Is this a Scam? $25,000

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#1 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Hi everyone, I am trying to figure out if this is a scam. Because it does not make any sense. Without divulging too much information for the protection of everyone involved I had a deal in place to buy a pinball machine. Not one that was extremely rare, it was listed and sold for less than $10,000 in all of the sales history on pinside.

After the seller marked it as “sale pending”someone messaged the seller and immediately offered $25,000 for the machine. Obviously the seller accepted. The seller regrettably told me that he accepted the offer. That buyer sent him $25,000 through PayPal friends and family.

This makes zero sense. Hopefully someone can help shed some light on how it would be possible for the buyer to get his money back even after he receives the machine. Because I can’t imagine someone paying over $15,000 more than any previous sale. Thanks!

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1

#2 3 years ago

JPD

Dayhuff

Pinside member

Battle Creek, MI

11y 126K 6,353 79 11

I don't think it's entirely impossible. I know someone that paid $12K more then the last time the game was sold, so I could see it happening I guess.

John

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#3 3 years ago

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ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,360 268 14

Could it be legit? Sure. Could it also be a scam? Sure. Without more details, that's difficult to say with certainty.

Right now, it's a seller's market. People have been paying some crazy prices for certain titles, lately.

It might also be some wealthy individual who just wants it and wants it now, and cost is no object, and $25k is pocket change to them.

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#4 3 years ago

???

kklank

Pinside+ Frequent

Glen Ellyn, IL

10y 99,050 3,484 61 1

Bizarre.

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1

#5 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

If the person wanted it so bad why not post in the “club” of this machine and offer $5000+ more than the previous sale? If they offered $15,000 I’m sure they would have people lined up wanting to sell.

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12

#6 3 years ago

KNT

Coindork

Pinside member

Cave Creek, AZ

7y 147K 4,623 20 74

I feel like I should list some of my machines for sale with dumb prices on them.

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2

#7 3 years ago

VTY

Vitty

Pinside+ Pro!

Minnetrista, MN

9y 136K 1,711 4 6

I'd leave negative feedback for the person if its someone on here. I'd like to know if a seller I'm about to deal with reneges on deals.

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#8 3 years ago

LXL

Isochronic_Frost

Saratoga Silverball

7y 221K 9,403 108 1 1

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
If the person wanted it so bad why not post in the “club” of this machine and offer $5000+ more than the previous sale? If they offered $15,000 I’m sure they would have people lined up wanting to sell.

So this is a title that normally sells for 10k?

I’m guessing Addams or something. Yeah if someone pays 25k I call bullshit

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#9 3 years ago

LEV

CrazyLevi

Crazy Levi's Pinball

New York, NY

10y 148K 33,544

From the thread title I thought I was gonna get paid $25,000 for answering the question.

Color me disappointed

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#10 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Nope. A newer game made within the last five years that’s not Pirates or GNR.

The seller was really nice about it. He even offered to send me a few hundred dollars because he felt bad. But I told him I’m not taking it because I’m sure he’s going to be out the 25k and the pinball machine. I don’t see how it’s at all possible.

I even just called a dealer and they said when they get that game in they would sell it for less than $10k

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#11 3 years ago

REM

Slugmeister

Pinside+ Frequent

Gig Harbor, WA

11y 102K 1,850

I miss the 90's pinball wise.Strange times indeed nowadays.

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#12 3 years ago

KNT

Coindork

Pinside member

Cave Creek, AZ

7y 147K 4,623 20 74

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
Nope. A newer game made within the last five years that’s not Pirates or GNR.
The seller was really nice about it. He even offered to send me a few hundred dollars because he felt bad. But I told him I’m not taking it because I’m sure he’s going to be out the 25k and the pinball machine. I don’t see how it’s at all possible.
I even just called a dealer and they said when they get that game in they would sell it for less than $10k

I’m guessing Medieval Madness Royal Edition.

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#13 3 years ago

DSA

Darscot

Pinside member

Chilliwack, BC

9y 72,800 3,462 4

It could be legit lots of people out there with plenty of money to throw around. There is also plenty of people that jump on trends or the the next hot item to flip without doing research. Can you reverse a friends and family payment, as a buyer I don't think you have any protection so it seems crazy to pay that way. This whole thing would ring alarm bells for me.

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#14 3 years ago

REM

Slugmeister

Pinside+ Frequent

Gig Harbor, WA

11y 102K 1,850

My guess would be EHOH.

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#15 3 years ago

AMH

chubtoad13

Pinside member

11y 107K 2,015 52

Maybe the guy changed his mind about selling and made up the 25k story so you couldn’t really be mad that he backed out of the sale.

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#16 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Not Elvira or MM. haha I hope he did make it up. Because I honestly feel bad for him. Was a really nice guy. But I don’t think he made it up because he was willing to send me money

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#17 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

IMG_0066 (resized).jpeg

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#18 3 years ago

H2O

zh2oson

Pinside+ Frequent

Pasadena, CA

6y 132K 1,193 7 66 1

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
[quoted image]

Yup. Vid covered this topic in his "how not to get ripped off" thread. Thoughts and prayers for the seller.

link here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-not-get-ripped-off-in-pinball-vids-guide

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#19 3 years ago

BOY

vid1900

Pinside member

Sana'a

12y 169K 40,235 18

It's a scam, and the guy is going to get ripped. They don't even want the game.

No sense even thinking about it.

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#20 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Quoted from vid1900:
It's a scam, and the guy is going to get ripped. They don't even want the game.
No sense even thinking about it.

What do you mean they don’t even want the game? He’s shipping the game out in a few days.

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#21 3 years ago

MCB

EricHadley

Inactive member

8y 110K 4,839

I NEVER use paypal as a seller and I NEVER use F&F unless it’s with a FRIEND or FAMILY. PayPal is just too easy to be scammed on.

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#22 3 years ago

EMB

wxforecaster

Shoot Again Pinball Repa

11y 87,050 1,835

The best thing you could possibly do IMO is to send Vid's explanation of this scam to the seller. That way the "guilt" is off your conscience feeling that he's going to get scammed.

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#23 3 years ago

FJB

Trekkie1978

Pinside member

Shrewsbury, NJ

9y 142K 8,721 21 10 1

If the question is “is this a scam?”

The answer is always “yes.”

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#24 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Quoted from wxforecaster:
The best thing you could possibly do IMO is sent Vid's explanation of this scam to the seller. That way the "guilt" is off your conscience feeling that he's going to get scammed.

Yep, I did exactly that. Sent a screenshot to him. He feels confident BECAUSE it's Friends and Family.

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#25 3 years ago

FW

boustrophedonic

Pinside+ Frequent

Grafton, WI

10y 85,800 601

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
He feels confident BECAUSE it's Friends and Family.

Tell him to check out: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/paypal-do-not-accept-payment-using-paypal

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#26 3 years ago

REW

woody76

Pinball Marketing

Nashville, TN

9y 142K 6,846 6 98

Quoted from Coindork:
I feel like I should list some of my machines for sale with dumb prices on them.

no crap. a stock MET pro just sold for almost $6k. I just bought a loaded premium for $500 more than that. Take a few picks of each of my machines and double pinside average and see what happens.

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#27 3 years ago

444

sunnRAT

Pinside member

9y 119K 2,069

Quoted from woody76:
no crap. a stock MET pro just sold for almost $6k. I just bought a loaded premium for $500 more than that. Take a few picks of each of my machines and double pinside average and see what happens.

3 weeks later woody be like...

z9T3Hg.gif

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#28 3 years ago

FRN

Friengineer

Pinside member

10y 70,550 1,829 5

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
He feels confident BECAUSE it's Friends and Family

Total scam. Buh bye monies. Buh bye game.

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#29 3 years ago

ZUM

Mr_Tantrum

Fort Worth, TX

8y 140K 12,539 3 6 75

If a buyer ever offers you $15K above your asking price then tell him to get his butt on a plane and fly down to pay you cash, and that you will deduct the travel expense from the purchase price.

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#30 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:
If a buyer ever offers you $15K above your asking price then tell him to get his butt on a plane and fly down to pay you cash, and that you will deduct the travel expense from the purchase price.

Haha that is easily the best solution.

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#31 3 years ago

FRN

Friengineer

Pinside member

10y 70,550 1,829 5

Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:
$15K above your asking price

Like who the fuck pays $15k more than asking price when $1k or $2k does the job?

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#32 3 years ago

JLD

JayDee

Pinside+ Member

Elk Grove Village, IL

5y 114K 5,531 4

Quoted from Friengineer:
Like who the fuck pays $15k more than asking price when $1k or $2k does the job?

Nobody. I look forward to the thread of him crying like a baby that he got scammed and looking for advice on what to do.

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#33 3 years ago

OP

???

brickbuilder14

Pinside member

3y 53,050 364 10 8 3

Quoted from JayDee:
Nobody. I look forward to the thread of him crying like a baby that he got scammed and looking for advice on what to do.

No, I’m hoping that he realizes it’s a scam before it’s too late. I really really really don’t want him to lose any money. At this point the money is in his account. So it’s not “over” yet

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#34 3 years ago

JLD

JayDee

Pinside+ Member

Elk Grove Village, IL

5y 114K 5,531 4

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
No, I’m hoping that he realizes it’s a scam before it’s too late. I really really really don’t want him to lose any money. At this point the money is in his account. So it’s not “over” yet

I hate to see it also. But after all the warnings and advice that they choose to ignore, it’s hard to feel sorry for them.

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#35 3 years ago

KNT

Coindork

Pinside member

Cave Creek, AZ

7y 147K 4,623 20 74

Here’s a question.
How does one send PayPal friends and family for an amount over $10,000 without the payment getting flagged and hung up because it exceeds the 10k federal cash reporting requirement?

I’ve only done this once, at CAX 4 years ago for two pins. The amount was over 10k and it took a full week for the funds to clear. These were funds coming directly out of my bank account. I called PayPal and they said this was standard on any transaction that exceeded $10,000.

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#36 3 years ago

POP

RTR

Pinside+ Frequent

Franklin, TN

11y 118K 4,004 8 6

Watch out that he's not trying to bump you up a bit. Is he a seller you are familiar with or has good feedback here?

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1

#37 3 years ago

JON

JonH123

Pinside member

9y 65,150 951

Quoted from Coindork:
Here’s a question.
How does one send PayPal friends and family for an amount over $10,000 without the payment getting flagged and hung up because it exceeds the 10k federal cash reporting requirement?
I’ve only done this once, at CAX 4 years ago for two pins. The amount was over 10k and it took a full week for the funds to clear. These were funds coming directly out of my bank account. I called PayPal and they said this was standard on any transaction that exceeded $10,000.

That only applies to a transaction coming out of your bank account involving a cash transfer. The same rule does not apply if it's charged to a credit card.

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#38 3 years ago

???

ccbiggsoo7

Pinside+ Frequent

10y 91,050 6,065 37 10 2

was his name Benjamin Dover?

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#39 3 years ago

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ForceFlow

Pinside Moderator

9y 238K 31,360 268 14

OP
Quoted from brickbuilder14:
Yep, I did exactly that. Sent a screenshot to him. He feels confident BECAUSE it's Friends and Family.

It's not foolproof. There are ways to reverse it.

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#40 3 years ago

JON

bigehrl

Jackbar

New York, NY

12y 97,150 3,829 79

transactions for high value items exchanged for cash only transpire as intended if they make sense. so yes, it's 100% a scam.

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#41 3 years ago

MAG

Completist

Pinside member

8y 91,850 1,436

Quoted from Coindork:
I feel like I should list some of my machines for sale with dumb prices on them.

Funny i’ve been thinking the same thing. I’m happy with what i own and don’t want to sell anything. But i thought of creating a thread that says “look at my collection. If you want to pay me an absurd amount of money for something then go ahead and make me a ridiculous offer”

I didn’t knowing i’d be lowballed... lol

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#42 3 years ago

BOO

oPinsesame

Pinside member

Rockaway, NJ

8y 58,400 415 2 11

I guess I’m a skeptic but I don’t understand why you just believe what this seller is telling you about another buyer paying $25k. How do you know he really got another offer? Or how do you know it wasn’t really $2,000 more than you agreed and he is just saying $25,000 so you will understand why he reneged. If it is true he is just trying to keep you from outing him here. Just my thoughts. Of course if there is another buyer I naturally think the F & F offer is a scam too.

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#43 3 years ago

JP

jake35

Pinside member

7y 114K 2,552 25 9 5

maybe i should email the seller and offer him 40k to refund the other guy and sell to me? lol

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#44 3 years ago

AJH

JAXPinball

Pinside member

Jacksonville, FL

11y 43,400 103 4

Sounds like a friends and family intervention at this point.

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#45 3 years ago

JMS

swampfire

Pinside+ Addict

11y 168K 13,601 48

Quoted from Slugmeister:
My guess would be EHOH.

That’s some funny shit because I’m so old and naive that I was looking at new pins recently and thought : “that EHOH is a fun pin, I would definitely be in when it pops up used for $6500”.

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#46 3 years ago

MJW

DakotaMike

Mike's Pinball Repair

Clermont, FL

4y 95,550 2,111 1 26

Quoted from swampfire:
That’s some funny shit because I’m so old and naive that I was looking at new pins recently and thought : “that EHOH is a fun pin, I would definitely be in when it pops up used for $6500”.

It IS a very fun pin. I almost regret selling mine. But it will be YEARS, if ever, before they get down to that price. I picked mine up for a steal for $7k, when EHOH's were at their low point. Right before they were sold out everywhere, right before the really big code updates, and right before everyone realized what a great, loaded, fun game it was.