Money is tight. Those dropping over a grand for league play or casual play might be a dying breed.
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Is the Cue Market Dead Now and Forever?
- Thread starter Quality Cues
- Start date
My health has dictated that I should no longer be buying cues and rather to be selling what I have.
Really wish that weren't the case, as there are plenty of great cues out there to be had right now.
I'll probably just end up passing mine along to friends and relatives.
For those of you who are top-heavy in expensive cues, I wish you the best of luck with sales.
Really wish that weren't the case, as there are plenty of great cues out there to be had right now.
I'll probably just end up passing mine along to friends and relatives.
For those of you who are top-heavy in expensive cues, I wish you the best of luck with sales.
2strong4u
Banned
I'm not gonna overpay and get stuck with any cue. I expect in the next 5 to 10 years a lot of cue owners and collectors are going to lose in this game of musical chairs. There are fewer interested buyers every day as nostalgic buyers age and the decreasing numbers of new players interests change.
I used to flip cues for 20 to 40 percent profits within a couple weeks because I knew the cues that were easy sellers and prices were on the rise or stable. Now it's difficult but bargains are still available, just fewer and further in between. I used to make about 8K profit a year in 20 to 30 flips. Now it's about 1/3 that.
I used to flip cues for 20 to 40 percent profits within a couple weeks because I knew the cues that were easy sellers and prices were on the rise or stable. Now it's difficult but bargains are still available, just fewer and further in between. I used to make about 8K profit a year in 20 to 30 flips. Now it's about 1/3 that.
I'm not sure if it's been brought up, but I've heard that some people are having trouble signing up for the forum. If new users can't join, this place will slowly die off, and the market place will be the first to go since the existing users can only buy but so many cues. Growth is needed for any economy/business to succeed.
The market is definitely down overall, but if OBM on facebook is any indicator, it's far from dead.
The market is definitely down overall, but if OBM on facebook is any indicator, it's far from dead.
Spot on. This is exactly how it works.
Also, with mutual funds, there are phantom capital gains that are taxable. When the fund itself sells assets at a profit (portfolio turnover), the resulting capital gains are passed on to all shareholders at the end of the year.
Eric
Which is exactly why I prefer low cost, passively managed index funds, which generate very little capital gains and are highly tax efficient.
Bond yields are bound to rise, thus the value of my bond holdings will fall. AND THAT"S GREAT FOR ME, as my holding period is far greater than my average duration, so those rising yields will help to float my boat and dampen portfolio volitility.
Oh, wait, we were talking about cues. The value of my cue holdings is about $300.00 and I can run out with 'em, so they are priceless to me. :wink:
Is this an example of cue market arbitrage? lol
Which is why everyone went to ETFs for index investing (rather than a passive index fund).
Back on topic, imo, anyone who puts big money into cues as a money making investment needs to buy my bridge, to add to their portfolio.
Eric
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And don't forget to sell them an aluminum foil helmet to prevent folks from reading their thoughts...
I believe the az market died once the for sale forum changed back awhile ago!!! if you look there is 1/8th the people here there was 2 years ago!! but pearsonally i have sold more this year that the 2 years previous combined and i still have 3 months to go! it is alive and well.. some makers are dead in the water though. and others are blowing out!!
My two cents...
Someone mentioned having the "right" cues for sale... I think that's fairly accurate.
If you have a Gus, a Bushka , Tad, etc. for sale and you're pricing realistically, It'll
sell, no problem. I had a BEM Southwest that just wasn't my thing, didn't even post it,
just put the word out to some players I know... done. I think part of the 'collector's'
market are cues from builders that aren't with us, such as a Scruggs sneaky pete someone mentioned, going up in value.
And disposable income just isn't there for most people, as mentioned before.
Someone mentioned having the "right" cues for sale... I think that's fairly accurate.
If you have a Gus, a Bushka , Tad, etc. for sale and you're pricing realistically, It'll
sell, no problem. I had a BEM Southwest that just wasn't my thing, didn't even post it,
just put the word out to some players I know... done. I think part of the 'collector's'
market are cues from builders that aren't with us, such as a Scruggs sneaky pete someone mentioned, going up in value.
And disposable income just isn't there for most people, as mentioned before.
The cue market is not much different than any other collector market as far as I can see . '
The early to mid 2000s was when all of us baby boomers hit our stride, most of us were finally making a good living and had extra money and wanted all the things we didn't have before , so we bought it , and paid up for most of it.
Then about 2008 the recession hit, that slowed a lot of things down , and now eight years later , all us guys who were buying toys , are pretty much done buying and getting too old to enjoy the stuff.
Now, the group that replaced us , maybe didn't have to do without as much as most of us so they don't feel the need to "Go back".
The group after them will probably snipe all the great cues for 10 cents on the dollar when our widows give them to someone to sell and the cycle will start again. .
Really rare or unique items will always have buyers , it's mostly the common stuff that takes the hit.
The early to mid 2000s was when all of us baby boomers hit our stride, most of us were finally making a good living and had extra money and wanted all the things we didn't have before , so we bought it , and paid up for most of it.
Then about 2008 the recession hit, that slowed a lot of things down , and now eight years later , all us guys who were buying toys , are pretty much done buying and getting too old to enjoy the stuff.
Now, the group that replaced us , maybe didn't have to do without as much as most of us so they don't feel the need to "Go back".
The group after them will probably snipe all the great cues for 10 cents on the dollar when our widows give them to someone to sell and the cycle will start again. .
Really rare or unique items will always have buyers , it's mostly the common stuff that takes the hit.
Cues are selling if YOU realize the current values. They can be MORE or LESS than your purchase price. Be realistic. As example, I had 18-19 Southwest cues. One day I woke up and thought why? I sold them all or included some in trades, some plus some minus, probably lost a little overall, but moved them without any ad on AZ.
I missed getting 3 cues here on AZ I wanted because they were priced right. I was stunned and in the time it took me to realize the were right on, they sold.
This tells me most asking prices are too high, but if sellers adjust, be prepared to pay sticker price. I learned my lesson.
I missed getting 3 cues here on AZ I wanted because they were priced right. I was stunned and in the time it took me to realize the were right on, they sold.
This tells me most asking prices are too high, but if sellers adjust, be prepared to pay sticker price. I learned my lesson.
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justinb386
Banned
Great reply. I do not think the pool cue market is dead in the least. Cues are still selling, and there are still a lot of pool players out there that are looking to buy a cue, but most of them just do not have the kind of money that a lot of cues are priced at on this forum. Most pool players out there might not care about a collectors cue, and just want a decent players cue. So, I think that maybe $500 is the max that most serious players want to or can afford to pay for a decent used players cue, and the cues that you see not selling are probably priced much higher then $500 (I am guessing). But I know that the cue market is not dead, because I see cues being bid on every day on ebay, and cues are selling every day on there, so I think that proves that the cue market is not really dead. Maybe it is the collector cue market that is dying, but the decently priced players cue market is still very much alive. And I do not see all of the pool rooms in the US closing down within the next 10 years, or ever. I think the leagues are keeping pool alive, and the cue market active, but I also think that if the pool rooms did not have beer and food, then pool might actually die eventually, and all real pool halls might close down forever (in the US anyways). Sorry for going off of the subject.
I am very glad that it's the way it is. Lots of quality mass production cues!
You really can't go wrong with a 170EUR Cuetec, and they look decent, too (CER, CEV natural wood series). Universal has done gorgeous cues, both inlay-wise and natural wood. The quality and consistency is on a very high level.
The overpriced custom market is dead, and for a good reason, as is the overpriced used market for obscure cues with rather questionable looks or value and no technical benefit whatsoever.
Would I ever buy a Szamboti cue? Hells no.
@asiasdad :thumbup:
3/4 year used 170EUR Cuetec in excellent condition = 120EUR and an instant sale.
That's how it goes.
You really can't go wrong with a 170EUR Cuetec, and they look decent, too (CER, CEV natural wood series). Universal has done gorgeous cues, both inlay-wise and natural wood. The quality and consistency is on a very high level.
The overpriced custom market is dead, and for a good reason, as is the overpriced used market for obscure cues with rather questionable looks or value and no technical benefit whatsoever.
Would I ever buy a Szamboti cue? Hells no.
@asiasdad :thumbup:
3/4 year used 170EUR Cuetec in excellent condition = 120EUR and an instant sale.
That's how it goes.
I disagree
You can go very wrong with a Cuetec
For instance I have a black Cuetec with (6) six gold skull & crossbone inlays, and it's for sale, cheap.
Complete with a Cuetec jump break cue, and a Thunderbolt shaft.
2-Vintage Earl Strickland Cuetec pool cues for the price of one.
These could be collector cues by now
:smile:
IMO, another blow to the cue market was the death of the pro shop. Seems like there are no more shops to go to where you can test hit cues.
Stuff...
^^ This^^.... here in L.A. , all the "Billiard Supply" places don't have squat for cues and cases... they're afraid to order anything... they don't want any overstock? Nothing but knockoffs and copies.
I wanted to check out some 2x4 cases... they hop on the computer and check online... hell, I'VE DONE THAT... I want to see it. I guess it's all online now... you pays your money, you takes your chances.
^^ This^^.... here in L.A. , all the "Billiard Supply" places don't have squat for cues and cases... they're afraid to order anything... they don't want any overstock? Nothing but knockoffs and copies.
I wanted to check out some 2x4 cases... they hop on the computer and check online... hell, I'VE DONE THAT... I want to see it. I guess it's all online now... you pays your money, you takes your chances.