When I buy something I buy something...be it a pinball machine, a toaster....ok ok ok a CAR are you all happy?!!!...or even a "spot in line for a pinball machine."

Once you start trying to police this shit or telling me what I can or cannot do with shit I've paid for and own, let's just say it gets a little bit messy.

How about this? If you want a fucking pinball machine...or even a SPOT for a pinball machine...or a concert ticket, or a car, or a toaster...wake up early like everybody else and fucking make sure you buy one.

There isn't some magic to it. Some people snooze, some people lose, tough fucking titty. I don't see why it should be anybody's problem but the guy who can't figure out how to buy a pinball machine spot or anything else like everybody else can.

The "flippers" aren't rocket scientists. They aren't smarter than anybody else, or know any tricks that you don't know, or "insiders" with some leg up on you. THey are just guys who make a phone call or add something to their cart. And if those meager skills can bring them profits because somebody else is too lazy to do the same thing, well good for fucking them.

Can we put this nonsense to rest already? It's getting old. There is no "solution" to this problem because there is no actual problem. There's nothing to "fix."

In other words, as you eloquently say..."Get over it."

I don’t think it is the sellers we need to blame for this, it’s the buyers.

Problem is you dont own shit yet with a deposit. The machine still belongs to the manufacturer or distributor until its paid in full. A deposit is just a good faith sum paid to say im interested and have some means to prove it between the buyer and seller. It should not be assignable by either party. I have no problem with someone selling something they own and posses for whatever they want. But when non pinheads with no intention of ever taking delivery take spots for profit….. thats just ugly greed. Non transferrable deposits solve that issue.

Well, since this is "about the distributors" why not tell me what incentive these guys have to create a bunch of more work for themselves and turn themselves into cops who are now responsible for what their hundreds of customers do with the shit they bought?

So some rando on the internet stops with these dumb threads once a week? WHat else do they gain from this fairly complicated and demanding undertaking? Do you realize how much additional work and responsibility - for zero financial incentive - this would create for distributors? Do you realize that for every whiny internet rando they satisfy with these ridiculous new policies and penalties, they'd piss off about 5 loyal customers?

If Pinside ran anything, it would be out of business in a week.

I think the real problem is fully grown adults engaging in a virtual black friday melee “shut up and take my money” for a pinball machine.

I also like pinball machines but let’s be realistic. It’s a total indulgence that no one needs and as long as there are apparently people willing to write massive checks for a spot in line, other people with too much time on their hands will flip and scalp.

So I vote for “capitalism”. It’s just pinball and it’s great that there are lots of people with tons of disposable (literally) cash.

Not sure why Stern doesn’t double their prices. They apparently can’t fulfill the demand and customers are oozing money. They totally underprice their product. Why???

What incentive does anybody have to do this? Why would distributors want to make their customers' lives more difficult?

You still don't fucking get it. Distributors are in business of making their CUSTOMERS happy, not people who AREN'T their customers and may want to buy a pinball machine some day.

You haven't proposed a single thing that makes any sense for anybody in this business. Except for people who are "tired of flippers."

You ever notice how distributors neve chime in on these threads? It's because they think you are all idiots and they don't want to get themselves in trouble. If they agreed with you, don't you think they'd say so?

Right. Every single person who ever sold a deposit for a profit is a "parasite." None of them simply changed their mind, saw the market, and decided to make a few bucks, while making someone else happy.

Distributors don't give a fuck. Their business is selling pinball machines. It's what pays their rent and puts food on the table.

You don't understand that and you never will, apparently.

I think you should just take this advice-wherever it came from and apply it to the pricing threads for your own health.

I always assumed distributors did this to gauge who was serious about a spot and not just trying to get a spot on 10 different distro lists. But I guess some folks in this market might tie up $10k worth of deposits?

When I sit one of these out, about 20 people beg me to come back in!

Will you guys make up your minds already?

And my health is fine. Send me your email and I'll send you a screenshot of my recent lab tests and doctor's comments.

You want to tell an entire industry of people how to do their jobs, without regard for their financial well-being. It's a "shitty" thing to do. This isn't a joke for these people, it's how they feed their families.

Nothing's worse than having a bunch of know-it-alls tell you how to do your job better.

Exactly. I’ve been saying the same thing. However, I also agree with Levi. If you want a spot, do the work to get it. It’s the same as everything else in life. There’s no free lunch…

I'm trying to get you - and the dozens who make these posts every year - to actually think about what your suggestions mean. You think they are "simple" but they aren't. It seems like people always want to change every aspect of this hobby and business, which begs the question, why are you involved in this hobby and business if you dislike so many things about it?

Distributing pinball machines is a pain in the ass of a way to make a living. None of them want to make their lives more difficult for zero gain, and that's what your suggestion boils down to.

you said it yourself, they "Buy a spot". If you buy something, you are a customer, whether you like what they do with it after the fact, or not. I sell booze for a living (amongst other things), and when i sell a drink to someone, they can finish it, they can drink half, they can stare at it, they can dump it over their bad Tinder date's head. Once they gave me money for that drink, they became a customer.

**side note: dumping a drink on someone's head in Jackbar will quickly get that CUSTOMER ejected.

You really cherry pick your responses to me. You haven't addressed a single one of my questions to you about why this makes any sense for distributors to do, why it wouldn't cause them problems, or why it wouldn't be a huge unnecessary pain the ass.

I don't like it when mommy and daddy fight.

Right but what if the PREBOUGHT a drink spot, and now want to sell that drink to the guy sitting next to them before they even get it. What then!??!?!?!

and then where does it end??!!??!

I may be paranoid but at this point I think every pinball pricing thread OP is simply trolling me!!!

I'll try to keep this simple.

I have a choice of buying a deposit - one from a distributor who puts conditions and limitations on what I can do with my deposit, and one who doesn't.

Which one am I going to buy from?

Probably the one who doesn't treat me like a baby and try to tell me what I can do with what I just bought from him. You never know what the future will hold, why would I choose to hold myself hostage to a deposit like that, and limit my options?

Brilliant. WHo do we enforce this exactly? Polygraph tests when you create your FS ad?

There was a secondhand person that I knew from a friend. When those re-release NES systems came out a few years ago loaded with some of the old Nintendo games, he was going to Best Buys and buying up stock. He even had some app that read stock levels at all the stores and refreshed pages all day and purchased immediately when available. He would buy them for something like $49 and sell for over $100 on Ebay. He did this for hundreds of them.

Make it to where the deposit is non-refundable and slots cannot be sold. You either get in line or stay the fuck out.

Guarantee people will stop that shit real quick.

How does a dist. tell if someone never intends to buy a game? Not possible. Game release schedules change, things get canceled, money changes, life changes, people lose their jobs... Repeat offenders will just pick a different distributor... only a phone call away. The only certainty in life is death. While this "problem" may exist to the uninformed hobbyist or those pinball people that "feel left out", no distributor in their right mind is going to turn down money, ever!

I've never pre-ordered a game and have no intention to do so, but I've bought plenty of games with the sole intention to flip them immediately for profit and keep building my collection. Unfortunately I can't afford every new game that comes out (or the old ones either), so I've used the hobby to build my collection from a Space Shuttle I bought in 2016 to what I have now - couldn't have done it otherwise. Sorry if you think that makes me a shitty person, but as Levi eloquently put it, you snooze you lose. You can do the work and find the games (or pre order spot) before me if you have to have them that badly. Otherwise, I'm going to keep working towards my next game.

Honestly, I never really thought about trying to flip a $1k deposit on a Stern premium, it sounds like a great idea! It is normally really hard to double or triple your money, especially with a small investment like $1k. It's also *super* low risk, I mean what do you have to lose? Worst case scenario you take delivery and sell it at full retail because it is immediately available. **Thanks for the great fuckin' tip!** The only bitch thread I ever liked! Calling 10 distributors today, ordering Deadpools and Godzillas like you wouldn't believe!

I don't have a strong opinion either way on this one, just here to watch Levi spit fire. My man hit the sauce early this St. Paddy's day!

In these difficult times I'll do my part. If anybody wants to buy my halloween pre-order for exactly what i paid for it shoot me a PM

Selling my Feb 2023 GZ Premium spot that I put a 100 deposit on for 3k if anyone wants it.

yo, can i get one of those? how much?

This is true. Levi is the reason I come on these threads.

For you? $1500 lol

i second that. i remember i really pushed levi to embrace pinside, and to finally come over from RGP. I knew you'd all thank me some day. So, you're welcome.

This.....explains so much.

Don’t put deposits on games. Buy what’s in stock or buy from a show. Multiple games at LAX didn’t sell.

dammit!! i should've picked one up myself 15 posts ago!