It started with a text from the owner of a 12-table pool hall I manage procurement for. “We need new felt for tables 4 and 5. Can you get quotes by Tuesday?” I’d been in this role for about 4 years at that point, managing a roughly $180,000 annual budget for supplies and maintenance. New cloth wasn't a huge line item, maybe $4,200 a year for replacements, but I had a system for everything. Get three quotes, compare the unit price, and go with the lowest. Simple.
I knew about Simonis, obviously. Their 860 and 760 cloths are basically the standard for tournament play. “Tournament Blue” is practically a brand color. But I also knew the price tag. It was always a step above the competition. For a cost controller like me, that sticker shock triggers an automatic instinct: find the cheaper alternative. This time, I almost let that instinct cost us way more than the price difference.
The Initial Quote & The ‘Cheaper’ Option
On Monday, I emailed three suppliers. Two came back with Simonis 860 quotes. The third offered a brand I didn’t recognize—let’s call it Brand X. Their price was about 30% less than the Simonis quotes. My first thought? “Great, we can save $300-$400 on this order.” I had the cost justification ready in my head. “The owner wants to keep the tables functional, not turn them into a World Championship stage. This is a perfectly logical choice.”
I almost pulled the trigger. I started filling out the purchase order for Brand X. But something nagged at me. It wasn’t a specific memory, just a general unease. Over the previous 6 years of tracking every invoice—from cleaning supplies to cue tips—I’d been burned by the “cheap” option more than a few times. That “free setup” offer on our chalk order cost us $450 in extra freight. The $50 cheaper cue rack needed replacement in 8 months. I call it the “procurement tax” on being wrong.
So, instead of ordering, I called a friend who runs a bigger room across town. “Hey, you guys use Simonis? What’s the deal with Brand X?” His answer surprised me. “We used Brand X once on a back table. The cloth wore through in 9 months near the pockets. We had to re-cloth it with Simonis anyway. So we paid for the cloth twice, plus the labor twice. It was way more expensive in the end.”
“We had to re-cloth it with Simonis anyway. So we paid for the cloth twice, plus the labor twice. It was way more expensive in the end.”
The Hidden Costs of Going Cheap on Pool Table Cloth
That phone call was my “contrast insight” moment. I hadn’t done the math on the total cost of ownership (TCO). I was looking at the unit price, not the cost per year or per game. So I did a quick comparison, and it was ugly.
Let’s run the numbers, based on my experience:
- Simonis 860 (Professional Grade): ~$200 per table. Lasts 18-24 months with heavy commercial play.
- Brand X (Budget Option): ~$140 per table. Lasts 9-12 months with the same usage.
The cost per year for Brand X was actually higher. But that’s not even the whole story. The real killer is the hidden costs I was ignoring.
1. The Redo Cost (The Biggest Trap)
If Brand X fails after 9 months, you don’t just lose the $140. You also pay for the installation labor again—another $100-$150 per table. So the total cost for 9 months of Brand X is $240-$290. Simonis 860, installed for $300 and lasting 18 months, is cheaper per month and gives you a better playing surface the entire time.
2. The Opportunity Cost of Bad Surface
“That’s a soft cost,” you might say. But for a pool hall, it’s real. A worn, slow cloth means unhappy customers. Unhappy customers play fewer games, buy less from the bar, and might not come back. I can’t track that to a specific dollar, but it matters.
3. The Time Tax on Procurement
This is the one I actually hate the most. If Brand X fails in 9 months, I have to re-do the entire procurement process: get new quotes, create a new PO, schedule the installer, track the shipment. That’s about 3 hours of my time. At my internal “cost” to the business, that’s another $150 in wasted administrative labor. The “easy” choice created more work for me.
The ‘Guarantee’ That Changed My Mind
After that analysis, I went back to the Simonis quotes. One vendor offered a guaranteed delivery date for a small rush fee. Our original deadline was for the following Monday. My “Budget Option” vendor just said, “Should be there by Friday.” The Simonis vendor said, “If you pay for expedited shipping, we guarantee it’s on the dock by Thursday noon.”
Initially, I balked. An extra $80 for shipping on a cloth that already costs more? Why does this matter? Because unpredictable demand is expensive to accommodate. The owner didn’t just want the tables done “at some point.” He wanted them done by the weekend. If the cheap cloth showed up Friday afternoon, and the installer couldn’t come until Tuesday, we just lost three peak playing days. The revenue from those three days alone would have paid for the upgrade.
In March 2024, we paid $80 extra for guaranteed delivery. The alternative was risking missing a weekend that would generate thousands in table time. It’s not just about speed—it’s about certainty. An uncertain cheap option is a lottery ticket. A slightly more expensive, guaranteed option is an investment in a known outcome.
The Result: A Lesson in Total Cost
We ordered the Simonis 860 in Tournament Blue. It arrived on time, the installer had it done in a day, and the tables played fantastic. Did we spend more than the absolute minimum? Yes. Did we have the lowest total cost? Absolutely.
This experience fundamentally changed how I evaluate procurement. It’s not about finding the cheapest unit price. It’s about finding the most efficient path to a successful outcome. For pool table cloth, Simonis isn’t just a brand—it’s a standard that eliminates risk. The cost of that risk (redos, lost revenue, wasted time) is almost always higher than the premium.
I don’t have hard data on industry-wide failure rates for budget cloths, but based on my 6 years of tracking and that one phone call with my friend, my sense is that quality issues affect about 15-20% of first-buy “budget” decisions. That’s a risk I’m not willing to take anymore.
So if you’re in charge of the budget for your room, my advice is simple: look at the cost per month, not the cost per roll. Pay for the standard. Pay for the guarantee. You’ll save money in the long run—and you’ll save yourself a ton of headaches.