Ideas on starting an online cue registry for the public.

Bishop

Bishop

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I stated this in the stolen Cog thread and I'd like your thoughts.

I could start a registry for cues. Cue owners could enter it into the registy and it would be issued a VIN number and ID card with the owner history entered into a database and a picture or pictures of the cue. Then if it gets stolen the owner could contact the registry and report it.

In turn if you are trying to buy the cue you could enter the VIN on the registry website and see its info.

The registry would also be good because if someone is after a particular cue and would like to contact the owner. Also a good place to track and showcase your collection. We could link this up to the blue book of cues so the cue value accompanies the cue info.

I could do this pretty easily, do you guys think people would be interested in this. It would only cost to register the cue and issue the card not to look a cue up or browse.

It might take awile to build the database but after 5 or so years if people did this the database would be huge.

I was think of making the cards in a tamper proof case much like PSA and BGS does with trading cards or a lamenated card with a hologram logo.

I need ideas on a verification process for registering the cues and cost to do so.

My initial thought would be 50 dollars annual to keep you cue registered with big discounts for multiple cue collections.

I could do this by a fresh business name or by paypal donations to qualify for registry....lol paypal donations for a minimum amount would be the easiest.

Give me some feedback and if this is worth it I could have a site up within a month or so.
 
i agree, its a good idea, but $50 annually is pretty steep. i think it would be better to have registration as a flat one time rate, especially considering there isnt much work involved after everything has been registered. it could also be a benefit to sell a cue that is registered permanently (although you could charge reregistration fees if you want)

also, i believe it would be CIN as VIN stands for vehicle identification number
 
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Great idea

Making this free would only work if you could get some sponcers.

I'd pay a fee, but i don't know about $50 a year. I'd say a one time smaller fee would work for me, something like $20 for your first cue and then a discount on your others.

Good luck.
 
I can assure you it won't be for free. There is an annual cost involved with running something that comprehensive and it would some serious work to enter in the info and change accounts if and when cues change hands.

If I make it annual what do you guys like 20 30 35 a cue

If I make it one time it'll be more since its one time you would have a lifetime membership.
 
I like this idea but I don't think it would work at this time. In order to do this, you'd need to verify the cue-owner relationship at the time of registration. You cannot really do this considering that the vast majority of production cues are not individually numbered by cuemakers. You would be fighting fraudulent registrations far too frequently IMHO.

You'd need cooperation on a grand scale to get cuemakers to both implement a viable numbering system and follow a transaction like registration system for each queue sale. And what about all the identical production sticks?
 
Good points I'd have to make it custom one off cues only. Not production cues.

This would also serve as a showcase for your collection. Upload as many pics as you like and describe your collection.

Cues are getting sold left and right on here without any paperwork verifying its not a counterfeit. It would be the major hurdle for this.
 
Remember they are doing this with baseball, football, basketball cards already. Its just a matter of doing a good job verifying the cue.
 
What about a 1 time registration and then a transaction fee everytime the cue changes hands. The transfer fee could be the same as the registration fee. There are enough dealers that buy and sell all the time that you would have a decent stream of funds from all of the transactions.

I think the one thing you are missing to make this work really well is a way to positively identify the cue.

The cue needs to have an ID number stamped into it or engraved so it cannot be easily tampered with. I was thinking of stamping the ID number inside the butt of the cue after taking the bump stop off might be a good place. The area will only need to be accessed for looking up the ID number or for changing cue weights.
 
This is an idea that a few of us have discussed and looked into several years back. The biggest problem we encountered was 1. unwillingness of the general public/consumers to actually pay for the service, 2. keeping the card, certificate, etc. with the cue (as we all know, cues change hands many times, sometimes very quickly, and 3. the cues that really need this kind of 'help' as far as provenance, it would be difficult to impossible to re-create the lineage. IMO, such a database should be more geared to these "collectible" cues, as the owners would be more inclined to pay for the service. The BIG problem though is that 90% or more of the consumers we polled simply didn't care to have a service like this done (to the tune of $10-$20), especially at their expense. Thinking people will pay $50 per year is delusional IMO.

Also, food for thought....many cuemakers are now doing some of their own tracking, documenting, etc., for the original purchasers. I am sure it's cumbersome work for them and takes some shop time away from them. IMO the best traction you might could get for this service might be through them, but again, it would have to be very reasonable....

Just my $0.02
 
I don't have any high end cues, but.....

In a couple of years when i retire my Schon and move onto a Bender or S.W. A huge selling point would be "here check this cues history at www.greatidea.com"

So for you dealers out there, I would sign up for a database.
 
PeteW said:
What about a 1 time registration and then a transaction fee everytime the cue changes hands. The transfer fee could be the same as the registration fee. There are enough dealers that buy and sell all the time that you would have a decent stream of funds from all of the transactions.

I think the one thing you are missing to make this work really well is a way to positively identify the cue.

The cue needs to have an ID number stamped into it or engraved so it cannot be easily tampered with. I was thinking of stamping the ID number inside the butt of the cue after taking the bump stop off might be a good place. The area will only need to be accessed for looking up the ID number or for changing cue weights.
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I like that idea of one time and then each time it changes hands for re-register. I could contact the maker of the cue (if he/she is still living) to verify if its their work as a possible solution.

I don't particularly like stamping or engraving anything it would have to be two or three pics of the cue that could be identified and unique to the cue. These would go on the registration card. If card is lost re-register.

I pay 100 dollars a year to track my card collection online thousands other do the same so I don't think 20 or so would be so bad but I do think it would take time to build momentum and get people on board. Success wouldn't happen right away.
 
PeteW said:
What about a 1 time registration and then a transaction fee everytime the cue changes hands. The transfer fee could be the same as the registration fee. There are enough dealers that buy and sell all the time that you would have a decent stream of funds from all of the transactions.

I think the one thing you are missing to make this work really well is a way to positively identify the cue.

The cue needs to have an ID number stamped into it or engraved so it cannot be easily tampered with. I was thinking of stamping the ID number inside the butt of the cue after taking the bump stop off might be a good place. The area will only need to be accessed for looking up the ID number or for changing cue weights.
Click to expand...

There are some good points in here, but again....BIG hurdles. It is perceived that all dealers make a killing off cues....but that's simply not the case these days. Most of the time dealers have to eat shipping, fees, and maybe even 5-10% discount on price just to make a transaction happen. Throwing in another transaction fee on top of credit card, paypal, etc. is just not realistic.

Verifying the authenticity of cues, especially the older ones (Bushkas, Szams, etc.) just opens up a whole other can of worms. The people in the industry with the correct knowledge are not inclined to share....they never have been and probably won't be. A grading entity would have a whole host of problems with this alone, and if you want to outsource that grading expertise, it's going to cost money.

The biggest problem you would be facing is identifying the cue. Until a universal low-jack or electronic chip is used by all cuemakers and put inside the construction of the cue, all of these discussions are a moot point IMO. The technology is probably there, it would just be implementing it. Simply coding it under the bumper won't work, as that's easily removed.

I do see this as an opportunity, but there are many reasons why it might be difficult for it to get traction.
 
Another way to look at this could simply to verify the cue and its owner not entirely to verify what it actually is if its not possible.

Lets say the cue isn't easily verifiable. It would simply be a registration card stating owner ship of this unique cue but not verifying what it actually is. If someone actually had the cue verified through a professional they could include that with the registration as proof or we could add that proof later. I'd say good portion of cues changing hands are easily verified with some minor footwork by the owner. Letter stating its authentic from the cue maker.

Easiest way would be for the cue maker to snap some unique pics before it goes to the owner. We'd have it registered before he even got it in his hands.
 
I'd also have to wonder if some cue makers would be opposed to putting technology into their cues. Some cuemakers pride themselves on low technology production or their work. I personally don't like the idea of putting chips into someones craftsmanship.
 
I think its a very good idea with a lot of potential. I would suggest because its a major hurdle to get everyone on board at first that you enroll the first x number of people for free just to get going to build up the data base. Or possibly offer Some type of deal on registration to get it up and going. I think cue makers should have their own section where they could register cues once produced of course with or without owners to have a library of their work easily accessible online. Just a few thoughts I had on the thing.......Dave
 
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