I've decided to get a pinball machine so I've been researching on this site (and others) and watching Craigslist for local machines. One of the things that I see people say is that if you don't like your pinball, they're easy to resell at little or no loss. I'm not sure that is true.

I was checking Craigslist today and I found this ad: reno.craigslist.org link . I won't post a screen shot because I don't know how and it appears to contain a lot of personal information on the seller. It's for an Excalibur and the seller is asking $1,200 to $1,800 (why there's a range is anybody's guess). The only description of the condition of the machine is "warms up". There are two pictures including one with the GI lights on. The other picture is what makes me nervous. It's a receipt from TNT Amusements showing that it had been sold to this guy (?) and delivered last May. The receipt shows it was $2,800 and $300 in shipping. I'm sure there's a story about why he is asking so little for a machine he's had less than a year. If he gets the $1,200 he's asking, he will have incurred a $1,900 loss in less than one year's ownership.

This isn't the only thing that makes me nervous about buying a pinball machine. I see machines posted on CL for months before they sell. A member here had a Robocop for sale on CL for quite some time. I wasn't ready to buy at the time but it seemed like a really good deal on an interesting title. He had done a series of videos showing the restoration of the machine so the condition was well documented. I think he eventually sold it here when he couldn't sell it locally. Currently, there's a Spanish Eyes for $950 locally that has been up since at least December with no takers. I know there's a limited market for EM games (and the seller is in an out of the way location) but that is a bit much.

I've decided that I need to be careful about the title I choose as a popular one would be easier to sell if I don't like it. My first pin will also be in the $2,500 to $3,500 range as that seems the sweet spot for great titles and easy to resell. I'm still nervous about my ability to inspect a used machine but I guess I will have to run that risk.

Any advice for a first time pinball machine buyer?