Now...along came the flippers. Many were individuals who managed to talk makers into making them cues or getting on their lists for cues with the sole intent of selling as soon as the cue was received, and with a typically hefty profit margin. If it was a newer maker, with a little bit of initial 'buzz' going on...these individuals would hype the hell outta these makers, while all along snatching up what they could from these makers, at a song, and then holding for a short time to drive demand, and then make a killing on the resale. The savvy of this was picking the makers whose yearly production was next to nothing...the gamble was was whether or not the maker actually had any talent, and therefore a mass appeal. The unfortunate part of this was/is that it was the flipper making all the profit, and the bad taste left in the mouthes of those makers who were duped into selling low in order to gain the exposure. It should also be noted that often flippers washed their hands of the deal once it was/is done...not all, but many. Definitely a caveat emptor.
I just wanted to make sure you had the definitions correct...as it appears your issue is with the flipper, and not the authorized retailers and dealers.
Lisa
I can't say it any better than Lisa here in her post JV. Hope this helps.
Jim Lee[/QUOTE]
If you need to post someone else's words then I don't think you know what a flipper is either. But I'll try one more time.
Is a flipper different than a dealer and if so, what are the differences?
Just so you don't have to guess, or post someone else's thoughts, let me tell you from someone that has sold quite a few cues.
As a dealer we strike our deals with cuemakers that we like, are our friends, people whose work we think merits having in our stable. Normally there is no "written" contract. We will usually take 5-10+ cues a year. Our discount is set, lets for this example say 20%. The deal usually works this way, we list for their retail and will discount no more than 5%. So on a 1000 dollar cue you might make 150-200.If anyone thinks this is a hefty profit, I beg to differ, I think it's pretty fair. It gets the cuemaker more outside business and we can fill a little deadtime in his schedule. We never push, when they are finished we take them. There is not one cuemaker we have bought from that will say Joe is unreasonable, or made me make cues at 50% off. We just don't do that.
BTW I take cues I like. They have to be made a certain way, look a certain way, that's it. I don't jump on ANY one's bandwagon while they are starting out. BTW currently there are 4 cuemakers we buy new from, just an FYI.
Now are we on the "list" of other cuemakers, like SW. Sure we are, but we pay full retail. Then resell the cue at yes, a profit. (C'mon do the home alone Macauly Caulkin face) Are we entitled, yes, and so is anyone else that waited their turn in line. BTW we'll leave out the cuemakers that took deposits, gave a time frame for delivery and failed to not only meet that timeline, but then decided their quoted price was too low. That's for a whole other thread. But that doesn't happen right?
Or the cuemaker that a dealer may "push". But when he get's noticed they want to change percentages, move you down the line, make you 3 cues a year instead of 10 because they now can get the full boat that they couldn't without your initial legwork and persistance to get them out in the market. This hasn't happened either, right? Cause you're all just freaking angels.
The fact is dealers or mini-me dealers are in it yes, to make a buck. Just like you're in it to make a buck. However the internet which BTW helped build US, now is a hinderence. There are many outlets that were unavailable to sellers 5-8-10 years ago. So anyone wanting to be a flipper or dealer right now, I wouldn't follow into that same minefield either.
Which brings us to this, are flippers cauing false hype in the market? No, they aren't. The people that are buying cues in the 1500 or higher dollar range are smarter than that, sometimes.
I'll say it one more time. The market is what it is. If you have a decline in pool halls, pool players, etc.. and you have MORE people trying to make cues when there aren't enough buyers, you get a market that is saturated with product. This is what there is now, no dealer or cuemaker with any sense would say otherwise. Just look at the AZ for sale section, is all the proof you need. It's not flippers, they have ZERO control over the abundance of cues vs the number of actual cue buyers.
You want to make some money, make card markers for poker players
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JV
