lots of people buying pros in canada nobody paying there list price. imagine if they listed there price online at today's exchange then our dollar dropped 10 cents next week. There would be alot of pissed off people bitching as they couldn't sell at the advertised price . ... so they list high incase the dollar crashes. If you want to pay in usd they will do that too. It's as simple as calling

So if this is the case how do the compare to say Game exchange in USD ?

now that I don't know. I got my ghostbusters LE for less then mrsp around what most people in the states payed for theirs. But like all distributors they can't list a price lower then Sterns MRSP . same goes for all American distributor. Everyone in the states has to call to get a "real" price why would it be any different here. I love how he called a bunch of distributors in the states to get a "real" price but didn't call the distributor here. Same rules apply for price advertising to distributors In both country's it's common sense.

Eh I just gotta ask do you guys consider a 6k pinball game an investment, say like a classic car?

Neither are a investment, both are fun hobbies.

More like a new Toyota. It'll probably lose value, but not as much as a Chevy.

Plus if you buy from the states you have currency exchange fees on your credit card, shipping fees(sometimes) gas and time to pick it up if you ship to a us Depot and taxes at the boarder. I know lots of people who have looked into the it's cheaper to buy in the states option and almost all have bough in canada myself included. The question is who much extra hassle is it worth to maybe save 1 or 2 hundred plus then dealing with a American distributor if you have issues and dealing with possible shipping damage especially if shipping to a Depot where you can't check it before excepting it. Starburst has there own truck drive there and pick them up so shipping damage is almost non existent.

I can understand everyone trying to get a "Deal" and save thousands, by ordering from the states. But in the long run, NIB games from Canadian Distributors maybe 100 to 200 more than having a game from the states shipped up. You then have to add in your time to pick up the fuel and wear and tear on your car. But the biggest loss to the Canadian pinball scene is that this practice is choking the remaining suppliers and their techs out of business. The profit margins on games is minimal and who is the first line of support we call when the game doesn't work our "local" distributor and tech. Why should they give warranty work for games not purchased from them, they do not get reimbursed from Stern or STarburst. Look at the savings as insurance to the investment you are laying out. Would you spend 10K on a trip of a life time and not buy medical insurance for a few hundred bucks,,,,,,I wouldn't.

Its a great rebirth of pinball and we need to support the industry on both sides of the border. Just my view from watching and being in this hobby for over 30 years. We have lost many a distributor across this country as well as many great techs the very ones that live and breath pinball as we do,,,yet with cutting out these people we support the makers of the games and they do not give us very good support or the free advice needed to keep all the old games running when we can't figure them out.

Two simple words,,,,,,"Buy Canadian"

I agree if possible one should support the distributors, however I would expect fair equivelent pricing from them in return. They are a distributor not a reseller, products shouldnt be priced such that we have to consider purchasing a machine in a different country and incur shipping and import costs as well. I understand the 7k price from when the dollar dipped to .68, but now at about .80 its no longer fair to us. Fair would be max 6500 shipped plus tax which is still higher than the guys in the US are paying, its not old stock that they have over paid on, they are paying todays exchange on the games.

The problem is as mentioned above, games are NOT investments, when buying NIB I would fully expect to lose money when Im done with the game. But Id like to at least pay a fair purchace price to try and minimize the loss.

There is no shipping advantage if you live out West. I cannot drive to Starburst to pick it up so it still ends up going through a third party shipper.

Well, everyone else must be getting quoted much better prices from Starburst than I do. By my calculations it is more like $300.00 to $400.00.

When their "quoted over the phone" USD prices are several hundred USD over the "quoted over the phone" price from a US distributor, I choose to vote with my wallet.

OK folks maybe I am missing something here but here is my calculation. Please note the numbers used here are close to the quotes I have received. We will use $5K as a nice round number.

Drop shipping (to state side terminal) is included in that price. = $0 extra cost

Gas cost to go get pinball = $30 CDN

Current exchange rate = 1.25733
Foreign transaction fee is typical 2.5% (bank or credit card)

$5000 * 1.25733 = 6286.65 * 2.5% = $6443.81 * taxes = $7281.51 + 30 + 25 terminal fee = $7336.51 CDN and I know the calculation could be lower. There are some places that are cheaper than the bank when it comes to exchange

So in order for Cineplex to match or beat their price that would have to sell me the machine at $6492 + tax.

And the quote I got was lower than $5K so there is currently a $500 price difference. And I would rather keep the $200 I save and buy some mods than give it to anyone else.

I am only a newbie, got in because my wife and I bought my son a EM for a Christmas present, he was into old stuff at the time. He played it I learned to fix it. I was a little kid in T.O. in the sixties and a punk-ass kid in the 70's and spent hours in the alleys and halls playing pinballs. Then reality set in jobs, marriage, kids and then I got caught up in the second round of the computer age, 286, DOS, Quattro-pro, then dial up, then online trading in penny stocks (I consider those losses tuition). I simply forgot about pinball.
Now kids are gone, I drive a 1981 Chevy two tone shorty and proudly own 5 EM pinball machines. I have officially regressed to a simpler time. Maybe a couple of grand invested in the games and hours and hours of well spent time mostly fixin. My investment I believe is in getting me off the couch and doing something really cool and the learning curve is huge.
Thus my question about the investment and thanks for the answer. Its not about the money but something greater, its just all these large numbers I'm reading blow my mind. I order a couple of small parts from PBR, parts cost $18 and the bill is for $38 USD including shipping. <sigh>

I'll give a real world example from when I was looking for a TWD Premium. Without naming names and using current exchange rates, and keeping in mind that the USD price was before Stern's minimum sale price thing went into effect:

Canadian - 7195 USD (no shipping). ~9050CDN at current posted exchange rates. Now I know that no one gets those rates, but they work for sake of argument.

US - 6300 USD (no shipping) ~7930CDN. Let's say that the Canadian distributor is converting exactly at the posted rates, but buying from the US you are using a standard credit card, and we'll add 3.5% to the conversion just to make things "fair" and call it $8150.50 CDN instead. I have a no foreign currency fee card, so it wouldn't be this high.

Now we add the GST (Being in Alberta we only pay the 5%). Brings our new totals to:

Canadian - $9502.00 CDN.
US - $8557.50 CDN.

Let's add shipping.

Canadian - I seem to remember from previous purchases that it costs about $300.00 CDN to get a pin shipped to the door from a distrib (not sure about GST on shipping or not, so let's say GST is included because we are kind). So our new total is $9802.00CDN.

USD - Let's forget any savings you might make by going down to the border to pick it up. I know from buying pins out of the States that it will cost about $500.00CDN LTL to my door. If getting it shipped you also have to pay a customs broker. Again, I know from experience that this will cost $75.00. So our new total would be $9132.50.

So all said and done, dollar to dollar, expense to expense, even being "unfair" to the US purchasing side, there is a $670.00 savings buying a Premium out of the States vs buying it "locally".

I wouldn't mind paying a bit more to support a Canadian distributor, avoid brokerage, etc. So in this scenario, if I could get the Premium from the Canadian distributor for $6800.00 USD, (still several hundred USD higher than the US distrib), it would bring me to $9288.00 which is about $150.00 more.

It is entirely possible that I am just getting crap quotes from Canadian distribs, and other people are getting way better deals, but I can only go with the numbers that I have been told. And with those numbers, buying from a Canadian distributor just makes no financial sense.

Where I am really unclear on is how Canadian distribs handled Stern's new minimum sale price policy. That has added about $200.00 USD to the purchase price of Premiums for the average US distrib. If Canadian distributor prices have remained the same, then things aren't that far apart. If they decided to bump their prices even further, the bending over continues.

Ok you go on the road trip get the machine for 7k, own and play for two years, what kind of depreciation would you expect if you wanted to sell it?

Depends on the machine and the demand at the time. On a new machine, ignoring any possible major market swings with the hobby as a whole, if the machine ends up being unpopular (low demand) you could lose 20%-30% or more. If it is a popular machine with lots of demand you could break even or even make a bit.

What your missing is you don't know Starbursts price. You called a bunch of US distributors but not the canadian one.
LIKE EVERY DISTRIBUTOR THEY CAN'T ADVERTISE A LOWER PRICE.
Call starburst for a price!! if not then how can you know the difference in price? they sell for less then there listed price did you read any of the recent posts?

I called SB TO and MTL this morning. Both didn't get back to me. i will wait until I see what they have to say but from experience I am not so hopeful but I could be pleasently surprised

You can email jerry in Toronto starburst directly if you like. he always answers emails quick during the week.

[email protected]

Well I just might end up getting my pinball in BC

Nitro is the shit. I've gotten 3 nib games from them and had best price and great aftercare from them.

I'll be buying 1-2 more games from them this year too.

Just go get usd to buy your games and you won't have to worry about the exchange going up or down. You will always get the most accurate price based on exchange that way.

I second Nitro. They are the best and Tommy is excellent to deal with. Definitely worth a call or email.

I got a call back from Michel at SB today. I'll make my decision Monday. One thing is for sure. I'm buying in CDN.

yup definitely better then there list price

Holy crap Fort McMurray is on fire! Town is being evacuated. Hope everyone is safe. Unfortunately my friend Dylan up there's place will almost definitely be gone. Which means his iron man and acdc premium is too. His place is not far from super 8 which I just saw burned down. Man it's just so dry. And smokers, Don't throw your heaters out the window.

Scary stuff. 80k people just told to evacuate. Hope everyone gets out safe and those pins are insured.

Sent him a message hoping he and his wife and dogs are safe. He mentioned previously his coworker has a 20 plus game collection. Man that would really suck. I personally volunteer and just waiting on whether they'll need us or not. Edmonton crews are heading up now to help out.

I was born and raised there, left in 08. Bunch of my friends lost their houses,cars, everything. What a fn disaster. So heart broken for everyone

Sad situation up there right now , sister in laws family lives up there , apparently one of her cousins house is gone .

Holy crap worse then I thought,I just caught the news earlier,didn't mention any houses lost then.
At least it's just stuff,it can all be replaced. Heart still goes out to them all though.

Off topic but does anyone else hate that f'n french button on kijiji? I accidentally hit it and now I'm pooched for hours. Bunch of frog language. Why the f is it there in the first place?

Because you live in Canada! Official languages: English, French.

Chinese, Punjabi, English then French

Jerry is a great guy to deal with, but I found you still might get a better price through your reseller.

Rob

i dont think i have ever noticed it .. im sure now that you say that i will hit it next time i log onto it .

For all the guys in Regina and surrounding area who didn't go to Edmonton for YEGPIN... just wanted to mention Ghostbusters Pro is now on location at Rebellion Brewing!

Nice Dylan! Mine goes out tonight for a launch party @ Sports on Tap. Free play at 6 PM, tourney start at 7 PM.

We timed it well for a provincial launch

Thanks much to both of you guys for keeping awesome machines on location in SK.

Don't forget Farsi & Korean are probably. well ahead of French here in Vancouver.

So, I have a bit of a qualm here that I would love some help with. When Alien ships, I have to sell a pin from my upstairs lineup to make room: Judge Dredd, Star Trek LE, Tron Pro (heavily modded) or Game Of Thrones Premium. This is mainly because I don't want to move my heavy ass widebody JD downstairs through a narrow staircase, but also because I don't want to move any of my awesome Sterns downstairs (where they wouldn't get played as much). The problem is, I love all of them. Judge Dredd seems like the contender to go, but I love the theme, artwork and the custom soundtrack I did for it with a Pinsound board. Tron I shipped up, so I will never recoup costs on that one, but It also doesn't get near the amount of play that GOT and ST get. Obviously I could do some awesome trades to change things up, but the problem is that I need to make space, and one of them simply has to go.

What would you do?

...move the Tron to the basement.

It already doesn't get regular play but as you say you won't recoup costs and may never get another one.

Plus it's a feather light Stern game.

Never sell Tron unless it's to get a better Tron...

I just sold my STLE,so that gets my vote to go,or JD

I'd say sell the one you play the least, or bite the bullet and move one to the basement.

JD gets old. At least it has for me. I've owned a few over the years. I enjoy the game, but get tired of it.

Play it non-stop until you are sick of it and then sell it.

That or move one of the Sterns to the basement.

Or trade it like I did for ngg and creech Doesn't help with space though. Sell Judge to me and you can come play it whenever you're in Saskatchewan

Personally you should just drop Tron at my house until you can make a rational decision of which way to go.

Dont sell a game if your not done with it, move it downstairs