I like to consider myself "fairly experienced" (been in the hobby for over 5 years, employed in the electronics industry for over 25 years). Honestly, I miss quite a lot of issues & problems in my buying inspections - but I am realistic in my expectations for buying used, complicated electrical arcade devices. If you are buying a new game or a used one with a high price - hopefully you investigated a decent guarantee.

I cannot think of a reason to overpay on ebay aside from being lazy. Some of us spent years searching for games we wanted without once turning to that ilk.

Yeah, but -

Who told you that these titles were only for sale on eBay? Attack from Mars especially comes up for sale often and is rumored to be the next remake so new will be an option also.

Why not buy from the Pinside Marketplace or Mr Pinball Classifieds? There's more than one place to fish from.

Pinballz has a Doctor Who and Shadow I'm sure they'd sell you, but it's probably going to run you more than the $1200 extra you noted for the ebay machines.

eBay doesn't sound so blue if you turned a 1,500 profit

in TX? Can't believe that...are you willing to drive a little way?

If you are buying overpriced Ebay pins, you might as well buy machines from an actual retail seller in TX that offers a warranty etc.

and surely there are dealers all over the U.S. that would ship you pins.

I search eBay for pins then sort on nearest first. Then only consider the ones I can easily drive to to check out, then buy and load up and take if I want it. The success of that strategy probably varies depending on location though. There are typically always a dozen or so being offered within a drive of an hour or two of here.

Then again, if you live in TX.... You can spend a few days just driving across the state.

I'd trade the Austin market for the Corpus Christi market any day.
lol

You know, I had a different kind of response typed up but then read your latest post and I think this sums it up. If you're looking for the cheapest option then you're often going to get what you pay for. Clearly that MB for $7k was well under market as you were able to later sell it for $10k. But perhaps if you bought one for $8500 and from a source that regularly sells and knows pins you would have avoided a lot of headache.

It really has nothing to do with where you buy the game from. People love to rag on eBay but it's the world's largest marketplace. They charge 10% in fees for that exposure unless the seller has a store (capping it at $250). So of course prices there are higher, but you can make an offer outside of eBay accounting for the fees. Some of those same machines on eBay are for sale here on Pinside, Mr Pinball, Craigslist, etc. There are pinball newbs, pinball experts, scammers, angels ("I'm happy just getting back what I paid for this Medieval Madness 15 years ago") everywhere...well except for the latter. I've been elated and devastated buying and selling from every one of em. There are obviously more non-pinball people selling on eBay than a forum dedicated to it like Pinside, but make no mistake, neither seller is any less likely to lie through their teeth especially if they have bills to pay and mouths to feed. Gotta do your homework, ask the right questions, and cross your fingers. Or just buy from a reputable dealer.

Double post.

I have been doing this since before the Internet existed. I have YET to buy a USED machine the was 100% working with ZERO issues. I always assume I will have to invest at least $100 and my own time into any purchase to address undisclosed or misdiagnosed issues.

Example 1: "seller says "few burnt out bulbs", actual issue was driver board had damaged transistors that need replaced.
Example 2: "seller says: "flashers don't work, probably blown fuse", actual issue power supply 20 volt bridge fried and needed replaced.

I could go on and on with this list. Even playing them before I purchased them, I could not trouble shoot issues in the sellers house to know what I am getting into.

Bottom line, negotiate the price and go into it knowing it's always more than a fuse or burnt bulb.

$100!!! That's getting off cheap

He's paying himself in Budweiser.

You're just not going to find an old machine that has zero problems... This is pinball... The only machine that has given me zero problems... Well, there isn't one. Even my NIB Tron and Star Trek had to have small things done to them. It's just part of pinball dude. Also, I would never buy a machine I couldn't see in person first, with the exception of a NIB. I wouldn't open a NIB to show to a prospective buyer.

Meet local pinheads and the games will turn up. I've owned at least 50 pins in the last 5 years and only one was from eBay. And in that case the seller pulled the auction, I drove to his location, inspected the game, and bought it. Only 4 of the 50+ came from Craigslist purchases.

Go to tournaments, join Facebook groups, go to gatherings. You'll meet people and you'll find games without eBay or Craigslist. And the games will be in better shape for the most part.

I've sold around 24 pins in the same 5 years and I only advertised 3 on Craigslist. The rest were sold to individuals I met or people that were friends of people I met. One was sold through Pinside.

My point is you turn up games through networking and meeting people, not through eBay or Craigslist.

I see your points, as many have said the same thing. The problem I find is most of these "networked folks" know the pinball hobby, prices, etc....and consequently it is rare to get outstanding deals. Still looking for one of those a -couple-a-hundred-dollar projects ("I just need it out of here") that I see many Pinsiders have found. Those are usually spotted on places like CL or other classifieds where you have to act quick because of the competition, and the flippers. Most of the EBay pins are grossly overpriced, though.

I'm not saying you are going to get smoking deals, but you probably won't end up with as many of the nasty surprises the OP is discussing. I've certainly gotten a few good deals, but usually I pay a fair price and there are no big surprises.

Fair enough - That's from the viewpoint of you want a fully working game with next to nothing wrong with it, and *usually* you are going to pay for that. The projects I am talking about, a few of which I had looked at this past year were pinheads and the prices were laughable. I'm pretty sure they still have them.

I don't buy train wrecks of machines, like I said above, most issues are not complex. I also don't sink a bunch into them to try to make them some heirloom quality machine. I want them fully functioning and descent cosmetically. They are meant to play not sit in a museum and be looked at

My only disagreement with you is that pinheads understand them mechanically as well as true value. I like to find machine new where people bought them and had no idea what they were getting into and now the machine doesn't work and they don't want to invest in getting it fixed. Better deals found this way!

Electronic parts are cheap. It the personal time that if you hired someone to do that is expensive. A blown TIP102 transistor is $1.99. The time to trace the problem, desolder the transistor and replace it is probably an hour to an hour and a half. If you pay one of these pinball repair companies, y are looking at a $125 repair that cost me $2. That is my point. My guess is you don't repair your own machines or you would agree with my point.

I do repair my own machines...I was more joking than anything. Lighten up.

sorry. I see the smile face now. Pinside crowd is tough to read for me.