Yes it is. It is also a tighter knit crowd than most places including pinside.

Most sales are done in person or with people we know. And many people pay cash especially with first time posters.

You were the one demanding PayPal and ‘legit pics’ in your first post and it came off rude so you should expect similar treatment back.

Mr Tampa you’re something else….

The Village is (by and large) a great group of folks around Florida, I've met many of them while buying/trading/selling games and at local shows and get togethers. Most of us on there just prefer dealing in person, or working things out via PM when needed.

Looking at how that thread went down, it kinda reminds me of the old saloon tropes in movies/TV, where the unknown stranger moseys in the door and lays down how they think things are gonna go ... and all the locals in the saloon pause and look up, like 'what's with this guy?'

Hope you're able to find the game you're looking for.

For those that live in FL, VillageBBS is the best and safest way to buy/sell/trade. A great group of people there with strong reputations.

Give it a chance, and it will be easy to learn who can be trusted.

Ooof, I just saw the other thread too, I see how things went south there too.

Dave (wildeboutpins) is a legit guy and a Stern distributor, runs a popular shop, and is VERY well known in the Florida circle. So, when you dropped in and demanded he "Upload pics with your user name on piece of paper on playfield", I could definitely see why that upset a lot of people. See prior comment on the saloon.

Dang, this is some kidnapper tech. "We want to see a pic of our kid holding today's newspaper before we drop the unmarked, non-sequential 20's in a trash can in Central Park"

You just got caught being new.

Many of the people, via amount of posts, have been on there for many many years.

Its kinda a club that self polices itself. Not really any room for scammers, unless you see them posting new.
Same thing for you as a buyer.

Its kinda like you asked KFC to prove they sell chicken....well, wait, theres something there.

I disagree. What I'm seeing is you trying to make demands for doing things your way, rather than politely *asking* about what you're looking for. This seems to be your particular approach and personality, not the approach of all (or former) NYers.

FYI, paypal friends & family is *not* the same as cash. Even paypal friends & family can be reversed, depending on what the funding source is. There's no chance that cash on the glass can be reversed once the transaction is done. Since villageBBS is a local Florida community, most are likely accustomed to dealing with local in-person transactions with cash--not remote transactions involving online payments.

As others have touched on, communities generally have official rules and then several unwritten rules under that guiding the behavior & conduct of individuals in the community, and buying/selling standards within the community. Simply jumping into the fray without preamble or attempts to become a part of the community while making demands right out of the gate is what seemed to rub people the wrong way.

Before writing off the entire community, I'd encourage you to try to get to know the community first. Maybe do a bit more reading to see how folks interact with each other and conduct themselves. A number of good people from that community also participate on the forums here.

An SSL certificate encrypts data being transmitted between your computer/device and the server so that it's not readable by 3rd parties. While it is currently best practice for websites to encrypt communication between the server and website visitors, the lack of an SSL certificate has little to do with the potential presence of scammers.

I'm not sure if you've seen this thread about scam seller websites, but pretty much all of the scam sites I've encountered have SSL certificates in place, so the presence or lack of an SSL certificate doesn't really mean much (in terms of trying to identify a scam/scammer).

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/beware-of-scam-game-seller-websites/

Oh bummer.

Drop the ego and apologize if interested in joining their group. Or don’t I guess. You’d be surprised how accommodating folks are.

I’ve been new in places too and had to eat crow to learn. Speaks volumes about one’s ability to be a part of the community.

So I take it you do not want to buy my Spider-man pinball? Shucks.

You should be grateful that you live in an area that has a tight knit group of pinball people.

Because everyone who lives in Florida that are part of villagebbs are ALL originally from Florida.

Meaning no disrespect to tampa12, and not commenting on your particular situation, I'd ask folks from the Villages not to accept this generalization as accurate. My dad is down in the Villages, I'm up in NYC, and I've had nothing but good experiences when in the Villages. I think it's a wonderful (and MASSIVE) community, and always look forward to returning...

(I did see a somewhat recent article about a Pin owner in a Villages community magazine a few months back, but I'll be honest, I had no idea there was a thriving Pinball community down there! Will have to try to reach out before my next visit!)

Tampa, I do wish you good luck, and hope that you're able to find the machine you're looking for, be it in the Villages or elsewhere... (Any chance you've already tried King_Jelly at Little Shop of Games over in Lutz?)

Damn. I guess I'm going to have to close my Village account now for not being from around here

I would drop the 'I'm from NY and I don't trust anyone' spiel if you are going to deal person to person when trying to buy and sell pins locally. If you can't operate with some level of good faith, stick to buying direct from a distributor. Talk with people before making demands. Ask if you can drive out to see a pin first before you show up with cash if you like. If it is a long drive and you don't want to have to make it twice, then that's your choice.

VillageBBS is a great local pinball community resource with some great folks. A lot of the users know each other and will vouch for who is good to deal with. I just got my DP Pro from Scotty on VillageBBS who was great to meet and talk about pins with. I just wish I had the money to buy his Elvira too

We're talking about VillageBBS.com , the local Florida gaming forum website, not the Villages community outside of Orlando.

Ah! Thanks kindly; from the name and convo, I thought perhaps the two were DIRECTLY connected, my mistake, cheers and thanks!

No worries. I get the confusion

Sorry you see it that way.....Grew Up in NY.

But perhaps its best.

The Villages, and the village.bbs

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I almost spit my coffee out

Haha yeah as the couple others have said, no relation between the forum and that community.

IIRC, I believe The Village BBS is actually named as such as a reference to the The Village from the old show 'The Prisoner'.

You need to accept you walked in with a "ready fire aim" attitude, found out you were grossly over your head, apologize, and become part of a solidly built and close community. I was in the Florida Panhandle, some 7 hours away, and even from there I could tell how tightly knit that community is.

Dont let ego get in the way of a great thing here.

Far as I can see you went in to a community where everyone pretty much knows each other personally and acted like a total dick.

What did you think was going to happen?

No one "needs" to be selling you anything these days so being an asshole wont get you far.

The Village BBS is legit and a safe community for all of us in FL. I have met some great people and made pinball friends from the Village. Also, I generally buy and sell used pins on the Village vs pinside due to proximity and the solid community that exists. Furthermore, when I have pinball questions I get tons of help from people on the Village, more so than pinside for most topics.

You may want to check your approach with the group. Been on Villages for years good group just don’t be an ass. Plenty of folks in Tampa area have bought and sold for years. If in doubt with a particular seller reach out and ask the group to vouch for them. There are very few bad apples everywhere but they are quickly exposed if a deal goes south on the forum. You get what you give the villages are a welcoming group and are willing to help those who aren’t too abrasive.
Al

Not to mention the fact that everything is being reported these days for tax purposes. I don't mind paying my fair share and all that, not trying to be political, but uh, you can miss me with taxing my private, used pinball deals.

Not to mention this nonsense. I haven't used my PayPayl account in a bit for selling, but I've had well over $100,000 flow through it over the years I'm sure. Took some orders for a new mod last night and welp. Doesn't seem to matter, I've been 'reset' and have to play weird hostage games.

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Don't be weirded out by people asking for cash, it's still the only real way to do business.

I suspect that I am missing something here...as I understand it, someone from the "Village BBS" had a machine for sale, and expected the OP to send him cash for it - without even pictures of the machine. All because Village BBS is "trustworthy".

Sorry, but I wouldn't be sending cash to anyone I don't know to buy a machine sight-unseen - no matter how tightly-knit the group he belongs to is.

With the amount of fraud in this hobby right now, I'm shocked that any of you think this is somehow a good idea...

Is it such a sellers market now that "I have machines for sale, sorry no pictures, send cash only." sounds reasonable to people?

If so, I have hundreds of A-list games available, sorry no pictures, send cash only - don't worry "I'm trustworthy".

OP left out some key details about what exactly he was demanding, and how. The tone was inappropriate, and he was asking a very well known seller who owns a well-known (in the area) shop, and kinda being rude about it. He didn't know the seller, as the OP is new to the community, and it was received as a bull-in-a-china-shop approach by the community. They'll forgive him. Cash is still king, and a smart seller doesn't accept PayPal from a stranger.

That was not the way it went down. Bottom line is he was being told face to face transactions with cash on the glass are the best way to go. On the threads in question on the Village I did not see anyone asking for cash in any other situation. And agree with rdoyle, the tone on the Village by the OP was totally inappropriate. And as is evidenced by the comments above, pretty lame of the OP to bring it over to pinside at all and not deal with it in person or locally.

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This is a command, not an "ask". OP burst right into the saloon and made demands of an established, well-known, reputable member of the community who's been on the Village for almost a decade, who's known personally by dozens (likely far more) of other members.

The community at large -- the regular patrons of the saloon, in the analogy -- took exception to this tone, rose to their feet, and booted him through the doors back into the street.

If I may join in please
This guy has got something wrong with his way of thinking that's for sure. We at the Village are tight, we're honest, we have very little problems and we don't need this mental midget!
Have a good day everyone!

Sure, that comes across as pretty annoying. Certainly a "Please, would it be possible to, upload pics...(etc)" would have gone over much better.

But in fairness, I (and probably most people outside of FL) have never heard of Village BBS before and it is completely reasonable to be wary at this point, considering how many scam sites are proliferating right now.

It's great that you have a "tight" group, but if you are looking to buy/sell to people outside of that group, you can't just bank on "tightness".

But yeah, a lot more friendliness was probably called for from the OP.

I just read the thread in question and with all due respect, you came on pretty strong especially for a new member.

Everything from your tone to correcting the spelling of "you're" and calling established members trolls was below average, in my opinion.

Also, saying that EBay is a better place to purchase a pin than a site for locals is, to be kind, debatable. I thought the responses to you were pretty restrained all things considering.

If I may join in please
This guy has got something wrong with his way of thinking that's for sure. We at the Village are tight, we're honest, we have very little problems and we don't need this mental midget.
A couple of things
This group , the Village doesn't have any necessary affiliation with "THE VILLAGES" which is a place
A popular saying here is "cash on the glass"= come on over, play the game, if you like it please pay in cash right there.
Nobody is asked to mail cash or anything else. Its just that we know so many in tyhis group personally.
oh and I'm from New York and they accepted me! Dangerous I know but true!

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The whole "I'm from NY" thing is bullshit, and is just a blanket excuse for a flawed way of behaving. I'm a 3rd generation NY'er, And no one in my family would enter someone else's house just assuming they'll be murdered in the basement. I don't know what that's about. OP you need to reflect and correct, else you'll have the same issues anywhere you go. There's far more nobility in admitting you were wrong, than doubling down and expecting a different outcome elsewhere.

Additional info -- the seller put his phone number right there in the sale listing! (He prefers talking on the phone, to get right down to business. He's a busy guy who moves a lot of machines.)

Simply calling and having a conversation would be an ideal way to get the vibe of scam vs. reality.

I’m from North Jersey and just saying cash is the norm.
Up there and down here. I would prefer cash also.

You are absolutely correct it is reasonable to be wary, but as a new member somewhere I would be courteous and ask question rather than make demands. I wonder if you have read the thread and posts in question as it seems you may not understand the attitude the OP took on their forum.

i don't think the real issue is his desired payment method. It's more him walking into a known tight knit club and saying the equivalent of "How's it going, Scammers?"

Have to agree with my brethren here. We have enough geographical wars on this site without everybody just assuming that not only do all New Yorkers shit on the sidewalk, but are also incredibly rude to Florida social forum members. If you've got to use "I'm from New York" as an excuse to be an asshole, you aren't much of a New Yorker in my opinion!

Indeed it is. Be seeing you.

I wish I was from FL so I could join villagebbs, that place sounds cool as hell

Which is why the first post that I made in this thread said "I must be missing something". And obviously, what I was missing was the OPs attitude.

No, not living in FL, I am not a member of VillageBBS, nor do I plan to be. I was responding only to what had been posted in this Pinside thread.

Florida man demands to not be scammed on a website where everyone deals in person and prefers cash, tonight at 6.

While claiming that Paypal friends and family is just as good as cash for the seller.

Why would you treat anyone different on any forum? The only post I’ve seen of yours from this other forum was a command to see a very specific type of picture of the game. I wouldn’t be too happy about that either if I received that kind of message.

He edited out some of his first post, but what still remains here gives an idea of why he wasn't met with arms wide open.

And of course nobody was asking him to "send" cash.
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Just wanted to chime in as a "New Yorker" that us in western ny can't stand the mentality of 99% of folks east of the Hudson. Unfortunately the "I'm the best eh. I'm from new yoawk" attitude is perpetuated as the image of the entire state. Please dont paint the entire state with the same frame of view as NYC...thanks