Would most players not buy a cue from a cue maker that they have never heard of?

justinb386 said:
Lets say for example that you see a cue online, that you really love the looks of, but you have never heard of the cue makers name (and even after doing some online research, you still can't find any reviews from players who have tried out a cue from that particular cue maker), would you take a gamble on buying the cue, knowing that you may not like it, and also knowing that you may not be able to resell it (due to the fact that it is from an unknown cue maker)?

Would you much more likely buy the cue if the seller offered a full refund (minus shipping) if you by chance are not happy with the way the cue hits, or for any other reason?

This question pertains to not only used cues, but brand new ones (from a cue maker who you have never heard of, and are unable to find any reviews from players about the cue maker or name brand of the cue) from online retailers, or dealers.

I assume that most online retailers (and maybe even some small time dealers, that sell brand new cues) will offer a full refund, if the cue is returned unchalked, and in the same new condition that it was in, when the seller shipped it out.

Anyways, I am just curious how often you have taken a chance on buying a cue from an unknown cue maker (with no reviews to be found online about the cue maker or name brand of cue), and how much you spent (if you do not mind saying) on the cue?

On a side note, I was just reading about the BeCue, and am wondering how many players out there will take a chance of buying one of their cues, without being able to try one out 1st? I see that the retail price on the line of cues starts at $900 (I think that is what the cue maker posted in another thread, and the price of the cheaper of the 2 models), so even at half price, that is $450, which may be a lot of money (to some players) that are looking to buy a new cue.

I remember the Universal cues (not the cheap ones that retailed for as low as the $200 price range, but the high end line, that retailed in the $1,000 price range, that came standard with the Universal Smart Shaft, which Bill Stroud of Joss West cues helped design, I think).

Those cues were really nice, and the Universal Smart Shaft hit super nice (in my opinion), but sadly, I think the high end line went out of business, and they stopped making the Universal Smart Shaft (which came standard with a Moori tip). I think that one of the top European pro players (I am thinking Niels Feijen?) endorsed that shaft, but even with his support, the shafts sadly did not get enough sales I assume, so they quit making them. My point is that maybe the brand name just sounded too silly to pool players, or maybe most players just did not want to pay the $220(?) price tag for the shaft (that was probably largely unknown here in the US, for the most part of the pool playing population, and most probably preferred to spend their $200 on a Predator shaft instead, because it was widely known to be a great product).

Anyways, just wanted to post some stuff that came to mind.

Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...

Hi justinb386, sorry if I meddle in this discussion, but you mentioned the specific case of our company (Becue) and I wanted to reiterate what I wrote in the thread dedicated to us, or rather "we would be very tempted to do what you ask, we have talked a lot in our company about this, because we are sure about the cue and we understand that try is the best way before buy. But we can not do it, it would be unfair to the first bidders and to the spirit of kickstarter." (if anyone is interested in entire question can be read here)

Also I would like, speaking only on behalf of my company, clarify that ours is a promotional campaign on kickstarter, where the cues are offered at about half of their list price. The situation, therefore, it seems already very advantageous. In addition, the platform does not allow us fiscally, to refund those who have offered.

If you want, you can purchase one cue with the price list of 900$, try it and if you don't like you can send ti back "in the same new condition that it was shipped out in (for using your words)"
at worst case you lose the shipping fees.

We hope, with this, to have clarified any doubt in relation to our trade policy.

We also apologize to the forum administrators and participants in this discussion if we interfered to write about our specific case, but we have been nominated and we had to make our position clear.

Thanks
Alessandro
 
I ordered two customs from Bob Owen and Jerry Rauenzahn and had never played with either of their
cues before ordering and the two cues I ordered were fancy, expensive custom designs. I ordered the
cues on the recommendation of Deanoc and could not be happier that I did. Less than a year after I
received my cues from Bob and Jerry, I ordered two more really nice custom cues from them only
because I took an initial leap of faith. However, I did do some research before placing my cue orders &
had in depth discussions with both cue-makers about the design I had in mind. I made the right choices.
 
Order from a maker I have never heard of? Not in this lifetime.
Order from a maker I have heard of but never played with one of their cues? Maybe.
Order from Mike Webb? Always!
 
spidermik said:
Hi justinb386, sorry if I meddle in this discussion, but you mentioned the specific case of our company (Becue) and I wanted to reiterate what I wrote in the thread dedicated to us, or rather "we would be very tempted to do what you ask, we have talked a lot in our company about this, because we are sure about the cue and we understand that try is the best way before buy. But we can not do it, it would be unfair to the first bidders and to the spirit of kickstarter." (if anyone is interested in entire question can be read here)

Also I would like, speaking only on behalf of my company, clarify that ours is a promotional campaign on kickstarter, where the cues are offered at about half of their list price. The situation, therefore, it seems already very advantageous. In addition, the platform does not allow us fiscally, to refund those who have offered.

If you want, you can purchase one cue with the price list of 900$, try it and if you don't like you can send ti back "in the same new condition that it was shipped out in (for using your words)"
at worst case you lose the shipping fees.

We hope, with this, to have clarified any doubt in relation to our trade policy.

We also apologize to the forum administrators and participants in this discussion if we interfered to write about our specific case, but we have been nominated and we had to make our position clear.

Thanks
Alessandro
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, and I hope that it was not a big deal in mentioning your cue company. I just wondered if most players would not be interested in buying a cue that is new to the market, that does not have any reviews on it, for that high of a price. I may be wrong, but $450 is still a lot of money to spend on a cue, for the average pool player.
 
Did you get rid of your "new" cue already?

If you've never heard of a cue, you already have after seeing one on line .
 
You say Eclat... I say Eclaire... To each his own.

i hope you find that perfect cue. i hope i find that perfect pastry.
 
justinb386 said:
Lets say for example that you see a cue online, that you really love the looks of, but you have never heard of the cue makers name (and even after doing some online research, you still can't find any reviews from players who have tried out a cue from that particular cue maker), would you take a gamble on buying the cue, knowing that you may not like it, and also knowing that you may not be able to resell it (due to the fact that it is from an unknown cue maker)?

Would you much more likely buy the cue if the seller offered a full refund (minus shipping) if you by chance are not happy with the way the cue hits, or for any other reason?

This question pertains to not only used cues, but brand new ones (from a cue maker who you have never heard of, and are unable to find any reviews from players about the cue maker or name brand of the cue) from online retailers, or dealers.

I assume that most online retailers (and maybe even some small time dealers, that sell brand new cues) will offer a full refund, if the cue is returned unchalked, and in the same new condition that it was in, when the seller shipped it out.

Anyways, I am just curious how often you have taken a chance on buying a cue from an unknown cue maker (with no reviews to be found online about the cue maker or name brand of cue), and how much you spent (if you do not mind saying) on the cue?

On a side note, I was just reading about the BeCue, and am wondering how many players out there will take a chance of buying one of their cues, without being able to try one out 1st? I see that the retail price on the line of cues starts at $900 (I think that is what the cue maker posted in another thread, and the price of the cheaper of the 2 models), so even at half price, that is $450, which may be a lot of money (to some players) that are looking to buy a new cue.

I remember the Universal cues (not the cheap ones that retailed for as low as the $200 price range, but the high end line, that retailed in the $1,000 price range, that came standard with the Universal Smart Shaft, which Bill Stroud of Joss West cues helped design, I think).

Those cues were really nice, and the Universal Smart Shaft hit super nice (in my opinion), but sadly, I think the high end line went out of business, and they stopped making the Universal Smart Shaft (which came standard with a Moori tip). I think that one of the top European pro players (I am thinking Niels Feijen?) endorsed that shaft, but even with his support, the shafts sadly did not get enough sales I assume, so they quit making them. My point is that maybe the brand name just sounded too silly to pool players, or maybe most players just did not want to pay the $220(?) price tag for the shaft (that was probably largely unknown here in the US, for the most part of the pool playing population, and most probably preferred to spend their $200 on a Predator shaft instead, because it was widely known to be a great product).

Anyways, just wanted to post some stuff that came to mind.

Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...

Go to Derby City. There will be plenty of cues there for sale.
 
Koop said:
Order from a maker I have never heard of? Not in this lifetime.
Order from a maker I have heard of but never played with one of their cues? Maybe.
Order from Mike Webb? Always!
Click to expand...

I would love to try out a Mike Webb cue someday. His cues look awesome. I did have a Billy Webb cue in the past though, lol, but not the same cue maker.
 
Its how i discovered BCM(Bryan Mordt) cues. Took a shot and was REALLY impressed. He no longer takes orders, he just posts cues on his site. Great cues for the $$.
 
Icon of Sin said:
Depends if others have heard of the maker, how popular the maker actually is and what others have to say about 1. his cues and 2. his service.

If I can get no info from anyone, other then the maker himself, then I would pass.

You need to stop looking for these "diamonds in the rough" and actually go buy" a "diamond".
Click to expand...

The issue is that the well known cue makers charge high prices (even for just a sneaky Pete). I may be able to get a really nice hitting, and great looking sneaky, from an unknown cue maker for a lot less money (maybe half the price of what a cue from diveney for example would cost). Just because they are unknown, does not mean that they can't build a good quality and nice hitting cue. I guess in this economy, people do not like to take gambles on anything that they do not know the real universal market value of. I had a really nice looking cue (4 sharp points with nice sharp colored veneers, going into a really nice looking BEM forearm) from a cue maker named Adcock (from Evansville Indiana ), for sale on here, and I struggled to get $125 shipped out of thee cue. So, if the cue is used, and from an unknown cue maker, it makes it really hard to sell, for much of anything. It also seems like most of the new generation of pool players do not want anything that does not have a nice low deflection shaft with it.
 
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justinb386 said:
Thanks for your reply, and I hope that it was not a big deal in mentioning your cue company. I just wondered if most players would not be interested in buying a cue that is new to the market, that does not have any reviews on it, for that high of a price. I may be wrong, but $450 is still a lot of money to spend on a cue, for the average pool player.
Click to expand...

For me, I was looking at it like helping a couple of business men get their company going and getting a cue in the process.
And I also saw BeCue as an extremely good price for a cue and interchangeable weight set.
Also I'm curious about the carbon composite stuff.

I bought Kamui chalk for $27 before to see what all the hub bub was about...This was the same mindset (only I feel the chalk was overpriced and this cue is under priced).

Part of the fun is learning and giving stuff a try.
 
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