The Uneducated Cue Buyer

jhendri2

jhendri2

Rack'em Sausage
Silver Member
How much would you pay for this cue:

Nick Varner Limited edition

Well...A very good friend of mine bought one from Nick Varner yesterday at Nat Green's place in Nashville. He called me and was estatic that he had just purchased his first "collectors cue". When he said this my heart sank as I knew he had just been taken. He started telling me that it was full of Ivory and had Ivory rings and an Ivory joint. When he started to tell me this, I thought "well he might not of been taken too bad". This morning I looked the cue up on Varner's site and it's inlayed with BONE Ivory, the joint and rings are moose horn (not a bad thing), the ferrules are some sort of man made material. Oh, one more thing it's made by Falcon.

So, anobody want to guess what he paid for this limited edition masterpiece?

Jim
 
I'd guess about 1200 since it had a starting bid on ebay of around a thousand in July. Maybe 900 if the person needed the money.


Personally I wouldn't of spent more than 250 or so, and actually I just wouldn't of brought it.
 
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jhendri2 said:
The "person" he bought it from was Nick Varner...

He paid $1,600 :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: for it.

Jim
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Well Jim, $1,600 is a little high for your first lesson! All he had to do was come here first. This is where I purchase most of my cues. I have had some pretty high dollar lessons myself. Hell, it could have been a lot worse!
Purdman;)
 
This is probably a case of "caveat emptor". But, since Nick is the actual guy representing these cues, since he may have lied about the material and the value of the cue, is he not legally responsible for telling the truth? Can legal action be brought against him for mis-representation of some sort? Just curious.
 
I don't think Nick Varner intentionally misrepresented the cue. My firend may have assumed things that weren't true.

$1,600 is a helluva lesson. Now the question is, how do I tell him it's probably worth less than half of what he paid for it?

Jim
 
Back in 1981, I paid an art gallery $2,300 for an 18" diameter plasma light sculpture, a thing of wondrous beauty nowhere seen before then. It gave me enormous satisfaction for ten years before dying. The gallery, meanwhile, had reached the end of its lifetime and therefor its guaranty.

Today... sigh.

But I got ten years of enormous satisfaction out of it, because no one was "kind" enough to share their predictions of the future with me.
 
dogginda9 said:
This is probably a case of "caveat emptor". But, since Nick is the actual guy representing these cues, since he may have lied about the material and the value of the cue, is he not legally responsible for telling the truth? Can legal action be brought against him for mis-representation of some sort? Just curious.
Click to expand...

Where do you get the suspicion that Nick may have misrepresented the cue? The OP says he found the cue's specs on Nick's Web site.
 
Going by what the guy who bought the cue said, such as "full of ivory and having ivory rings". The natural assumption would be that he was told that they were ivory. I have no idea if that is the case. Just a possible scenario. jhendri found the materials on the website, not the buyer of the cue. It is probably just a case of the buyer making a mistake in believing that it was ivory. I'd like to hear how he came to that conclusion.
 
dogginda9 said:
Going by what the guy who bought the cue said, such as "full of ivory and having ivory rings". The natural assumption would be that he was told that they were ivory. I have no idea if that is the case. Just a possible scenario. jhendri found the materials on the website, not the buyer of the cue. It is probably just a case of the buyer making a mistake in believing that it was ivory. I'd like to hear how he came to that conclusion.
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I think he just assumed it was ivory.

I just got off the phone with him this morning and he's having a bit of buyer's remorse. There was a letter from Nick Varner with the cue that explained everyting about it. He learned it wasn't ivory and about the joint material and that it was made by Falcon. It wasn't real happy or upset, just indifferent. I think he knows he made a mistake.

He did say they were asking $2,000 for that cue. Amazing...

Jim
 
Perhaps the collectible value lies not in the cue's materials but its rarity and provenance.

? Limited to 100 Cues
All Cues will be Hand Signed and Numbered
Each Cue will come in Limited Edition Case
Each Cue will have a Certificate of Authenticity
 
I wouldn't nesc. say 100 is rare. Compared to other prouction cues maybe, but for $1,600 he could have gotten a nice 1/1 from a custom maker. Granted it wouldn't be signed or designed by Nick, but I just don't see that as a major selling point.

Jim
 
jhendri2 said:
I don't think Nick Varner intentionally misrepresented the cue. My firend may have assumed things that weren't true.

$1,600 is a helluva lesson. Now the question is, how do I tell him it's probably worth less than half of what he paid for it?

Jim
Click to expand...

Jim,

Witness the celebrity power a star like Nick Varner has. Your friend got a chance to schmooze with Nick Varner, one of the all time greats in my book, and now Nick will remember him and say "Hi" to him forever. To him, the additional money may be worth the experience.

Sure, you and I wouldn't buy them, but...

Let him enjoy his experience.

Chris
 
TATE said:
Jim,

Witness the celebrity power a star like Nick Varner has. Your friend got a chance to schmooze with Nick Varner, one of the all time greats in my book, and now Nick will remember him and say "Hi" to him forever. To him, the additional money may be worth the experience.

Sure, you and I wouldn't buy them, but...

Let him enjoy his experience.

Chris
Click to expand...

You're right.

We actually got hang out with Nick Varner while both of us were stationed in Germany back in '92. He's a helluva nice guy, and definitely one of the all time greats!

When I talked to him this morning I tod him I had found it on the net and told him how nice it was. I just hope he likes it alot, 'cause he's married to it.

Jim
 
I bet that cue hits better than the Southwest he could of bought with that money!:rolleyes:

Seriously...a couple of years ago Allison brought over a pile of Cuetec's. She wanted to initial & number each one personally. She did...Sharpie in hand she did each one then I shot a bit of clear over each one. Point of the story...she sold them for...best of my memory...like $200. Damn...I'm going to get her to sign another one...and ask $1200!:D
 
jhendri2 said:
How much would you pay for this cue:

Nick Varner Limited edition

Well...A very good friend of mine bought one from Nick Varner yesterday at Nat Green's place in Nashville. He called me and was estatic that he had just purchased his first "collectors cue". When he said this my heart sank as I knew he had just been taken. He started telling me that it was full of Ivory and had Ivory rings and an Ivory joint. When he started to tell me this, I thought "well he might not of been taken too bad". This morning I looked the cue up on Varner's site and it's inlayed with BONE Ivory, the joint and rings are moose horn (not a bad thing), the ferrules are some sort of man made material. Oh, one more thing it's made by Falcon.

So, anobody want to guess what he paid for this limited edition masterpiece?

Jim
Click to expand...




Where is Nate Green's?
 
Tennesseejoe said:
Where is Nate Green's?
Click to expand...


I'll give him a call later and ask. He said it was a grand opening of the store and Nick Varner was there to promote it. There's a pool hall adjecent to the store, I just don't know the names.

Jim
 
He was most likely paying the full retail price for that cue, but it is not to say he got scam. A lot of people I know paid more than $1000 for a Falcon and are proud of it.

I met this girl she told me she purchased a custom cue with diamond and ivory and what not, she spent about 10 minutes trying to describe the details of this cue. She looked so excited, and was really proud. The cue she had was a Miranda, which she purchased for $500. But for her, it is the pride of her life, and I am happy for her.

If one is happy with what he/she has, I say let him/her enjoy it. Life is short and it is not so often that we can be so proud of something we own.

If I spend $1600 on a cue, I doubt I could be as excited about it as this girl I met. In that sense, I am envy of her.

Let them enjoy themselves. It is a precious experience.:)

Richard
 
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