What is the best way to get the most money out of selling my Balabushka Cue?

B

Bill Yerd

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I want to get the most money as possible out of a Balabushka Cue that I have.
It has a Letter of Authenticity and a brief description from Pete Tascarella.
I also have a hand written and signed letter from the original owner describing, in great detail, how he met George and purchased the cue and vinyl case from George in Georges garage.
The cue is in almost perfect original condition and still has the original tip and vinyl case.
I am not in a hurry for the money.
It is more important that I sell this cue for as much money as possible.
I am in the Tampa Bay area in Florida.
I have done some research using the 3rd Edition of the Blue Book Of Cues and have calculated that the cue is worth approximately $12,500 according to the information in the Blue Book Of Cues.
Is there a way to have the value of the cue appraised by a well known and reputable expert?
If so, what would be the estimated cost to have that done?
It was suggested to me to create a website to advertise the cue.
Please provide any information and or techniques that you think will help me to get the most money out of this cue.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
 
Pics please

Are you able to post any pics of your Balabushka?I am positive someone here on the forum could help with your sale.There is some serious cue experts on this site.Good luck with your sale!I recomend starting a for sale thread here.:cool:
 
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unfortunately now is not the time to sell unless you are willing to accept alot less than 12.5k. The collectibles market is down considerably and follows the overall economy. You probably know all this.

You will have to strike a chord with that special buyer who is not price sensitive. I would suggest getting detailed pics of the cue and publishing them both here and on Ebay. Ebay is not necessarily the place you will sell it, you are mainly trying to get eyeballs on the cue and then hopefully you can work with the buyer off of ebay. Be careful selling this cue to anyone who wants you to ship overseas. I wouldnt do any deal outside of the USA unless it was a bank wire. Certified checks are counterfeited these days, same goes with postal money orders and of course regular checks. Ixnay on paypal completely for this item too.
 
Welcome to the forum.

Bill Yerd said:
I want to get the most money as possible out of a Balabushka Cue that I have.
It has a Letter of Authenticity and a brief description from Pete Tascarella.
I also have a hand written and signed letter from the original owner describing, in great detail, how he met George and purchased the cue and vinyl case from George in Georges garage.
The cue is in almost perfect original condition and still has the original tip and vinyl case.
I am not in a hurry for the money.
It is more important that I sell this cue for as much money as possible.
I am in the Tampa Bay area in Florida.
I have done some research using the 3rd Edition of the Blue Book Of Cues and have calculated that the cue is worth approximately $12,500 according to the information in the Blue Book Of Cues.
Is there a way to have the value of the cue appraised by a well known and reputable expert?
If so, what would be the estimated cost to have that done?
It was suggested to me to create a website to advertise the cue.
Please provide any information and or techniques that you think will help me to get the most money out of this cue.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum. :cool: Where do you play?
We have lots of members in the Tampa Bay area. Do you know any of them?
Were you privilege to know our Dearly Departed Smorgg? RIP
Good Luck with your cue. We have many highly experienced cue collectors/apraisers that post. You will probably need to arrange escrow thru one of them. Hand to Hand delivery would be nice. The right buyer would go to Florida and pick it up.
To start you could post a quick picture of what you have on top of todays newspaper.Better pics would need to follow. Good Luck :smile:
 
Bill Yerd said:
I want to get the most money as possible out of a Balabushka Cue that I have.
It has a Letter of Authenticity and a brief description from Pete Tascarella.
I also have a hand written and signed letter from the original owner describing, in great detail, how he met George and purchased the cue and vinyl case from George in Georges garage.
The cue is in almost perfect original condition and still has the original tip and vinyl case.
I am not in a hurry for the money.
It is more important that I sell this cue for as much money as possible.
I am in the Tampa Bay area in Florida.
I have done some research using the 3rd Edition of the Blue Book Of Cues and have calculated that the cue is worth approximately $12,500 according to the information in the Blue Book Of Cues.
Is there a way to have the value of the cue appraised by a well known and reputable expert?
If so, what would be the estimated cost to have that done?
It was suggested to me to create a website to advertise the cue.
Please provide any information and or techniques that you think will help me to get the most money out of this cue.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Click to expand...

Getting it sold for a fair price to a reliable buyer would be my goal, and unless you have a lot of experience selling cues, I would probably be looking for help. The sellers who can get a good price will charge you a commission. You can try to sell it here on AZ if you have a good idea of the value.

If you're looking for a general value, Pete Tascarella is good with values. Balabushka's are always going to bring big dollars. If you don't have experience selling cues, I recommend that you have someone with a lot of experience sell the cues for you.

Ken Kerner posts as Highendcues and I think he would be a good seller. Another person who has a great touch moving high end cues is Kevin Brewer, who sells primarily on E-bay and also posts here (he sold a $55,000 Szamboti on E-Bay!!!) . Mark Kulungian and Joe Van Buren sell cues on consignment through their web site, www.classiccues.com

You will have to pay a commission to these gentlemen, but they are likely to get you a decent price for your cue.

Chris
 
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Who was the cue made for ?

Bill Yerd said:
I want to get the most money as possible out of a Balabushka Cue that I have.
It has a Letter of Authenticity and a brief description from Pete Tascarella.
I also have a hand written and signed letter from the original owner describing, in great detail, how he met George and purchased the cue and vinyl case from George in Georges garage.
The cue is in almost perfect original condition and still has the original tip and vinyl case.
I am not in a hurry for the money.
It is more important that I sell this cue for as much money as possible.
I am in the Tampa Bay area in Florida.
I have done some research using the 3rd Edition of the Blue Book Of Cues and have calculated that the cue is worth approximately $12,500 according to the information in the Blue Book Of Cues.
Is there a way to have the value of the cue appraised by a well known and reputable expert?
If so, what would be the estimated cost to have that done?
It was suggested to me to create a website to advertise the cue.
Please provide any information and or techniques that you think will help me to get the most money out of this cue.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Click to expand...

You said you had the letter from the original owner,,Who was it made for ? that might weigh in on the value of the cue.
 
The consignment guys Tate listed are great. Mark K is the guy who sold me my Gus and he has been at it dealing high end cues for a long while. Those guys are like the late John Wright, they have rolodexes filled with the names of cue buyers, some who may not necessarily surf online alot and might miss Ebay or AZ sales.
 
This is an exciting thread. Please keep us posted and let us know what you eventually decide to do.

I know several people who buy high end cues, but as many as said - posting pics will help.

Good luck.
 
TATE said:
Getting it sold for a fair price to a reliable buyer would be my goal, and unless you have a lot of experience selling cues, I would probably be looking for help. The sellers who can get a good price will charge you a commission. You can try to sell it here on AZ if you have a good idea of the value.

If you're looking for a general value, Pete Tascarella is good with values. Balabushka's are always going to bring big dollars. If you don't have experience selling cues, I recommend that you have someone with a lot of experience sell the cues for you.

Ken Kerner posts as Highendcues and I think he would be a good seller. Another person who has a great touch moving high end cues is Kevin Brewer, who sells primarily on E-bay and also posts here (he sold a $55,000 Szamboti on E-Bay!!!) . Mark Kulungian and Joe Van Buren sell cues on consignment through their web site, www.classiccues.com

You will have to pay a commission to these gentlemen, but they are likely to get you a decent price for your cue.

Chris
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OK, Ken Kerner, Kevin Brewer, Mark Kulungian or Joe Van Buren please PM me and we will workout the details. I have a few images I can email to you.
Thanks for the info TATE.
 
Bill Yerd said:
OK, Ken Kerner, Kevin Brewer, Mark Kulungian or Joe Van Buren please PM me and we will workout the details. I have a few images I can email to you.
Thanks for the info TATE.
Click to expand...

Who was the cue built for ? I have a friend that might be really interested.
 
rackem said:
Welcome to the forum. :cool: Where do you play?
We have lots of members in the Tampa Bay area. Do you know any of them?
Were you privilege to know our Dearly Departed Smorgg? RIP
Good Luck with your cue. We have many highly experienced cue collectors/appraisers that post. You will probably need to arrange escrow thru one of them. Hand to Hand delivery would be nice. The right buyer would go to Florida and pick it up.
To start you could post a quick picture of what you have on top of todays newspaper.Better pics would need to follow. Good Luck :smile:
Click to expand...
I am not sure who Smorg is.
I purchased some cues that belonged to Nick Casale who played out of Strokers and died a couple years ago.
He was a fairly well know player around here and collected cues also.
 
Bill Yerd said:
It wasn't built for any body specifically.
Click to expand...

??? I was under the impression that George didn't build cues except to order. I've never heard that anyone brokered cues for him or that he made extra cues just to sell if someone just wanted one and didn't care what was in it or what it looked like. I could be wrong but that is what I've always understood.
 
A) Post some pictures here.

B) Listen to Tate, he knows what he is talking about.

While you are at it, post pictures of the rest of the cues in your collection, we like to look at cues on this website.
 
Pushout said:
??? I was under the impression that George didn't build cues except to order. I've never heard that anyone brokered cues for him or that he made extra cues just to sell if someone just wanted one and didn't care what was in it or what it looked like. I could be wrong but that is what I've always understood.
Click to expand...
That's excellent news.
That means my cue is even more rare than I thought and hopefully more valuable.
 
Bill Yerd said:
I also have a hand written and signed letter from the original owner describing, in great detail, how he met George and purchased the cue and vinyl case from George in Georges garage.
Click to expand...


Whoever the original owner was the one it was built for..Who was the original owner ?
 
Pushout said:
??? I was under the impression that George didn't build cues except to order. I've never heard that anyone brokered cues for him or that he made extra cues just to sell if someone just wanted one and didn't care what was in it or what it looked like. I could be wrong but that is what I've always understood.
Click to expand...

He would often come in the pool room with a cue he had built and sell it.
 
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