Why is it so hard to sell a cue ????

bigpocket

bigpocket

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Why does it seem to hard to sell a cue right now. Seems realy weird to me a year ago I had no problem selling a bunch of cues and even making a little money on them. Seems like now I can't give away a freaking cue. I don't think I going to buy any more cues or sell them any more the market fell apart. I tryed to sell a bill mcdaniels cue that retailed at over 1600 bucks for $550 and never even got a offer. WOW. I thought it would have been gone quick. Then I have a realy nice custom peachure cue not production. With tons of ivory. Joint and ferrules and points thats was about $1800 last year when ordered. Hell I not even gotten one offer. I take $650 for it that seems way more than fair to me. Maybe every ones broke. What ya guys think about the cue market.Is there to many cue makers. or are all us pool players idiots for buying way over priced cues from makers. I realy think it bull crap that for a good cue ya have to pay $1600 but if ya had to sell it you would only get $400 for it. Aurrrr I am confused I guess. :confused: :confused: :eek: :(
 
bigpocket said:
Seems like now I can't give away a freaking cue. I don't think I going to buy any more cues or sell them any more the market fell apart. I tryed to sell a bill mcdaniels cue that retailed at over 1600 bucks for $550 and never even got a offer.
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Well, if you're trying to give cues away I am happy to oblige you by taking them. On the other hand, what about that McDaniels? Still available? Any pics?
 
All I can do is respond as a potential customer. I love looking at cue art, but to me a fancy custom cue is too much. The places I shoot, my plain Jane Jacoby J-2 with an X shaft is too upscale. Plus, I gotta wonder...do these $$$$ cues really play better than my current playing cue, or are they mainly for bragging rights? So...why spend the $? Too much flash in a cue, a gold rolex, or "whatever" is only inviting punks to mug you. I guess I prefer a low profile these days.
 
...............................because at the moment, it's become so damn hard to BUY a cue.
dave
 
poolplayer2093 said:
i just became a victim of the us medical system. i might end up selling some stuff myself
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not to be a skuzzy ambulance chaser,.....but whatta ya got?

Gerry
 
Gerry said:
not to be a skuzzy ambulance chaser,.....but whatta ya got?

Gerry
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Now THAT's funny!!!

Reminds me of a story I heard from my buddies at work (who are FANATICAL about World of Warcraft). Apparently, an older gentleman (at a high level in the game) passed away. One of the man's friends posted up on the game that the man had died, just to let folks know he wouldn't be playing anymore.

The first guy that responded to the posting asked the man "Did he leave behind any good loot for the game?"......

Just struck me as funny......I'll shut up now.
 
I've been thinking of selling my Keith Kustom Kue. Bought it in the 80's for $1500. Don't know what it would be worth today, but it just got damaged (scratched) by getting stuck in my case. How would I price the cue? It has a lot of ringwork and nice points. Do you think it would be worth $1000?
 
8-ball Rat said:
Now THAT's funny!!!

Reminds me of a story I heard from my buddies at work (who are FANATICAL about World of Warcraft). Apparently, an older gentleman (at a high level in the game) passed away. One of the man's friends posted up on the game that the man had died, just to let folks know he wouldn't be playing anymore.

The first guy that responded to the posting asked the man "Did he leave behind any good loot for the game?"......

Just struck me as funny......I'll shut up now.
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Thanx, I try to keep things on the lite side with a hint of the truth!:D I hate seeing someone having trouble, but I've been there and many folks helped me out in the past.....:)

Gerry
 
well...

bigpocket said:
Why does it seem to hard to sell a cue right now. Seems realy weird to me a year ago I had no problem selling a bunch of cues and even making a little money on them. Seems like now I can't give away a freaking cue. I don't think I going to buy any more cues or sell them any more the market fell apart. I tryed to sell a bill mcdaniels cue that retailed at over 1600 bucks for $550 and never even got a offer. WOW. I thought it would have been gone quick. Then I have a realy nice custom peachure cue not production. With tons of ivory. Joint and ferrules and points thats was about $1800 last year when ordered. Hell I not even gotten one offer. I take $650 for it that seems way more than fair to me. Maybe every ones broke. What ya guys think about the cue market.Is there to many cue makers. or are all us pool players idiots for buying way over priced cues from makers. I realy think it bull crap that for a good cue ya have to pay $1600 but if ya had to sell it you would only get $400 for it. Aurrrr I am confused I guess. :confused: :confused: :eek: :(
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With gas at $3.00 a gallon, jobs moving to india and china, Thosands of layoffs every week, Illeagls invading and taking most of whats left. Who wants to spend much on an item they will have to sell first if their company ****s them over like Hershys (who moved their plant from P.A to mexico) As so many others have? and on may first, the 100,000. mexican trucking companies can pick up cargo at the new chineese port in mexico and drive it all the way to any destinaion in america/ amexico.. so yea? who feels like spending money unless its a super screaming deal?
 
It's a buyers market on alot of things..i have been looking into purchasing a Corvette about a 1985..a guy showed me $40,000 in receipts on the money he personally put into it in the 2 years he bought it. this does NOT include his purchase price which was about $10,000 he sold it for $7,000.00 !!!! he said he tried for 6 months to sell it,spent hundrends of dollars on ads..he finally got a call and he sold it.. so many things anymore are loosing their value...
 
To answer your question...
99% of the pool world doesnt have that extra cash to buy cues that they dont need...
And those who do have the extra cash usually go directly to the builder of the preference and get something that they truly want...I buy/sell/trade cues all the time; and it is tough to see someone wanting to sell their 1100 Schon for 800, and i tell them that because i am a dealer i can get the same cue for 675!!! Its heartbreaking.
...The market is a bit flooded...Alot of cuemakers have the same technology as the next guy, and can build anything!
Sorry for your frustration...talk to me about this McDaniels...
 
rackmsuckr said:
I've been thinking of selling my Keith Kustom Kue. Bought it in the 80's for $1500. Don't know what it would be worth today, but it just got damaged (scratched) by getting stuck in my case. How would I price the cue? It has a lot of ringwork and nice points. Do you think it would be worth $1000?
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I am a fan of Keith's cues. In fact, I think I responded to a post of yours some time ago. At any rate, the cue I had sold for right around $800 (if memory serves). It was pretty fancy with 6 ebony points into tulipwood. Leather wrap. With 12 zigzag points up and down in the butt sleeve (very cool). 3 shafts. Anyway, if was a beautiful cue, but I was hard pressed to get the money I did. If that gives you any idea....the cue market is definately depressed.

Regards,

Doug
 
Que Purchase

I will absolutly not touch E-Bay or Pay-Pal. Since so many insist on selling selling cues that way, I'm not a potential customer.

Try a normal credit card purchase and I might make an offer. Many I know feel the same way and and have been burnt on E-Bay and especially Pay-pal when a problem arises.
 
I understand completely....but,...ebay and paypal are going nowhere, and they probably dont know why any of us are paying over 1000 for a "piece of wood" anyway. Back to the ? at hand...the market is a down right now.
The only cues that seem to be moving are SW (of course), Gina, TS, Black Boar, etc...
And those are usually going to the collectors. i have had the McDaniels "Starburt" for over 2 years now and have had no action on it. We all know what its worth, but no one is willing to pay for it; everyone want to "steal" it. Like i said...the market is just slow right now.
 
Spring is usually a slow season. Leagues are winding down. People are getting ready to do summer outdoor things. Buying that stuff. And Some People are also waiting to go to Vegas in May and shop. Pool is Seasonal.;) Good luck with your sales.
 
bigpocket said:
Why does it seem to hard to sell a cue right now. Seems realy weird to me a year ago I had no problem selling a bunch of cues and even making a little money on them. Seems like now I can't give away a freaking cue. I don't think I going to buy any more cues or sell them any more the market fell apart. I tryed to sell a bill mcdaniels cue that retailed at over 1600 bucks for $550 and never even got a offer. WOW. I thought it would have been gone quick. Then I have a realy nice custom peachure cue not production. With tons of ivory. Joint and ferrules and points thats was about $1800 last year when ordered. Hell I not even gotten one offer. I take $650 for it that seems way more than fair to me. Maybe every ones broke. What ya guys think about the cue market.Is there to many cue makers. or are all us pool players idiots for buying way over priced cues from makers. I realy think it bull crap that for a good cue ya have to pay $1600 but if ya had to sell it you would only get $400 for it. Aurrrr I am confused I guess. :confused: :confused: :eek: :(
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Shorty, JDel and Duke flooded the market.:p :D
 
bigpocket said:
Why does it seem to hard to sell a cue right now. Seems realy weird to me a year ago I had no problem selling a bunch of cues and even making a little money on them. Seems like now I can't give away a freaking cue. I don't think I going to buy any more cues or sell them any more the market fell apart. I tryed to sell a bill mcdaniels cue that retailed at over 1600 bucks for $550 and never even got a offer. WOW. I thought it would have been gone quick. Then I have a realy nice custom peachure cue not production. With tons of ivory. Joint and ferrules and points thats was about $1800 last year when ordered. Hell I not even gotten one offer. I take $650 for it that seems way more than fair to me. Maybe every ones broke. What ya guys think about the cue market.Is there to many cue makers. or are all us pool players idiots for buying way over priced cues from makers. I realy think it bull crap that for a good cue ya have to pay $1600 but if ya had to sell it you would only get $400 for it. Aurrrr I am confused I guess. :confused: :confused: :eek: :(
Click to expand...


The first thing to remember when dealing with the sale of anything is buy low and sell high. Sometimes this takes a great deal of time, and if you can not afford to put your money into something that may take years to appreciate you are right, you should not buy cues to sell anymore.

Another factor that affects the sale price of cues, is how people are attracted to it. While me and you may think that a cue is the shit, others may not agree, or it may be too run of the mill by todays standards. With all of the new technology today it has become much easier to build nice looking, decent hitting custom cues. However, I suspect that having said this, these are not cues I would purchase for later resale for profit. I would, and I do put my money into traditional designed collector cues, antique cues, and cues that are built using traditional methods by hand with little or very basic machinery, NO CNC.

I am a true believer that CNC / other Computer machinery is what has caused the current flooding of the market. I know that many of these items take a great deal of time to produce, however hand made tradition cues take much more time to produce, and while they may not be as perfect, as CNC built cue there is a level of craftsmanship that will not diminish with time. If you have the money to spend, and this only my opinion I would buy handcrafted cues from respected traditional cue makers, these cues are not the norm today, and they will be the rare cues in the future. This is mainly due to small number of traditional craftsman that are still producing items with traditional methods. Again to me personally, I see the current market only getting worst, due to the problems I have outlined above. I also think that some where in the future CNC cues will be much more susceptible to any down turn in the markets conditions, if for no other reason than their availability. Now I may be wrong concerning your specific situation, but I hope you can understand where I am coming from and what I am trying to say.

I hope this helps, and good luck!!!!
 
i could write a book on this topic, i have flipped alot of wood over the years, but i'll be breif,

pool is dead, its getting closer to summer when pool slows down a bit, there are so many good cues on the market because the cue makers are turning them out with a quickness because of new tools etc. pool players are going off in the poker rooms and arnt as likely to buy a cue, when a pool played made a score back in the day alot of times they would step into a new cue just to re-sell when they got beat. Ebay hasent helped either. why the hell anyone would buy off ebay is a mystery to me but with all these reasons yeah cue market is tough

the Szams, Balabuska's, palmers, SW will always be strong, but might flatten out but they wond go down, I awalys liked cues in the 300-600 range I would make 100-200 per deal but they were easy deals, I have flipped alot of 3000-5000 cues aswell, but thats a different business with the internet, my cue flipping days were at the pool hall and having a good reputation.
 
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