I'm in the market for a specific brand/model of pool table. I'm not having much luck with CL or eBay, but it dawned on me that I should probably be looking at local estate sales. Unfortunately, I have no idea where to begin. I assume the never ending search for pinball machines has given many of you some expertise in this area. Is there an easy way to search all the local estate sales at once using key words? Ideally, I'd like to set up some kind of search that would automatically notify me as soon as something local pops up that matches my criteria.

Awesome! I'll definitely check that site out.

In my case, I'll be hiring a company that specializes in pool tables to move the table from its current location to my basement. This will obviously require me to schedule a pickup time in advance with the movers, and precludes any spontaneous buying decisions on my part. Is this possible, or are you always forced to pick up the item immediately after agreeing to buy it? I'd obviously prefer to check out the table in person before committing to it.

I'm specifically looking for an 8' Pro or 9' Brunswick Gold Crown III, IV or V. Something like this ...

Gold-Crown-Pool-Table (resized).jpg

Thanks! I actually came across their site recently. There's some great information there. They seem to know their stuff, but it also seems like they focus more on the home market. I'm looking for a commercial table. The Gold Crowns are very well made. They have to be, because they were designed to hold up to decades of abuse in pool halls. I also really like the way they look. They have a sleek modern vibe that instantly makes me nostalgic because of the thousands of hours I spent in pool halls in my youth.

The Gold Crowns have been around since the early 60's, but I'm mostly interested in the ones from 1976 and on. Ideally, I'd like a HUO model IV or V, but there aren't a ton of them out there. The problem is that 9' just isn't a very common size for homes. Most people go with 7' or 8' tables, which is why you can find a million of them for sale on CL. Talk about a buyer's market. You would be a fool to even consider a new 7' or 8' table. You can get virtually brand new top of the line tables for 20 cents on the dollar. Heck, people are practically begging you to come and take them away.

Thanks! SearchTempest is great. I've used it in the past to search for other stuff. The problem in this particular situation is that I need to find a table that is not only close enough for me to be able to take a look at it, but also close enough that a local installer will go get it for me. Unfortunately, this severely limits my search radius.

What is about the 8 footer that you prefer? I've always found it more fun to shoot on a 9 footer, but that's probably because it's the size table I've played the most games on over the years. One downside I can see to a 9' table is that people who don't play a lot of pool can find it to be somewhat intimidating. That's why I'd also consider an 8' pro. It's a nice compromise between an 8' and a 9'.

I've been playing around with EstateSales.net. It's a very handy site. After creating an account, I was able to set up "Treasure Tracker" searches. These are basically saved keyword searches that notify me as soon as a new estate sale pops up matching my search criteria within a specified distance.

One thing I quickly realized is that perusing estate sale photographs can be somewhat depressing. You're looking at all this stuff that gives you a glimpse into who that person was and what their personality was like. Much of this stuff was cherished by them at one time or another, and now it is all just lumped into one big sale while they are either dead or living in a nursing home.

I actually debated putting "pool table" in the title of the thread, but I figured more people would click on it if I limited it to estate sales. There are a lot of people who look for pins at estate sales, so even though the thread is somewhat off topic, it's still of interest to many pinheads. There are several pool table threads already, so I'll probably just bump one of them up.