I've seen people drop some serious coin on a pin from retail shops just because they see something they want and the thought of resale value just doesn't enter their mind. They aren't really part of the serious collector market.

If you're a collector who's overpaying for something you really want, sure, it happens all the time. There are certain rare finds, holy grails, or mint/NIB games that each of us have on our list that we would gladly overpay for just to acquire them.

Are you trying to justify a particular purchase at the moment?

Pay whatever you want.....as long as your happy with it.

For me, price always matters. I'm potentially committing a sizable portion (for me) of funds on a luxury item. Regardless of my intent with the pin (to keep forever or just play for a while), it is money that could have gone towards something else. This fact, rather than resale concerns, actually is what I think about most when evaluating pin purchases (and why most of mine have been cheap, as cheap buys are easy decisions).

"Does Price Really Matter?"
First sentence of topic: "Of course price matters when buying a pinball machine."

Question answered.

Most of the games I have now are so obscure I have no idea what they are supposed to cost. If one I am looking for comes available I will snatch it up if the price seems not too far out of range and not worry about what I could sell it for later on or what somebody else thinks it's worth.

My experience is most of the higher priced games aren't that great anyway so I don't deal with those.

+/- 10% of the going rate is not a bother

I have played under on some games, I have paid too much for others

The market also moves, here in Australia, 3 years ago, good EMs were fetching $1800. Now, even games in great condition are struggling to get $1000
You win some, you loose some

I look at it this way. I am buying these games to play not to get some return on an investment. Every game I play would cost me from 25 cents to a dollar in some establishment. By the time I am done with them I know I have got my moneys worth no matter what I paid.

Price always matters because rational consumers always consider value. The classic economic construct defines prefrence curves, e.g., guns vs. butter or perhaps more generally, guns vs. all other things (Charles McCloskey, U of Iowa dept. economics). If a collector pays a premium price for a game, it is because he/ she values it at that price point. To assume otherwise is to believe buyers ars making irrational decisions which seems, frankly, rather condescending by the observer making that assumption.

I'm not trying to overpay, but I will spend more on mods for a keeper than for a pin that I'm on the fence about. I don't think I'll get much value out of the mods, but if I'm keeping the game long term I don't sweat several hundred in mods.

I'm looking at a pin now, but it's a game I can take or leave so I am hard on the price, I don't mind if I don't get it. But if it was a game I was really in love with I'd even pay a bit extra if it was in exceptional condition.

No, price doesn't really matter. In fact, outside of rare outlier oddball threads like this one, nobody on pinside every seems to care or comment about the pricing aspect of the hobby. It's simply not a matter of frequent discussion, and in fact, talking about pinball pricing seems to be frowned upon.

I played a 1963 Bally Safari at PAPA last year and fell in love with the machine. I knew I wanted one, but was terribly disappointed when I started searching for one to buy. They seem to be pretty rare. Even an eBay history search doesn't turn up much.

Anyway, a few weeks later, one happened to miraculously pop up on eBay. I immediately bought it once I saw its condition. Did I overpay....absolutely. Probably my about a factor of 2. Did I care.......not in the least. I wanted it, so price was irrelevant.

It's not the price of the machine that matters. It's how you use it.

Personally, I will only pay above and beyond, when a game is at the top of my looking list. Other than that, I only buy games that need fixing or some TLC. But yes, "price always matters", right along with "condition always matters".

Now, on the other side of the coin. In pinball, there is no such thing as a "keeper".

Everything I own is for sale. However, you may not like the prices I am wanting... Especially if there is not a FS add.

are there really keepers? Eventually I'd think if you actually play your pins and not just admire them that once keepers get a little old even if it does take a few years or five or ten.. Then again if you have lots of cash and lots of room maybe the situation is different.. I don't

If Pinball was under 1K, I would say "NO". But at current prices, this is no small amount of coin your committing. Unless your just rolling in $$$, most of us have to look at the opportunity costs. If I spend too much, what else am I sacrificing?
Especially if you have limited room or budget, you need to be able to roll machines every few years... \

So "yes" it does matter (at least to me)......

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Money factors in but there's a few machines I waited years for to pop up that were in good enough condition that I missed out on. I have only a few machines I really want and played them enough to know that I really want them. Now I'm ready to pay a bit more so I don't lose out a few more years until another comes around. I guess it comes down to is the extra cost worth me paying more to have it now. So many machines that don't have lots of repair/restoration parts that make it hard to find a decent example.

Price only matters if you think of pinball as an "investment" instead of a hobby to relax and have fun with.

no

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Price means everything to me. I can't dump loads of cash on something that is a luxury. I will not pay top dollar for my grail pin but will buy a cheaper game that has the same fun factor. The difference between 1,000 fun and 6,000 fun speaks volumes when the bank account talks.
My biggest question is it ok to negotiate prices or is it frowned upon in the pinball community. If frowned upon then your money means more than you would think.

Price is subjective, as we all know.
There may be someone out there
willing to pay, and think the price
is reasonable. Good for them. They won.

Boy this is a can of worms, it definately makes sense to overpay a bit if the game is nearby and you can have it now. So you pay $200 more.....and play it for 2 years and sell it (probably for what you paid, because the game went up in 2 years) and if you lose $200, that's the cheapest hobby ever.

I have had a super nice game.....needed nothing. New ramps, plastics, LEDs etc. had a guy tell me I was $400 too high and he bought a game for -$400 less na na na na boo boo. He also informed me a year later he bought new ramps, LEDs, plastics, playfield, and now had $1000 more in it than I was asking.......and now his game is $1400 over priced.....sometimes people don't think.

I have also had a guy walk away for $100, and six month later come buy my game for $200 more Than six months ago......Price goes up with time.