Walk away

I do what you did. Head for the exit. It's just a pinball machine.
...

You have made your offer and explained why. There is nothing else you can do. Walking away is the best choice.

Yeah, anything else just tells them that you are desperate to make a deal and will indicate they shouldn't budge. Leave them your # or email and maybe if they get enough of the same lower type offers they will call you back and see if you can make a deal.

With few exceptions it's not like there's not more of whatever machine it is out there, in all cases.

Agreed.
Sometimes a price can’t be negotiated. Easier to move along and keep it friendly.
-Hans

I would leave my name and number with them, and tell them that if they change their mind to please give me a call.

That’s how you do it.

Walk away, HOWEVER keep an eye out on the obituaries and get it during an estate sale. Wait them out!

I have found that people like that will take it to their grave with them if they can't get their price. I local wealthy family had a Addams Family in their business for years and they ended up selling the business and retiring. They put the TAF in a barn on their property and left it for 18 years. I found out through a friend they decided to clean the barn out and found it. I told them I would be interested in buying it and they told me $10,000. It is still sitting in the barn.

What were they trying to sell?

I'd just walk away. Unless it's something amazing. Then if you didn't pay up it's probably going to go to
some guy who has no idea what he got into. Condition is king isn't that what Mike and Frank say?

What was the game?

Posts like this are very ambiguous without more details.
From what I can figure out with the sketchy info, it could be:

- Local people list a Star Trek Next Gen for sale $3500
---- they've seen them for sale at $7500 (might have), but theirs is broken
- Op feels he can find STTNG for 3K - 4K - and offers them $1500 (since it needs a $300 repair)
- Op feels they should have jumped at the deal - and comes to pinside for support

Sorry if this seems jaded - but I've witnessed pretty much this exact scenario - which seems pretty ridiculous.
Here's another jaded viewpoint - same scenario, but the game sells for $1500 - then the buyer brags about how he stole it and fixed it for $300.

But I could be totally off - just depends on what game we are actually talking about - which no one knows but the op.

How do you deal with an unrealistic buyer?

They might simply be misinformed. The advice to offer your price and politely walk away if you are too far apart is solid. Do leave your contact info. A similar thing happened to a buddy of mine a few years ago on a nice HUO LotR. They eventually worked out a deal about a year later when the seller finally realized their intitial price was too high. (because they had overpaid when they purchased it.) The key thing was the buyer didn't offend them so the deal was able to be made down the road when they were ready. Sometimes... negotiating takes time.

So you offered them $1500-ish on a $3-4K machine because it needed some repairs? Was it in otherwise good condition?

Sounds to me like both sides have unrealistic expectations.

Edit: You then cite pinside prices... so what did you actually offer them?

I would follow up with them in about a month if you are still interested, keeping at same offer. Sometimes it takes time. They may think they are sitting on a gem and are going to get a lot more then they think it is worth. Sometimes times, time is the only thing that can change their mind.

I proclaim them to be ignorant dolts and then threaten them with physical violence unless they accept my offer.

It rarely goes well, but I sometimes feel better.

Like others have said, if your offer is reasonable the best thing to do is make sure they have your name and number and be very nice (so they want to deal with you).

As to your original question...
- open pinside and show them the estimated value and show them others for sale and/or prices they've sold for
- then compare and adjust for the repair

That way your not just "telling them" with no authority other than a strangers word. They can think about it, do research themselves on pinside and will probably call you back if your offer is fair.

Are you worried by telling the game title that the pin-vultures will swoop in, track your location, scan the local ads and buy the machine out from under you? Seems crazy right! Like im sure that doesn't happen.... lol

I have dealt with unrealistic sellers by passing the word on a deal on to other folks in the general area interested in a machine. Six months ago I really wanted a Jurassic Park and just could not snag one. One came up on Craigslist 6 hours away from me for $3500 stock. At the time, the going rate in that condition was about $2800. After trying to talk the guy down to $3000 and offending him, I passed the info along to other people seeking the same machine and wished them luck. If they got the machine, it would be less competition for another machine that came up in the future.
In this particular case, the guy on the other end was in desperate need of... social skills, so I think having multiple people approach him at around the same ballpark price helped.

Lol this. OP admits he is asking for half the price and is shocked seller asks the going rate. Outrageous.

This is something I deal with a lot. Just about 2 years ago I was at someone's house. They had 3 games. Cftbl, de starwars, wms indy Jones. I sold all the games to them almost 20 years ago.
I asked if they were interested in selling. She asked how much indy Jones was worth. I pulled my phone out and pulled up a 14,000 one hep had listed. I told her I would not give her 14k or even 7k. It's worth 3500 to me. I explained its sides were faded. Dot matrix was burned and needed a shop job with LEDs.
I also explained it's a business to me and I need to make money. Back then for me to get 7k I would need to redo side art, color dmd, new plastics, flippers, powder coat, etc.
She said she understood and wasn't looking to sell yet, but will call me. ( Think I will send a call her way today.)
Point is, I dont hide the crazy prices you see on ebay. I try to use them to my advantage.

I never really get these threads.

You can’t force someone to sell you a game at the price you want.

You can’t force someone to buy a game at your price either.

Life is too short. Find another buyer or seller until you get the deal you want.

Not what happened. OP offered half the going rate. Seller wants twice the going rate.

If you offered me 1500 on a 4000 game, I wouldn't even respond.

What's disingenuous is pretending a few hundred dollars worth of boards cuts a game's price in half. And it likely doesn't need new boards if they were replaced and failed again it's probably something simple like a short blowing an IC. Clearly the game isn't a total wreck since you're obsessed over it enough to post here about it. So let's not pretend it's trash, or you'd just walk away.

You won't even tell us what the game is. That says to me you know you're lowballing and will get called out if you say more.

So I'm sticking with you sounding like a buyer who's not worth dealing with. Walk away, stop annoying those poor people with your bad offers.

You posted as I was writing, agreed with that for sure.

Oooooooh. I read it as if he said half was about 3 to 4, seeing one sell as low as 3100 once. I see. They're both. Being unreasonable. Got it.

Seller: "This game needs a new board."

Buyer: "Ok, ill give you a ham sandwich for it. Delivered."

Seller: "No, I want a 5 course meal in Napa."

Both parties have no idea what they're doing.

Nailed it, Aurich.

What is the game.The board probably can be repaired.

12 gauge. Now sell me that pin for my price! Load it in my vehicle too. Now.

Alright, I think I'm done, you're just going to be mad when people take what you said at face value. Since you're still hiding what the game is I dunno what you want us to say. You didn't get the sale, at the price you wanted, so you move on.

The other thing is, if someone is asking 2X “market value,” why would you even expect them to accept a “reasonable offer?”

Pretty good sign that you are wasting your time.

After reading all this I am interested in what title it was.

You do what you did, politely explain your offer, leave contact info and leave.

Some people search online and find Ebay listings and retail postings and think that's market. It is what it is.

Take time to evaluate the machine, be realistic as to what you can and can't repair (if needed), think about replacement parts - especially the unobtanium - and make them a fair offer. Fair to them and to you. Leave them their number and be considerate.

That's the best I would do and can do.

Half the market value which is 3 to 4k. You typed that sentence, not me. Idiot.

Pinside prices are pretty much out of touch around here these days. Market has changed.

Unrealistic seller will wake up or take off market. If game hasn't been shopped, doesn't work. It's going to sit.
Hopefully someone caught up in nostalgia of owning a game doesn't bite of more than they can chew. It happens

His pin, if it’s not worth it, it’s never going to sell. If you are that determined to get it, watch and see.

1) Be nice
2) Explain your reasoning for the offer (as it appears you did)
3) Show them sold items (on pinside, ebay, etc.) to bring them to reality
4) Make a standing offer
5) walk away

Some people are unrealistic. You can only be honest with them, point out flaws, and show them the market. Beyond that, it's up to them.

You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink.