What's A Name Worth?

[HawaiianEye]

Let's say a person had 3 Titlist butts of equal quality and wanted a cue maker to make them a simple conversion cue with a stainless steel joint, delrin butt cap, black collars, and Irish linen wrap. The cue maker could supply the shaft, ferrule, and tip of his choice.

Let's also say all of the cues were to be made to the same dimensions...weight, length, balance point, shaft diameter, etc.

So we farm these orders out to 3 cue makers...one top tier, one well known-but not top tier, and the other to a lesser known person who makes quality cues.

Other than the "name" attached to the person converting the cue, what would make one cue be worth more than the others? Using the exact same materials, would one cue maker be able to make a cue that "really stood out" compared to the others? I would have to assume that allowing the cue maker to provide his own shaft, and choice of ferrule and tip would make the cues play differently.

I see all kinds of cues for sale on here (especially conversions) that I can't begin to comprehend how one that is almost "identical" to the others is quadruple the price of the others.

I can see cues that have a lot of inlays and fancy stuff costing lots of money, but when I see a simple Dufferin conversion with no inlays with an outrageous asking price I wonder exactly "what a name is worth". I can see if the cue maker is no longer around (Balabushka, Szamboti, Rambow...), but I can't understand what one cue maker could do to a simple conversion that would justify the enormous price differences.

 

[Eagleshot]

Good question

I'm looking forward to the responses here. IMO they should be within $100 of each other

The x factors being ,as with any craftsman, the "hourly rate" of the master vs journeyman vs novice. Also the waiting list or "in demand" factor.

Analogies - your having a deck built and getting 3 estimates


- you need a lawyer to represent you in a criminal case, in which you are innocent

 

[Ghosst]

I have an original, unused (played perhaps 10 shots total) Dufferin Sneaky Pete. Factory made in Canada, no dings, dents, or marks.

$4200. No trades.

If I get the joint replaced and add a Hoppe Ring it's $4500.

Sounds fair, right?

 

[rayjay]

"Top Tier" got up there for a reason. Their products are obviously above all the others, agreed by those who know the difference. How many cuemakers are there, and how many "top tier" cuemakers are there...alive and dead? Cues of all kinds are collected, for both playability and art...reputation and supply/demand creates value. Anybody can use a house cue if they want to and not pay a cent for it. Drive a Mercedes or a Kia, they'll all get you there. I saw an old chair on Antiques Roadshow a few weeks ago that would really make you gasp...!! I can get a chair for a lot less.

 

[Black-Balled]

I'm looking forward to the responses here. IMO they should be within $100 of each other
The x factors being ,as with any craftsman, the "hourly rate" of the master vs journeyman vs novice. Also the waiting list or "in demand" factor.

Analogies - your having a deck built and getting 3 estimates


- you need a lawyer to represent you in a criminal case, in which you are innocent

Are you serious or are you jokie?

 

[RRfireblade]

The points are this....

The big name will mostly 'guarantee' that you'll get a great job, thus the 'big name' he has earned while with the others, there may be more risk involved.

The big name has obviously been around longer and he will have always 'been around longer'. It's also likely to assume that he will support his work longer as well.

The big name builder will certainly add more value to the build long term because his name and reputation will travel with the cue well past the others.

And lastly, you WILL be paying more for the big name build , he's earned it, and anyone interested in that cue will also know that.

Everything else runs down hill from there.

 

[PGHteacher]

Let's say a person had 3 Titlist butts of equal quality and wanted a cue maker to make them a simple conversion cue with a stainless steel joint, delrin butt cap, black collars, and Irish linen wrap. The cue maker could supply the shaft, ferrule, and tip of his choice.

Let's also say all of the cues were to be made to the same dimensions...weight, length, balance point, shaft diameter, etc.

So we farm these orders out to 3 cue makers...one top tier, one well known-but not top tier, and the other to a lesser known person who makes quality cues.

Other than the "name" attached to the person converting the cue, what would make one cue be worth more than the others?

As with any product how much it is worth is how much it is worth as perceived by the buyer; there is a cliché to cover this “one mans trash is another mans treasure”

Using the exact same materials, would one cue maker be able to make a cue that "really stood out" compared to the others?

Possibly, but you don’t know what tier that “the best” (and that is subjective anyway) would come out of.

I would have to assume that allowing the cue maker to provide his own shaft, and choice of ferrule and tip would make the cues play differently.

Yup

I see all kinds of cues for sale on here (especially conversions) that I can't begin to comprehend how one that is almost "identical" to the others is quadruple the price of the others.

I can see cues that have a lot of inlays and fancy stuff costing lots of money, but when I see a simple Dufferin conversion with no inlays with an outrageous asking price I wonder exactly "what a name is worth". I can see if the cue maker is no longer around (Balabushka, Szamboti, Rambow...), but I can't understand what one cue maker could do to a simple conversion that would justify the enormous price differences.

So to the “what’s in a name” question here is my answer.

$0 to me; $10,000 to someone somewhere, depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to play pool with it the name should mean $0, if you want to get into a pissing contest while playing pool you should look for the more expensive route.

My cues are not cheap McDermott’s and yes they are “a name” but I like my $290 McD just as much as I like my $780 but if I found a no name $100 cue that played better I would use it. If I played better with a $10,000 cue I would buy it, to me looking at it any other way is absurd and I have met lots of absurd people out there.