I used to joke that a Fiero is just a Chevy Citation with the front clip in the back. Not far from the truth really. We got paid more to do a clutch job on that one though.

Iron Duke was an engine brought back from the early 60s and was a solid power plant, but there was nothing really modern about it except the induction and ignition systems they were trying.

When I first saw the new 4 Tech version, I pictured four techs standing there scratching their heads going WTF.

I’ll price a pin someone PMs asking me will I take $800-900 less?

I bought a used 88 Formula Fiero with a V6 auto. Turned out the engine was pretty tired. I rebuilt it in my kitchen.

2.8? I got pretty tired of trying to fix all the oil leaks on those.

Did you work at a G.M. dealership? I worked at a Ford dealership for 3 years in the 80's. Worst cars ever. Bronco II was a real piece of shit.

No, I worked at an independent garage. Between the big three, they all made enough pieces of shit to keep us very busy.

Anytime somebody preached buy American, I preached that I buy Toyota, because my economy was more important.

I didn't learn to buy Toyota until my wife got a 2002 Lexus. We have only bought Toyotas ever since.

At first I had the belief any offer is a good offer. That faded quickly. You can usually tell by the person if you want to deal with them or not. Now I just ignore the low ball/ridiculous ones. On the other hand if I connect with someone I get good vibes from I will work with them on price and travel. I have picked up and delivered games 12 hours away - I like the trips to see different parts of the country and my GF will tag along. But if I can tell the person is going to be a PITA then I will just pass the deal - buying or selling. After a few deals ya kinda get a good feel of what a game should sell for and can adjust the price/travel into it. I hate my owners where I work and want to try to get out of there/take a lower paying job if needed so sold all 12 of my games - extremely depressing.

But I plan to get back in the game and re-build my collection in a couple years and will be reaching out and low balling a lot of you fuckers soon enuf

A scammer with a bunch of pictures looks slightly more legit. Watermark the pics to make them less useful to a scammer. Works on real estate pics too.

Thinking back on both those deals there was a 10% deposit paid first.

I got a good one for you guys.

From when I lived in Reno I was selling a Revenge From Mars. I put it on Craigslist. A guy in Lake Tahoe reached out because he wanted it for his "space" themed room. The guy was giving me major stoner vibes. I believe he texted me the word "space" a few times. He wasn't a pinhead at all but he was going to show up and pay my asking price.

two guys show up, "Space Guy" who is like 6'4" and his buddy who is also pretty big. Dude pays me. I explain how we have to break it down to get it out of the house and loaded in his van. He is like "No way. I will never get it back together". I explain that he should be prepared to do a few things or pinball ownership was not going to go well for him. He insists that they can carry it out without taking it apart.

He pays me and they carry it out as heavy as it was. We get to the van and it is clear that the head needs to come off or it will not fit in the van. At that point the guy says he doesn't want it and we put it in my garage and he gave me $100 for my time.

Dude was an idiot but honestly he probably make the right decision as he didn't have much going on upstairs and he was not made for pinball ownership.

Unfortunately it sat in my garage for a few weeks before someone bought it but at least it was closer to the driveway for the next buyer!

Nope , I actually had a guy that does killer work to flip the entire vehicles interior. It drives way better this way !

My response to buyers I don’t want to sell to: Thanks for your interest, have a nice day.

I've tried this on several people today for something I'm selling. They all stopped responding after that, haha. I think I'm the winner here though saving myself from those types.

I actually asked the guy I bought my Ripley's from "what's the lowest you will go?", as I made him well aware I was a serious buyer and he wanted it gone.

It wasn't for him to haggle against himself, but the original price seemed kind of high and I wasn't going to pay that for it and I didn't want to waste either of our times and I also didn't want to insult him with a lowball offer and then get barred.

So, he told me what offer he had turned down and I made him an offer higher than that that we could both live with and he delivered it to my house an hour later.

It's really not that difficult to sell a game if you advertise it accurately,price it accordantly and weed through (ignore) the obvious non buyer tire kicker low ballers.It takes patience but the good guys and gals are out there.

We have a local flipper that loves to explain in long text messages how the pins I sell are over priced, and I should sell them to him for half of what I am asking so he can add LEDs to them and sell them. Ive told him more than once that I am not his wholesale pinball supplier.

There are buyers (and sellers, for that matter) of ALL types.

It sounds like you did your homework and priced it fairly, so you dont have to sell it if you dont want to. If you do want to (or need to), then sometimes you have to go the extra mile...literally.

I would recommend calling them on the phone and seeing how serious they are and being very clear about the transaction. I have delivered pins before for a fee that is paid upfront. Don't drive out there without getting something first. You are taking all the risk of loading it, potential damage, and them not showing up or wanting it. Make sure they know it is a non-refundable delivery fee.

How about meeting halfway... Lowe’s or Home Depot parking lot right? xD

I got to the point where if I don’t see some form of “I’d like to buy your pinball machine” in the communications I don’t respond. When I’m truly interested in buying someone’s machine, I say that on the outreach, regardless of what other questions I may have.

No is a great word that far too many of us don’t use when we should. I have no problem hearing or saying no. It’s a definitive answer. Most of the pain in the above posts could be solved with LTG’s “No”.

I’ve used it before and completed a sale. If the offer is too low, I usually say something like “Thanks for your interest, I’m going to pass on that and stick with my last price. Best of luck in your search”. I get to say no and still be polite. Win/win for me.

I get some oddball offers from time to time, but very very rarely am I insulted by them. Had a guy just this morning offer me a "Booze-O-Meter" for an EM gun game I'm selling. It's a neat looking thing and I could definitely see some guy on here being interested in one of them. It's just not my thing so I opted to pass on the offer.

Now, selling oddball cars, that's where the strange ones come out. When I was selling my Defender some guy asked it I would take monthly payments of $250 a month. I was asking $20k for the truck. Nooooooo thank you.

-Hans

I put alot of effort into my ads and list on multiple platforms. 7 months ago I sold a Fish Tales with new cabinet decals and a clear coated playfield for $3800. Completely reasonable asking price for what it was. I got over 40 offers in the week I had it up for sale before I took cash and a golden tee in trade. Here is what was offered, ranging from favorable to $500 to $5000 in Best Buy "Store Credit".

1. $4,000, but required shipping

2. Initial D Twin drivers arcade and cash

3. Super nice Mame in cabinet to scary for my kids and cash.

4. $3,500 plus I deliver 4 hour round trip.

5. $3,500 plus I ship it.

6. $3,600 plus I ship it.

7. NBA fast break plus Golden Tee 2007

8. HUO Terminator 3 plus Golden Tee 2007

9. Hook plus Golden Tee 2007 plus cash

10. Elvis, the Pin

11. TNA for Fish Tales plus cash TBD

12. $2,800 plus Golden Tee Complete 2005

13. Sample Earth-Shaker

14. Batman Forever

15. Indiana Jones for Fish Tales plus cash TBD (and shipping)

16. Attack From Mars LE for Fish Tales Plus Cash

17. Restored Flash Gordon

18. Monster Bash Original for Fish Tales plus Cash

19. $3700 Cash

20. $2900 plus Golden Tee Complete 2005

21. Golden Tee 2016 plus cash TBD

22. Junkyard

23. Flintstones plus $600

24. $3300

25. Stern Pirates (plus shipping)

26. $3200

27. $3500

28. A very crappy looking golf cart

29. $2300

30. 4 Arcade 1 Ups

31. $2,700

32. $300, a Revenge From Mars with RFM and SWE1

33. $1,200

34. $3,700

35. Walking dead plus cash from me

36. Demolition man

37. No Good Gofers and cash from me

38. $5000 in suspect Best Buy "Store Credit" Lolz Craigslist

39. $500

40. A couple of very nice looking kayaks and a bicycle.

@daditude, you're 100% right.

This is the #1 key to any successful business transaction. I think it's imperative to discuss over the phone with a buyer or seller to spell out very clear expectations - including price. By doing this, you usual can avoid disappointment and frustration.

Awesome list.

Who the hell was #29, #33, and #39? Or were they from Craigslist?

Offers through pinside were mostly reasonable, I beleive the lowball offer was $3,000 from pinside.

Original ad is here https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/85899

donkey (resized).png

40 offers? For FT? Crazy. Kinda disappointed no one has offered me any silly trades like Best Buy gift cards or busted golf carts when I sold pins. Pretty funny! Some of those trades actually sound pretty good.

Seems like lots reasons keep your games . Scrounge for space for next title if you want to grow your collection .

Shane

Congratulations! Hopefully you’ll both be happy. This community is great for thsee types of transactions.

A stranger asks if you will put him on a 7 year payment plan?!? I’ve played a lot of poker but there is no way I could respond to that offer with a straight face.

Stern Lightning isnt easy to find, so yeah, I'm sure the buyer is pretty excited about that one, especially if it was at the killer price you put on it.