of $100k. From that he has to pay all the associated costs with owning and operating a
business. And he has to deal with all the associated taxes too from state and city to federal.
How much would a cue-maker actually net after factoring in all the real operating expenses?
Just basing it on an hourly rate, a cue-maker has to allow for anywhere from $50 to $75, even
$100 hour or more. Now this is not reflective of a production cue where there are higher volumes
and often less intricate, ornate designs. Production cues typically involves less hands on work by
the cue-maker than with a custom made cue. So equipment reliance lowers the amount of labor
and thus the cost associated with it. So if you order a cue and there was 20 to 30 hrs of work,
how much should the cue-maker charge? Remember there are materials costs and after you add
up all the expenses, keep in mind that is actual cost, not marked up. The cue-maker has to turn a
profit which means marking up materials and covering overhead and his own time.
Joel Hercek only makes about 20 cues annually, maybe 22 and sometimes less. But two dozen
would be pushing it. Ed Prewitt makes less than that. That is why their cues cost so much. They
are very talented and command top dollar for their cue designs. And it is why they have waiting
lists that extend over a decade too. You get what you pay for but when you want the best, it just
costs more. A Bulova watch is a nice, reliable watch but it isn’t in the class or quality of say Omega.
Same is true of pool cues and cue-makers that are differentiated by price and quality. I think down
deep people who think some cues are overpriced are just envious of what the other person has and
can afford whereas they aren’t able to do the same. Cue-makers charge you for time and materials,
fully absorbed business expenses and a margin of profit......and that’s why some cost a lot more.
