How common is it to get a warped que on e-bay?

alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I checked out a couple ques today in pawn shops, both turned out to have warped shafts. One was a very good looking McDermott which I would have bought if I had only seen pictures of it and not rolled it to see the warped shaft.

It would not have been fun to get it in the mail through e-bay and find out I need to buy a shaft for it.

Anybody ever have that happen, and if so is there any recourse?
 
alstl said:
I checked out a couple ques today in pawn shops, both turned out to have warped shafts. One was a very good looking McDermott which I would have bought if I had only seen pictures of it and not rolled it to see the warped shaft.

It would not have been fun to get it in the mail through e-bay and find out I need to buy a shaft for it.

Anybody ever have that happen, and if so is there any recourse?
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Or worse, the butt has a slight warp in it. Doesn't look like this has happened to anyone on this board otherwise I think we would see some venting.
 
as far as an answer goes i would assume it is more likely to end up buying a warped cue on ebay than it would be to buy one in person because if you buy one in person, you should and often will either roll it or otherwise check to see if its warped and if it is you wont buy it... I just bought a Mcdermott cue via ebay and was slightly worried about it being warped since its been sitting around since it was discontinued in 2000. It got here and has no warp to it at all. However when I emailed the seller I specifically asked if he could guarentee that the stick was not warped and was told that it was brand new and was not warped. In my mind this allows me the oppertunity to recontact that seller (who has a lot of positive feedback) and tell them that the stick in fact was warped and they guarenteed that it was not.

In that case having the guarentee in writing is a little bit of an edge which should compel the seller to either ship a new shaft or allow the item to be returned for fear of an unsatisfied customer and or appropriate negative feedback.

With that said I dont think that will work with just any joe schmoe selling a stick on ebay. I would only purchase from a billiard supply type of place or someone who has a lot of feedback with a reputation to protect.

-Lou
 
Blud or some other cuemaker here at the forum mentioned that wood wanders; a cuemakers mentioned that he has a closet full of warped shafts that started out very straight straight and true. And he wished that he knew the solution to the problem.
 
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kokopuffs said:
Blud or some other cuemaker here at the forum mentioned that wood wanders; a cuemakers mentioned that he has a closet full of warped shafts that started out very straight straight and true. And he wished that he knew the solution to the problem.
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I knew a guy who had a brand new cue from a custom cuemaker. He was a VERY hard breaker. He used it twice to break and after the 2nd break the shaft instantly turned into a double banana shaft.Warped as if it had been outside in the rain and sun for years-at least two-warps of 3/8". It was a funny sight to see his face as he rolled it on the table. The cuemaker replaced it at NC.
 
A cue with a minimally warped shaft is in more cue cases than one would imagine. An .030 warp is hardly noticeable unless viewed at table level.

Besides, a little warp in the shaft doesn't hurt the playability.
 
I think most of the people that buy cues off of ebay here probably heard about them from here, so you'd would think that you could trust someone that that you are buying from on this forum... and as far as random people on ebay go... I was scammed just about a month ago.. I was pissed.. and so was my g/f ( it was her money) so really make sure that the person has a good rating from other people.. so you aren't down 30$ like we are...
 
Minor warp

I bought a cue off of eBay and 1 of the shafts had a very slightly warp. I e-mailed back and the guy said he looked at them, but didn't notice the warp.

I looked at it again and decided that since I was really looking closely at the very slight warp, he was probably telling the truth.

The cue actually had another slight problem in the butt sleeve, so he offered to buy it back or give me a partial refund to keep it. I kept it as very pretty wall art.

He offered a bigger refund than I wanted, so I told him to refund a lesser amount. He refused and sent me a bigger refund. I guess we both wanted to make sure the other felt okay. Win-win.
 
I found an article from about 6 months ago where the statiscal department @RICE University did a 3 year study on buying warped cues on Ebay. They discovered you have a 12.38% chance of buying a warped cue if the price is between $100-$300, 8.62 % chance if between $301-500, and 5.95 % chance if over $500. Under $100, 19.83 % chance. You can find all the info at www.warpedcuesonebay.riceuniversity.edu
 
This is what I'm worried about...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=75200&item=7162532267&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Hello folks, up for bids is a McDermott M3-9B in super pristine condition. I used for a 2 hour session and thats it. I could not get used to its 13 mm shaft because i've been using nothing but Meucci's with 12.50 - 12.75mm shafts. This McDermott shoots awesomely, very solid and vibration free. Weight is 19.5 oz and adjustable ofcourse. Absolutely no dents or scratches. Come with joint protectors and tube case. Shaft and butt roll straight. As a whole cue, the very tip move side to side about 1/32 nd of an inch if roll fast, barely noticeable if roll slowly. But being a perfectionist, i am willing to lose more than $100 just for that. I bought this cue from stickman99 here on ebay for $460 and he refused to give me a refund. Although many experts will tell you that sighting down the cue is the correct way to check for a cue's straightness, and this cue is straight. Good luck bidding.

$460 is real money where I live.
 
watchez said:
I found an article from about 6 months ago where the statiscal department @RICE University did a 3 year study on buying warped cues on Ebay. They discovered you have a 12.38% chance of buying a warped cue if the price is between $100-$300, 8.62 % chance if between $301-500, and 5.95 % chance if over $500. Under $100, 19.83 % chance. You can find all the info at www.warpedcuesonebay.riceuniversity.edu
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That's pretty amazing that Rice University would spend that much money buying pool cues on Ebay, quite impressive. On a somewhat related topic, I know a guy at a pool hall who did a study on rice. He discovered that rice tastes the same regardless of how much you pay for it, but he did note that cheaper rice did have a greater amount of bullshit in it. :)
 
alstl said:
I checked out a couple ques today in pawn shops, both turned out to have warped shafts. One was a very good looking McDermott which I would have bought if I had only seen pictures of it and not rolled it to see the warped shaft.

It would not have been fun to get it in the mail through e-bay and find out I need to buy a shaft for it.

Anybody ever have that happen, and if so is there any recourse?
Click to expand...

I've bought 15 cues on EBAY. Only one had a slight warp. Paid $355
for it. Also had no butt bumper and was dinged pretty good.
Owner swore there was no warp. I guess 1 out of 15 isn't
bad but I was pretty pissed.
 
hondo said:
I've bought 15 cues on EBAY. Only one had a slight warp. Paid $355
for it. Also had no butt bumper and was dinged pretty good.
Owner swore there was no warp. I guess 1 out of 15 isn't
bad but I was pretty pissed.
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What do you do with them all? I notice a lot of the people on this message board have owned many cues. Do they wear out or do you just get tired of them and want something new, or do you sell them at a profit?
 
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