There are so many great options in the W/FS section, particularly at your budget. Used customs or shafts from highly reputable custom cue makers mated with very good, older butts that don’t command premium prices can provide excellent playing cues.
Just a quick look while writing this post, in the first 2 pages of W/FS, I found a Durbin and a Runde, both of which fit your budget. Classy looking, great players that would be difficult to decide between. It is not too hard to find an Olney within your budget. Those cues have great reputations and my experience with them supports the hype.
My favorite cues are both customs. But I won’t bring them to crowded events like league play where the chance of accidental damage are too high. I purchased 3 shafts on AZB (2 Showman and 1 Schick) that I mated with a 1985 Joss butt. The combination is great. While I prefer the customs, when I am playing in my league, I never think about how much I wish I could go back to them. Those combinations would be substantially below your budget.
An advantage for choosing a custom that has already depreciated is that you are more likely to be able to sell them in the future for prices that are more similar to what you paid. You'll most likely lose quite a bit selling a used production cue in the future, particularly if it has a traditional shaft. From my experience the benefit of just going with used shafts is that they are likely to remain straight or reasonably close for as long as you own them. All three of mine are dead straight and one of them is 18 years old.
I would have a tough time going for a new production cue when these other options are available. Others have made similar comments.
JMO
