no more seybert's bucks on predator?

[McChen]

on the new website, it is not showing any seybert's bucks offered on predator any more. is this a new change or just a website glitch?

[poohkiller]

Hello,

No, this is not a website glitch, it is a new thing to all the Predator dealers.

The Predator company came out with an obligation in what they demand all their delars not to give any extra merchandise or gift or anything like that. What is more is that they gave a MAP (Minimal Asking Price) which cannot be lower than the 80% of the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price or something like that, I'm not sure, sorry..) - but I suppose that the latter thing is not a new thing as I have seen a few months ago too on a website that "they are selling Predator products for the lowest price possible" and they had the very same prices like Seybert's (20% off from the Retail).
This is why you won't get Seybert's Bucks for the Predator products...

...but as you can see on the upper line of the new site Seybert's is giving "For a limited time Free 2 Day Delivery Or Free International Shipping on all Predator Cues or Predator Shaft Purchases." (here's a link for you to this promotion: http://www.seyberts.com/pages/predator_free_shipping.html )

This is the case of the Seybert's bucks for Predator products, I hope I could help.

[McChen]

thanks poohkiller! i knew about the MAP, but not about not being able to give freebies with it. seems kinda harsh of predator to do that

[poohkiller]

You're very welcome!

Yes, it has been a quite harsh decision from them but as you can see Seybert's always finds out something, like this shipping stuff which yet another thing I couldn't see anywhere else.

By the way, I got two BK2's, one with wrap and the other without it... Gosh, these cues look awesome now that I had the time to examine them a little.

[McChen]

i have a bk2 too, i love it! had the weight taken down to 17.5...i like mine light. i wish predator would make 16 or 17oz versions. i thought the orange logo on the side was kind of cheesy so i had KJ strip it off and paint it black. he did a great job, you can't tell at all.

why did you get 2 bk2's, may i ask?

[poohkiller]

I got them for a friend of mine (and through him to another friend of him too) so they are not mine.
You know I am trying to give everyone around here (Budapest mainly) the feeling of playing with something that is qualitative. All that 90% of the players around here know about quality cues is a brand name: Predator. When I say that I'm playing with a Predator they say: "WOOOW then you must be a millionaire!!!" And I'm like No, I am not but I didn't get my cue for 740-800 bucks like many sell 5k2s around here...
Players around here don't know anything (not even their names) about Schon, Pechauer or even McDermott. Of course this is all not true but they don't know much more than "Wow, those must be nice cues, wow..."

I hope once everyone will play with cues that fit their style and what they want! Oh, and by the way, all what I said is not a result of poverty or anything like this as people do can buy themselves 300-400 dollar cues if they want to. But they are getting crap for their money because the cue dealers (there are two main shops that are selling cues in a business and not like a few others do: on their own, personally) don't know anything about what they are selling either...

This post is already getting long but I must tell you this one: The other day I went into one of the shops of those two to see (just out of curiousity as I never will buy anything here, locally) what do they have for around 400 and/or over. They had a few (one of two) Buffalos and... and... and... that's all. The woman in there said that one day they will get cues from THE other brand they sell which would be (and here's a quote: ) "Uhhhm.... Ohhhm... AAAA.... EEEE.... III... B... Blu... Bla...." When I asked here: "Balabushka?" And she was like: "YES, that is the one!"
I asked what I asked because I did know that they had Balabushkas (of course the ones made by Cuesports Inc or whatever) so I knew what to say...

But look, the woman in there didn't know who G. B. is - which could be outrageous enough - but I would say alright, many (and I do mean: many) don't know who he was but damn, it's like if I were an assisstant in a shoe shop and I didn't know that we were selling Adidas!

Oh well, sorry for my by-pass, but it truly can piss me off... So I hope one day at least the small majority will know what is a ferrule on a cue, that there are differences in tip diameters, ferrule materials and length, etcetc...

Well... all in all I got these two cues for two acquaintance of mine but they wanted to have the heaviest possible... the two cues are both pretty near to 21 ounces... oh well...

[Thelucasilord]

is that on everything predator or just cues???

[poohkiller]

As far as I know it is for each and every Predator product.

[Thelucasilord]

ah. well at least seyberts can get around it with their shipping

[Sid]

We do like to dance... :mrgreen:

[McChen]

interesting story poohkiller....sounds like they need someone like you to open up a REAL billiards shop over there!

[Darrin]

The no free bee's thing on Predator is to protect you guys and the brand image. We want our dealers to compete on Customer service not price. That is what has made Seyberts so strong over the years as it is, and that is why they are the number one Predator dealer in the world!

What I mean by protecting you is this; Say I purchase a Joeshmo cue for 1200 from a dealer that retailed for 1400. My buddy likes the cue and decides to go and buy the same cue from someone else. He gets his cue from another dealer but only pays 800 because the dealer really needs the sales. Now the cue that I bought, is it worth 1200 anymore? It would really worry me and make me wonder if I got what I paid for?

Predator has the highest standards for any billiard company in the world. Owning a Predator is more than billiard equipment, it is a high performance piece of sporting goods, it's prestige, it's pride it's knowing that what I have is the best performing product on the market. This is the reason why companies like Apple, Bose don't discount either.

[poohkiller]

I can easily understand - or even support - this way of thinking, it really is good that I know I sent my money on something reasonable.

Yet I believe that discounts like free (or at least discounted) shipping will not decrease the value of my cue as it will worth $475.20 regardless I paid 20 bucks on a USPS shipping or 120 on UPS Express!
Perhaps material bonuses (let them be a hand towel, jps or something more expensive) will not fit into this frame as that could be something that other dealers are not willing to provide - but this thing with the shipping is great, it is awesome that Seybert's has got this option as this is something that one might ask or expect when paying 5-6-....9 hundred dollars on something.

Not that much momentous but something that makes the customer feel more pleased.

However this momentum (The Predator contract with its dealers) makes me, personally, feel a bit more likely to get a Schön with which I get 60 Seybert's bucks instead of a few dollars off from the original intl. shipping.
One last thing: back a while I was thinking of getting a Predator model that is on the more expensive side because I would get a nice J/B from the Sey's Bucks which one I could sell locally - this way decreasing the overall price of the cue by about 100 or so dollars that is quite remarkable (or with a bit of luck I could sell it even above the price I got it for considering the local plight).

These are just my thoughts regarding this question, I hope you will not take it as a kick as no offense is intended.

Thank you for your time,

[Kriterian]

I'm also a scuba diver and certain brands do the same thing with their products. I never see anyone say, "Wow! You have brandX, and they really protect their name by being high priced." It's mostly just "gee that's pretty expensive when compared to this one with the same features", and then they buy the cheaper one.

I was recently torn between getting a Predator and a Viking for my first 400$ purchase. I went with Viking because of the Seybert bucks. To me the bucks didn't devalue my cue, they just allowed me to pick up a training video and joint protectors for free.

[dags_lax]

Say I purchase a Joeshmo cue for 1200 from a dealer that retailed for 1400. My buddy likes the cue and decides to go and buy the same cue from someone else. He gets his cue from another dealer but only pays 800 because the dealer really needs the sales. Now the cue that I bought, is it worth 1200 anymore? It would really worry me and make me wonder if I got what I paid for?

Actually a cue, or anything else for that matter, is only worth what the first sale is for. In the case of a $1400 suggested retail cue that Sid purchases from Predator for $700, it is worth $700. So by that logic everyone who buys that cue (except Sid) overpays for it. Or they are purchasing customer service if you want to look at it that way. If Sid sells me that Predator for $1200 is it worth $500 for his customer service or will the consumer find the same Predator for $800 from Fly By Night Billiards a better value?

Now I don't begrudge any seller a profit just as I don't begrudge a consumer shopping for the best price. After all I don't have to purchase the cue if I think the price is too high and the seller doesn't have to sell the cue for a price they feel is to low.

I certainly don't begrudge the folks at Predator for their, apparently successful, marketing practices. And if Predator is putting conditions on retailers that retailers think are unfair they don't have to buy Predator products either. After all, retailers are consumers just like me.