handmade ??? probably not !!!

[jim evans]

When you done resplicing and refinishing your not far Short of the 200 pd mark,i after its all to Do with the badging

[DeanH]

why not have a "Customised by" badge? seen them in the past.
at least you are being honest and above-board.
I would buy one of your cues CJ

[crispian jones]

ive spliced up two customised cues over the past week jim, and they have cost me nearly £200 each to make !

i do used customised badges dean, as i desperatly want to spend my time on them as they are so much less hassle

[culraven]

But you still put your name on them,and i'm assuming you don't market them as a cheap thai cue, you want people to assume that the finish on these cues will be equal to your own cues, and there is nothing wrong with that! But you can't knock other peoples business plans just to try and convince people that you offer a superior product and we should all pay the premium associated with it?

[RogiBear]

But others who use similar Thai cues aren't marketing them as Thai cues and charging a premium unlike crispian.

[rob s]

People should be honest if the cue has been made in Thailand then hand spliced here as it is very different to a cue that has been fully hand made in the UK due to labour and material costs being so much higher in the UK. Personally I think customised cue does kinda give a bad impression somehow and I think aurora says it better with either hand spliced or custom made, maybe you should look in to changing the wording on your badges crispian. I cannot wait to receive my handmade cue from crispian and he is even gonna send photos of the process along the way, just like Dave coutts has offered to do for me. Top class

[crispian jones]

But you still put your name on them,and i'm assuming you don't market them as a cheap thai cue, you want people to assume that the finish on these cues will be equal to your own cues, and there is nothing wrong with that! But you can't knock other peoples business plans just to try and convince people that you offer a superior product and we should all pay the premium associated with it?

Where have i tried convincing people that my cues are superior ??? im pretty sure ive stated that the majority are better !
As for "the premium associated with it" do you know what i charge for any cue ?

[Neil Taperell]

I assume what you mean Crispian , is that there are UK Cue makers that are bringing in cues from Thailand and re-badging them and then charging top whack , as if they made the cues solely in the UK . So hardly doing any work on them .
There are always rumours about cue makers doing this .
I don't see any issue with how you describe your customised and handmade cues via your badge . At least the purchaser knows what he is getting .

[trevs1]

personally i dont see the big deal about thai cues, if they can be made cheaper, to the same standard and with a lesser waiting time then whats the problem with admitting using them if you are a uk cue maker?

i would imagine the majority of splicing and finishing is done in the uk.

at the end of the day a cue is a cue.

I'd wager a fair old chunk of cash that the majority of splicing is done OUTSIDE the UK.

After all, you take a raw cue shaft, and then splice some other timber onto it, and hey presto, there's your cue (more or less)

There really isn't that much more that goes into it in truth, and so with th at in mind, these cues CANNOT be judged as being UK made at all.... which means......

Predominantly made abroad, UK finished and sold with that info provided = Fair practise.

Predominantly made abroad, UK finished and sold as UK made and finished = Fraud

That's how I see it anyway.

[trevs1]

This old chestnut again, why muddy the water and cast aspersions on people just trying to run a business, they have a right to state hand made, regardless of whose hand made it!

Yes that's true, but.....

If a badge states hand made AND bares the name of a UK maker (or so called maker) then how can that be correct.???

Surely that's clearly implying that the product has been made by the person who's name is on that product, no.???

[crispian jones]

I assume what you mean Crispian , is that there are UK Cue makers that are bringing in cues from Thailand and re-badging them and then charging top whack , as if they made the cues solely in the UK . So hardly doing any work on them .
There are always rumours about cue makers doing this .
I don't see any issue with how you describe your customised and handmade cues via your badge . At least the purchaser knows what he is getting .

Yes neil that is what i am getting at !

i am in no way getting at anyones quality of work, as stated earlier on i have respect for every cuemaker going and talk to a good few regularly, i am also tring to promote the thai cues as they are a big part of my own business so the total opposite infact !!

[trevs1]

But others who use similar Thai cues aren't marketing them as Thai cues and charging a premium unlike crispian.

Bingo...... THAT is clearly what is bothering Cris.

[trevs1]

I assume what you mean Crispian , is that there are UK Cue makers that are bringing in cues from Thailand and re-badging them and then charging top whack , as if they made the cues solely in the UK . So hardly doing any work on them .
There are always rumours about cue makers doing this .
I don't see any issue with how you describe your customised and handmade cues via your badge . At least the purchaser knows what he is getting .

A very relevant point indeed.

[paddybhoy30]

I'm guessing that to admit it some would feel there reputations may be tarnished and there cues less sought after or valuable.

[crispian jones]

Bingo...... THAT is clearly what is bothering Cris.

yes trevor thats half of it, but for someone with no reputation like myself i am also thinking just how easily anyone can become the next trevor white with just a piller drill and some glue too

the way you can make money is ridiculus if your ruthless !