What I don't understand is why the guy is using an auction house. He probably should just post them and give what he can't sell in a month or two to the auction house. They probably take a nice percentage and he would do better off selling them himself. I am sure in this area he would have no problem selling a decent percentage of his collection. Maybe I am missing something....all I know is I had no problem selling 7 pins over the last 1-2 months so I would believe 50% of his collection could be sold in a month or two with all the "pinheads" that are less then 4 hours away.

Will be interesting to see what some of the pins go for......sure the bids will be competitive for the A list titles. All this guy did was make the auction house some "easy money" in my opinion as a good percentage would have sold easily to local pinsiders.

Understood about the auction house. Truly, it is a sin us local pinsiders couldn't have bought some pins from him for the "net amount" he will collect after paying the auction house. I wish somehow we could have had a shot but so "be it". The only ones who make a killing in this is the auction house.....having a good asset to sell and getting a nice cut. Sure they will make a "pretty penny" and I feel sorry for the guy. Seems he lost a lot of money trying to make this work and had "great intentions" which is always sad when that happens. He just "finally gave up".....I have been there and understand....sometimes "mentally you are beat" and just want to "get out at any cost".

Just sad to see it come to this. However, my gut feeling is it would be putting more good money after bad as to make this work would be way too much risk....not enough demand to pay the bills is the issue and I doubt that changes in this area anytime soon or ever. I am sure he could have sold a good portion of his collection (all the A and B list games) locally and QUICKLY once word got around. My "gut feeling" is he would have had 50 "pinsiders" (maybe more) coming from miles with cash in hand...LOL !!! They would have been flying out of his location !!!! He wouldn't buy a nice SS for $5K or more, nice TZ for the same price.....etc. etc.....my feeling is in an auction setting he will get 60% of those values after all is said and done.....huge additional loss and that is sad and nobody wins but the auction house !!! To me Auction houses are best used for valuable really high priced items with a small number of people that can afford them.....not pinball machines that many can afford in a 3-4 hour radius and would gladly make the trip again with cash in hand.....I can see people buying 3-4 games and maybe more !!!

I am going to check out the auction and it will be interesting to see what the games are going for. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if local retailers wouldn't have paid him more then he would net just to build inventory (especially if he would have approached them in October as the holiday seasons are when these retail operations sell most of there machines....when I left the hobby in early 2011 (only to return with a vengeance in early 2013) I sold all 5 of my machines (Dr. Who, T2, GNR, Teed Off and Cue Ball Wizard) for $8,750......not a bad price in late 2010 and it was a bulk easy transaction and I DID NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING (NAVL came down to my basement and DID EVERYTHING cost the guy an extra $500 but I made it part of the deal). I am not even sure I could do much better then that today and this was in late 2010 when prices were lower then today !!! However, it was before the holidays and they needed inventory and saw my CL ad and wanted all 5 pins at once !!!

My point....if I could get great prices and sell 5 at once to a retailer I am sure this guy didn't need an auction house in 2014 but again "he probably didn't want the hassle".....but he just added to his losses in my opinion in a BIG WAY....very sad.....

Guess at the end of the day "it is what it is" but lets all be honest for the "net amount he is now getting" (after paying the auction house) we probably all would have loaded up at that price....I know I would have !!!! My wife would have killed me as I would have been on a "buying frenzy".....I would have been like a kid in a candy store. Yes, I will take that SS for $4K and that TOM for $3.5K etc. etc........trust me, he would have sold them quickly if he would have only asked for the "net price" he will be getting now after commissions and it wouldn't have been that hard.

All he would have had to do is put up a post on pinside....350 pins for sale and give a date and time and if he held it on Saturday by Sunday night his inventory would have been drastically reduced if he would have done the math and took what he felt he could get and subtracted out all the auction house expenses......

Again, "it is what it is".....most importantly sad it couldn't be saved !!! Secondly, sad we didn't have a chance to get some pins at "decent prices"....lets see what they go for at auction and maybe there will be some deals to be had......not counting on it though but you never know.....money is drying up on all the NIB pins and the retailers are no competition since they need to mark them up and make a profit.

Sounds like David is a great guy. I respect him for following his passion...life is too short not to take a chance every now and then. I might have done the same thing......sometimes you just "give something away" so you can move on ASAP and he might have been to that point. I just hate seeing the auction house make all the money !!!!! I looked at the ads and see a few pins I already like and will probably try to land.

Just wondering is it an advantage to be there in person or just do it online. I am thinking it probably makes more sense to be there in person. You can also look at the pins closely before you bid.....bottomline you have to drive there to pick them up anyway and if I go I would make sure I at least came home with something. One of the ones I like I don't mind paying above market if it is in good shape so I doubt many people will be willing to go that high....most I would think want "bargains".....I would only be looking to pick up one pin since that is all I can haul back anyway.....probably would be a fun experience. Will be interesting to see what the pins go for anyway.

Online is easier but you miss the excitement of the guy saying "going once, going twice"....LOL. Hey, that is half the fun to winning the bid when he says sold "to the handsome gentlemen sitting in the back" (then I get up thinking I won only to see he didn't mean me.....the handsome part should have been the dead giveaway)....LOL !!!