What is up with SouthWest Cues?

brandoncook26 said:
Joe said above that a few years ago they were barely making ends meet. I would doubt highly anyone in cuemaking is "raking it in". I would think Ernie probably makes more than anyone if I had to guess, just because of his machines and the process he makes cues through.
Click to expand...

8 years worth of people waiting to pay 2k+ cash for a cue sounds like they've gotta be doing pretty well. how many cues do you think they put out a month? that times $2000 sounds pretty decent to me

i figure they've been in business long enough to have all their equipment paid off by now
 
brandoncook26 said:
Joe said above that a few years ago they were barely making ends meet. I would doubt highly anyone in cuemaking is "raking it in". I would think Ernie probably makes more than anyone if I had to guess, just because of his machines and the process he makes cues through.
Click to expand...

If a company has a 8 year+ wait list of customers waiting in the wings to buy your product and you are not doing VERY good business you are doing things VERY wrong.
 
Roadkill said:
Thanks for the responses.

I understand that they make a good product but I think giving dates that never happen over and over is unacceptable even if their cues are holy and made by living gods. ((:bow-down:)) I would much rather they go ahead and tell me that it will be 3 more years, so I can plan accordingly. That would make my wait a nice even 15 years. Whoo Hooo!! LOL
Click to expand...

If you dont want to wait I would be happy to take your spot. I'll even pay you double what you paid for it.
 
Celtic said:
If a company has a 8 year+ wait list of customers waiting in the wings to buy your product and you are not doing VERY good business you are doing things VERY wrong.
Click to expand...

I have no idea of their business model. I am only going by what Joe posted earlier in this thread. Myself, I would love to have an ebony southwest with some smaller shafts.

JCIN said:
If you dont want to wait I would be happy to take your spot. I'll even pay you double what you paid for it.
Click to expand...

Lol, can I get in line behind you for the next spot?
 
Southwest has created this "wait" to create the impression of rarity.

Does Southwest make a good cue? Yep, great shafts, great playability. Best cue? No, I dont think so.

IT IS A PRODUCTION CUE, IT ISNT A CUSTOM CUE. You get to pick the woods and they veneers. You dont get to pick joint, inlays, and most other things that I consider a true custom cue.

The long wait was "created" because every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, can call up, get on the list, and wait. This used to be an easy way to make a few hundred on a cue. Once you got it, or nearly got it, you could sell it. I have bought tons of them. Laurie has now changed where you cant make that money and she sells it at "market value" at the time of sale.:rolleyes:

Laurie and the Southwest crew makes lots and lots of cues. They got the Kersenbrock formula and used the "McDonalds" approach of cuemaking.

JMO

Ken
 
9ballrob said:
I wonder how far they would be out if they made everone pay 25% down with their order?
Click to expand...

100% right on your 25% down.

However, I am dealing with a cuemaker that didnt make his schedule delivery with a 25% deposit.

CUEMAKERS :mad:

Ken
 
mantis99 said:
How can you possibly defend this type of business practice. They should stop taking orders on cues if they are this far behind, and start taking them again when they start to get caught up. A minimum of 3 yrs more than the original time estimate is not acceptable buisness.
Click to expand...

They dont take any money to put your name on the list. Who cares how long it takes. If the buyer gets tired of waiting or pissed he just walks away without ever having risked anything but a phone call. You dont order a SW cause you want to play with it at Nationals next year.

I understand being pissed about delays once the process starts but it is what it is. Its a small business dealing in handcrafted items made out of natural materials. The very perfect storm for "shit happens"

Laurie and crew do the best they can. This I know.
 
10 years c'mon. Are they building a rocket ship? It' s a cue. How can they possibly make any money if it takes that long. Does not say much for their product if it takes that long. Maybe i should apply for a job with them if they pay by the hour.
 
Ken_4fun said:
Southwest has created this "wait" to create the impression of rarity.

Does Southwest make a good cue? Yep, great shafts, great playability. Best cue? No, I dont think so.

IT IS A PRODUCTION CUE, IT ISNT A CUSTOM CUE. You get to pick the woods and they veneers. You dont get to pick joint, inlays, and most other things that I consider a true custom cue.

The long wait was "created" because every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, can call up, get on the list, and wait. This used to be an easy way to make a few hundred on a cue. Once you got it, or nearly got it, you could sell it. I have bought tons of them. Laurie has now changed where you cant make that money and she sells it at "market value" at the time of sale.:rolleyes:

Laurie and the Southwest crew makes lots and lots of cues. They got the Kersenbrock formula and used the "McDonalds" approach of cuemaking.

JMO

Ken
Click to expand...
For a non" custom" cue they have better quality control and end product than 90% of every "custom" cuemaker out there. I wonder why it is you hear the term "hits like a SW" used so much? Why have so many people knocked off EXACTLY that style of cue?

How many people in the for sale forum wish their "custom" cue held value like a "production" SW ?

Every once in awhile these SW hating threads pop up for some reason. I guess when you are at the top of the heap its inevitable some people are gonna wanna push you off.
 
Delusional said:
10 years c'mon. Are they building a rocket ship? It' s a cue. How can they possibly make any money if it takes that long. Does not say much for their product if it takes that long. Maybe i should apply for a job with them if they pay by the hour.
Click to expand...

I dont know the numbers exactly and wouldnt say if I did but a giant year for SW is 200 cues. Most years in the recent past as far as I know they do about half that or a little more. You can order two cues a year. For years many people had a standing order of two cues a year.

So if you only have 150 people ordering two cues a year and you only make 100-150 cues a year it doesnt take long for that to get out of hand. I would say any company that has a ten year wait and running at full capacity probably has a product that is very much in demand.
 
Delusional said:
10 years c'mon. Are they building a rocket ship? It' s a cue. How can they possibly make any money if it takes that long. Does not say much for their product if it takes that long. Maybe i should apply for a job with them if they pay by the hour.
Click to expand...


It doesn't take them 10 years to make a cue. There are 10 year's worth (about 2500) people waiting for one. First in first out. And that's with them limiting people to 1 per year.
 
JCIN said:
For a non" custom" cue they have better quality control and end product than 90% of every "custom" cuemaker out there. I wonder why it is you hear the term "hits like a SW" used so much? Why have so many people knocked off EXACTLY that style of cue?

How many people in the for sale forum wish their "custom" cue held value like a "production" SW ?

Every once in awhile these SW hating threads pop up for some reason. I guess when you are at the top of the heap its inevitable some people are gonna wanna push you off.
Click to expand...

Once again I will explain it for you. As you often say, "You missed my point".

I said their shafts are excellent. Great taper, excellent playablity. The point you missed is, there are alot of great cuemakers that you can work with and have a "custom" made cue. Hell, Palmer had catalog cues and still you could have them "custom" make it.

Barry Szam is another one, that is quoted as best built cue. But if you look at Barry's or Southwest cue veneer work, well...lets just say that there are better ones out there.

I am not trying to knock SW, but I am not like alot of folks on here that think they are far superior to several cuemakers out there.

As posted on this thread the wait is created by not having a deposit needed. They build tons of cues, they are far from rare, they play great, they sell great.

As you noted "it is what it is".

Ken
 
Last edited:
JCIN said:
For what purpose?
Click to expand...

For the purpose of clearing out the issue, because the two statements below don't make any sense. Maybe then it wouldn't go over my or anybody else's head.

I asked you a valid question, because I didn't know exactly what SW does in their dealings, but I have heard over the years from various sources that they indeed take some down payment on orders. Your first post below also points in this direction, yet contradicts your second one.

So which one? Not trying to mock anybody here, just want to know the truth.

JCIN said:
If you dont want to wait I would be happy to take your spot. I'll even pay you double what you paid for it.
Click to expand...

JCIN said:
They dont take any money to put your name on the list.
Click to expand...
 
JCIN said:
They dont take any money to put your name on the list. Who cares how long it takes. If the buyer gets tired of waiting or pissed he just walks away without ever having risked anything but a phone call.
Click to expand...

Can't go wrong with this kind of policy. Wait or Don't wait. No money lost. No disappointment.
The only thing I would wait 8-10 years for is an Organ...Heart, Lungs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top