If you've hit the bottom of the barrel. It is time to find a new barrel.

LTG : )™

I would think Chicago would be teeming with pins since there is a fair amount of pinball activity there. Is that not the case?

patience is a virtue

From what I understand, Chicago prices are always high just like the east and west coasts. Try some local shows or travel a bit to one if you can. You're right though. Many project pins have over inflated prices due to the popularity of the hobby right now. Many get snatched up and stored for, maybe, future restoration. Other people are just hoarders who think they're sitting on a gold mine of steel and wood. Pinball is still on a little high right now. It will come back down as guys move onto other hobbies.

Nonetheless, there's always EM's to be found and brought back to life. However, unless it's an A list title (Fireball, Atlantis, etc.) keep your initial investment LOW. Not much room to squeeze any, if at all, profit out of one.

Games are everywhere right now. Maybe your expectations are unrealistic.

I see games EVERYWHERE currently! I mean seriously 10 machines in the past week I would love to own but don't have the space or finances to grab currently.

I am not sure what you are looking for but finding any DMD for sub 1k will be tough. Many project games have already been brought back to life over the years and still lots of new people (and not so new) that have always been after the sub 2k games. They titles may have shifted but many people still value those 'cheaper' games.

I would suggest getting out and playing more pinball. Find a league, go to shows and say hello, just play on location and introduce yourself to other local pinheads. It will do 2 things >> make new friends which is the best thing about pinball. It will also open your eyes to new games that you previously would have let pass you by. Lots of great gottlieb and older B/W titles that can still be had for cheap.

Breaking into finding ops and other niche finds is hard when somewhat new, the experienced guys that have been around have a lock on those, and like you noted, they aren't telling you where they pan for gold.

Don't scour ads, put one up, and make it read better than the others. Think about what you would do if you were selling machines you had in your basement, and where you would look to for selling them. Corner those markets. Chicago is the home of Pinball. There are likely hundreds in a small radius of you, in people's basements with boxes on them, not working for years. Figure out how to reach those people. Sometimes some paid advertising can produce. Say you spend $200-300 here and there from now until Christmas, but land even one machine for $500 less than would be bought somewhere else.

EVERYONE here and 2-3 fold that for the Pinside lurkers then fold it again for all the others out there thinking of getting into pinball scour the posts as well. Even if you find something you will either overpay in a bidding war to get it, or have to be first to show up.

Despite people crying about the bubble coming, it is and has been for many years a seller's market. Machines are not coming to you. Find a way to get to them. Either that have lots of money and advertise you will overpay be a landslide for whatever titles.

He noted HS, which is reasonable for a project under a K.

Post WTB ads here on pinside.

WTB project HS sub 1k

What machines are you looking for? Check IN, KY, and OH Craig's. I feel like there is tons for sale right now.

+100 to this. Research, Research, Research. If you expand you knowledge of what a good title is for you, you will most certainly find a great deal. The #200 ranked pin on pinside could end up being your #1 holy grail pin.

No one hands out deals. Its a hunt. Some people are good at it. Most are not.

Sadly, there are no programs out there to help people find deals.

Best bet if you suck at what it takes to get the deals, make friends with those that do.
Often times you can get a bone thrown to you from time to time.

Check Ebay and message seller to contact you off the site. Show up with cash and talk them down. Everyone hates ebay and rather have a cash deal. Also, they might have other games to sell. I've had the most luck making friends in the pinball hobby. Games tend to be passed around like a cheap whore in this area.

Exactly. And network, network, network.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market

Easy to find pins. Hard to find great deals.
There are way too many game flippers and shady retailers who react instantly to anything that appears to be a good deal.
The days of regularly finding a perfect score seem to be over.

But...... If you are patient, you can do relatively well.
People are still selling games.
Just be reasonable in your expectations.

Sub 1k is going to be tough for a Dmd game, sub 1500 will change quite a bit for you. As previously stated, people just don't hand out great deals to strangers. They might as well put them on eBay and sell it to a stranger for a better price. When my budget was low and I didn't know many operators or other collectors I started with arcade games. It was a great way to get my foot in the door and open up relationships with operators. Working with a small budget I would purchase a half dozen broken arcade games fix and sell them. Add to my bankroll and in the process make a few operators happy they got something for those games they were going to throw away. I would never just come out at ask them what pinball machines do you have but would show my interest by commenting on one or two they might have at their warehouse. Eventually you will build your bank roll and relationship and they will offer you some pins. Patience and hard work are what it takes to turn this hobby into something that you can profit some or even break even. If you want something right away and with out the hard work your going to be on the other end of this hobby where it costs people money to be able to own games. I'm not saying this approach would work for everyone but it is my experience over the past decade plus.

Patience... You should not have to wait long to find a High Speed for $1k or less... very undervalued machine in my opinion. I agree it is much harder these days to find deals, primarily due to a greater public awareness as to potential value compounded by many many more on the hunt. The hunt was my favorite part. I had not bought a machine in 2-3 years when I happened to click on CL just a few weeks ago and there was South Park for $500 10 minutes from my house. Granted and as expected it got "bid up" in the short time it took me to drive there, but I matched the bid up price of $650. I can still happen. I live basically in Seattle and used to regularly scan WA, OR and ID and frankly got my best deals out of state. Nothing like a Pinball road trip! I also used to set up CL RSS Feeds in a lot of areas...got notifications of new ads sent to my phone.

The best place to buy pins from is your immediate social network. (NOT the online one!)

School, work, local restaurants, uncles, friends. Joining a pinball league can help tremendously as well.

Tell everyone you know verbally that you "like pinball" and you will find a deal. I guarantee it! It has happened to me 5 or 6 times. If they mention a game that you don't want, you can always politely decline.

I have had people want to pay ME to haul games away from THEM. I would never take the money though. Seriously, not exaggerating at all.

I have actually stopped asking people recently because it happens too often these days.