Everyone keeps thinking that ivory cues are going to go down in price. Well, most things fluctuate in estimated value over a given span of time. I suppose the only thing that matters is how much you get for your cue when you decide to sell it. Just like folks on this site disagree about the price of a pool cue, ivory complicates and energizes the discussion.
Here’s what I know to be true. The overwhelming majority of our nation’s states have not adopted any ivory restrictions.
Interstate Commerce allows for the sale of items containing ivory under the de minimis exemption (under 50% item’s volume and 199.99 grams or less). So you can sell pool cues with ivory and ship to a different state except for the 13 states that adopted ivory restrictions. That’s a wide open market that isn’t going away any time soon and likely never.
My cues have gone up in value but it doesn’t matter to me since these cues are to be passed along to my children and grandkids. I paid $2500 for my Tim Scruggs flat faced ivory radial joint pool cue. I’m pretty confident I’d get a few more bucks if I tried to sell it at a cue show in Las Vegas. Ivory is such a unique material that to this day is unmatched by any substitute and it’s use in pool cues is admittedly controversial because of endangered species concerns. However, the abundance of pre-ban ivory already legally within our shores still can be used by cue makers but not if they reside in a sovereign state that has enacted laws restricting the sale or use of ivory. Otherwise, go for it because it is still legal.
So since there are a lot of cue makers voluntarily deciding not to use ivory even though they could, and a bunch of cue makers that can’t use ivory due to their state law, less and less cues are being built with ivory. Ed Prewitt had to stop using ivory on July 1, 2016 when CA passed legislation. My Prewitt cue is not only pretty fancy but it is a flat faced ivory big pin cue. It also has jumped up in value over what I paid for it in 2010. My kids can argue over who gets which pool cue since they have to do that with my gun and knife collections. So I dunno why people think ivory cues are going to be dropping in price. The cues are always going to remain legal to own since possession is not a violation of any law. Just visit U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s website that explains ivory in detail. Nope, ivory isn’t going to hurt pool cue values and quite the opposite,
Here a point about collectibility that is undeniable and irrefutable unless someone wants to remain stubborn minded and argue differently. Two very important factors influence the price of something for sale. Supply and demand is the obvious answer but the supply largely decides the demand. I’ve learned this firsthand and so have many of the readers.
Rarity and scarcity…….that really drives up the price of something. It is just a fact when there is a limited supply of anything, demand goes up. When the item becomes more rare since it is no longer made and scarce because the ones already made are hard to find, the price jumps up and it can be a lot. Ivory pool cues are here to stay and will remain popular because no one has found any substitute material that plays like ivory. Ivory ferrules really are so much better.
Recollection Cues website has a enlightening explanation our nation’s ivory restrictions. The below is but the first page of a very detailed and thorough explanation about ivory. Here’s a couple pics of the two cues I mentioned that I’m pretty confident would find a new home pretty easily. My other cues are also likely to have gone up in value since Jerry R. retired awhile back and Bob, well, his popularity has soared since I last did business with him a decade ago.
So people will undoubtedly persist in their assumption that ivory laden pool cues will drop in price because of the ivory content. That is not realistic & has not happened. Any cue can go down in price if it isn’t appealing or plays like crap.
But it won’t be because the ferrules were ivory, or the joint or butt or inlays or rings…..that is just not the real world.
p.s. The research involved less than 10 mins and it was not only thorough, accurate but very easily comprehended.
Here’s what I know to be true. The overwhelming majority of our nation’s states have not adopted any ivory restrictions.
Interstate Commerce allows for the sale of items containing ivory under the de minimis exemption (under 50% item’s volume and 199.99 grams or less). So you can sell pool cues with ivory and ship to a different state except for the 13 states that adopted ivory restrictions. That’s a wide open market that isn’t going away any time soon and likely never.
My cues have gone up in value but it doesn’t matter to me since these cues are to be passed along to my children and grandkids. I paid $2500 for my Tim Scruggs flat faced ivory radial joint pool cue. I’m pretty confident I’d get a few more bucks if I tried to sell it at a cue show in Las Vegas. Ivory is such a unique material that to this day is unmatched by any substitute and it’s use in pool cues is admittedly controversial because of endangered species concerns. However, the abundance of pre-ban ivory already legally within our shores still can be used by cue makers but not if they reside in a sovereign state that has enacted laws restricting the sale or use of ivory. Otherwise, go for it because it is still legal.
So since there are a lot of cue makers voluntarily deciding not to use ivory even though they could, and a bunch of cue makers that can’t use ivory due to their state law, less and less cues are being built with ivory. Ed Prewitt had to stop using ivory on July 1, 2016 when CA passed legislation. My Prewitt cue is not only pretty fancy but it is a flat faced ivory big pin cue. It also has jumped up in value over what I paid for it in 2010. My kids can argue over who gets which pool cue since they have to do that with my gun and knife collections. So I dunno why people think ivory cues are going to be dropping in price. The cues are always going to remain legal to own since possession is not a violation of any law. Just visit U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s website that explains ivory in detail. Nope, ivory isn’t going to hurt pool cue values and quite the opposite,
Here a point about collectibility that is undeniable and irrefutable unless someone wants to remain stubborn minded and argue differently. Two very important factors influence the price of something for sale. Supply and demand is the obvious answer but the supply largely decides the demand. I’ve learned this firsthand and so have many of the readers.
Rarity and scarcity…….that really drives up the price of something. It is just a fact when there is a limited supply of anything, demand goes up. When the item becomes more rare since it is no longer made and scarce because the ones already made are hard to find, the price jumps up and it can be a lot. Ivory pool cues are here to stay and will remain popular because no one has found any substitute material that plays like ivory. Ivory ferrules really are so much better.
Recollection Cues website has a enlightening explanation our nation’s ivory restrictions. The below is but the first page of a very detailed and thorough explanation about ivory. Here’s a couple pics of the two cues I mentioned that I’m pretty confident would find a new home pretty easily. My other cues are also likely to have gone up in value since Jerry R. retired awhile back and Bob, well, his popularity has soared since I last did business with him a decade ago.
So people will undoubtedly persist in their assumption that ivory laden pool cues will drop in price because of the ivory content. That is not realistic & has not happened. Any cue can go down in price if it isn’t appealing or plays like crap.
But it won’t be because the ferrules were ivory, or the joint or butt or inlays or rings…..that is just not the real world.
p.s. The research involved less than 10 mins and it was not only thorough, accurate but very easily comprehended.
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