Reading through some of those, I agree with the "you don't have to make a thread, you can just make an ad without the thread feature" part. It is nice that we have this option.

If you start a forum thread it's fair game. There's no reason to be a jerk about it but it's a thread in an open forum at that point.

I like how you quoted yourself

Like this guy-

$7500 for an old multiplayer woodrail. He don't need no stinkin' price police.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/42413

Wish I was closer!

I feel that opinions from eight different Pinsiders is enough.

download (resized).jpg

I say F#&k it..don't pull any punches if it's way out of whack.

The whole point of a forum is for discussion. I mean we're discussing what we are allowed discuss right now!

totally fair game and EXPECT comments if you make a FS ad and forum topic with it.

The thing that matters is how you say it or your motives behind it. For example, certain people are well known for crapping on a thread to try and push people off a game or down play its value because they are actively hunting for the title.

I just prefer some linking of actual sales (like forceflow did in the Jolly thread once called out for lack of it). It is especially important when dealing with a rare deck and few sales. Just saying "do your research" is passive aggressive BS which can call a seller or game into question without merit.

TLDR... intent of your comment is just as important and using facts/past sales makes your opinion have some value.

I say yes, unless someone is just antagonizing the seller. A polite "You may want to research your pin a little more" is more constructive then "BWHAHAHAHA!"

You should put up a poll.

I have said to some sellers your asking price is to low, so i guess it can go both ways.

in general, no.

IMO, when you are being the antagonist to the sale price and saying it is too high, then the onus is on you to prove you are not just being a dick for the sake of being a dick.

Saying, nice price or GLWS is not antagonistic, so while a link to support it is nice the intent is different IMO so less expectation for it form me.

Granted there are some groups that like to price pump each other. Hell, people have been caught price pumping their own ads with duplicate accounts before. I would expect these are the ones to actually be countered by the price police (with examples to back it up).

Keep in mind you are starting this topic due to that Jolly. That is a RARE and nice example game that is RARELY seen/sold. That means there is little data to back up anything and being antagonistic at all is a pretty dick move. The game is a rare enough sale that unless a similar quality example has sold in the last 3 months in the same location, then you are comparing apples to oranges. It essentially becomes a 1-off situation and even if you insist on being a Dung, you just look stupid since you are working with flawed data to generate your opinion. In other words your opinion on price holds little value when you are quoting a sale form over 2 years ago or overseas or etc...

Lets be honest here you are talking about me. I would also say you have a tendency to price pump machines you already own, but then if we get into this debate I will get another long winded rant of a pm from you that will just get ignored.

You don't back up your opinions on sales unless called out and even then from experience you have used only ones that support your view. So before you start pointing fingers at me why don't you live up to your own expectations.

Most of the drama on sale threads comes from people that live in the 2010 Pinball pricing world or from a seller that is way outside of market pricing.

Some people can't accept that games have went up. Others are trying to cash in at ridiculous prices. If you have a game priced right on the edge of high a blow up normally helps it sell though so the price police in the end just are raising the market price that they are trying to protect.

Saying do your homework is just an underhanded way of either implying the price is high or the seller has a bad reputation. If you are going to say something just say it so the seller can respond to your exact issue with the game or their reputation.

I think if some one list a game just a little overpriced you should leave him alone if some wants to pay the little extra because they want the game badly I say it's all fine but if someone list a Metallica pro for 9 thousand dollars then something should be said but I also think it's wrong if your just criticizing the games price because you just don't like it.

Versus what other way? If you say anything except *great price* or *great seller* keyboard warriors on here take up arms.

The hilarity of the situation is that I don't think the guy is entirely out of line in is price. Yes, it can be had much cheaper. I in fact was contacted by the guy two months ago and offered it for the same price and passed. Then, I was offered one off rgp for 4k and passed as well, but only because I got offered a game I wanted more, Mystery Castle.

However, if you want the game it does not come up for sale often. Its near impossible to restore unless you want to fabricate it yourself so buy a nice one. All I said is for people to "do their homework" so they can decide if paying now is worth waiting for something that might take ages to come across. Yet, because this is pinside and I didn't blow rainbows and sunshine out of my rear a couple of you took this as an affront.

It is *underhanded* to suggest people look into a potential 6k purchase. It is a *scumbag move* to remind folks that there is a whole internet of information out there. It is *trolling* to say anything except how amazing the seller is and how much a joy it should be for you to fork out your cash regardless of the price.

What a bunch of sheep.

I wasn't involved in whatever thread or sale you are talking about. So not really sure what has you upset. But in general it is a lot more helpful to say something directly so buyer's know what your issue is and the seller can directly respond. Do your research means nothing as anyone buying a 5k toy should be doing some research. Just say what your issue is or don't say anything at all. Being indirect is not helpful.

And on here even if you show proof that a game is overpriced you get inundated with keyboard warriors screaming troll. So there isn't a way to be *helpful*.

Being helpful is having a real meaningful discussion about the pros and cons of a particular sale. Here on pinside you do not get that. If someone has a terrible reputation then people who have never dealt with them will hound the person mercilessly. They will go on there own little crusade which would be great if they had any first hand experience.

Short of that anything that is not purely positive sparks a nerd rage which quickly derails a sale thread.

You can't say, well this game is overpriced and here is why I think that and spark meaningful discussion. You can't tread the middle ground either which is what I was trying to do or else you are a scumbag.

Frankly, they need to just disable commenting on sales threads. The mindless idiot that post great price even when its clearly overpriced and the game ends up sitting for months do more harm than anything. The only useful comments are from those that have dealt with the person in question and can attest to their character. At least then there is some meaning for a potential buyer that isn't pandering or geared toward inflating prices.

I think it's a bit jerky to price police on people's for sale ads, especially if you have no interest in buying the game and live across the country. In general, I'm not a fan of getting in other people's business and insulting them or causing drama when it really has nothing to do with me. If it's something I'm interested in buying and want to negotiate on the price, I will do that through PM or a phonecall and in a friendly manner so I get a positive result. Just because you can do something or it's fair game doesn't mean you should. For our local Facebook pinball classifieds, we have a no price policing rule, it will get you a warning and then a boot. It keeps things civil.

I think a lot of threads get out of hand, but if I'm selling a game I would much rather you point out exact issues with my game or reputation. Saying do your home work brings all kinds of things into question. Direct examples why my price is high allows me to respond and consider if I need to lower the price, ignore it because I disagree, or possibly accept an offer that turns out to be inline with the market. Many of us can take it and are not offended. Maybe we are the minority though.

It doesn't tend to be an issue with most sellers. Its the white knights on here that think they are somehow helping, but just derail the entire thread into nonsense that ruin it.

First, if you are not interested in buying a pin or don't care for it in general, no need to post your opinion in a FS thread. Etiquette says don't post it in the fan/club thread either. Other threads are open game for posting your valuable opinion. Just because you have one doesn't mean you have to share it.

Equally important to keep in mind, once you have posted your opinion, refrain from making five, ten, fifteen or more posts in the same thread with the same message. Nothing more irritating than hearing John Q Public's rants over and over again. Once the level of posts reaches a certain level of repetitiveness, anything you say becomes noise pollution. Post it once, say everything you mean and then move on.

This has been your public service announcement - be nice and play nice.

I have struggled with this too - it's easy, and you might say even 'fun' to jump in on a crazily-priced pin. But I know that a lot of them actually *sell* for those high prices. You only need one buyer who's a) close enough or b) wants it bad enough to overpay.

That said, I do think some of the comments are considerably ruder than is necessary. As has already been noted ad nauseum, you don't have to be an #$R*&%&, but constructive criticism is IMO acceptable. Still, the comments stay around so they can give an otherwise great game a bad smell, like a house sitting on the market too long. ("what's wrong with it?!")

I find this interesting and also wholeheartedly disagree with this supposition that you need to be interested or involved in the purchase to comment. As a new member (just a few months), I am learning a ton by reading forum posts almost every day. I have not been "burned" so to speak on a purchase in the last few months, but having made 3 of them, I can tell you already that I wish I had done a bit more research before buying at least a couple of them because they were definitely not represented with complete disclosure during the selling process. In fact, on one of the purchases I have reason to believe that there were some outright lies told based on what I learned after I got the pin home. Of course, I own that mistake myself and maybe in real life dollars didn't lose too much by not researching a few things. I might still have bought them, but I would have definitely been more informed and possibly haggled a bit harder on the price. Or at the very least, been emotionally prepared for the problems I encountered after I really dug into the machine at home.

As a new member, I look closely at some of the for sale forum threads and try to see from others comments whether the machine is out of line or what potential problems may exist. I may not even be interested in buying that particular unit, but one like it in the future and negative comments help me out and help me to ask tougher questions on my next purchase.

I do tend to agree with your last comment though about beating a dead horse. At some point it just becomes trolling.

Although not enforced very well, the Arcade-Museum forms have a "no price-policing" policy which should be implemented here IMHO. If you don't like the price make an offer. If you have no intention of buying then STFU. The forum portion of the ad is for people the ask questions not for price policing.

As somebody relatively new to pinball, I find the pricing opinions and debate informative and a valuable addition to this site. Just wish everybody would understand that there is no WRONG listing price. We all value things differently based on how special/important those things are to us and sometimes one's price to let something go may be above "market"... and that individual very well may understand that and be perfectly ok with it.

If you start a thread, rather than just an ad, any conversation is fair game.

From my experiences, games that are accurately priced don't generate very much discussion about the price. However, games that are way overpriced will have more posts about the price. And people will nitpick which then makes the seller annoyed. But if you want to ask top dollar, your game better be in pristine, mint condition without any flaws.

Take this BSD for sale thread for example: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-bram-stokers-dracula-3. Many people comment about it being a nice game at a nice price. Not very much drama.

This for sale thread on the other hand...https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-family-guy-stern-2007-2017. He was way overpriced on his game (it was originally $8,499, but he's since lowered it) and the users let him know about it.

If you're going to open your ad up for discussion, you better be ready for what the people in general think about it.

well, yet another reason the Acrade hobby sucks in comparison to the pinball hobby...

If the add is posted in the forum be prepared to get scrutinized by the price police. It doesn't matter if it's a pin, house, car,boat ,etc almost always it seems that If someone is selling its gold ,if they are buying it's a turd. Anyone with any experience in sales of this type factor in a "beat down" of at least 10-20% knowing that asking price will only be a starting point of the negotiations leading to a possible deal.

I nominate pinsider save the leaning tower for the best open forum for sale threads this past year. His WWF/ trash talk responses to comments in his adds were both entertaining and hilarious. I never would have thought a person would actually get ejected from his own for sale listing but it happened.
Cheers to you leaning tower!!!

these so called "price police" are your potential customers in an open forum of a collectibles market. you're asking for their money, so you'd better expect some feedback on your product. don't like it? that's cool, pay it no mind. But thinking you shouldn't get the proverbial tires kicked is just wishful thinking.

Yet, you found it necessary to scrutinize a rare and collectible game by telling people they should do their homework on that game , check prices overseas, and costs to import. You 100% implied the game was overpriced. It was a shitty move in a respected members sale ad. All you had to say was hey, I am looking for one of these but it's too high for me. Done, over with.

It's not the fact that you think it was priced too high, that's your opinion. It was 100% how you went about it. Discussion about price is great, but your way of doing it was to detract other potential buyers.

You and your crusade are a bunch of crap. The comment "I feel the game was overpriced" was never uttered in that other thread. So no, that is not shitting on ones for sale ad. That is an honest comment. But telling people to go do their homework, check prices elsewhere and costs to ship on a rare piece because they too chicken shit to come out and say that they feel the game is overpriced IS shitting on someones for sale thread. Those would absolutely be plausible comments if someone is trying to sell a Hot Girls for $5 grand. But not on a rare as hell, minty looking Jolly Park.

Absolutely spot on! I agree with some that say price policing is poor sport. But asking questions like... "where did all that rust come from?" or "I'm wondering how expensive it would take to restore a playfield in that condition?" should definitely be on the table when an item is in the FORUM section of pinside.

Nonsense.

It's a public discussion forum about pinball. Opinions are what the entire site is all about. That includes opinions that are less than positive, and can obviously include discussions of prices.

So saying "i feel the game was overpriced" doesnt have an effect of detracting other potential buyers? Seems like the whole point of saying it. The only reason you comment a price is too high is to warn others (that may be newbies or may not be) that the price is too high and you should do some research before buying.

I feel your two statements are not able to coincide with each other.

I am not advocating a shutdown of opinion, the question was about price policing only. If priced right the pin will sell otherwise it won't. If you come into someone's fs thread and comment it is too expensive or it is priced too high, you are being rude and a little conceited thinking anybody cares about your opinion. If you post this opinion repeatedly in a single fs post you are being a troll.

All other opinions and questions about condition are valid and should be made in that thread. However stating the same kind of comments repeatedly in a single fs ad adds no value and is trollish also.

In general, not a fan of price police ir even GLWTS posters
If the price is too high, it won't sell, the seller will work this out on their own

But,
Something like Jolly Park invites discussion due to its rarety. And should be discussed

Yes you are.

Opinions on price (what you refer to as "price policing") are just as valid and important as anything else that we may have opinions on.

Saying "if it is priced right the pin will sell otherwise it won't" isn't even relevant to the discussion. That's like saying "if people like a newly released pin's theme, how it plays, and the price, it will sell, otherwise it won't." I guess we shouldn't have any opinions or discussions about that stuff either.

Unfortunately, I think you completely missed the mark here. It's not that opinions are bad or people shouldn't have them. It's about the context of the thread and I think you and others are confusing any-old-thread with a for-sale-thread. It's bad form to shit in other peoples For Sale threads. Perhaps, I've seen too many for sale thread with people making fun of prices and, generally, being jerks for no good reason and, on top of that, for games they have no interest in. We all know the old adage about opinions and it holds true here.

You are welcome to have an opinion, but the seller isn't asking for an opinion; they are offering something for sale. If you have questions, then by all means ask. But, "thread crapping" doesn't really help anyone. Additionally, since Pinsides' admins love to police things, they really should try to cut that crap out, especially since they are trying to make money off of people selling things here.

Unfortunately, I think you completely missed the mark here.

Just because it's a for sale thread means we shouldn't post opinions? Wrong. As has been pointed out 50 million times, if someone wants to sell their pin without having people possibly give their OPINION on the price, Pinside offers that option when you list the pin.

And here's another hint for you: just because someone gives their opinion on the price of the pin (as long as it is reasonably polite and based on their experience or data) does not equate to "shitting on a For Sale thread."

I can't believe that we are still having this discussion so many years later. Guess what? Posting an opinion on price of a pin in a For Sale thread is *not* against Pinside policy. I wonder why that is? Maybe because it's *not* "shitting in other peoples For Sale threads?"

Has anybody pointed out yet that one of the values of buying on pinside may be the community of informed and hopefully unbiased opinions that are submitted on a for sale ad? For those of us new to the hobby there is a lot to digest when buying a new pin....especially site unseen. i find that the scrutiny of the for sale ads (both positive and negative) help me make a more informed decision and, of course, take all of them with a grain of salt realizing that many are just opinions. when negative feedback is given on an ad, I find that if that feedback is unfair, there are twice as many pinsiders that counter the argument. And if it's not defended than perhaps the criticism is valid and helps a buyer make a decision that is in their best interest. And, as with all things, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Don't be an a$$ to make yourself feel better about your superior knowledge of a hobby/machine.... as great as it is.

This thread sucks and is way over valued .