Quoted from phil-lee:There is a premium EM Market, it just rarely shows its face among "low hanging fruit". You can bet machines serviced by some of the big names are not selling for peanuts, rather, the deals are kept quiet.
List an EM for a fair price and the e-mails and text messages begin, trying to talk you down, embarrass you for your price, compare it to the car market. They want your machine, they just don't want to pay a fair price, so they can flip it or brag about how cheap they got it.
Be patient, ignore the price police, stick to your price. There are new people coming into the hobby that have no qualms paying for a clean working machine and have no knowledge of the "Rules" set by mossbacks still living in the 80's.
Now project machines are another story, a 68 Camaro on blocks with a frozen engine missing parts won't be worth what a running complete example will bring.
That's the last cargument I will ever post.
That makes sense, especially when I see places like PinRescue on YouTube. I just don’t know what to make of all the places that keep advertising that 78 Kiss for $9000 or the Bally Nip It for $2850 and the Pinball Depot in Quebec Canada that keeps posting overpriced machines that look worse than my 4 humble pins. Here’s what I paid for my 4. All bought on eBay.
In 2008- $1080 for 80’ Bally Nitro Ground Shaker. This machine was babied by the previous owner and played perfectly for 10 straight years other than a few bad lamp sockets. Have spent almost nothing on it since purchase but it now needs a new Sound Board. ($120).
In 2018- $890 for a 77’ Bally Eight Ball. This one looked nice when I bought it other than it had a cheap reproduction backglass that I’ve since replaced with a nice Translite one. It had old boards so I recently put in a new LDB and I had to put in a new rectifier board. It has had to have some minor upgrades such as new flippers, rubbers and a few transistors. Have spent about $400 on it since owning.
In 2018- $910 for a 76’ Bally Aladdin’s Castle. Minor issues and upgrades. Solid machine. Have about $100 in it since purchase.
In 2019- $400 for a 76’ Williams Space Mission. Same as the 76 AC. Solid machine and beautiful. Have about $100 in it since purchase.