ScottR said:
If you are talking about designing a new cue with a maker and getting it in a short amount of time, the names above will get you a great cue. However, like someone said, you will take a hit if you want to turn the cue in the short term. Unless you get a "wholesale" price from them, retail prices suck (as a seller) right now.
If you want to shop around and get a cue that is "new" to you, but used in real life, you won't lose money on Hercek & Searing. However, they are $2k and up in price and their wait lists are NOT short. Under $2k, I can recommend Mottey, White and Scruggs. Not to knock others mentioned above, these three I personally love the hit of and the workmanship is great.
VF is probably your best bet. I've been told that if you can't find a cue there, you ain't lookin'!
I agree with everything you've said here except, "Unless you get a "wholesale" price from them, retail prices suck (as a seller) right now". That's not necessarily always the case. There are still some exceptions to be found. One that certainly comes to mind is Joel Hercek. His "retail" price on a very fancy cue is still around $3000. But due to the great demand for his work these days, the "market" price for that same $3000 cue would most likely be $3800-$4000, maybe even somewhat more if it's a killer design. But Joel's waiting list is about 6 years now, so if you ain't on it, then you couldn't take advantage of the current market. Same story with South West.
I suspect that it would be tough to get any legitimate cue maker to "wholesale" somebody a single cue. Usually to get any kind of a deal like that there has to be a long-term commitment (then you're not just a consumer but a dealer). And even at that, there are cue makers that do not offer discounts of any kind.
There are a lot of factors when you talk about the subject of price within the collectible cue market.
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So with that in mind, for the original poster, my nominations for best value in a new cue direct from the cuemaker with excellent resale value in the $2k and under range are:
The top based on my experience....Hercek, Searing, South West, Mottey, White, Zylr, Judd, Blue Grass, and Gilbert....some are obviously A LOT harder to get your hands on than others.
A lower end Gina, Tad, Cognoscenti, Bender, or nice design Skip Weston will also hold its value pretty well in your price range.
There are some other very respected cuemakers out there that offer cues in this price range, but their fancier stuff ($3-$4k and up) has much better resale in the current market than their entry-level cues.
ScottR is dead on....if you can't find a cue at Valley Forge in your budget ($500-$20,000), then you either ain't looking or are very, very, very picky.
Sean
