I may be wrong on this, and higher end cue sellers won't like it; but I think that the days of buying cues at X price and seeing major appreciation in price beyond normal inflation are gone. I don't think that many cues selling at market for $4,000 today will sell for $6,000 in 5 years from now - just bc of demand - but maybe bc of hyper inflation- who knows.
Most players seem to be shunning the traditional maple shafts anyhow, so not using the complete cue from a maker that charges $3,000+ for one of his new cues seems rather odd to me.
I always collected cues from various makers as much for playability as for appearance. I believe that playability involves using the entire cue from someone who built an entire cue with their own hands. Wood selection, and construction etc. had a lot to do with the appreciation of a cue makers skills- for me anyhow, and the shaft was an integral part of that equation.
I. personally, don't see any sense in spending $3,000+ on a traditional cue, throwing away the shaft, to add a CF shaft - why would I need a Hercek, Tascarella, Scruggs, Black, SW, etc. to do that? I still play with maple just bc I want to experience everything that a cue maker intended when they built that particular cue.
All that being said, I have owned many higher end customs in my lifetime- a few that I have never owned that I may want to try in the future are Tascarella, Hercek, Barry Szamboti - you can bet that I would use the maple shafts that come with these cues. I can afford any one of these cues, or all three if I so desired, I just never pulled the plug on buying one yet- some things are best left for dreaming and future expectations![]()
I sold my high end cue collection because i too do not beleive their value will increaseI didn’t buy my cues to make a profit. I didn’t design some of my cues to please anyone
other than myself. I never intended to sell my cues but if I did, I expect to recover my cost.
Mike is right. Cues are not a good investment in general but high end cues should not suffer
the fate of most used cues, namely losing money on the sale. You should recover what you
paid if the cue is still in really good condition. And some cue makers will net you a small gain
of 10-20%. The main benefit is playing with a great cue and not losing money when you sell it.
Remember that the guiding principle of rarity, scarcity & availability determine a cue’s true value.
The reason
The people with the money that care enough to buy them
Are older and diminishing in number
There will be noone to sell them to
The younger generation really doesn’t care about Szamboti/ Scruggs /Balabushka/ Tascarella name your high end cue maker
they want cuetec /predator, etc.
Jmho
Icbw