I still think we should have a rating system for venders so we know who wants to sell at retail or below ,and those who give good service and earn our money.

Stern dealers are doing the same with toppers, as a example
hemispherespinball
"LAST CALL!!! Official Stern Elvira House Of Horrors Pinball Topper - 502-7105-00
Popular Item 1 viewed per hour
Condition:New
Quantity:
1
Last one
15 sold / See feedback
Price:
US $1,699.99
Item location:
Hampshire, Illinois, United States"

Im guessing no Mandalorians LE will be going out the door at 9100 from them.

Orange County Pinballs has a Star Wars R2D2 Pinball Machine Topper Stern Limited 1 of 500 NEW 502-7041-00
Popular Item 2 viewed per hour
Condition:New
Price:
US $4,999.00

And they also a Led Zeppelin LE for 15k and I'm also guessing chances are good no Mandalorians LE are going to be sold at retail from them either.

And thats ok with me that their business model works for them. But because of the Gouging or high markup I won't buy anything from them. We as pinheads should go to venders who don't play the market and just sell games. KINGPIN, TILT AMUSEMENTS,Game Exchange of Colorado, Game room guys, This is just a few I know are straight shooters so to speak and they are the ones getting my money.We should have a rating system or list of the better venders.

If I remember right when the Elvira Signature Edition (I think it was Elvira but could have been another high demand game) came out Tilt (Trent) had a drawing to pull all the interested peoples names to try and be fair as to who can buy one at retail.
So again we should buy from the straight shooters, and for those who keep defending the venders who play the market, well all I can say is keep giving them your money,you should be overpaying for your toys.

pinballdude1 Stern dealer has one for 15k Again buy one at 15k if you want it ,but when it come down to it why support a company that is sticking it to you to make a few extra dollars?
Pinside member

US Las Vegas, NV
The Mandalorian (LE)
Stern, 2021

PRICE
USD 14,995

ITEM DESCRIPTION
Mandalorian LE - These sold out instantly and we have one left coming Mid June Confirmed! Up for grabs , we are an authorized Stern dealer and game will ship direct from Stern New in Box as soon as released. Pick your LE # for only $100 additional if you like as well!

The facts are right their in writing or on Ebay??? .They said in a email to another Pinsider that it was Ebay fees,LOL . So in my mind, he may be a great guy and a lot of people seem to defend him, but his greed on a small item like a topper rubs me wrong and I will spend my money with another dealer.The other thing he should do is sell the topper under another name and not advertise he's sticking it to us like that.Its a simple solution.

LOL I love his following and its impressive. I go to work and gat paid like what I assume all of us do.I give uncle sam his cut and I get to spend the rest of my money how I want, and you get to spend your money the way you want.I choose not to spend my money with a stern dealer that charges over list price.Its a cash grab and that rubs me wrong. Yes their is a strong and valid point that if I buy a pinball maching and put it on the market and make more then the stern dealer makes is unfair to the dealers.But one other pinsider gave a good example.Would you feel good about buying a playstation from Wallmart for $1500 knowing its a $500 item.Im thinking most of us would feel cheated somehow.So to the point of Hemisphere, hes the one who is selling a Elvira topper for $1700. Its not my fault hes doing that and I'm not saying anything that is wrong or not true.Other HARD-working stern dealers are not doing this to their customers and just sell at retail prices.Those are the dealers that get my money.I buy around 3 new games a year and dont want to buy from the dealers that play the market price game.You and lots of others have a good experance with him then its your money spend it any way you want.
As far as the buyers that are fliping the games has to be frustrating to the venders who risk the most cash and see flippers make more on a game that they do.I get it and its the same with Pokmon cards, Lego sets, Playstations,ect. But if stores like Wallmart Target Best Buy start playing the market and selling at the prices the flippers get then they turn into are a big part of the problem.

PS. Your idea of calling out the flippers is realy a good idea. Not sure it would work because people are willing to pay thousands over retail just to have a LE. I would think one could power coat buy a speaker system, inside blades,ect on a premium and have the same game experiance.

I have to share my story as to why I used hemispher as a example. I wanted to buy a Elvira Topper for my game and hemispher had 7 of then available on ebay for 1500 ish. I went to either Game exchange or Nitro pinball and found one for retail.So I thought next time I get a game I'm going with the distro that sells at retail.So by him posting items at stupid prices on Ebay you can see how I assumed he does that on a regular basis when he can.You made a good point as to a solid relationship with a distro and with the amount of people defending him he must be a good distro and doing something right.So one of my other points is it would be nice if we had a rating system on pinside for the distros so we can share those positive experances and negative ones so distros can earn our cash like any other business.I know this won't happen on Pinside but I think it would be a good thing for newer buyers.

And I still think we should look at the dealers selling for the 14-15 20 and not support them.

And we should have a list of the dealers doing this so pinheads can decide for themselves if they want to spend their money with them.
And a list of the dealers who are selling at retail so again pinheads can decide if those are the dealers they want to buy from.
And for those pinheads who dont care or think that the dealers should sell for higher because it's better the dealer get the extra then the flippers then they can support them.

I just think it would be good for pinheads to be more informed so they can support the dealers that have the business practice they believe in.