Value of a Cue?

Hierovision

Hierovision

Dios mio, man.
Silver Member
What determines the value of a cue fresh out of the cuemakers hands? Is it the quality of craftsmanship? The effort and skill put into the creation process? The experience epitomized in the finished product? The popular opinion of the cuemaker's work? What is it?

I believe it's a combination of what the maker puts into the cue (materials as well as effort/experience/etc.) and how the buyers compare it to cues they've had in the past. The latter more than the former to an extent. What do you think?
 
I think this is a pretty decent appraisal. I think some cues(and cuemakers) have become known for certain prices which I wouldn't deem fair; but on a whole it's pretty much what the market is willing to pay.
 
Hierovision said:
What determines the value of a cue fresh out of the cuemakers hands? Is it the quality of craftsmanship? The effort and skill put into the creation process? The experience epitomized in the finished product? The popular opinion of the cuemaker's work? What is it?

I believe it's a combination of what the maker puts into the cue (materials as well as effort/experience/etc.) and how the buyers compare it to cues they've had in the past. The latter more than the former to an extent. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Cues seem to come & go in popularity.
Some have remained constant- Szamboti,
Schick.
However, when I 1st started posting a few
years ago on Playpool, hot cues included
Leonard Bludworth, Mike Bender, Skip Weston,
Predator.
Bender & Weston are still highly regarded but
rarely talked about. Predator is often slammed
& Blud's cues seemed to have fallen out of
interest and prices have really dropped.
Meanwhile, EVERYBODY wants a Hercek or
Searing. They are bought up as soon as they
become available and now the wait list for their
cues is looonggg.
 
Is someone came along today and made a cue of the exact same quality as a $3,000 James White, Hercek, Mottey, Bender - same veneer quality, inlays, etc. - and that had the same play, including balance, weight, feel, etc., but a different and unique design....and no one had heard of the guy - what could he get for his cue?

It wouldn't be anywhere near $3,000. Of course new cue-makers would like to skip the process that these guys had to go through to earn the extra $$$ for their work. But it won't happen and most of them are perfectly aware of the fact.
 
It wouldn't be anywhere near $3,000. Of course new cue-makers would like to skip the process that these guys had to go through to earn the extra $$$ for their work.

................................................................................................

True. Most of these guys aren't young and have been
around for a long time.
 
I think it would take alot of time and development to approach the quality of the makers mentioned. In other words by the time you make one that good you aren't new anymore.
 
matcase said:
I think it would take alot of time and development to approach the quality of the makers mentioned. In other words by the time you make one that good you aren't new anymore.
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Yes, but you could still be way under the radar and your "discovery" by the cue-buying world isn't going to immediately throw your cues up into the same price-range as Hercek, etc. Also, I'm sure some of the guys I mentioned were making great cues long before their cues were regarded as highly as they are currently.
 
Whoever built the cue is the single biggest factor in pricing. Example: compare plain, ordinary sneaky petes. If the builder is in the 'elite' group, expect to pay a LOT more, if you can get him to build one for you. If he is not very well known, you get it for considerably less. A Bill Schick sneaky will cost more than some unknown cuemakers fancy cues.
 
Charlie Edwards said:
Whoever built the cue is the single biggest factor in pricing. Example: compare plain, ordinary sneaky petes. If the builder is in the 'elite' group, expect to pay a LOT more, if you can get him to build one for you. If he is not very well known, you get it for considerably less. A Bill Schick sneaky will cost more than some unknown cuemakers fancy cues.
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Yes, and the 'unknown' might actually play as well or better. Paying the extra 'intangible tax' for such makers in order to get a chance to try their cues has never really bothered me - just buy them used and make sure you aren't paying over market value. Worst case is you end up paying a small 'rental' fee as a result of re-selling.
 
What about me for example. I've been building cues for years and do work for many of the worlds best players. I'm definately not unknown...except maybe to some far away with no online access. I don't have the name like Searing or Hercek...but I'm no rookie or new cuemaker for sure. Take my high end cue for sale now on the forum...it would be over $2000 by many other makers. It has the same high quality & parts...and may even play better than many bigger names. I did not price it at $2000....I was more than fair at $1000 considering the time & cost that went into this cue. Is $1000 too high? I don't think so...especially after you hold it/play with it and get to realize in person the high level of quality that went into it. Should I offer it for less because a couple of clowns think I'm nobody? Hardly. I can walk it into any poolroom in the area and sell it without question, many times over. I just wanted to offer a nicer cue, as requested, to AZB members. Now my work & name are being knocked by a couple of trolls who follow my post around only trying to ruin me. Edited.
 
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Hierovision said:
What determines the value of a cue fresh out of the cuemakers hands? Is it the quality of craftsmanship? The effort and skill put into the creation process? The experience epitomized in the finished product? The popular opinion of the cuemaker's work? What is it?

I believe it's a combination of what the maker puts into the cue (materials as well as effort/experience/etc.) and how the buyers compare it to cues they've had in the past. The latter more than the former to an extent. What do you think?
Click to expand...

All of the above with cost appropriate to the local area, plus a little to with the uniqueness of the cues as well as a sprinkling of good fortune. The cuemaking world is pretty small, so good news and bad news travels quickly. With the internet, it travels even more quickly.

The value of a cue or what it's worth is IMO the actual price someone else would buy it from you. So, the reason the value changes is greatly influenced by the consumer, not necessarily by the maker.

Fred
 
Varney Cues said:
What about me for example. I've been building cues for years and do work for many of the worlds best players. I'm definately not unknown...except maybe to some far away with no online access. I don't have the name like Searing or Hercek...but I'm no rookie or new cuemaker for sure. Take my high end cue for sale now on the forum...it would be over $2000 by many other makers. It has the same high quality & parts...and may even play better than many bigger names. I did not price it at $2000....I was more than fair at $1000 considering the time & cost that went into this cue. Is $1000 too high? I don't think so...especially after you hold it/play with it and get to realize in person the high level of quality that went into it. Should I offer it for less because a couple of clowns think I'm nobody? Hardly. I can walk it into any poolroom in the area and sell it without question, many times over. I just wanted to offer a nicer cue, as requested, to AZB members. Now my work & name are being knocked by a couple of trolls who follow my post around only trying to ruin me. Some have no idea what can happen when you try to mess with how a man feeds his family. I can not be more clear.
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Huh?........I've never heard anything but good reviews on your cues.

Maybe I missed something.
 
Otoh, I think you are increasing your prestige by posting on
here. I have heard several nice things about you and your cues
and have also been impressed by your posts on here.
Will you be at DCC this year?


Varney Cues said:
What about me for example. I've been building cues for years and do work for many of the worlds best players. I'm definately not unknown...except maybe to some far away with no online access. I don't have the name like Searing or Hercek...but I'm no rookie or new cuemaker for sure. Take my high end cue for sale now on the forum...it would be over $2000 by many other makers. It has the same high quality & parts...and may even play better than many bigger names. I did not price it at $2000....I was more than fair at $1000 considering the time & cost that went into this cue. Is $1000 too high? I don't think so...especially after you hold it/play with it and get to realize in person the high level of quality that went into it. Should I offer it for less because a couple of clowns think I'm nobody? Hardly. I can walk it into any poolroom in the area and sell it without question, many times over. I just wanted to offer a nicer cue, as requested, to AZB members. Now my work & name are being knocked by a couple of trolls who follow my post around only trying to ruin me. Some have no idea what can happen when you try to mess with how a man feeds his family. I can not be more clear.
Click to expand...
 
I think the recent issues have a lot to do with locality. If you can sell a cue for $1500 to someone down the street, why would you sell it for $1000 to some people on a website? Because you want to put your name out on a wider scale? Because a large number of folks requested some higher-end cues from you after getting a taste of the craftsmanship? Whatever the reason, it's out there for $1000 and I wish I had that to spare :P
 
Ruthless said:
Huh?........I've never heard anything but good reviews on your cues.

Maybe I missed something.
Click to expand...

you didn't miss anything really, just some thin-veiled bashing.. it's really not that bad but could definitely be taken very seriously if that's your livelyhood someone's messing with.
 
Hierovision said:
I think the recent issues have a lot to do with locality. If you can sell a cue for $1500 to someone down the street, why would you sell it for $1000 to some people on a website? Because you want to put your name out on a wider scale? Because a large number of folks requested some higher-end cues from you after getting a taste of the craftsmanship? Whatever the reason, it's out there for $1000 and I wish I had that to spare :P
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I've never seen a picture or a price on a Varney hustler - do you have that information?
 
I went back & read your thread on high end
cues and saw some of the shots taken at you.
You leave youself vulnerable by touting your
product on a forum.
Some years ago on the Playpool Forum , Leonard
Bludworth got livid over the shots taken at him.
A year or so ago the same thing happened to
Paul Drexler on here.
I told Drexler about what Bludworth went through
and told him that the more he defended himself
the worse it would get.
So he just stopped arguing with them and it stopped.
If they'll attack 2 old legends like Bludworth
and Drexler, it shows you that nobody's safe.
Like I said, I've heard a lot of good things about
your cues.


Varney Cues said:
What about me for example. I've been building cues for years and do work for many of the worlds best players. I'm definately not unknown...except maybe to some far away with no online access. I don't have the name like Searing or Hercek...but I'm no rookie or new cuemaker for sure. Take my high end cue for sale now on the forum...it would be over $2000 by many other makers. It has the same high quality & parts...and may even play better than many bigger names. I did not price it at $2000....I was more than fair at $1000 considering the time & cost that went into this cue. Is $1000 too high? I don't think so...especially after you hold it/play with it and get to realize in person the high level of quality that went into it. Should I offer it for less because a couple of clowns think I'm nobody? Hardly. I can walk it into any poolroom in the area and sell it without question, many times over. I just wanted to offer a nicer cue, as requested, to AZB members. Now my work & name are being knocked by a couple of trolls who follow my post around only trying to ruin me. Some have no idea what can happen when you try to mess with how a man feeds his family. I can not be more clear.
Click to expand...
 
While the materials on a cue are a small percentage of the cost, it's a combination of the time (labor), materials, and operating overhead, that determines the cost to produce a cue. It's supply and demand that determine the market value of the cue. It's likely the combination of these factors that determines the price a cuemaker charges.

Chris
 
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