Tryed to buy Kamui at SBE?

Gerry

Gerry

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi people, sadly I missed the expo this year with the flu! nothing like bad timing to get sick. Anyway, my wife went to catch up with old friends and see what he new location was like. While there I asked her to pick me up a few things, she had no issues except with Kamui tips? She started at the Kamui booth.....nope, we can't sell them to you, you have to get them from a dealer/installer....she was pointed in the general direction of Mike Gulyassy's booth.......nope again!....we can put one on for you, but can't sell you one outright?WTF!.....3 more booths and the same friggin thing! also they did add that if she wanted to stop back on Sunday they would be happy to sell her the tips?.....really?

I have a lathe here, do my own work, and generally buy off the internet from sellers here on AZB. All I wanted was 1 each of Kamui's tips to try because I am replacing Talisman as my go to tip. Can ANYONE please explain the logic with any of this?

I know manufacturers protect dealers and dealers can't wholesale etc..., but why the hell would you install a tip, and not sell me one? crazy. I was going to buy one of each.....which is what? 6 tips? that's not a ton of money, but enough to turn away I guess?

anyway.......
 
you should pose this question to John Bertone on facebook, he should have an answer for you
 
Tips

It doesn't seem that hard to figure out. They may not have had a limitless supply of tips, and wanted to be able to install tips for players at the tourney. Thus, come back Sunday, the last day of the tourney. Just my logic.
 
From the perspective of Kamui, not selling you a tip makes perfect sense. They are trying to protect their dealers and installers. I recently became an authorized installer. While I don't really make a business out of selling or installing tips (its just some part time stuff), I appreciate the position Kamui has taken here. They are trying to protect the value of their product, and support their network of dealers and installers.

From the repair/installer's perspective, I also understand. Obviously those guys went to the expo to make money on repair work. There is not a huge markup on the tips themselves, so those guys make their money based on their labor. If you buy the tip from him on Friday, and he runs out and someone wants one installed on Sunday, he just lost like $20 or so. Also, he put himself in a position where he was unable to satisfy a customer, which could potentially hurt his reputation or future business with that customer...he lost the chance to impress them.

I think the better approach for getting the tips would have been to call someone like Seyberts.com, or any other distributor of your choice, and just order them. Alternatively, if you have a lathe and some experience and the ability to speak intelligently about your work, you might want to contact John at kamuitips.com, and see about becoming an authorized installer. Then you can buy them direct. John is a pleasure to deal with and can give you some great info about the range of Kamui products. I bought a gator grip last year and think its the best tip tool I've ever used. I am about to try out the new version of the chalk.

Anyway, I realize it can be frustrating when you want to get something, but look at the perspectives I offered here, and hopefully you will see the value to everyone in their approaches.

KMRUNOUT
 
If you install the tip yourself and have not done it properly it will not perform as designed. Plain and simple. Now who gets the bad name? Are you going to tell everybody that you suck as a tip installer? Or "Kamui makes bad tips and I've tried them all"?


Not that you would do that but that may be the marketing position Kamui takes.
 
Tennesseejoe said:
If you install the tip yourself and have not done it properly it will not perform as designed. Plain and simple. Now who gets the bad name? Are you going to tell everybody that you suck as a tip installer? Or "Kamui makes bad tips and I've tried them all"?


Not that you would do that but that may be the marketing position Kamui takes.
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It isn't a difficult task to install your own tips correctly. Yet there is always a group that will discourage players from replacing their own tips.
 
The Mueller's booth had Kamuis I thought. It was the biggest booth there. I know my buddy bought 2 tips.

BTW, Kamui only brought their new chalk so the dealers could be the only ones to sell the original chalk. I thought that was pretty cool of them.
 
let me try to respond to some thoughts here...


kmrunout> I never tried to cut out the installer/dealer.....I just wanted to buy tips....also...so you are saying......go buy em online....why try to get them at THE SUPER BILLIARDS EXPO?...really? If Kamui underestimates the need for their tips at one of the biggest events of the year.....that is their issue, why should I be put out....buying them there would have saved me shipping online.

dr9ball> I have been installing tips for 25 years, I was taught by Leonard Bloodworth......and worked in more then a few pool rooms doing repairs. I know how to install tips! also, does every online customer have to show proof of skill in cue repair to buy from them?

When I started my business15 years ago, I NEVER said no to a customer, or let them walk away trying to spend money!....any one of those guys could have offered to ship the tips to me after the event with a surcharge for their time.....nope.

This is the kind of stuff that bothers the consumer IMO.

G.
 
Can someone please explain why Kamui had a booth anyway?!!!! They did not sell their tips or their chalk. What were they doing?
 
Kamui was selling their chalk at the booth. I believe they ran out late Friday. As far as only bringing their "new' chalk,..... good marketing idea. It costs $5.00 more than the old......$30.00 a cube.
 
javi2 said:
Kamui was selling their chalk at the booth. I believe they ran out late Friday. As far as only bringing their "new' chalk,..... good marketing idea. It costs $5.00 more than the old......$30.00 a cube.
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I guess they sold so much chalk it must have paid for their plane fare, space rental, etc.:grin-square:
 
whitewolf said:
Can someone please explain why Kamui had a booth anyway?!!!! They did not sell their tips or their chalk. What were they doing?
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Chevrolet has a booth at the Indy 500 but they are not set up to sell there as far as I know. They are just trying to be where the consumers are in a very visible event. SBE is a huge event and gets a lot of people there, people can ask questions see product etc even if they cannot buy the product. And it sounds like Kamui was pushing the new chalk and ultimately ran out.

Kamui is a company great at products and marketing so I am sure they had a good show.
 
whitewolf said:
Can someone please explain why Kamui had a booth anyway?!!!! They did not sell their tips or their chalk. What were they doing?
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I'm surprised this question needed asking...you can't imagine the answer?

They were SHOWING their products at a SHOW. "Hey, what's all the hype about Kamui tips? Oh look, there's the Kamui booth, lets find out." Seems pretty straightforward. I believe they were selling their other products, like the chalk and tip tools.

KMRUNOUT
 
Gerry said:
kmrunout> I never tried to cut out the installer/dealer.....I just wanted to buy tips....also...so you are saying......go buy em online....why try to get them at THE SUPER BILLIARDS EXPO?...really? If Kamui underestimates the need for their tips at one of the biggest events of the year.....that is their issue, why should I be put out....buying them there would have saved me shipping online.
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You asked a question, I provided an answer. I was not suggesting you were trying to cut anyone out. I was offering my interpretation of Kamui's perspective. There are many vendors that sell Kamui tips. I remember seeing Mueller, Omega Billiards, Franks Center, among others. I'm sure some of these are distributors for Kamui. I would have tried those. Also, and I could be remembering wrong, I think Seyberts offers free shipping on orders over a certian amount...$50 or $100. If you are buying 6 Kamuis, you should qualify. Also they offer an APA discount, in case that might help you.

I think you haven't quite understood Kamui's position if you believe they "underestimated the need for their tips [at the SBE]". They are NOT selling their tips. The distributors are. Perhaps your discontent would be better directed at them? Predator no longer sells their products directly either, and hasn't for years. They have made an investment in their distributors. If you want a 314-2 shaft at the SBE, Predator will direct you to a vendor. If that vendor didn't bother to bring any of those shafts, whose fault is that?

I hope I don't come off as picking on you. I'm just trying to provide you with the info that will help you make sense of the situation.

KMRUNOUT
 
Just kick'n seems to have provided the answer. If a repair person has a certain amount of a certain tip and someone comes up and wants to buy 3 or 5 of them or whatever ... they will potentially run out of that tip and lose the money they could of potentially made by putting the tip on.

Hence the "come back on Sunday" comment... once they are packing up and are no longer installing tips, you can buy as many of the tips as you want, they won't be losing the install fees once they are packed up. :)

You could of probably bought the tip if you paid for the install but didn't actually get the tip installed, heh. Also, the ship to you after the show would of worked, like you mentioned, but the easiest thing would of been just to come back on Sunday. They didn't say no, they just didn't explain themselves fully.
 
If you install the tip yourself and have not done it properly it will not perform as designed.
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If you put it on wrong, will it make the balls go backwards or something?

Seriously, do you think its rocket science to install a Kamui tip? Like you have to take special Kamui classes.

If you are going to install yourself into a discussion on tip installation, at least know what you're talking about OK.
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
If you put it on wrong, will it make the balls go backwards or something?

Seriously, do you think its rocket science to install a Kamui tip? Like you have to take special Kamui classes.

If you are going to install yourself into a discussion on tip installation, at least know what you're talking about OK.
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Try installing one using polyurethane glue or melamine glue.
It hits different than using CA. Worse if you coat the bottom with thin CA first.
 
And you can tell the difference in hit by the glue used to install it?

I coat the bottom of a tip, specially Mooris with CA. I don't install Kamui tips but if I had to buy special glue, special scuffers and special chalk in order to make one work properly, then I guess I have made the proper choice in not having anything to do with them.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Try installing one using polyurethane glue or melamine glue.
It hits different than using CA. Worse if you coat the bottom with thin CA first.
Click to expand...

Joey I use polyurethane glue on my player with kamuis. They play better than loctite ultra gel imo. Learned this from the Taiwanese players. Only thing is, it cures slower. Not all polyurethane glues are good though. The Taiwanese players use a specific brand. It cost less than USD.50cents for a tube. No luck getting it anywhere near me, I think only in Taiwan they sell it.
 
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