Why are people willing to wait???

JBCustomCues

JBCustomCues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just wondering what would posess someone to wait for 6,7 or even 8 years for a cue to be built. I'm not trying to bash anyone but are these cues that great that people are willing to wait the better half of a decade for them. And then to top it off they pay an ungodly amount for something that should'nt cost more that $500. Then to make things even better the person that waited for so long to get this cue turn around and sell it for a profit because thay know that there is a very long wait and people are willing to pay that much more just for that fact. But anyways in your opinion what makes these cues worth waiting for? Is it the construction of the cue? Who built it? What do you guys think.
 

And then to top it off they pay an ungodly amount for something that should'nt cost more that $500
You being in the cuemaking business shouldn't say that.
You think a veneered cue with quality seasoned woods and two AAA grade shafts shouldn't cost more than $500?
Is it even worth your time to make a 6-pointer with veneers or Fullsplice with veneers with great woods for $500?

Most people wait for a Hercek, Szambotti, Black Boar and SW that long b/c there is pride in owning it or there is profit in getting it.
They are pool cues. They better be constructed well and hit really well to cost that much.
 
Why people wait

Some of it's greed, they know they can sell it and make a profit. But why can they sell it. Reputation of the cuemaker, that's why. They all worked long and hard to get where they are and they don't control the market. If their cues are so overpriced, they would still be hanging in the shop. Trouble with the business now a days is someone buys a small lathe, glues up a couple of peices of wood, hacks or gouges out some inlays and presto chango they are cue makers. Hell some even call themselves masters. Just this morning I changed an outside light fixture, guess I'm a master electrician. Bet if I was charging 150.00 per hour to fix lights, I'd be pretty short of customers. Sorry for the ranting, been in the shop to much lately. Fumes are getting to me.
 
Just this morning I changed an outside light fixture, guess I'm a master electrician

Not until you come out with a DVD on how to change light fixtures. :D
 
I"m Not A Cuemaker But......

cutter said:
Trouble with the business now a days is someone buys a small lathe, glues up a couple of peices of wood, hacks or gouges out some inlays and presto chango they are cue makers. Hell some even call themselves masters. Sorry for the ranting, been in the shop to much lately. Fumes are getting to me.
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I don't know whether to laugh or cry about some of these guys that buy some wood, purchase a lathe, glue some pieces together and call themselves cuemakers. Even stranger than that is the folks that actually send these "cuemakers" some semi-serious $$$ for cues from these relatively unknown, untried cuemakers.

I'm not a cuemaker (sorry for posting here) but I've seen some of the stuff that these guys put out and for the same amount of $$$ they can purchase a cue from a known cuemaker with an established reputation with a proven track record - whats wrong with this picture.......:confused:
 
Once again not meaning to step on anyones toes but I have seen cues that dont have any inlays, points, veneers or anything. The only thing they have is some stich rings and two shafts and they are selling for as high as $2000. The only thing that I can figure is people want to own the cue with the high end name. I know that there plenty are cue makers out there that make a great hitting cue for half the price. Thats just my 2 cents.
 
waiting in line and paying for the privilege is the price you pay for quality.

young newbie qmaker might build a quality cue, but no one knows about it,,,and he still has to build prestige/identity/reputation.

that's business. people stand in line to see a great movie. they're not going to see "ishtar" because there's no wait. same with a restaurant.

you say there's plenty of qmakers who make great cues at a fraction of the cost. i don't believe it is so, but even if it were true that's no entitlement. one builds a rep over time....you EARN your spurs.
 
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JBCustomCues said:
Once again not meaning to step on anyones toes but I have seen cues that dont have any inlays, points, veneers or anything. The only thing they have is some stich rings and two shafts and they are selling for as high as $2000. The only thing that I can figure is people want to own the cue with the high end name. I know that there plenty are cue makers out there that make a great hitting cue for half the price. Thats just my 2 cents.
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so first it was a quarter the price ? ($500)

and now its up half already? ($1000)
 
Why are poeple willing to wait

That's all part of my plan, I'm going down to home depot and buy up a bunch of light bulbs, repackage them as master electrician light bulbs and sell them on ebay. Imagine how much I can make on electrical tape and tools. I'm planning on calling the first DVD in the series, introduction to electricity. May have a few cameo shots with Ben Franklin.
As I said before, sorry for the tirade, not really trying to pick on anyone. I guess I spent to much time in a business where what you said to other people had life or death ramifications. OK I'm off the soap box now.
I remember John Showman walking around the Hopkin's show years ago with some 5 veneer 4 point cues. I won't even mention what he was asking for them. I took one look at them and said wow!!, this guy has talent. Look at all the currency cues, wow!!, those guy's(girl) have talent. You can read all the books you want, and you can watch VHS tapes or even now DVD's. They may teach you mechanics, but they sure won't teach you talent. It's either God given or hard earned. When you look at a piece of wood, it has to look back. Chester Krick use to say that the greatest thrill on earth was that moment when you are polishing a cue and the haze breaks and the beauty of it all shines thru. :)
 
I know that there plenty are cue makers out there that make a GREAT hitting cue for half the price. Thats just my 2 cents.


Sorry, but I doubt it.
Believe me JB, if some maker makes GREAT hitting cues, the word would spread fast.
If someone out there has the Hercek, SW, Searing or DPK hit, his name will get out fast.
 
I believe a Cue buyer wait what ever is necessary to get what they want because of the Laws of Supply & Demand.

Also if a Cuemaker can only produce “X” Number of Cues per year, and has 7 times that number of Cues ordered, and is not willing to compromise their quality of Cue that is part of the wait process.

I personally am waiting upon the delivery of (3) Southwest Cues, when I get them I will not keep them. But instead will sell them for a profit if Southwest are still a HOT Cue when my Southwest Orders are due to be built.
 
I personally am waiting upon the delivery of (3) Southwest Cues, when I get them I will not keep them. But instead will sell them for a profit if Southwest are still a HOT Cue when my Southwest Orders are due to be built.

There is nothing morally wrong in doing that but I despise such practice.

I think SW should stop taking orders now .
Just make cues and sell them after all orders have been delivered.
 
TooManyCues said:
I believe a Cue buyer wait what ever is necessary to get what they want because of the Laws of Supply & Demand.

Also if a Cuemaker can only produce “X” Number of Cues per year, and has 7 times that number of Cues ordered, and is not willing to compromise their quality of Cue that is part of the wait process.

I personally am waiting upon the delivery of (3) Southwest Cues, when I get them I will not keep them. But instead will sell them for a profit if Southwest are still a HOT Cue when my Southwest Orders are due to be built.
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I know we live in the world of capitalism and I respect that. I am on the list for a Southwest also. Not to make a profit but to use it. I wont pay 2000 for a plane jane cue. It would be nice if the profiteers would stay out of the list but if you call Southwest and say I want 5 cues,Laurie knows what you are doing. That is there choice to allow people to make a large profit on there cues. It is aggervating that somebody can make a 500-1000 dollar profit on something that has no risk and they had no hand in its creation but hey thats America.
 
JBCustomCues said:
Once again not meaning to step on anyones toes but I have seen cues that dont have any inlays, points, veneers or anything. The only thing they have is some stich rings and two shafts and they are selling for as high as $2000. The only thing that I can figure is people want to own the cue with the high end name. I know that there plenty are cue makers out there that make a great hitting cue for half the price. Thats just my 2 cents.
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Some people want the orginal of something. Take SW for example. They are the one who popularized the 3/8-11 thread pin with flat minor diameter. Tad with his unusual rings and such. I even took a plain no point Tad in on trade a couple of weeks ago and only got $300 to boot for a very nice 4 point cue loaded with large abalone inlays and Ringtail lizard wrap. I wanted one of Tad's cues for my Hall of Fame collection. Herceck is popular because he kept Burton Spains shop going after Burton passed away. So he is the one who kept full splice veneered cues going.
What it takes to get to that point can be as simple as the right person saying this is the best cuemaker in the world. How often do you hear that about Tony at Black Boar or David Kersenbrock? Tibbitts is an example of this. John Wright proclaimed him to be the best cuemaker in the world and on John's word Danny went from being a local cuemaker getting a few hundred $$ for a four point cue to getting $1800 in a short period of time for the same speed cue. Now his four pointer with a few inlays will fetch close to $5000. Joey Gold coming out with his G-10 pin and fancy inlays at the right time rocketed him to the top. Now all of these cuemakers designs and methods have been duplicated many times over, but the people don't get the price the originals get. Kinda like a Rembrant or someone doing his quality of work without his name. They may get there dollar wise one day, but then again they may not.
I can load a cue with ivory and rubies and get $5000 to $6000 for it and others get twice that for a cue not as fancy. That is just how things go. It is harder to establish yourself above the crowd now because there are so many cuemakers.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
Well thanks to all who replied. I was'nt meaning to chap anyones behind. Its just interesting to see what people think when this kind of subject is brought up.
 
Supply and Demand

I'd say supply and demand. You may have a cue you hit great with but you want X's cue because you hear some much good about it. There are a lot of new cue makers popping up, I won't say good or bad becuase I haven't hit them all and I think hit is somewhat subjective. I've had a few cues from different cue makers that are very popular and I just couldn't get used to them so I sold them. I will not say they are bad or this is better, just that it wasn't for me you know. I have heard a lot of people bragging about certain cues and the way they hit cause they have one on order but yet have never hit with one? Guess this could go on for ever....
 
I've said it before & I'll mention it again. This is my 20th year as a Qmaker(some prefer Qbuilder). I make a really good Q. Solid hitting & good looking. I was lucky enough to meet Joel Hercek, shortly after he took over from Burton Spain. He made me a Q that was THE best hitting Q I ever had. I E- MAILED Joel when I had an opportunity to sell it,along with my 40 + Q collection. He said sell it & make some money. I can always make you another. I have people double their puchace price, on one of my Qs & I say "GOD BLESS YOU".
I am a Qmaker & if I wern't 65 yeras old, I would put in an order for a Hercek Q tomorrow. BECAUSE his QS are special & mine are just good. THAT REQUIRES A BIGGER PRICE TAG...JER
 
works of art

Maybe the same thing could be said about collecting paintings from famous artists, a Renwa or Van Gogh. Merely oil paint for a couple of bucks and a sheet of canvas for pennies. But it's mosty all about the artist himself and his work, the arrangement and the creation that can make it priceless! I personally wouldn't go there on this forum, I can say for sure that it's pure passion that drives cuemakers to make what they do, whether simple or elaborate, and for many of us, that's what makes it worth the wait!
 
Hit Man said:
Maybe the same thing could be said about collecting paintings from famous artists, a Renwa or Van Gogh. Merely oil paint for a couple of bucks and a sheet of canvas for pennies. But it's mosty all about the artist himself and his work, the arrangement and the creation that can make it priceless! I personally wouldn't go there on this forum, I can say for sure that it's pure passion that drives cuemakers to make what they do, whether simple or elaborate, and for many of us, that's what makes it worth the wait!
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in some cases,,,tate and fast n loose for instance, they made a synergistic connection with their qmaker of choice. most always, that is what happens between artist and collector.
 
JBCustomCues said:
Just wondering what would posess someone to wait for 6,7 or even 8 years for a cue to be built. I'm not trying to bash anyone but are these cues that great that people are willing to wait the better half of a decade for them. And then to top it off they pay an ungodly amount for something that should'nt cost more that $500. Then to make things even better the person that waited for so long to get this cue turn around and sell it for a profit because thay know that there is a very long wait and people are willing to pay that much more just for that fact. But anyways in your opinion what makes these cues worth waiting for? Is it the construction of the cue? Who built it? What do you guys think.
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I think you should concentrate on building a great cue and stop worrying about what other cuemakers do and what they charge.

If you build a great cue the orders will come in and you will never be without work.

Good Cuemaking,
 
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