Ouch!! That really hurts the pocket book. But, on the other hand , people seem to have a quarry of money to blow up in today's market....

Guess Kaneda called it...again

pasted_image (resized).png

Need to list all the distros price gouging here that way we can tell them all to F’ off bynot buying another pin from them.

“This is the way”

But I bet it’s fine for you to get a great deal on a slow selling title...why shouldn’t it work both ways?

This is a true luxury item no one needs....don’t like the price don’t buy it.

DUDE, I to NOT even represent Stern so might want to change your thread you goof - spreading shit you don't even know what you are talking about... If you 'heard' this - who'd you hear it from ? Obviously you didn't call and be told that by me LOL - because I don't sell Stern. Maybe instead of posting stuff you have no idea what you are talking about maybe post the name of the person you 'heard' it from and get them involved and I can guarantee they didn't even talk to me.... You have your names wrong so maybe you might want to change your post instead of hurting a good distributor. Probably no Stern distributor is even doing this and you are just stirring a shit pot - I feel bad for them too.

I don’t think he’s even a stern distributor...

Edit: yes, I see he opined and confirmed that and then you removed his name.

PinballSTAR isn't a distributor for Stern.

Joe should be able to distribute the most Mandelorian pins because he’s surrounded by “Pew Pew Pews” in the old church.

Be a shame if distributors jacked up the price before LE buyers could when flipping it to the next guy.

Remind me, why do we need distributors?

I’d way rather the distributors make the money than the scalpers/flippers/speculators. Most people feel this way when the bulk (if not all) of the LEs were sold before the game was even officially announced.

If you've been buying pins for long enough you have a relationship with a distributor and this would never happen. These just get flipped by guys on here anyways so what's the difference?

It is sorta stupid, I agree. Jjp even agreed with GNR. I get it if these were hugely produced items like tempurpedic mattresses. They're pinball. Cut out the middle man already.

Did he call it or create it?

While I think that is a super shitty practice, and I would never buy one from a place that did that, you cant really blame them. Im pretty sure the price Stern lists is their MSRP and therefore distributors have the right to increase the price if they feel there is high demand and a limited supply. Still a real dick move though.

FUN in TX is doing this. A friend reached out to him after he posted on FB that he can get people a game. He’s basically doing an auction...how much over are you willing to go?!

Obviously, distributors can do whatever they want but before charging above MSRP they may want to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Pinball is hot now, but may not always be. What will happen then? Buyers will go to the distributors that treated them right, not those that alienated them. I’m not a distributor but I would think the biggest key to their long term, sustained success is building customer loyalty. Not sure charging above MSRP achieves that result.

Nothing wrong with this at all. It is a luxury item not bottled water being sold during a drought.

Is it a good strategy for building a loyal customer base? No.

I think good/smart distros know that anything over a 'small' premium will just piss off their customers.

Better optics would be to sit on a couple and wait until you have them NIB. Then 'gouge' away at market price while looking like a hero for hooking up some lucky folks post production.

Bit of a gamble here of course if the game ends up sucking...

Been saying this for years

Even Mattresses are going direct to consumer via internet at must cheaper prices. I am with you, direct is the way to go. I have to take care of all my warranty stuff anyway via email/call directly with Stern.

So vote with your wallet and buy a premium same exact game play
buy, play and enjoy

For the piles of capital and marketing they can provide when the market isn't hot...They have quotas to hit to maintain their Stern distributorship, including 'forced' LE purchases.

Wonder how many ‘resellers’ got burned badly in the PS5 fiasco.

Can’t wait to see the day one Mando LE 20k sales going up. Let’s see what the secondary market will bear.

Some Car Dealerships do the same thing. The Govt stepped in and made the car makers put on a Moroni sticker that showed the MSRP and fuel ratings. Several dealerships in the DC area took it a step further. They make an addendum sticker that looks similar to the official sticker and put in next to it. With upcharges for undercoating, pinstripping, fabric care, tire warranty. This adds $2500 to the official cost of the vehicle. I was at a Toyota dealer in Springfield VA yesterday. They had those extra price stickers on the more popular models with an additional price of between 7 to 9 thousand dollars. Sucker born every minute they say....

It is happening for sure. I don't know what to think of it. As long as the Premiums continue to have the same game features as the LEs, then I guess it doesn't bother me too much.

Although, it's even happening to a lesser extent on some hard-to-get Premiums too.

This entire hobby is turning into a totally bullshit greed-fest.
Used to be really fun:

Distributors have been doing this for many years. Prices have always been a sliding scale. If a game is more valuable, they will charge you more for it. If you have an established relationship with them, your odds of getting a sought after game are higher.

Please just shop around when a game is at the end of it's NIB supply. The price goes up no matter if the game was highly prized or not. They figure if you want the NIB game, you will pay for it. Or someone else will. No big deal. If people are willing to pay more, charge more. Stern already priced most normal folk out of the LE games, so just keep going.

LE games have been selling well, and the Mandalorian is a good theme (in my opinion). But this is why I will never buy a new LE. I don't buy games without playing them. If they are good games, they will be sold out long before I've had a chance to play them.

FOMO power.

The greediness going on does not change how much fun I have
I have not bought nib since IM in 2014, I just play my old games and enjoy it.

There is a new aspect to this hobby that was not there before...its called "my dick is bigger than yours" and a lot of old timers are not interested in those shenanigans

Very accurate assessment.
I've got a terrific inner circle luckily, and I am most grateful to all of them: More now than ever.

All of us hardcore collectors wanted pinball to grow and it has, just not in the ways many expected.

If a distro is charging more than msrp,not including any tax and shipping, I strongly suggest you find another distro. Plenty of great ones out there. Personally, I use Cointaker for stern games and I’ve used Joe at Pinball star for jjp games in the past. Both have great service and never have I felt I was not treated fairly.

I don’t think naming those charging over msrp is necessary, just find another distro.

Who needs a distro? I like having distributors, it’s easy to forget the work they put into this hobby. It’s easy to forget the deals they may cut to a loyal customer, weather it’s a fair trade-in, a guarantee for a specific model, or even going to bat for you when you have an issue. Distributors are a liaison between consumer and manufacturers and are very much needed.

Do you think you as an individual buyer of a few pins a year has the same influence as a distributor who buys 100s of pins a year?

Don’t you think the distributors provide feedback to the manufacturer that is in the consumers favor?

Manufacturers have a hard enough time cranking out their products, do they need to take on the additional task of shipping and handling individual pin sales to everyone?

I have an excellent relationship with my distributors, they have always taken care of me, they have become genuine friends of mine.

Does anyone think that Stern wants to deal directly with each individual non-commercial customer?

It’s been a long time since I’ve cared about what Stern wants.

They have never enjoyed the best reputation.

Funny I knew it was going to be this FUN guy doing this shit! Hes always trying to make a shady buck it seems.

Ive bought reduced NIB games 2x now since Stern said that distributors couldnt cut deals anymore. Guess which 2 games....WWE LE for $5600 and a WWE Pro for $3500 lol!

Id bet you got PinballStar mixed in there because of somebody mentioning him in the GnR thread saying they bought day 1 from him and didnt get there game yet when other distributors have taken care of day 1 buyers. Easy memory mistake.

I personally don’t give a crap if it’s an le and I want it .. gouge away . Pluck my eye balls out I don’t give a damn .

New trend:
Read something in a thread and start a thread about it.

Just asking as this thread seems so confident with facts. Do we (you) actually know what is being gouged as last I checked Stern (the company actually selling the product) hasn't Officially set a price? Don't see anything on their website can you share the MSRP as advertised please.

Amini’s in St. Louis was trying to sell a Led Zeppelin LE for 15.5. I don’t think they’re a Stern distributor, but instead a retailer, which I don’t really know the difference as it seems they were willing to do what a distributor does. Their price included their “white glove service” which was home set up and free maintenance and repairs l for like 2 years. They wouldn’t sell it without the “white glove service” on the LE but would on the other models.

Seems to me that stern should have a problem with this, but they won’t because it benefits them. After all they crack down on distributors offering lower(street) prices. Why can they sell higher, but not lower? Oh I know. Because if I the distributors can charge more, then that means stern can charge more. On the flip side, if low price competition between distributors occurs, then stern can’t justify higher prices as easily. If you ask me, stern should crack down on both higher charges, and lower charges and only allow msrp to be offered by a distributor on nib.

The game room guys were blowing out Beatles golds for like 6k? Somewhere around there back in early 2020. I recall seeing good pricing on WWE le’s, transformers, and 1 or two others that I can’t pinpoint because my memory is shit. It’s not super common but it does happen.

Yep I got one. Love that game and they were amazing to work with!