You cannot force someone to sell you a game, Or even respond back to you. Yes, this kind of thing is fairly common.

That game is probably sold, or the seller is on vacation. Or maybe the seller just doesn’t like you.

No point In being frustrated. Forget about that game and move on to a different one. The ship has sailed on this one. Or you’ll suddenly hear back from them one day.

Either way, that’s just pinball. Sending yet another message probably isn’t going to help.

Not that it’s a knock against you personally, but a lot of older pinheads usually ignore sellers and buyers that have not been around long, especially those under a year. Lots of scammers out there.

Don't despair, there's always games around. They sure make a lot of them! Also, you'll establish some great contacts with folks on both sides of the border. They will help you when hunting for titles and you'll return the favor eventually.

Best bet is an in person sale, cash if possible. I sold my SP a while back to a newbie, as they were willing to do a cash in person deal.

Might be because you are new. New members have a disclaimer added to their emails letting the recipient know you're new and to just be careful with a sale. I kept ignoring one guy when selling my MMr because of that disclaimer. Made it sound like he was a scammer.

I’ll answer your pms and local to you.
We’ve all been there - shake it off and keep hunting.

Some older pinheads don’t like to sell to newbies because if anything goes wrong they are worried you will be hounding them for tech support since you know nothing about pinball(assuming anyway). Been there a few times. I didn’t mind helping but at some point I had enough with constant questions.

Pinsider ads be all high and mighty

Yet the same cross posted ads on Cl and fb be willing to deal with any old rando

Go figure

I sorta understand your pain, I’m new here too and have had a couple people willing to sell a stranger things machine for a curtain amount and they either change their price last min or ghost me. This is a very interesting hobby I’m finding out. Nothing like my car or guitar forums lol

I know right. Especially the gun forums…you even think about thread crapping a FS ad and you’re gone

Other than an obvious scam, in my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse for not answering people if you post something for sale. I think it's selfish and rude to waste peoples' time. There should be some kind of script that removes for sale ads if the seller doesn't respond within a couple days.

Can’t police the world. I get it, like that driver who just cut you off, it’s how YOU handle it that counts.

Maybe they ignore us this time but they’ll get ghosted on next pin they want. So goes the circle of jerk.

I thought that was something else.

Anyway, OP - it's a big world, other games and other sellers will come up.

I don’t have any machines for sale, but you are welcome to come over and play them.

Why? There’s another meaning?

66625E57-64FF-4609-90F2-FF0A88554C05.gif

Not everyone is on Pinside all the time and the default setting for email notifications seems to be off as I never received any from Pinside.

I tried to buy a Wonka from a fellow Californian here, it was the perfect deal for me because I could have traded my game for it, drop one pick one all in a day

But it didn't happen because the seller didnt check Pinside for a week and by the time he did I already committed my pinball to someone else.
I also suspect some people don't close their ads to avoid paying the fee.

Bunch of damn weirdos in this hobby. And the weirdest ones are on Pinside.

What was your message?

I’m very quickly realizing this

Not in my experience and I've bought and sold quite a few games on Pinside.

That said, there could be a lot of variables at play with your particular case - starting with the seller. Some sellers create a username only to sell one or more pins and really aren't active on Pinside otherwise. I typically only deal with sellers that are established and have a good rep.

Given they haven't responded for two weeks (which is strange barring any special circumstances), I would just move on.

Yup. Just last week I offered to buy a machine that is still for sale now and no reply. I had a trade offer that I followed up on and still no reply. Just forget the game and move on.. its common. Makes no sense at times, but just walk away. Theres always another machine.

Playgirl images? Hmmm...that's odd.

I’m only one man but I’m doing my best. Sir/Ma’am/pronoun of choice/participation award winner.

I keed…I keed…

A couple of things, I believe being new(er) to Pinside, I don’t think anyone can see messages from you, until after 25 or 50 posts. So if any messages were previous to that, there’s a good chance they don’t see it.

Now, if you’re established with whatever Pinside’s criteria is, and not getting a response through messages, then count your blessings and move on. If someone has something for sale, and doesn’t want to respond(their choice to do), they’re probably not going to be good to deal with IF you do strike a deal. Give them a fair chance, but don’t feel guilty or frustrated moving on either.

Best auto correct ever.

There is a waiting period before new members can send a PM, but after that, the intended recipient will see any PMs that are sent. As far as I'm aware, there's no minimum post count in place for sending PMs.

Like others have mentioned, PMs from new members will also be accompanied by a warning message about the member being new, and to be cautious about potential scams.

This is all because scammers that happen to slip through usually try to run scams from relatively new accounts with no history.

Yeah, OP had less than 25 post before starting this thread. So there's your answer.

This is the way to do it. In your messages, be clear that you're willing to drive and look at the game in person, and pay cash.

Most scams involve electronic payments and/or shipping. So if you as a new member mention those, your message is probably going to be ignored or deleted.

Please see my response above.

Make sure you contribute to pinside to get verified. It at least is another signal that you're not a scammer.

Also, try to add something specific to the game in your initial reach out. For example, if you're looking at Deadpool, ask if the they can confirm there is no play field gouging under the katana ramp. Go through the owner's thread and know as much as you can about the game so they know you're serious.

Oh, I think I read your post wrong. Ha.

I mean, I’m not sure I would have responded to your pm either.

I have a Ricky Bobby gif perfect for this, but it’s only basement worthy.

Have had plenty of messages that I responded to immediately and never heard from the person again, it's a two way street. They are probably reserving any response for someone conveying a more serious interest to avoid tire kickers/time wasters.

Yep, there are lots of PM’s I get from people that I don’t bother responding to when I’m selling a game. Usually they are along the lines of: “Hey, I need your best price ASAP, what is the lowest you’ll take!?!?!”

Sometimes you can just tell if someone is going to be a user you can work with or if they are going to eat up a bunch of time just to in the end say “my wife said no, sorry”. The longer someone has been in the hobby usually the easier they are to make a deal with. I like having calls with prospective buyers.

also missing from this story is what the OP asked or sent in his message.

If you come across as needy or a time-sink.. people will often ignore you. If you project 'wishy washy' or 'waste of my time' - people will often just ignore you.

Things go quick. If you really want the game and it’s a good detailed ad at a price that makes sense you basically need to close the deal on your first message. Like: I will buy the game, in cash, I can be there today/tomorrow, here is my phone number, feel free to call.

Try going to CAX this weekend in Santa Clara.
You will find machines for sale there.

Man, that autocorrect got you again! You seriously should check your original message to this guy and see if it got you in the pm as well.

Haha love this

Sometimes ads get a ton of responses. Once the seller has someone committed coming they may hold off responding to the other dozen questions.

Don't take it as personal and don't wait in responding to other ads. Good games move quick.

"please send more photos"
check...

That's probably why you were ignored.