exactly my point!
and im sure if you sold that car for 4000. your new name would be
LUCKY2
ATM said:
and im sure if you sold that car for 4000. your new name would be
LUCKY2
ilovecues.com ?
- Thread starter ATM
- Start date
Its Luckys Wourld!!!!!!for The Taking!
merylane wrote you should be ashamed talking about someone like that,not
to mention about the biggest collector in the WOURLD!!!
He has proven his love for cues for 20 yrs. and only been dealing for a few,
which is completely different from most of these others that have websites
that claim to be "collectors" WHEN REALITY EVERYTHINGS FOR SALE.
WELL ISNT ALL OF LUCKYS CUES FOR SALE.
WHEN YOU CAN GO ON CUEADDICTS AND ERIK LEE CUES AND CORNERSTONE, ANDDR WUSCUES THEY DO HAVE SOME THAT ARE NOT FOR SALE PRIVATE COLLECTION. ALMOST EVERYBODY WHO HAS A WEBSITE SELLING CUES STARTED OUT AS A COLLECTOR. MUCH LIKE LUCKY.
YOU ALSO WROTE LUCKY HAS ONLY SUPPORTED CUEMAKING AS A ART FORM.
WELL MAYBE LUCKY IS CONFUSED TRYING TO SELL HIS CUES AS A ART COLLECTION THEN IF THATS THE CASE HE BETTER TAKE OFF THE DAYTONS, SHOWMANS,ETC. EACH OF THE CUE COLLECTORS I HAVE LIST HAVE MORE VALUABLE AND RARE CUES THAN LUCKY DOES BOTTOM LINE.
merylane said:
merylane wrote you should be ashamed talking about someone like that,not
to mention about the biggest collector in the WOURLD!!!
He has proven his love for cues for 20 yrs. and only been dealing for a few,
which is completely different from most of these others that have websites
that claim to be "collectors" WHEN REALITY EVERYTHINGS FOR SALE.
WELL ISNT ALL OF LUCKYS CUES FOR SALE.
WHEN YOU CAN GO ON CUEADDICTS AND ERIK LEE CUES AND CORNERSTONE, ANDDR WUSCUES THEY DO HAVE SOME THAT ARE NOT FOR SALE PRIVATE COLLECTION. ALMOST EVERYBODY WHO HAS A WEBSITE SELLING CUES STARTED OUT AS A COLLECTOR. MUCH LIKE LUCKY.
YOU ALSO WROTE LUCKY HAS ONLY SUPPORTED CUEMAKING AS A ART FORM.
WELL MAYBE LUCKY IS CONFUSED TRYING TO SELL HIS CUES AS A ART COLLECTION THEN IF THATS THE CASE HE BETTER TAKE OFF THE DAYTONS, SHOWMANS,ETC. EACH OF THE CUE COLLECTORS I HAVE LIST HAVE MORE VALUABLE AND RARE CUES THAN LUCKY DOES BOTTOM LINE.
Erik Lee sends me a lot of emails from time to time about his new addition. I like to deal with someone like Erik, who makes an efforts to pay attentions to his customers. It is little things like that which builds the foundation of a successful business. I recommended a friend to buy a Southwest from him--the price was good and his service was top notch--my friend was very impressed.
My point is that business is conducted differently these days because customers can compare the prices and the service from various companies with a click of the mouse--a company therefore really needs to pay more attention in offering the best value to its customers. There are a lot of cue dealers in Japan and not everyone sells their cues at the price Lucky sells his.
Richard
My point is that business is conducted differently these days because customers can compare the prices and the service from various companies with a click of the mouse--a company therefore really needs to pay more attention in offering the best value to its customers. There are a lot of cue dealers in Japan and not everyone sells their cues at the price Lucky sells his.
Richard
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Well, well, well... Anyways Lucky's site is very well done and "I" have no beef with his prices. He is NOT targeting the US market. I don't care if he locks up other cuemakers. But the trickle down effect is this, a few years ago no one really cared about Black Boar cues. I was offered a few and they really were hard to resell. Now Tony is making Lucky some real knockouts, that drove the interest in BB's very high, mostly overseas. Now the smart people buy the available ones here to resell them, or hopefully resell them, through ebay or websites to the customers, overseas, that do not want to pay Lucky's prices. This is very common, good for everybody.
Someone hit it before, and I will take it a step further. the US market is very fickle. A cuemaker can be hot one minute and a nobody the next. The latter is who Lucky targets, then all of a sudden that cuemaker becomes smoking again. Hey good for him and good for the cuemaker. You cannot let it bother you as a reseller / dealer. I like to perouse Lucky's site because he gets very nice cues.
Joe
Someone hit it before, and I will take it a step further. the US market is very fickle. A cuemaker can be hot one minute and a nobody the next. The latter is who Lucky targets, then all of a sudden that cuemaker becomes smoking again. Hey good for him and good for the cuemaker. You cannot let it bother you as a reseller / dealer. I like to perouse Lucky's site because he gets very nice cues.
Joe
johnrp2005 said:
you see the peoblem is the site has nothing to do with his collection, i think theres only 15 or 20 cues from his collection on the site, i think every serious collector knows lucky's is the largest. just ask anyone with over 100 cues and see what he says.
Lucky has already gained a reputation here in Japan as "botakuri" (ripping you off) here in Japan. And opposite to what many believe, the high end cue market is not as lucrative here anymore. People are starting to become more and more aware of the differences in pricing between the US and Japan, and the consumers are starting to take things in their own hands. Lucky's days of making easy money are numbered.nipponbilliards said:
dave
Price of a Coke is 120 yenmerylane said:
Gas is about 123 to the liter (you're gonna have to do the math, but about 3 times what you would pay in the states)
A Mercedes or Toyota? How much are you willing to pay? A---------------Z
Lucky's business to run
I don't agree with the tone of many of the anti-Lucky comments.
As long as he is not breaking any Japanese or international laws, he gets to run his business as he sees fit.
Comments about being high priced or disagreeing with his volume contracts are fair game. These are the type of discussions that make this forum great.
FAIR COMMENTS
"Your prices are too high" Well sir, that's our price.
"Why can't I buy a Smith cue somewhere else?" We made a deal to be the exclusive agent for all of Mr. Smith's work.
UNFAIR
"I don't like the way you've arranged your showroom"
"Your prices are so high, I'd have thought you'd be out of business by now"
"You don't know what you're doing - you're just going to run your business into the ground"
If you wouldn't say it to Lucky's face - assuming he can take constructive criticism - why say it here ??
I don't agree with the tone of many of the anti-Lucky comments.
As long as he is not breaking any Japanese or international laws, he gets to run his business as he sees fit.
Comments about being high priced or disagreeing with his volume contracts are fair game. These are the type of discussions that make this forum great.
FAIR COMMENTS
"Your prices are too high" Well sir, that's our price.
"Why can't I buy a Smith cue somewhere else?" We made a deal to be the exclusive agent for all of Mr. Smith's work.
UNFAIR
"I don't like the way you've arranged your showroom"
"Your prices are so high, I'd have thought you'd be out of business by now"
"You don't know what you're doing - you're just going to run your business into the ground"
If you wouldn't say it to Lucky's face - assuming he can take constructive criticism - why say it here ??
Tokyo-dave said:
so is it ok to pay twice the price for a coke? by the way i didnt see any that cheap when i was there.
so gas is three times is everybody up in arms about that?
i guess its ok to pay 2-3 times for something but not others, i like the consistency.
do you know kusahara (spelling) at adams?
i would love to know the market price of blue fin, that seemed to be the most inflated price on the planet?
B
Bruce S. de Lis
Guest
Someone finally made a Post that makes SENSE, and is not Anti Lucky. Sorry by in my OPINION Mr. Lucky is no worst than some Drug company with a Patient on a Drug that is need to cure Cancer. Lucky is not a ruthless as the drug company.BlowFish said:
Its all Sad and Too Bad
Absolutely right, its just the way it is. Commercialization, commodification and greed. Its too bad the world has become "all about money"--as already noted from pool cues to pharmaceuticals, A to Z, its sad that kids starve all over the world (about 1 billion) while people eat at buffets and throw food away everyday, its also sad that a workingmans game like pool has been infected so good people cannot afford a nice cue because of the free market. Glad someone started this post.
Absolutely right, its just the way it is. Commercialization, commodification and greed. Its too bad the world has become "all about money"--as already noted from pool cues to pharmaceuticals, A to Z, its sad that kids starve all over the world (about 1 billion) while people eat at buffets and throw food away everyday, its also sad that a workingmans game like pool has been infected so good people cannot afford a nice cue because of the free market. Glad someone started this post.
Bruce S. de Lis said:Someone finally made a Post that makes SENSE, and is not Anti Lucky. Sorry by in my OPINION Mr. Lucky is no worst than some Drug company with a Patient on a Drug that is need to cure Cancer. Lucky is not a ruthless as the drug company.
> Is this the same guy that was in P+B a few years ago,that at the time owned something like 150-200 Szambotis? If this is the case,and since he is OBVIOUSLY doing much better now,how many does he have NOW? I've also wondered if he was the guy that wound up with the "Crown Jewels" Meucci that Jim Rempe played with for several years back in the 80's. The story behind that cues sale probably still bugs Jim. He sold that cue to a Japanese collector for 17k,then watched him walk 10 feet away and sell the same cue to another collector for a reported 85k. This happened at an MPBA tournament at the Airport Hilton in Memphis in 1989,I did not witness the sale,just heard the stories from witnesses shortly afterwards. Tommy D.
I'll be damn.
And I thought Japan pays the highest in everything. In HK, we pay about
US$ 1.62/liter and thats about US$ 6.48/gallon. While in Japan, they only pay US$ 1.14/liter and thats about US$ 4.56/gallon.
No wonder I can't seem to save for a decent custom cue.
Tokyo-dave said:
And I thought Japan pays the highest in everything. In HK, we pay about
US$ 1.62/liter and thats about US$ 6.48/gallon. While in Japan, they only pay US$ 1.14/liter and thats about US$ 4.56/gallon.
No wonder I can't seem to save for a decent custom cue.
I work with Japanese engineers/tool & Die Makers, and we get different ones every few months. The first thing they do when they get here is start buying golf clubs. In Japan, clubs are at least twice what they cost here. I've bought dozens of clubs from differnt websites for them. They go crazy over them. They also love Whiskey! LOL
B
Bruce S. de Lis
Guest
Last time I was in Las Vegas Nevada, the Japanese Tourist were all over the Balagio Hotel. I was stay in an off Strip Place in Henderson, and spent one night walking through all the New Hotels on the Strip.
Apparently the $350.00/Night Room Rates Plus in the New Hotels are nothing for the Japanese tourist to pa, As apparently what I think of as Hi Prices are nothing to the Japanese Tourists.
Apparently they have the money to spend as they were buying stuff in all the Designer Shops also.
I understand in Japan Golf is Popular, and there are THREE STORY Driving Ranges to practice Golf. Buy most Jaspanese go to Hawaii or the Mainland to play golf, as the Prices of Green Fee are SKY HI in Japan.
Apparently the $350.00/Night Room Rates Plus in the New Hotels are nothing for the Japanese tourist to pa, As apparently what I think of as Hi Prices are nothing to the Japanese Tourists.
Apparently they have the money to spend as they were buying stuff in all the Designer Shops also.
I understand in Japan Golf is Popular, and there are THREE STORY Driving Ranges to practice Golf. Buy most Jaspanese go to Hawaii or the Mainland to play golf, as the Prices of Green Fee are SKY HI in Japan.
I visit Japan often and have to say that everything is expensive to a non-local point-of-view. Green fees are expensive plus you have to get in line for at least a year to be able to play a round and that's why most go outside of the country to play. What blew me away was the parking fee for a day which cost us the equivalent of $120!
Rent, marketing, labor cost, utilities and acquisition cost all contribute to the selling price of cues there. And the reputable dealers back-up their merchandise which is a big plus for the buyer. Purchasing direct from the maker is very risky specially if some adjustment or minor repair is required and more often than not, it is. FWS is one of the major causes for the difficulty in getting after sales service as pool cues with ivory content is on its hit list (BLING! BLING! BLING! POOL CUE IN FEDEX PACKAGE!) and majority of the US cuemakers just don't want to deal with the legal paperwork. Did you think that a reputable Japanese dealer will just say "I'm sorry" to his customer should his beloved cue get confiscated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service?
Trade Surplus, specially during the automobile and electronics boom in Japan helped cause the price escalation as the purchasing power of the Yen increased. But unfortunately, the economic boom went south but the cost of goods/services, labor and real estate costs (sale and rental) didn't decline at the same rate. So, US custom cuemakers may have discounted their prices recently but their prices still stayed high in Japan because of the above mentioned.
US cues also flooded the Japan Market and the dealers are having a price war. This has also caused a decline in Japanese sales volume of the US cuemakers so they themselves don't discount as much, to compensate for the volume decrease and expected net profit, as they discount local (US)buyers. Now...I'm sure that the comments on this thread were based on current cost of goods as purchased there in the US by a local buyer. It's understandable but quite unfair to Lucky who has to take so much more factors into consideration when pricing his merchandise.
Rent, marketing, labor cost, utilities and acquisition cost all contribute to the selling price of cues there. And the reputable dealers back-up their merchandise which is a big plus for the buyer. Purchasing direct from the maker is very risky specially if some adjustment or minor repair is required and more often than not, it is. FWS is one of the major causes for the difficulty in getting after sales service as pool cues with ivory content is on its hit list (BLING! BLING! BLING! POOL CUE IN FEDEX PACKAGE!) and majority of the US cuemakers just don't want to deal with the legal paperwork. Did you think that a reputable Japanese dealer will just say "I'm sorry" to his customer should his beloved cue get confiscated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service?
Trade Surplus, specially during the automobile and electronics boom in Japan helped cause the price escalation as the purchasing power of the Yen increased. But unfortunately, the economic boom went south but the cost of goods/services, labor and real estate costs (sale and rental) didn't decline at the same rate. So, US custom cuemakers may have discounted their prices recently but their prices still stayed high in Japan because of the above mentioned.
US cues also flooded the Japan Market and the dealers are having a price war. This has also caused a decline in Japanese sales volume of the US cuemakers so they themselves don't discount as much, to compensate for the volume decrease and expected net profit, as they discount local (US)buyers. Now...I'm sure that the comments on this thread were based on current cost of goods as purchased there in the US by a local buyer. It's understandable but quite unfair to Lucky who has to take so much more factors into consideration when pricing his merchandise.
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I guess I shouldve kept my opinion to myself, never thought this would create such an interest (especially in the for sale section, sorry mods.) Nothing against the guy, shoot I would sell everything for twice the amount of money I paid for it as long as someone would buy it. Thats business I guess you got to make a profit. I guess if I were a collector and there was a collector cue I had to have I would pay those prices (for the high end ones). But I doubt he sells much to the average guy who plays a few times a week. Shoot I want an 05 Mustang GT triple black of course but if there was only one dealer around with one I wouldnt pay 60,000 for one through that dealer, just wouldnt make sense, it be liking before you poop 
Id settle for an 03-04 cobra for $30,000 well anyway I guess we should be Lucky or thankful we have other options
Id settle for an 03-04 cobra for $30,000 well anyway I guess we should be Lucky or thankful we have other options
ATM said:I guess I shouldve kept my opinion to myself, never thought this would create such an interest (especially in the for sale section, sorry mods.) Nothing against the guy, shoot I would sell everything for twice the amount of money I paid for it as long as someone would buy it. Thats business I guess you got to make a profit. I guess if I were a collector and there was a collector cue I had to have I would pay those prices (for the high end ones). But I doubt he sells much to the average guy who plays a few times a week. Shoot I want an 05 Mustang GT triple black of course but if there was only one dealer around with one I wouldnt pay 60,000 for one through that dealer, just wouldnt make sense, it be liking before you poop
Actually, it was a good thing that you expressed your opinion. And looking at
replies, a few others shared it. It did a good thing as the other contributory factors affecting Lucky's pricing, that people don't realize, are now brought to their awareness. There are other expenses like cost to create and maintain his e-store, climate control ROOMS to keep all these cues in pristine condition, etc...
If his pricing is so out-of-line for his market he should have been out of business or have such a big price difference over the local custom cuemaker.
It just goes to show that the cost of operating a business there to service the specific needs of the clientelle (very different after-sales needs and demands) is higher than most.
I'm sure that the US consumers now are more understanding and now realize that they're just plain ole LUCKY.