Most of the sellers don't care about the pinball market. They wait until someone who has money to blow it all on one machine.

There are many threads about prices here. They are getting higher

Price gouging sellers have always been around...They are not the reason.

You have a fixed supply (not withstanding newer Stern titles) and an ever increasing demand. How many hobbiests do you know that have gotten OUT of pinball in the past few years? Now, how many have you seen become interested? And why? Home arcades and pinball have become mainstream. After the demise of the major pinball manufacturers, pinball machines became less prominent in the wild. So was born the explosion of the home enthusiast.

At first, it was a hobby cultivated in the dark alleys and supported by a small click of 'in the know' hardcore collectors. If you didn't have the connections, your broke machine languished. If you didn't know an operator, you had little resource to purchase one. But with so many resources (the internet being a large one) of places to buy (ebay, CL, forums) and new reproductions, part sources, and services for keeping games running, you don't have to be a hardcore pinhead to enjoy buying and playing machines in your own home arcade.

And we all know, owning pins is like crack. You aren't satisfied with just one hit. And so the demand increases even more. Against a stagnant supply.

What I see now is a shift towards older machines. With most DMD machines approaching 2K+ even for marginal titles, more and more interest is shifting towards earlier SS machines and even EMs that are still affordable. Will that be enough to burst the current bubble? I think coupled with the continued languishing of the economy, the astronomical (IMO) prices of new titles from Stern and JJP, and the resurgence of interest in pre-90's pins, we should see a softening of the DMD market in the next year or two. But I wouldn't count on prices returning to those of 5 years ago for a long time.

lets put the blame where it lies,with that stupid sob on ebay that always has the little tarts standing next to the pins. and the aussie/limey sob that has pins like lw3 listed for $3,500.
the best thing we can do is let everyone we know not to buy from these clowns. let them choke on their pins until the prices come down.

like everything else = rise and fall
or what goes up must come down ?

there are alot of people trying to sell pins on c/l and ebay that are asking crazy prices.eventually,they will get the hint when no one makes an offer anywhere near what they are asking. they will wear down and let the pin go at a fair price. we just have to wait them out.

I think it's more,that the dollar just isn't worth nearly what it once was,which could branch off into multitudes of reasons,opinions,facts,etc.
It's sad to see the state of things,and the hopeless wars that keep going on,10 yr. anniversary in Afghanistan a couple weeks ago and nary a word about it in the national news.A crying shame that young men are really over there,and for what? Bring the troops home.

The positive side to this is it makes it easier to sell my Pins!