My two cents when dealing with craigslist sellers. They want the EASIEST sell possible. If you email asking for a dozen extra pics, videos of test modes, a laundry list of questions.... You are never going to hear back. Keep it local where you are comfortable driving to and still willing to walk away. Don't haggle in your email on price, do it when you show up with cash in hand.

Your email to any seller should be- hi my name is (blank) and I'm interested in your (specific name of machine) I have cash in hand and someone that can help load, I would like to come take a look. Email, phone or text me back whatever's easiest for you.

My extra two cents. Avoid craigslist. You live in an area with a ton of collectors, probably many on Pinside. The best deals I have ever gotten were from friends I made on here. Find local tournaments and go and compete and meet locals. You could also Start a new thread saying in the title WTB in San Antonio Texas.

Best of luck!

Yeah there's no reason to state your age when responding to an ad, some people may feel odd taking thousands of dollars from a teenager.

I can't get the link for the ad in San Antonio to work, but yeah 4,700$ if in good shape is pretty reasonable.

Ad also says sold as a package only for 10 grand, so good luck with that

I wouldn't ask for 4k then, it looks pretty solid. Get over there and offer 4500 and if he says no then pay the man his full price.

Not sure if you are in this for the right reason. Its a FAIR price to be sure. Your going to be hard pressed to find some magical 3k$ TOM somewhere. You said you want it to raise in value within the next few years... who knows what will happen by then. Pinball is seeing a resurgence in popularity, whether or not it holds is anyone's guess. Could be that people start getting bored of the hobby and everyone moves on.

Right now you see a huge influx of people into the hobby around my age (thirties). Why? because we remember these games being in arcades, they are nostalgic. We are now settling into homes where we have space and our jobs give us some disposable income. we wantto relive our youth. The next generation may not feel that way. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, you are one of them, but I bet people your age are the extreme minority on here. There might not be a high demand in a few years which drives these high prices. Who knows what the next big nostalgia thing will be.

Buy a game because you love it and want to play it. Sure no one wants to lose money down the road, but its a possibility. I look at it this way. Say I bought a TOM, a $4700 game. Say in five years the bubble bursts, no one cares anymore, at least most people don't, now its only demanding $2500 if I wanted to sell it.

Ask me why I don't care.

Glad you asked, lots of reasons. I had countless hours of fun playing it. Friends over and tournaments at my house. I had a lot of fun cleaning it, repairing it, maybe adding things to it. That's the FUN value. Its hard to put a dollar amount on the hours of fun I have had. Second reason. Its not going to be just that one game going down in price, ALL $4700 games will go down. If I still love the hobby I can always trade it for a White water or a STTNG, there will still be comparable games out there for trade. As soon as I buy a pin I consider that money gone. At that point its a game I can trade or sell to get the next one.

So if all you are hoping to do is make money and thats your primary goal you may as well stop. The projects and cheap deals are few and far between (and rarely on craigslist). If you are looking to have fun and build memories then go for it.

I'm glad you took it that way, I wasn't trying to be rude or a jerk, that shows real maturity on your part. I really hope you find a great game for a great price.

Be willing to hold out. Embrace the hunt. It took me months and months to find the perfect rollergames for me.