Quoted from PACMAN:And i've heard that other original GBLE orders were cancelled or ignored and the distributors sold them later for higher prices.
Proper Stern "platinum" distributors will not do these type of actions to buyers.
They already have reserved and confirmed numbers of titles they purchase, and if I buyer commits to the deposit secures the machine.
This particularly applies to LEs, based on small quantities because they may not be able to get "10 machines".
This is not guesswork.
Other distributors outsource from "platinum" distributors in some cases.
Literally, a small distributor buys from another larger distributor (or trades for a needed machine) and then turns around and sells the machine again.
A proper distributor will tell a customer simply they have no additional means to secure additional machines (if they are already pre sold) without going to another distributor on a FIRST RUN, although they might be able to acquire a "residual", which normally with LEs does not occur.
There are no "mistakes" or "oopies", and they are not going to jack up the prices the next day against a pre order buyer either.
Many distributors have used hype to draw in costumers, but if the title gets too "hot", this can lead to buyers being left "high and dry", because the distributor gets "called out" and cannot recover from the mistake, or may even make non-moral seller choices.
Changes in sales policies at Stern have pushed out many smaller distributors, as there is just no way they can turn a profit without the volume sales, and are not going to get price reductions from Stern.
Stern did this partially to maintain a consistent profit margin for themselves (watching from the mistakes of other manufacturers when there was actually competition), which I cannot blame them, they are a business.
There is value to understanding the sales of NIB pinball machines following the areas of time, cost, shipping, and customer service.
Pick three, rarely you get four unless you networked.