There is this guy that wants to know how much his original Balabushka cue is worth.

J

justinb386

Banned
EDIT: Well, I told the person that the Balabushka cue was worth at least $10,000 (but it would need to be authenticated 1st before it would sell for what it is worth), and I gave the person the contact info for Tascarella and Gus Szamboti (because a couple of people on here noted his name as a person that could authenticate the cue). I know now that the idea about selling the cue for the person was silly, and that it probably would not be possible anyway. I guess that the idea was really wrong of me. I did ask for pictures of the cue to post on here (in the image gallery), because I thought that a lot of people on here would like to see pictures of the cue. He told me that the owner of the cue actually knew Gus Szamboti, so maybe Gus would do the authentication for free (if they are old friends).

There is this guy (that is buying a laptop from me from another forum) that wants to know how much his original Balabushka is worth.

I told him to email me some really good pictures of the cue, and I asked if he has any paperwork that Balabushka probably would have gave him.

I would like to maybe make a small % off of being a middle man, but not sure what the best way to do that, and how much of a % would be fair to sell the cue for the person on here.

I asked the person to email me some really good pictures of the cue (if he has a good digital camera), but I really have no idea about the best way to identify a Balabushka through pictures of the cue.

If he does not have any paper work for the cue, then what would be a fair price to ask for a Balabushka that is not proven to be a Balabushka (but looks like one in every way, through the use of good pictures, and kind of pictures would help identify it the best way of being an original Balabushka cue?).

The cue actually belongs to a friend that lives with him, and here is a copy of an email that he sent me today.

"I have an old friend who lives here with me, and he is an old time nine ball player. He is in bad shape health wise now, and has not played in many years. He has an original Balabushka built for him by George in the early 70's sometime. It is one of the last that George built before he died. My friend told me that it took several months to get it made, and it is in excellent condition, with a Python case. He is looking to sell it due to his poor health. I was wondering if you have any idea as to it's worth?"

I did not want to try to take advantage of a person that does not know the value of his cue, but I thought that maybe I could make a little money (maybe 5 or 10 percent of the sale price) by selling the cue for the person.

Thanks for any opinions about this situation, and what the person should do to get the most money out of his cue.

I wish I could make a little money as a middle man, but I know that I may not be able to without having the guy send the cue to me, to sell it for him.
 
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justinb386 said:
There is this guy (that is buying a laptop from me from another forum) that wants to know how much his original Balabushka is worth.

I told him to email me some really good pictures of the cue, and I asked if he has any paperwork that Balabushka probably would have gave him.

I would like to maybe make a small % off of being a middle man, but not sure what the best way to do that, and how much of a % would be fair to sell the cue for the person on here.

I asked the person to email me some really good pictures of the cue (if he has a good digital camera), but I really have no idea about the best way to identify a Balabushka through pictures of the cue.

If he does not have any paper work for the cue, then what would be a fair price to ask for a Balabushka that is not proven to be a Balabushka (but looks like one in every way, through the use of good pictures, and kind of pictures would help identify it the best way of being an original Balabushka cue?).

The cue actually belongs to a friend that lives with him, and here is a copy of an email that he sent me today.

"I have an old friend who lives here with me, and he is an old time nine ball player. He is in bad shape health wise now, and has not played in many years. He has an original Balabushka built for him by George in the early 70's sometime. It is one of the last that George built before he died. My friend told me that it took several months to get it made, and it is in excellent condition, with a Python case. He is looking to sell it due to his poor health. I was wondering if you have any idea as to it's worth?"

I did not want to try to take advantage of a person that does not know the value of his cue, but I thought that maybe I could make a little money (maybe 5 or 10 percent of the sale price) by selling the cue for the person.

Thanks for any opinions about this situation, and what the person should do to get the most money out of his cue.

I wish I could make a little money as a middle man, but I know that I may not be able to without having the guy send the cue to me, to sell it for him.
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Arguably, the greatest authority on Balabushka cues is Pete Tascarella of New York.

Surely, many AZBers have his contact info, but I do not.
 
DoubleD said:
So, you are saying that you want money for doing something on which you aren't an expert and have no experience?

Give me this guys name, I can probably convince him that he needs brain surgery...I have no experience, but I like money.

dld
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Charging a FEE for Personal Services, or Knowledge is what Attorneys, Accountants, and Physicians, etc. Do daily. It is the American way.
 
The best thing to do to maximize the amount is send to cue out to one of about 5-6 cue makers that can do a verification on cue.

For Balabushka, Pete is usually known as the best and I agree, but the are others as well.

Once you have it verified, there would be plenty of buyers (not all on AZ) if the price is right.

IMO, most people assume that it is worth $25K and you see them for sale forever. If it is priced right it will sell pretty quickly.

Ken
 
What is so bad about wanting to sell the cue for the person (for a small % of the money)? Does that make me a horrible person for wanting to make a little money as a middle man (on a deal)? With good pictures of the cue (along with the original paper work from the cue maker), then why would I need to know all that much about Balabushka cues? Is it really that wrong of me for wanting to make a little money on selling the cue for him? If he were to take it to a billiard shop (or pawn shop, or collector), then they might be dis honest, and offer him like a 10th of its fair market value.

DoubleD said:
So, you are saying that you want money for doing something on which you aren't an expert and have no experience?

Give me this guys name, I can probably convince him that he needs brain surgery...I have no experience, but I like money.

dld
Click to expand...
 
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If the cue comes with all of the original paper work, then does it still need to be sent to Pete Tascarella to be authenticated? I am guessing so, because there would be no way to prove that it is the same exact cue that came with the original paper work that Balabushka may have provided with the cue.

Ken_4fun said:
The best thing to do to maximize the amount is send to cue out to one of about 5-6 cue makers that can do a verification on cue.

For Balabushka, Pete is usually known as the best and I agree, but the are others as well.

Once you have it verified, there would be plenty of buyers (not all on AZ) if the price is right.

IMO, most people assume that it is worth $25K and you see them for sale forever. If it is priced right it will sell pretty quickly.

Ken
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Isn't that what an auction house, art dealer or a seller's agent do? Take a portion in exchange for finding the best deal for the buyer, and dealing with all the paperwork? If the original owner doesn't want to deal with the hassle of authentication and selling, then lay out a proposal where you would do the legwork in exchange for a fee or cut of the sale price. On the flipside, for accepting money you also take responsibility and the first to be blamed by buyer and seller if something goes wrong.

Colonel Tom Parker, acting as manager, took up to 50% of Elvis Presley's gross earnings. Was it that hard to sell Elvis, it justified 50%?
 
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I am curious what some (thought to be) Balabushka cues have sold for without any paper work (authentication) that came with them? I will just give the person Pete Tascarellas name (and contact info, if I can find it), and tell the person that it might cost $200 to be looked at (and a authentication letter written out from Pete Tascarella, if it is authentic), and I can't really tell the person a value that it might be worth, but I am sure that Pete Tascarella could give the person that info. By the way, a member here told me (in a PM) that $200 is what it might cost to be authenticated from Pete Tascarella.

Ken_4fun said:
The best thing to do to maximize the amount is send to cue out to one of about 5-6 cue makers that can do a verification on cue.

For Balabushka, Pete is usually known as the best and I agree, but the are others as well.

Once you have it verified, there would be plenty of buyers (not all on AZ) if the price is right.

IMO, most people assume that it is worth $25K and you see them for sale forever. If it is priced right it will sell pretty quickly.

Ken
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justinb386 said:
If the cue comes with all of the original paper work, then does it still need to be sent to Pete Tascarella to be authenticated? I am guessing so, because there would be no way to prove that it is the same exact cue that came with the original paper work that Balabushka may have provided with the cue.
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It pretty much has to go to Tasc no matter what. If you sell it for anywhere near what its worth, you are going to have to give the buyer the right to send it to Tasc for authentication as a condition of the sale, so you are better off sending it up front and selling it with the Tasc letter and taking the question of authenticity off the table. There are still going to be plenty of questions, but as a seller looking to maximize price, you will want to take the authenticity question off the table and that is achieved through Tasc. The original paperwork is a huge bonus, but Tasc is pretty much going to be involved unless you want to take a short sale.

Kevin
 
I would absolutely take the time to get some paperwork behind it.

I've sold many cues for friends, coworkers and family. I usually take 10-15%. Or we establish what they need out of the cue and I'll take what I can get up and above that number.

If this were me I'd make the guy a solid, reasonable offer and just flip it. Sounds like he knows it has some value but you could easily create more value by putting additional paperwork behind it, marketing it to the right people etc. But all that takes time and this guy might not have the time or the patience to deal with all that.
 
justinb386 said:
I am curious what some (thought to be) Balabushka cues have sold for without any paper work (authentication) that came with them? I will just give the person Pete Tascarellas name (and contact info, if I can find it), and tell the person that it might cost $200 to be looked at (and a authentication letter written out from Pete Tascarella, if it is authentic), and I can't really tell the person a value that it might be worth, but I am sure that Pete Tascarella could give the person that info. By the way, a member here told me (in a PM) that $200 is what it might cost to be authenticated from Pete Tascarella.
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Are the shafts original to cue? How about the wrap? Has it been refinished? What is the size and weight of the shafts?

What is good condition? (Kinda like a good looking woman....depends on perspective)

Don't be a nit, send the cue get the authentication from Pete and pay the $200. If it is everything you say and think it is this will more than make up for the measley $200 when you sell it.

:rolleyes:

Trying to help.

Ken
 
So you want to try to make money off the sale of an unauthenticated Balabushka you've never seen, that belongs to a sick old guy who lives with a guy that you met on another forum, both of whom you've never met? Good luck with that.
 
I had a feeling that creating this thread was a bad idea. All of the info that I needed was already posted on questions from other threads. By the way, I have been buying, selling, trading cues for close to 20 years. I am not that stupid about cues, and I have known about Pete Tascarella being the person that authenticates Balabushka cues for a long time. There is no need to insult me for asking a couple of questions. I do feel very silly for even creating this thread, because all the info that I needed has already been noted on other threads. I guess that I was just bored, and wanted to talk about it on here, but I should have known that I would find myself being insulted for asking about it.

DoubleD said:
Yeah, but all those people had an expertise to build from. The OP didn't even know who to talk to about authentication.

As for Tom Parker...Elvis was a hick who didn't know crap about selling himself. Tom Parker had the ways and means to build the Elvis brand.

I'm all for capitalism, but this is opportunism at it's worst. The OP doesn't have the credentials to get the greatest price out of this cue. He will almost definitely either price it so high that it won't sell or low enough that he will cost more than his commission.

But what the hell? People do stupid things every day, if the owner of this cue wants to hire someone to sell it because that person saw 'The Color of Money' once, bully for him.

dld
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justinb386 said:
I had a feeling that creating this thread was a bad idea. All of the info that I needed was already posted on questions from other threads. By the way, I have been buying, selling, trading cues for close to 20 years. I am not that stupid about cues, and I have known about Pete Tascarella being the person that authenticates Balabushka cues for a long time. There is no need to insult me for asking a couple of questions. I do feel very silly for even creating this thread, because all the info that I needed has already been noted on other threads. I guess that I was just bored, and wanted to talk about it on here, but I should have known that I would find myself being insulted for asking about it.
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I hope you don't see this as an insult, but how about you actually offer the owner some level of service in an attempt to earn the fee you are already contemplating? How about you call Tasc, you see what the procedures and costs of authentication are (the LOA is more than $200). Then you can go to the owner, offer him some decent advice and help him with the arrangements. I know it might be a novel idea but rather than just getting a fee, how about you try to earn it?

Kevin
 
Well if you're being ridiculed, its because what you post doesn't add up. For instance.. if you have been buying and selling cues for 20 years, than you should know what a fair % is for acting as an agent. You would then know that no one is going to buy a Bushka without a letter, or without one of maybe 3 people looking at the cue. Now if your story is accurate, and you have been doing this for 20 years you would know George died in the mid 70's and a cue delivered in the early 70's is far from being one of his last cues. You would also know that there is a big reason to get the cue "officially" verified because the time frame you are mentioning makes a huge difference in price. As someone with 20 years of cue dealing experience would know, UNLESS you were dealing Meucci's...

JV

justinb386 said:
I had a feeling that creating this thread was a bad idea. All of the info that I needed was already posted on questions from other threads. By the way, I have been buying, selling, trading cues for close to 20 years. I am not that stupid about cues, and I have known about Pete Tascarella being the person that authenticates Balabushka cues for a long time. There is no need to insult me for asking a couple of questions. I do feel very silly for even creating this thread, because all the info that I needed has already been noted on other threads. I guess that I was just bored, and wanted to talk about it on here, but I should have known that I would find myself being insulted for asking about it.
Click to expand...
 
kvinbrwr said:
I hope you don't see this as an insult, but how about you actually offer the owner some level of service in an attempt to earn the fee you are already contemplating? How about you call Tasc, you see what the procedures and costs of authentication are (the LOA is more than $200). Then you can go to the owner, offer him some decent advice and help him with the arrangements. I know it might be a novel idea but rather than just getting a fee, how about you try to earn it?

Kevin
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Earn it? Kevin, wouldn't your suggestions actually be counterproductive to someone trying to make a fast buck? :rotflmao:
 
victorl said:
So you want to try to make money off the sale of an unauthenticated Balabushka you've never seen, that belongs to a sick old guy who lives with a guy that you met on another forum, both of whom you've never met? Good luck with that.
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I think you've got it down. ;)
 
classiccues said:
Well if you're being ridiculed, its because what you post doesn't add up. For instance.. if you have been buying and selling cues for 20 years, than you should know what a fair % is for acting as an agent. You would then know that no one is going to buy a Bushka without a letter, or without one of maybe 3 people looking at the cue. Now if your story is accurate, and you have been doing this for 20 years you would know George died in the mid 70's and a cue delivered in the early 70's is far from being one of his last cues. You would also know that there is a big reason to get the cue "officially" verified because the time frame you are mentioning makes a huge difference in price. As someone with 20 years of cue dealing experience would know, UNLESS you were dealing Meucci's...

JV
Click to expand...

JV

On the other hand, there is already a bunch of hands adding nothing but confusion in on this "deal" which does give it that familiar Balabushka deal feel to me (as sure as fingering that tooling ridge inside the buttcap). A bunch of people adding nothing but confusion and price?, now thats a Balabushka. There's a guy in the deal looking for a cut that hasn't seen the cue so I figure its genuine, it just feels so Balabushka already. Get another 3 guys involved and we won't need Tasc.

Kevin
 
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I have one with the original signature on it, so there!

Also a couple of Dale Perry one of ones. But, I don't know who can authenticate the DPs.

Ridin pretty high in the cue world at the moment.
 
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