Is Robert Osborne Right?

[cazmac1]

Many of you may know that Robert Osborne is no longer taking orders for custom made cues because he say's that it is too much hassle dealing with snooker players constantly making last minute changes to there spec's, wanting shafts the look a certain way and of course ordering cues and then not paying the balance. Robert is now happy to take bulk orders from china with a standard spec then ship them out with no contact with the end user. Now Robert is trying to make a living just like the rest of us but some how I feel he's lost his way. Making cues is more than just machining bits of wood and making money (IMO) and it just seems to me that once a cue maker goes down this road a bit of his cue making soul is lost forever.
Amen

[Gerry Armstrong]

He's obviously decided he doesn't want to be a retailer to Joe Public and he can focus on making the very best cues that he can.

Hardly selling his soul!!

[cazmac1]

That's just the point, mass produced cue's shipped to china I would hardly say that these cue's are going to be his best work! and I did not say he was selling his soul?

[Gerry Armstrong]

You said he was losing his soul.

And they are not massed produced, it just means he has more time to produce the very best cues he can as he doesn't spend all day dealing with people who are forever changing their minds or not paying.

Sounds like an ideal business model to me if you can reach a position where everything you make is sold before you make it. Good luck to him.

[cazmac1]

I already made that point in my original post. Sorry Gerry but I feel you've missed the point of the post and have brought it back to pounds and pence which is exactly the point I'm making. Once money becomes the driving force how can you possibly be the same cue maker you were when you first started out, fresh and full of enthusiasm every cue cue made from the heart and not just a piece of wood with a price tag.

[Jasonteh6688]

And price of his cue is extremely high from the china retailet,almost 1000 GBP for the latest green plate he made, and 1500-2600gbp for the last batch of hunt&osbourne cue he made.

[Gerry Armstrong]

Every professional cue maker makes cues for money, it's their business.

Not taking individual orders for your top of the range cues from individual customers doesn't suddenly tip you over the edge from a craftsman who turns out cue after cue to the highest possible standard to some corporate machine only interested in the money and turning out lesser cues as a result which seems to be your point.

[cazmac1]

Even thou I met Robert on several occasions recently and have discussed this with him I can not claim to known his mind set. I am only reading between the lines and posing the question. I just don't see why he can't do both? I didn't want to bring JP in to it but when you go to JP's work shop and you see the photo's of all the top pros when they were young buying their cue's from him and the legacy that he's left you have to ask why would Robert remove himself from that. The thought of having some spotty kid coming into his shop and his dad buying his first and possibly going on to become world champion that must be part of being a cue maker?

[cazmac1]

And price of his cue are extremely high from the retailer, latest green plate of his cost around 1000gbp
And the last few batch of H&O cue he made cost around 1500-3100gbp.

And it's not about the MONEY!!!!

[cazmac1]

From the china retailer .

Can't open that doc

[lloouu]

Once money becomes the driving force how can you possibly be the same cue maker you were when you first started out, fresh and full of enthusiasm every cue cue made from the heart and not just a piece of wood with a price tag.

Totally agree with that!

[Gerry Armstrong]

Totally agree with that!

So John Parris, Trevor White, Mike Wooldridge etc. all turn out lesser cues nowadays than they did when they started out because they now do it for a living i.e. to make money?

[cazmac1]

So John Parris, Trevor White, Mike Wooldridge etc. all turn out lesser cues nowadays than they did when they started out because they now do it for a living i.e. to make money?

When did these guys stop taking orders for custom made cue's for uk snooker players? These guys are perfect examples of good cue makers, JP who gets a lot of bad press on TSF has a great business model he manages to sell cues all over the world and still make cues for the uk market. JP is also passing down his skills to a younger generation of cue maker.

[cazmac1]

Gerry are you a personal friend of RO, you seem to be taking this very personally.

[Gerry Armstrong]

When did these guys stop taking orders for custom made cue's for uk snooker players? These guys are perfect examples of good cue makers, JP who gets a lot of bad press on TSF has a great business model he manages to sell cues all over the world and still make cues for the uk market. JP is also passing down his skills to a younger generation of cue maker.

So because Robert has a different business model do you reckon that makes him a bad cue maker?

Will Hunt is currently doing the same, does that make him a bad cue maker too?

And you do know that selling wholesale generally means you get LESS money for your products because you sell in bulk?