Price drop on cues is a bad thing
- Thread starter brianna187
- Start date
I figure that we are the ones setting the market on what cue values are. If we are willing to take the loss on the cue, then we are underselling the market, and setting a lower standard than what we were at before Fleabay. Remember when Dale Perry had $3500 cues, advertised in Robb Report, and I'm sure alot of us had to have them. The $99 Tuesdays thing he started on Fleabay a couple of years ago killed those cues off faster than my last marriage. If we weren't trying to sell on auctions so much, trying to compete with the lower end of the market, we wouldn't be cheating the basic values for us or the cuemakers.
Granted, it's probably a good way for an unknown cumaker to get his cues out in the public and try to build a name, but they're starting off selling themselves cheap.
Not all, there are a few I've tried out from Ebay that should have taken up a different hobby... they were terrible! To me, those are ebay cuemakers.
Anyone looking for a good custom cuemaker already knew how to find them before Ebay was even conceived. That's how they got famous, and such good followings from many of us. And they haven't lowered their prices, their cues haven't dropped, and in most cases they've continued to rise if anything.
Supply and demand is one thing, but compromising quality for quantity (or Volume of sales) is another.
Basically, we dug our own hole by slowly lowering our own values, and letting people know that they can always get another deal cheaper. If the resale market is still strong enough to buy cheap and make a few bucks, why drop the few bucks at all?
Personally, I used to buy and sell a helluva lot of cues through the years. Now, even though I don't make as much as I did, I tend to hook up a buyer and seller, regardless of if I make anything or not. At least it's keeping the market a little bit more fair.
With the way the current state of affairs are, with housing, living expenses, gas costs, and the innumerable other things that come up daily, people may or may not be able to afford the good stuff at the moment.
For the vast majority of players, a cue and case is a luxury item. For others it's their bread and butter, in a market that is flooded with people in a need to sell.
If you've got the money to buy out a huge quantity of people in a bind, you're in the right time. But it's probably going to be a while yet before they can come back to buy again.
I predict Players and Lucasi sales up, and good luck with the good stuff for a while.......
Granted, it's probably a good way for an unknown cumaker to get his cues out in the public and try to build a name, but they're starting off selling themselves cheap.
Not all, there are a few I've tried out from Ebay that should have taken up a different hobby... they were terrible! To me, those are ebay cuemakers.
Anyone looking for a good custom cuemaker already knew how to find them before Ebay was even conceived. That's how they got famous, and such good followings from many of us. And they haven't lowered their prices, their cues haven't dropped, and in most cases they've continued to rise if anything.
Supply and demand is one thing, but compromising quality for quantity (or Volume of sales) is another.
Basically, we dug our own hole by slowly lowering our own values, and letting people know that they can always get another deal cheaper. If the resale market is still strong enough to buy cheap and make a few bucks, why drop the few bucks at all?
Personally, I used to buy and sell a helluva lot of cues through the years. Now, even though I don't make as much as I did, I tend to hook up a buyer and seller, regardless of if I make anything or not. At least it's keeping the market a little bit more fair.
With the way the current state of affairs are, with housing, living expenses, gas costs, and the innumerable other things that come up daily, people may or may not be able to afford the good stuff at the moment.
For the vast majority of players, a cue and case is a luxury item. For others it's their bread and butter, in a market that is flooded with people in a need to sell.
If you've got the money to buy out a huge quantity of people in a bind, you're in the right time. But it's probably going to be a while yet before they can come back to buy again.
I predict Players and Lucasi sales up, and good luck with the good stuff for a while.......
Worminator said:
I totally agree. I think it is the 2nd time around market that is being hit the most by this "carefulness"...
you are right.carefullness-- well today I sold 3 cues to 3 dif members here on az -schick -boar-scruggs. this thread had me thinking and i went into my bookkeepers today. and the same time last year i was down 8% in volume but up 17% in dollar sales, but the derby i was down 41% from last year, but internet sales were up alot! so i think there is not that much of a diff. also just a note in november it was the best month I have had since i started! By almos 40% higher than any month in buisness!!!!JesPiddlin said:
cornerstone said:
God is always watching and protect you, your family, health and your business
Thank you Jun! your a good man! God truly keeps Blessing my family ,me, and my buis!!Iam so unworthy of how much he keeps blessing me! I just have to remember iam a man of many faults following a God of none!!The Beginner said:God is always watching and protect you, your family, health and your business
avmaster said:
It's not only supply and demand,well it is, but that in itself is a result of many causes.
Less players..
People who used to keep 4,5, 6 cues no longer doing it...
More wood being made than can be absorbed (to many cuemakers)
A lot of guys I know have liquidated the smaller cues and have gone into bigger cues, meaning more smaller cues on the market
I know two big collectors that totally got out of the hobby, I know a few that are frozen, and a few fell off the face of the planet. (Bob Gibson?!?!?, Atillamare?)
All these lend themselves to other problem areas.. cuemakers vying for the last buck, having to lower their prices.. dealers as well..
Bring back 1990-2003, you might not ever see that again...
JV
cornerstone said:
Wow, I thought this thread topic was about cues. OK, stop, breathe, and let's stop talking about ourself for once and focus on the subject presented.
the subject was presented in that! that other areas are dropping in price like corvettes. Iam sorry you misread what i was getting at! I hope this shed light on the post (i had nothing to do with the ebay link buyer or seller) just a for instance! like if you have the callaways of vettes there is no need for sales or price drops, but if you have the standard coupe you can take a hosing in times like this! kinda like the ferrari dealers are still doing well but the kia guys are running huge incentives to keep alive! I hope that helps you shawn understand that there was only focus on the market! Good luckcueaddicts said:Wow, I thought this thread topic was about cues. OK, stop, breathe, and let's stop talking about ourself for once and focus on the subject presented.
Maybe I dont understand price setting.
Perhaps i am silly, but i seea lot of people saying that cues are jot going for what they are worth....what who says they are worth??? You get what you get, not what you think you should get!! I see on here all the time: "the price is less then i have in it." Have you people ever bought a used car. I want to sell my car to one of these guys...well my honda is 5 years old, but i will let it go for 17500, and that is LESS then i have in it
Perhaps i am silly, but i seea lot of people saying that cues are jot going for what they are worth....what who says they are worth??? You get what you get, not what you think you should get!! I see on here all the time: "the price is less then i have in it." Have you people ever bought a used car. I want to sell my car to one of these guys...well my honda is 5 years old, but i will let it go for 17500, and that is LESS then i have in it
I think it is the economy, when the economy gets going, the stock market starts going up again, everything else will follow. It is just not cues that are down, homes are down, cars are down, everything you want to buy now cost less then it did 3 yrs ago.
Supply and demand
All the above is true. Truest of all and the kernal to the whole thing is "More wood being made than can be absorbed". Big collectors getting out kinda tells you the story. Another problem is the ripoff artists out there scamming people. I got burned a couple years ago. This is the only place I have reached out to spend large dollars on a cue for years other than private sales from individuals. I just don't trust ebay to buy a large ticket cue on anymore. Also, the economy is squeezing us all due to the bank fiascos of late. My brother, retired now, was a senior analyst for the Federal Reserve in San Francisco. The stories he tells will raise the hair on your neck..............
classiccues said:
All the above is true. Truest of all and the kernal to the whole thing is "More wood being made than can be absorbed". Big collectors getting out kinda tells you the story. Another problem is the ripoff artists out there scamming people. I got burned a couple years ago. This is the only place I have reached out to spend large dollars on a cue for years other than private sales from individuals. I just don't trust ebay to buy a large ticket cue on anymore. Also, the economy is squeezing us all due to the bank fiascos of late. My brother, retired now, was a senior analyst for the Federal Reserve in San Francisco. The stories he tells will raise the hair on your neck..............
Retail cue prices?
James
You are so right. I see cues listed for sale and the seller quotes a retail price much higher than he's selling the cue for just to make his price sound like a good deal. A cue or anything else is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. You can quote all the retail prices you want and they don't mean a thing unless you can get a buyer to pay that much for it.......avmaster said:
James
Cue sales
You are so right about those years. I was just getting into buying and selling cues and the market was hot for a small time seller like myself. I was trying out cues and when I wanted to try something else I could sell what I had to buy something else in a week or less and it was a lot of fun checking out different cue makers cues. I tried most of the top cue makers cues and I finally found what I liked and I have a couple of cues i'll probably keep until my health won't let me play anymore.
I don't think those days will return again even if the economy picks back up. There are too many cue makers competing in the market who make nice cues. Supply and demand will keep the lower priced cues prices down, but the high end market will continue because the people who can afford cues in that price range don't care what the economy is doing. This is my take on the cue market.....
James
JVclassiccues said:
You are so right about those years. I was just getting into buying and selling cues and the market was hot for a small time seller like myself. I was trying out cues and when I wanted to try something else I could sell what I had to buy something else in a week or less and it was a lot of fun checking out different cue makers cues. I tried most of the top cue makers cues and I finally found what I liked and I have a couple of cues i'll probably keep until my health won't let me play anymore.
I don't think those days will return again even if the economy picks back up. There are too many cue makers competing in the market who make nice cues. Supply and demand will keep the lower priced cues prices down, but the high end market will continue because the people who can afford cues in that price range don't care what the economy is doing. This is my take on the cue market.....
James
There is so much "common wood" out there. There so many average cuemakers and with all of the big wood company's there is a huge amount(millions) of cues around. I've heard this same conversation for the last couple of years.
You buy average wood or common wood the prices are low as it should be.
What's real special about a $500.00 or 1,500.00 Schon, McDermitt etc, nothing, and their are millons of like cues.
Most cuemakers are average which is not bad so to speak, but the cream of the crop get excellent money on the secondary maket and they have long wait lists for their cues on new orders.
I know quite a few guys and myself that are always buying cues.
I only buy cues from what I consider to be the very best cuemakers. Historically every one has appreciated in value.
And the constant talk of how bad the cue market is and how bad things are don't help....every time those words are spoken, all that say that just lowered the price on another cue...so when someone is thinking of buying a cue....well the market is down " I'm going to offer a real low price to the seller"....
On AZ one day it's " Man cue's are really over priced" then the next day "Man cues are really selling a low"
Buy the great cues and smile and be happy.
You buy average wood or common wood the prices are low as it should be.
What's real special about a $500.00 or 1,500.00 Schon, McDermitt etc, nothing, and their are millons of like cues.
Most cuemakers are average which is not bad so to speak, but the cream of the crop get excellent money on the secondary maket and they have long wait lists for their cues on new orders.
I know quite a few guys and myself that are always buying cues.
I only buy cues from what I consider to be the very best cuemakers. Historically every one has appreciated in value.
And the constant talk of how bad the cue market is and how bad things are don't help....every time those words are spoken, all that say that just lowered the price on another cue...so when someone is thinking of buying a cue....well the market is down " I'm going to offer a real low price to the seller"....
On AZ one day it's " Man cue's are really over priced" then the next day "Man cues are really selling a low"
Buy the great cues and smile and be happy.
Sellers of any commodity, if they plan to be effective at selling have to adjust to the market. If you don't care wether or not you sell, you not a serious seller so you can do whatever you want. In my opinion, this will create buying opportunities and profitable selling opportunities. Buyers will slow up. Sellers will gripe and eventually adjust to the buyers. The buyers of the world make any market. The thing that will take a beating to the cue market as all others is the loss of thought of a quick sale at profit. That thins any group of buyers in a hurry. Ask any Florida Realtor. eBay and other online sources have only helped made the market as strong as what it was. It allowed cues to be found, prices of auctions to be watched, which 15 years ago was impossible to do. That selling community is no different than any other. Good deals, bad deals and everything in between.
Think the price of Cues are on a slide, and like the stock market should go up again.
But after a recent article in Inside Pool, it appear McDermott Cue Company in producing over 40,000 Cues per year.
I personally wonder who is buying all those Cues?
Buddy you hit the nail on the head! this was the best post here!!HIRUN526 said:
