Pool hall cue and accesory prices?

[snipershot]

Well, it looks like my home pool room is doomed to close. I cant help but wonder "what if" the owner had better prices on his equipement. I am curious what most guys and gals on here pay for things at their local pool hall. Ill give you an example: When I got back into shooting pool just over a year ago, I bought 3 new cues, one for me, the wife, and my son. Of course I went right to the pool hall and told the owner what I wanted and asked what kind of price he would give me. He promptly told me Id have to pay the retail prices in his catalog. Well, Im not stupid, so I go on ebay and here and buy all the stuff that I need and save a ton of cash over retail. So, my point is, if he would have been just a little higher than ebay, I would have went ahead and bought my stuff there and supported my local guy, but it seemed like he was trying to suck every penny he could from me and it back-fired. I have seen this same thing happen many, many times and I have also seen people get hosed, and vow to never come back. So, I guess my question is, does anyone else here have a room owner that is a good guy, but an absolutely horrible business man?


Joe

 

[Pushout]

I've experienced the opposite. Good business man but absolutely no pool sense whatsoever. And people paid retail for any equipment he sold. Anything I needed I got at Loree Jon's in Greenville, SC, always with a discount. The room closed shortly after the economy tanked. I think a lot of people like him have got in the business in the last twenty years. You need business sense plus a knowledge of the the game and the pool world.

 

[CreeDo]

Did you save a ton of cash over retail buying NEW cues on ebay, or buying USED? If they're used, then of course they're much cheaper.

I think it's sad that a guy would say "yeah my local pool room is closing. I coulda supported him by buying stuff at catalog prices but I chose not to."

Asking catalog price for a cue isn't exactly gouging the customer's eyes out. As a player who is on the forums and tuned into the difficulties rooms are having in this economy... and as someone who cares about pool... you should be willing to pay sticker price for a cue. I buy cues from the hall, and I don't lose any sleep knowing that I'm basically donating a few bucks to the owner.

Part of what you're buying is the fact that you have someone right there who will take care of you if the cue isn't perfect. Not all ebay sellers will do that.

 

[snipershot]

Did you save a ton of cash over retail buying NEW cues on ebay, or buying USED? If they're used, then of course they're much cheaper.

I think it's sad that a guy would say "yeah my local pool room is closing. I coulda supported him by buying stuff at catalog prices but I chose not to."

Asking catalog price for a cue isn't exactly gouging the customer's eyes out. As a player who is on the forums and tuned into the difficulties rooms are having in this economy... and as someone who cares about pool... you should be willing to pay sticker price for a cue. I buy cues from the hall, and I don't lose any sleep knowing that I'm basically donating a few bucks to the owner.

Part of what you're buying is the fact that you have someone right there who will take care of you if the cue isn't perfect. Not all ebay sellers will do that.

Actually he always gouged the customers eyes out, thats why he never had any repeat business. I did buy new, and I saved nearly 50% off retail. I did support his room, I ate there a lot, played a lot of pool, and I ended up working there for free pool, so I helped him quite a bit. Id love to pour a bunch of money in the pool hall, but the economy has hit me too. I dont know anyone that has any clue about pool cues that will pay full retail.


Joe

 

[danquixote]

Actually he always gouged the customers eyes out, thats why he never had any repeat business. I did buy new, and I saved nearly 50% off retail. I did support his room, I ate there a lot, played a lot of pool, and I ended up working there for free pool, so I helped him quite a bit. Id love to pour a bunch of money in the pool hall, but the economy has hit me too. .dont know anyone that has any clue about pool cues that will pay full retail[/


MSRP is just a guage, and an arbitrary one in some instances. Any room owner that is not deaf and blind will know the " internet value" of what he/she is selling and recognize the need to be competitive. I have never seen a hall completely full.....the owner could include X number of hours free table time with purchase, first retip free, etc....etc....to get the value added necessary to compete with internet prices......Dan

 

[cuejunkie]

MSRP is just a guage, and an arbitrary one in some instances. Any room owner that is not deaf and blind will knoI COLOR]w the " internet value" of what he/she is selling and recognize the need to be competitive. I have never seen a hall completely full.....the owner could include X number of hours free table time with purchase, first retip free, etc....etc....to get the value added necessary to compete with internet prices......Dan

interesting idea. as long as there are open tables and business is slow,
offering a few hours of free table time could definitely add to the perceived value to the consumer
and perhaps for some, help justify paying full retail price

 

[CreeDo]

ah, my mistake. Not being a serious cue buyer, I figured catalog price would be reasonably close to internet price and it wouldn't be a big deal. But a difference of 50% is huge and I gotta admit... for hundreds of bucks, you HAVE to buy elsewhere. That's too bad that the catalog doesn't reflect the values of the cue fairly. They should just print without prices and the owner can just keep a table of (reasonable) prices on his computer if anyone asks about a particular cue.

 

[JimS]

Owners will have problems matching the on line prices because they can't buy in volume and get a low price themselves. They have their capitol tied up and then have to sell for a low profit margin. It's not worth the time and trouble for the low profit... it many cases.

When possible we shoud still buy from the room owner and support the ph... even if it costs us a few bucks. Or... play in your buddy's garage.

 

[IntoTheRail]

It is kind of funny and unfortunate that pool rooms are normally a terrible place to buy billiard products. Most of the cues for sale in my local room will most likely rot there before anyone buys them at the prices they have. And with some of the online companies that are available now like Seyberts and the like, you can send back your order for a full refund if you are not happy with it. For example, my local room has their moosehead bridge heads marked at $15.95, thats just insane, I think I have seen them online for about 3 bucks.