Sorry this happened to you, I know exactly how you feel other than the money part. I got choggarded by Choggard. I'm still finding shit wrong with this pin that I'm pretty sure he did, like plastics installed wrong, posts in the wrong places etc. little things really, but every time it just brings it all up again, I can't wait to totally redo the pin to get all the choggard out.

Pins or not, I just don't understand how someone can flat out lie about the condition of things just so they can rip someone off. I know it happens all the time, but I really couldn't ever picture myself being able to do it.

Once this guy bought a dune buggy off me, sight unseen except for a few pictures. I was so concerned about him feeling like he got ripped off that I spent an entire week every night after work fixing all the little things, touching up scratches on the frame, tuning the engine, replacing the clutch and throttle cable. He was real happy with the car when he came to get it, and I was happy he felt like he got a fair deal. I couldn't live with myself if I knowingly ripped someone off, I just can't even comprehend it.

If you paid through paypal you have some recourse as long as you didn't pay as a gift. If you used a credit card, you can dispute the charges as fraudulent, your bank can let you know what the criteria is.

Pinside really needs a seller feedback area, for both negative and positive feedback.

He wasn't paying more to get a project.

It sucks when you spend extra time and money to try and find one that you are assured is in great shape, no issues, minor wear and you end up with a project anyway. What they take from you is your free time. Time that you could spend playing the pinball you thought you were getting, or spending time with your family or working a second job (to pay for you pinball habit

If you want to sell overpriced pins, fine, if you want to get more from a noob because you can, fine. But to sell someone something that you don't have and give them junk instead, That's bullshit.

I will never buy one I don't play first unless it's a project or I know their reputation. I know that's not possible depending on where you live, but if you can, find someone local or take a road trip.

Unlikely.

I would agree, but this is public record. If it was confidential info then for sure, it shouldn't be posted, but anyone on the internet can view this information.

Can't we just start a buyer beware thread or a seller review thread? or has this been tried before and shut down?

I didn't mean an official forum, though that would be nice. I just meant can't we, the community, just start a thread called 'Bad Sellers' or something?

I get what you're saying, but he wasn't paying for a players game, he was paying for what the seller described and confirmed.

If you bought a car online and the ad said 45k miles, no rust, runs perfect and when it arrived it has 145k miles, rust and a bunch of mechanical issues we wouldn't tell someone that it's ok, just fix it and move on.

It's not about whether or not it's salvageable, but whether or not you got what you paid a premium for. Some people can't or don't want to buy a pin that needs repair, they want to buy one that they can plug in and play, and when you pay extra for that and end up with a project, that's bullshit.

As for what can be done to prevent it?
(just ideas, not saying they would be the correct solution)

Possibly require sellers to verify their identity before they can use the marketplace to advertise a sale?

Maybe require a 'gold' pinside membership to sell. If people are making money off Pinside, maybe they can give a little back to support the site? Maybe the scammers won't pay the extra fee to list?

It's tough when people can just get another email address and create another account. Even if you IP ban, that really doesn't stop anything. It's a difficult situation for Ryan and the mods, I hope they can come up with something.