For me it is really easy. If I am selling a cue I look at it and pretend that someone is offering me money for it. I say to myself...if someone were here and offered me $2000 (or whatever) for the cue would I take it. When I get to a number that I would sell the cue for, that is what it is worth to me. You may look at the cue and hate it and think that the cue is worth half of what I think it is worth. I don't even know how much I have into most of the cues I own. The reality is that custom made cues are worth different amounts for different people. For example, I have this Hercek:
http://www.3cushion.com/On Line Collection/Cues/hercekcoco2004.htm
Dealers and some collectors might look at the cue and say hey, it is a plain four pointer with no inlays...a level 3 in the BB or whatever, and tell you exactly what the cue is worth. I think that's ignorant because two different cues can be in the same level and one is great to look at while the other may be ugly to you or it doesn't appeal to you. Right now, this Hercek in the link might bring $2500 or so if I were to sell it...but despite the fact that there is no inlay work in it, if someone were to offer me $5k for the cue I would tell them to go dangle. The reason is because when you see the cue in person, it is just perfect and stunning. So the street value on the cue might be $2500. But if I saw it for sale for $3000, I would jump on it.
On the contrary, there are some cue makers whose work does not appeal to me in the slightest. If one of those cues came up for sale and the street price was $2000, I would probably pass on it for anything above $1000 because it wouldn't be worth $2k to me, ever.
Being a collector rather than a dealer means that my perspective is different. I don't get in and out of cues to make money. I buy cues that I like and I pay what I think they are worth. It is the same way I buy art...I buy what I like (not caring who made it), I buy quality, and I pay a fair price for it. I really appreciate the work that goes into it...and if you asked around, you would never find a cue maker that I have asked for a discount from because I think it is rude. If I think a cue is priced too high I simply pass on it. Haggling with the maker is what's done in third-world countries.
I hardly ever buy from a dealer because I prefer to work with the cue maker or the original customer. That is not to say that dealing with dealers is bad...in fact, they are great because of the stock they carry and the services they provide. Of course you have to be careful about with whom you deal...but that goes for any industry. I simply prefer to deal with the artisan. And since I don't play with the cues, I am in no hurry to receive them.
So I guess that street price is a variable that is dependent on who is buying on that day and what interests them most. But I do consider that street price is the actual amount that will be spent on the cue, sold within a short time frame. The real value of the cue is what it is worth to me or to you, or to whomever, so it is a variable. However, those two value indicators are mutually exclusive and have little influence on each other.
I love it when someone tries to tell me what a one-of-a-kind cue that I have is worth. I mean, there is only one...and if I am not willing to sell it for less than $x, how can someone say it is worth less? It's sort of funny isn't it? Really, it happens quite often.
I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it is sort of how I look at it.
Deno
