+1 million

You easily hit the nail on the head.

Exactly!

Yeah, some people want $9K for an average CV or $5500 for a routed LOTR. It's crazy out there.

It is out of whack but, I do think many ebayers just use it as advertisement. If you call most of them a much better price can be had. Even Gap has said that. Nobody buy thru them they just call the seller.

That's exactly what we did with our two ebay purchases.

there are still deals to be had (by collectors, not the retailers).

This thread makes no sense.

OP is complaining about prices that are in line with what he lists machines for. Pot, meet kettle...

Pinball machines have been on eBay since before 2000. I know, I sold many then. Today, it is better used as an advertisement because the fees and after-sale risks are higher. Sure, more people pay attention to eBay prices now and use it as a price reference (especially when there isn't much else out there), but it's not eBay that has caused prices to soar. It's supply and demand foremost, and then a little capitalism.

Let's face it, when someone says "Hey I've have had this Medieval Madness game since I bought it new. It's just taking up space. What's a fair price? $9000?", if you have the money you're going to be tempted to say "Take $8500 cash?"

But when you list it months later for $14,000 and someone says "How about $13,500 cash?" you respond with "PLEASE, this thing is HUO! Even routed ones are selling for $16k!"

I have some friends using eBay for this. Basically, they have no problems selling games locally for going prices. But they take their games and say "I don't want to sell any of this but at what price would I sell each for". They stick the pins up on eBay for those prices and don't care if they ever sell. If they do sell then it's a great payoff. Personally I'm glad. eBay sucks in general so the worst reputation it gets the better.

Yea, bay prices due tend to give one skewed views. They often times do set values over time for the gotta have now crowd.

Got ripped off big time on Ebay on a game when I first got into the hobby and never been back.
RGP used to be a good place to buy parts I needed but it seems now there are not many FS ads just links to Ebay auctions.
If you ask for a part you need people post a link to an ebay auction.

Speaking of ebay sales, anyone do business with Automated Services? Good experiences? Shipping go smoothly and quickly?

My favorite thing to see is craiglisters using epay as a reference. "My beat up POS is worth $2200 & not a penny less. Here's a link to one just like it on epay for proof."

I hope you were sitting down.

Dan

"regular pinball people"

Define "regular pinball people"

Us pinball peeps aint "regular"

I have had no problems with automated services

I bought Tron through them via ebay. I've heard bad things, but my experience was smooth and problem free. Customer service was not so great (they weren't friendly on the phone), but they delivered on time with no issues, which is what ultimately matters.

Only reason to "shop" for pins on eBay? The lols (i.E. the $2100.00 plus asking price for a James Bond backglass).

But that glass was from their personal collection so it is worth a lot more.

Even back in the day Ebay is not for collectors to buy. Yes sometimes you can find one or make a deal.

Ebay is bad for the business as it kills realistic prices. Like the guys on Pawn Stars say. "You saw it listed for xxxx or you saw it SOLD for xxxx" Big difference.

Alas that is so true. I was stuck going to an estate sale the other day and people were using their phone or pad to look up ebay prices of different types of items . . . like that was somehow a guage for what they should bid on the various items. Was kind of interesting to watch actually.

A guy a just met who knows a lot about pinball made a great point. He attributes the high prices to the recent aps from Pinball Arcade on iPad, etc.

People who totally forgot about Funhouse, for example, now all of sudden want one!

When I see a pin for sale on craigslist, if I ever see "craptacular game X is fetching $6000 on Ebay", I move on.

I loathe sellers that think ebay is a price guide.

Even worse - I was bringing a pin into Canada from NY, and the customs agent thought I was trying to scam them out of duties/taxes because the same machine was on BIN for more than twice what I paid. Disastrous experience - my wife will never let me pick up a pin with her on the road trip again after that one. Thanks EBay...

Ebay prices don't really go down. But yeah it has been crazy for a while now.