That's about where I'd be as well

I hoard and never sell anything, so no loss here.

Interesting question - I had to go back and look at my collection history. On a % basis, I lost the most on an Avatar pro as I took about a 25% hit from the original purchase price. Just based on $$'s, my biggest loss was on a ST Prem - as I took an $1,150 loss.

Sorry to hear that. What were they charging for Alien LE?

Everytime I walk into a barcade, I bleed money.

Never.
I don't buy new cars off the lot.
Even if I were to buy a modern, I'd be the guy waiting a year for the dust to settle on the price, so if I got out, I'd be at a likely break-even.
-mof

Supporting a barcade means you are helping to bring new people into the hobby, so we all thank you for helping to keep pinball alive.
-mof

You and me both!!!

I think I took a loss of about $500 on MMR. Tough to tell exactly because a trade was involved. I had it about a year. If you asked me 5 years ago if I wanted to open a brand new MM and play it for a year for $42 a month I would have jumped on it.

Xenon. Restoring that game ate my time, soul, money and sanity. Was so happy to see it go. Lost 400 plus time.

Bride of Pinbot. She's is certainly a beauty. Not when I got it. Was a beat up machine that I paid to much money for.
Then I had it restored. After all that plastic surgery she's a beauty now. Thought we could break up. Can't. Way to much
money in game and never going to find another in this condition. Unless it becomes the blasphemy 2.0 .

NIB - For the most part the devaluation I've seen would be what I would of spent driving to barcade, drinking, and plunking
in lots of money because I suck at new games.

Just describing my situation, I've had no issues with new machines. Your mileage may vary of course.

Over the course of 30 years I honestly can't remember selling a game for less than I have put into it, and that's probably the main reason I have so many!! If I can't at least break even, then it stays

I bought a semi-trashed Sorcerer and overpaid when I was a newb. Lost about $400 USD.

yep but they no longer produce this and it's an epic pin...could go UP in value, hang onto it and enjoy. it might end up being an investment.

You have a few classic sterns you could sell me I'm sure you wouldnt lose money on

I too am a hoarder so as games become keepers-pricing goes out the window. I really do not care about machines losing value, when they bring such tremendous amounts of enjoyment. If I ever sell X-MEN LE, Star Wars LE, Ghostbusters LE, Avengers LE, etc. I will take a bath-but it will be the best bath I ever had. When pinball gives you this type of enjoyment-it is priceless.

"Games become keepers"... Nope, no such thing. Ownership or possessing something is more like "renting and taking care of it until you die" and not "this is me and what I am now". First world problems for sure. Don't let the thing be in front, you be the "in front".

Lets see....bought Spiderman and Iron Man at the same (around the time both were at their highest prices). About 2 or 3 months later, Stern announces vaults for both of them. Both are gone and lost quite a bit on each. On a side note, Transformers was my first game and still to this day, its my go to game for a fast play. Wont sell it for many reasons, but defiently because I think its worth much more than I could get.

Scrolling through these posts makes it pretty clear...buying NIB pins that you have never seen, touched, or played is not too bright. On those pins, the consumers don't make the market; the dealers make the market, then manufacturers join in to build the hype. And don't forget! There will ONLY be XXX of the super rare ultra desirable limited editions! Reminds me of my kid talking about Pokemon cards in the 90's.

And the thought of so many people paying in full for games from...let's be generous and call them "boutique" manufacturers...is insane.

Just like on cars and boats and RV's, it is easy to lose a lot of money buying something new. You would lose less $ if someone broke into your house and stole three or four EMS than taking the hit on a NIB.

That moaning you just heard is Gary Stern and Jersey Jack having orgasms.

I wouldn't say priceless. You have to be at least somewhat careful about how much money you spend. I don't get the guys buying and selling nib pins fast. That's a lot of money flushing down the toilet. At least play the games first and make sure you are going to keep it for a while. I usually end up over paying for all my games but I at least know they are games I really want that will stay a while.

Sigh. Just one for me but it was a heart breaker one. This was several years ago.

Bought a Pinball Magic from a friend of a friend who got it from an estate sale. It was in really nice condition, clearly sat in a home for years.

He shrink wrapped and put it on a pallet to ship to me. I get a call 2 days later from the shipper that my game is at the terminal ready to be picked up. I get there and they bring out the game which was now laying in its side on the pallet, no shrink wrap, no straps, nothing. All the glass broken, the cabinet severely cracked, even the playfield was cracked if you could believe it. They HAD to have dropped it off of the truck (or building) or something to inflict that much damage.

Being a friend brokering the deal, I paid cash ahead of time to him. You know where this is going. I wanted to reject the shipment but was told to go ahead and receive it, 'promise to make it all good', 'won't leave you hanging'. I think I got $300 back after nagging and nagging from what was a total loss.

Not much else I could have done. I am sure if I rejected the shipment, I probably would have been out a game and my money. Lesson learned, no cash ahead of time even to a friend on an expensive item.

But on a positive note, I still have the game, it is still a todo. Some other friends were able to help me get some of the damaged NLA parts (for free) and a new playfield for it. So with a lot of work it can be salvaged. But still obviously way overpaid by a longshot.

Biggest loss to date, Aerosmith LE. Took about a 2K CAD hit on that one.

It's funny you say that...
I keep hearing how classic sterns are some of the best values in pinball today. I didn't realize until i put my Meteor up for sale yesterday. It sold in 30 minutes, and people were practically beating my door down for it.

You heard it here: get them cheap while you can.

Are you saying i shouldnt PM you about congo?

Yup. Couldn't tell you the last time I played it but it's SO solid and in great condition, I can't let it go. That machine is a tank. Never had a single issue.

"infamous pinball" makes it sound like it was owned by Hitler or involved in the Manson murders.

It could be a pinball that was locked in a safe and opened by Geraldo Rivera.

At this point the market dictates anyone buying any Stern LE should expect to lose at least 10%-15% if they sell. Even mods don’t help much. That’s been the case with every recent stern starting with Aerosmith. In 4 months you’ll be able to get black knight LE for 7800us or better. Happens every game now.

Do mods really ever truly get factored in to the price? I feel like at maximum it's pennies on the dollar.

Some do. ColorDMD being a good example. Probably won't get 100% back but pretty close.

Good example. That's one I often see "not included" with the game for sale unless the buyer pays more. The ol "I'm putting the original dmd back in" posting.

people try to get all mods and time back out of a pin. ridiculous

Yeah, like it or not, many titles are pretty much *expected* to have certain mods on them these days. For those, it's not like you can "up" for the mods, but if the machine *doesn't* have them, it can kinda cause a "drop." That is, a stock one usually doesn't and shouldn't bring as much as the one with all the expected mods. KnowwhatImean?

Thing is nobody will ship you a pin without being paid first. How did you get boned so hard on the settlement? Was it not properly insured?