Bottom line is an item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Sellers DON'T set the selling price they set the "asking price". The market will decide what the right price on an item is. Since seller isn't in a hurry I think his starting point is "spot on" now the question is does someone what it that bad or will price have to be adjusted some for it to sell. Only time will tell!

Every time I see a pricing debate here on Pinside it makes me laugh because so few people seem to understand a free market society.

Bottom line if you want to sell something quickly pricing it slightly below market value makes sense. If you are not in a huge rush and want to hold out for a little extra money price something a little higher than market value when you are selling. But in the end buyers control the prices & the market --- NOT SELLERS!

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking auction value is "true value" but auction prices can be insane from one day to the next. Before I got into the pinball hobby / business I was heavy into the antique & collectible business and attended hundreds of auctions each year. A good friend of mine at the time was a furniture dealer and one day a bedroom suite sold for over $6000 at one auction. I asked him what was "so special" about it and his answer was somewhat amazing to me. His reply was "two people with more money than brains wanted it". Then he told me he had the exact same set in his shop for over a year priced at under $1000 and couldn't sell it.

Over time I learned not to buy what I wanted at auctions - instead I would hang around and just buy what was selling "off the money". I made a great living buying that way and was able to semi retire at 51 years old because of learning how to buy. People think you make money when selling but you actually make the money on items when buying. Learn to "buy cheap" and you will always make good money in the end.

You can even see the same thing happening on eBay today. One day you will see a pinball part sell for over $100 and the next week the same part will sell for under $20. There will always be people that "want it right now at any price" and people who "are in no rush and wait for a good price". When selling try to find the guy that wants your item at any price and when buying try to find items selling cheap and you will always make out in the end.

The main thing to remember is just because something sold for "X" amount of money at auction doesn't establish the true value at that number. That number was just what two people were willing to pay that given point in time. The back bidder actually sets the "final selling price" - without him who knows what an item might have sold for! The high bidders bid was just want it took to take that item away from the back bidder - nothing more & nothing less.