Pricing question...

qbilder said:
Screw it. I'm moving to Mexico. I almost live there, anyway!!! I'll get me a place down in the Yukatan, on top of a big limestone outcrop so i'll not be vulnerable to flooding, but overlooking the sea. I'll have all the rosewoods I could ever want locally. I'll have to smuggle maple, but that's no big deal.
Click to expand...

You know...even though you live in New Mexico already...the Yucatan penninsula isn't exactly right across the border from you. :-p It's like...WAY far away. Alaska might be closer to you. LOL I would also think that the Baja penninsula would be better. Far less humidity. Although...being an arid, desert climate...I'm not sure what kind of timber/lumber you'd have to play with down there. At least you wouldn't have to live on a limestone outcrop...and flooding's rarely an issue. :-p
 
qbilder said:
Mason, you must also consider employment wages & the economy. She doesn't build the cues herself. She has to pay the guys in the shop, and i'm sure they are driving to work every day. Cost of gas has more than doubled in two years, so their travelling expenses are higher so they need more pay. Plus everybody's power & utility bills are going up, along with everything else from food to clothes because of increased fuel costs. Everything is going up. Wood is going up. The days of $300 custom cues are gone, because nobody can afford to build for that low & still make money. When Laurie is paying somebody to build for her, then even $1200-$1400 is too low to make good, liveable profit. I expect prices on cues will sharply go up as days pass. I'm just surprised the secondary market showed it before the initial.
Click to expand...

It's going to be an interesting landscape for certain. There are already so many cues having a hard time finding new owners at their current prices. While it certainly will cost more to acquire cues going forward...on both the initial and secondary markets...the average person's dollar is already spread so thin, leaving them with a lot less to screw around with on things like cues. Only time will tell.
 
The economy will catch up with time. Like anything else, it cycles. The people in government offices now will die soon, and a newer breed will be in control. With new government comes new ideas, or revised ideas that they think is new. It'll get worse before it gets better, but it will get better. Billiards has survived through good times & bad, usually thriving in bad times. This is what history shows us, and i'm a beleiver that history repeats.
 
Retail1LO said:
I was wondering if it's aggravating to a cue maker to spend a significant amount of time making a cue to a customers specifications, only to see them sell it immediately upon delivery...often at a considerable premium over what was charged the original owner. It would think that if I were making cues...and I consistantly saw folks selling them for a large sum over what I charged the initial client...I would strongly consider charging more for my work to begin with. Does the secondary market provide influence on initial pricing? I know cost of materials, techniques, time/labor etc. are amongst the primary contributors to the cost of the final product . I always wondered how a cuemaker got a feel for how to value his work. It should be noted...that I personally respect each and every cuemaker's right to price their cues as they see fit. You spend a lifetime learning such an amazing trade...your labors should bare some fine fruit. Thanks in advance for the opinions of anyone who cares to share them. :-)

Hayden
Click to expand...

As long as the builder is happy and the initial customer is happy, I would consider it a compliment if they were able to sell my product for more than they paid for it.
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
As long as the builder is happy and the initial customer is happy, I would consider it a compliment if they were able to sell my product for more than they paid for it.
Click to expand...


So it seems there's plenty of sentiment that it's a compliment to see your creations sell for more on the secondary market...but does anyone have a problem with people buying the cues strictly for resale? I mean...I've bought tons of cues in my day...held on to them...shot with them...and sold them. Some at a profit...some I've even eaten a little on the cost. It just sucks when a cuemakers list is long...and the only crack you ever get at one of his cues...are the ones that cost twice as much as the cuemaker charges. *L*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top