Primarily this guide is intended to give useful information on how to buy and what to look for in purchasing pool cues and accessories.

First off let me start by saying I have been a player and builder of pool cues for many years. My experience of building has allowed me to gain an extraordinary knowledge of how cues are supposed to play. I have purchased cues from builders all over the world, and have taken the best from all of them and built my own. I will not try to sell my cues on ebay as I am not a mass builder of cues, but I will tell you secrets that will save you alot of time and alot of money when purchasing a cue that you cannot play with first.

When I am looking on ebay for a cue I start off looking for something that I know will go up in value instead of going down in value. Older Meucci's are always a good choice for the collector but for the better player may not be the cue of choice. I own several older Meucci's but do not ever play with them. Why? Because they do not play to my taste or style of play. Does that make them a cue that I do not want or will not look for when browsing ebay? Absolutely not! There are many older Meucci's that are very valuable just because they are no longer made and are becoming harder to find all the time. So if you are a new player and want a cue that you are not going to get burned on, buy something that will hold it's value. Name brands such as Meucci, McDermott, Shon, and Predator are all good choices as they will all hold their resale value pretty well, and have a factory warranty if you buy from an AUTHORIZED DEALER. 

Stay away from the cheap stuff unless you know what you are buying. The old saying goes you get what you pay for and it is no more truly stated when it comes to buying pool cues. I see thousands of listings every day for cues on ebay that are not worth the material that they are made out of. First off they are made in a factory where you do not know the process of how the wood is cured, or what kinds of wood they are using to construct the cue. If it seems to be a good value for the money do a search on that particular brand of cue to compare price. Also look for forums in which people talk about the particular cue that you are thinking of purchasing. Chances are that you are only one of an infinate number of people who have purchased or have thought of purchasing that particular cue, and I would bet that there are many who have an opinion that they are more than willing to share with you about their cue.

My personal preference for a cue is something that has a flat faced wood to wood joint with a heavier joint pin such as a 3/8 or radial pin. The flat faced joint means that the joint and the butt meet together with no gaps. Some people like steel jointed cues and that is fine if you stay with a higher dollar cue. Avoid the cheaper steel jointed cues at all cost. Most have inferior joint pins and the pins bend easily due to the softer metal used to make these pins. The higher dollar name brand cues will use a hardened joint pin so it will not bend as easily. Have you ever looked at a cheaper steel jointed cue and it looks warped when rolled across a pool table? Most are not warped at all...It is the joint pin that is bent and needs to be replaced. This is an expense that should not be if only the maker of the cue would have used a harder steel in the joint pin.

Do I go for looks or playabiity? I always go for playability unless I am purchasing a cue for it's value. Chances are that you are going to be taking your cue into different pool rooms or bars in your area, and you just do not want to take a great looking cue into one of those places because if it gets broke then what? What about the cheaper cues that are really good looking? You have to ask yourself, am I willing to sacrifice a great playing cue for a great looking cue? I personally am not willing to play with something that plays bad no matter how good it looks. Looks will only get you attention and the attention fades away when you only make it one round in that local tournament.

I also look for a cue that has at least an A grade Canadian Maple Shaft. It is a huge secret in the industry as to how shaftwood is graded. There are 5 different grades just for the A grade shafts in which AAAAA is the highest grade available and also the rarest. Even the best custom cue makers are hard pressed to find this grade available, and when they do find it you will pay a premium price for just the shaft. So goes the grading process for the B and C grades. Many cheaper cue manufacturers will use lower B grade shaft material claiming the shaft is hard rock maple and they are not being untruthful, but what they fail to tell you is the true grade of the shaft thus the cue will not play as it should.

I also see alot of people claiming to have custom cues for sale on eBay. So what determines if a cue is custom or not? A custom cue is a cue that has been made by a cue maker for a particular individual to fit their style of play or personal requirements in a cue. I look at it like this, if I go to the car dealership and by something off of the lot, I am purchasing something that was made by a manufacturer for the general population that the manufacturer determined to be something that the general population would buy. However if I go to the dealership and order something that is not ordinarily standard on that vehicle it is then considered custom to fit my requirements.

There are many cue makers out there that do custom work. Most of the cue manufacturers that I mentioned earlier will do custom work, but the work that they will do could takes many weeks even months to perform. If you order a cue from some custom cue makers it should not take as long to receive your custom cue, but do not be surprised if the common answer for the question of "How long will it take?" is 2 months or more. I hesitate to mention custom cue makers names in this guide because of legal junk that gets in the way at times so I will not, but any custom maker of cues worth his salt will have a general following of people who will use nothing but his brand of cue. There again it is up to you to seek people out who have used or are using that makers cue to get a feel for it, and determine if it is a good fit for you. Many custom makers are available to talk to you personally at different trade shows and tournaments, and most will even let you test their cues if they determine that you are serious about purchasing.

Value: The value of a custom cue is entirely up to you and what you are willing to give for the cue. You canot place a value on a new custom cue if it is something that fits you! It may not be worth 10 cents to me, but you play with it and enjoy playing with it. That is all that matters.

Bottom line is to ask questions about the cue you are thinking of purchasing, and if it is to good to be true it probably is. Hopefully this guide will enable you to ask the right questions when purchasing your new cue.