Originally Posted by poolqjunkie
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Cue prices
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It's in the Shaft
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Originally Posted by checkSide View PostNice post as usual Noel!
However I get the feeling sanman has decided some cues are a rip off, and nothing is going to change his mind...
Even if by his very criteria, he is probably getting ripped off several times a day.
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Originally Posted by Sleepysheep View PostWell that's his loss, and everyone elses gain XD
Just that I don't lose too often and I don't see how my loss influences anyone here such that they gain. By the way most of the guys here who disagree with me in some of my sentiments have at one time or another purchased an expensive cue. Now I am sure they have to justify such a purchase. Hence they will not agree with me. Now, I must ask how often do you find these expensive cues on ebay with guys selling cues that are almost brand new or just a few months old. Surely with the price tags commanded by these cues one would expect superior playability. So many of these cues being sold on ebay. And some of the excuses for selling them are just plain corny.
Now some guys may think I am cheap. that is not so. I did approach trevor white to make a cue to my specs, simple 3/4 single splice, and he quoted me 260 pounds which was fine but he did specify a waiting period of 6 months with no guarantee that it would be completed in the specified time and this was not fine.
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Originally Posted by sanman View Posteveryone loses sometimes Sleepysheep. Heck of a name. Original at least.
Just that I don't lose too often and I don't see how my loss influences anyone here such that they gain. By the way most of the guys here who disagree with me in some of my sentiments have at one time or another purchased an expensive cue. Now I am sure they have to justify such a purchase. Hence they will not agree with me. Now, I must ask how often do you find these expensive cues on ebay with guys selling cues that are almost brand new or just a few months old. Surely with the price tags commanded by these cues one would expect superior playability. So many of these cues being sold on ebay. And some of the excuses for selling them are just plain corny.
Now some guys may think I am cheap. that is not so. I did approach trevor white to make a cue to my specs, simple 3/4 single splice, and he quoted me 260 pounds which was fine but he did specify a waiting period of 6 months with no guarantee that it would be completed in the specified time and this was not fine.
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Originally Posted by ADR147 View Postok let me sum this whole thing up for you all.
Everything is worth what somebody is prepared to pay. simple as that. be it art (i deal in that also!) or cues or whatever.
Yes I do think an average picasso for 10 million dollars is ridiculously too high, just as I know there is no rhyme or reason in paying 700 dollars for a fancy wood stick.
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I work as an accountant for pension funds (so, our customers are companies, not individuals). I'm only the consultant, not the expert yet. but that's just so you know where I'm coming from...
office work is charged from CHF 100 to 300 in here, and we still are below advocates... which means it can easily be £100 for one hour's work. this is not only because I think my work is worth £100 for every hour i might pick my nose, but also includes room hiring, lighting, electricity, equipement/computer/paper, time spent, time spent by someone else to correct/look through all that we write... and that's a reasonable price. in fact we are NOT expensive.
if I only give half of that to a cuemaker (which I don't think would be fair, don't you?), it's $50 for every hour he spends on my cue. I have no clue how long it takes to build a good cue, but i can imagine a bit, or try to:
roughly shape it, let it settle (to avoid warping - something the cheap guys, with no waiting time in delivery, cannot do)
shape again
settle
re shape a bit
settle...
repeat for each and every splicing...
i think to reach the £200 mark (so, 4 hours work) is NOT possible
then add material costs, room renting for your wood stock (which can be aged for 20 years before being used - or you buy wood someone else aged and lets you pay for).
add splice wood prices. add extra time for splice work.
and, above all: add SKILL a good cuemaker has. I don't think these beautiful pieces of craftmanship are overpriced. Not a penny.
If you don't feel that's worth the price for you, I'm fine if you go for a cheaper cue. but then, don't come here to ask people who DO appreciate this skill and work and ask them whether they think they are robbed or not.
I like and have quite a few single malt whiskies at home. I'd not pay £400 for a bottle, because I don't collect them, and don't need one. I want to drink the ones I got, but would go to £80-100 sometimes for a very special one.
Still I do believe whisky for £600 even is worth every penny a collector spends on it, as he can sell it for the same, and for him, it's a very exclusive good.
Same goes for my cue. I've 'only' got a plain black ebony butted one, no extra splicework, and I got it second hand, but if I hold it (my dear Mike Wooldridge) next to one of the 'cheaper' ones, I can see every penny and every bit of skill Mike spent on it. I can see it. It's bloody obvious.
If you can't thats not a fault of yours, and I won't blame you for that. It does not even mean the cheap cue plays worse. it's just that i WANT my cue to be built as close to perfection as it could be. and i'll pay for that.
splices of perfectly equal length. darkest ebony. perfect finish. and not finished and spliced in a way the spliced look fringed when looking at them closely.
everyone's got to decide for oneself
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Originally Posted by hegeland View PostWell the original question was are some cues overpriced, not really the same thing as you are responding to I think. We both know the market price and the 'common sense' price of an item can (and often does) differ enormously.
Originally Posted by sanman View PostI know this is going to be a rather contentious issue. But here goes. I will refrain from specifying makers names etc but what is the common opinion about prices of cues. i have seen prices of cues up to 700-800 quid. That being said I do know that the woods used in the manufacture of those cues are of very good grades. I have done a little research and have found that the cost of the materials may be 50 quids at most. I stand to be corrected and I may not have an apprciation for the amount of hours into making of a custom spec but I still think that the prices paid for some are rediculous. Maybe this thread would help me understand why people would part with that kind of cash when in most cases I cannot see the difference in cues that cost a fraction of those prices.
There are many trades in which the special skill of the "maker" is where most of the money is, not the cost of material. A chef or a painter or a cue maker is such kind of people.
Originally Posted by hegeland View PostYes I do think an average picasso for 10 million dollars is ridiculously too high, just as I know there is no rhyme or reason in paying 700 dollars for a fancy wood stick.
You may think ti is ridiculous to spend that kind of money on collectible items, but many collectors who really know what they are doing would differ. A lot of collectibles were purchased as investment.Last edited by poolqjunkie; 8 September 2009, 07:38 PM.
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A cue is not a painting or a fashion accessory, it's a functioning piece of sports equipment, you want quality. Quality of materials and the skill and time in putting them together exactly how you want them. For a £4-500 plus piece of wood this is what you'd expect, but you don't always get it..
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