Don't do it. Unless you have to. Most games will eventually come up for sale in your market.

Don't do it. Unless it's a reputable dealer or collector.

Don't buy games off ebay

Life is better this way

I used Navl it arrived alive I just spent to much on game once they enter equation.

NO>>Skip It. Shipping a pin sucks to. Legs on, legs off, pallett. It gets complicated. 50% there will be damage to a pin in a truck.
You Got Have title now? Wait for local.

I have bought long distance twice. First time I was nervous the seller was great and did what he could to put my mind at ease. I actually posted on here to get feedback on him. The pin was palletized and packed it arrived in the exact condition I expected. The second time around was a lot easier and was also hassle free and everything went exactly as expected. The most important thing to me is having someone that knows how to pack a pin. If the seller is not willing to pack it and take it to a depot I would pass.

I bought my first (and currently only) pin remote from @Gwaxt72. I only ordered because his market history was high -- 32 feedback, 100% score, hundreds of sales, and it was a good deal on T2 (meaning even if something didn't work out, I wouldn't be out thousands of dollars). I chatted with him on the phone, he answered some questions, and allowed me to pay with PayPal. It all worked out in my case and I've put 700-800 plays on it since March.

That said, there WERE some issues that came up when I started playing. I'm sure they weren't a problem when he shipped, but things like a few stuck switches, loose cables and screws, etc. As a newbie, I didn't know where to start in the troubleshooting process, so hired a local (John Ross, for those in the Twin Cities), and he helped straighten up the machine for me - which was a great learning experience as well. You have a lot of machines in your collection, so probably not an issue.

There is always risk inherent in the transaction, but if the person is trustworthy (and others vouch for them), it's probably ok.

Mine was shipped with the legs on - he said that's how they always ship to avoid forklifts from smashing through cabinets. YMMV. But as noted above, there were some things jostled loose in transit across the country.

I do it all of the time. Yes there are risks of damage and a risk that the game is not as represented. If it's someone I do not know or am not very familiar with on pinside I ask for several references. If everything checks out and we can agree on a price I have Beltmann ship it and I don't worry about it. 20+ games will only a few very minor issues shipped using Beltmann/STI and in most cases the minor issues were easy fixes. I would not have them take care of the shipping though. It will make the claim process have to go through him and you will have the game. I would just have him discount the price of the shipping and set it up myself so that I could handle claims directly if needed.

I have gotten a couple of games that maybe were slightly misrepresented but I have largely gotten awesome condition restored or freshly shopped games that I could not have gotten local. I'm not going to live forever so I don't see the point in waiting for something that may never appear in my area when $350 in shipping gets it to me a week later.

I bought a pin from a Pinsider in Texas and it was shipped legs on & worked out fine.

rai, by long distance are you shipping cross country, internationally etc? Also, have you looked into having someone in the pinball community ship it for you? There are people that do this like Don, not sure if he still does it, from pinballonthemove!

It's not even remotely close to 50% chance of damage if the game is properly prepped for shipping.

I bought a Monday Night Football off eBay. It was shipped with the legs on from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis in about 4 days. I can't recall what shipping company was used. Two delivery guys carried it in to my house, so a full white glove experience. The seller is here on Pinside and did a nice of shrink wrapping and padding with moving blankets. Worked perfect on arrival. Not so much as a bulb was out.

Steps go like this -

1) Enter your bank with access to funds and armed with Seller’s name, bank name/address/phone, routing #, acct #. Request a wire transfer and provide Seller’s info plus your name and account#. They will electronically send funds and charge you a fee.

2) Seller should see funds in their account within 4 hours.

3) Arrange shipping (which is already done by Seller). HOWEVER as the Buyer, I recommend you pay for shipping directly so that you have contract with Shipper, in case a claim needs to be submitted. You could ask seller to provide quote# and to subtract amount from what you owe him. You set up shipping with STI and agree to pay shipping costs COD - upon delivery. When game shows up, you inspect for external damage and pay Shipper with cashiers check or money order.

4) STI will pack, shrink wrap and ship game to your door.

DON'T

Okay that eliminates Don as he only does East Coast as far as I know!

There are those nightmare stories of issues with shipping but you typically don't hear about all the successful deliveries! I have dealt with FreightCenter with success, even shipping a machine from Belgium! With them though it has to be on a pallet! Also, I recommend getting a few quotes first! With FreightCenter they quoted me a rate but when I provided them with a competitors quote they beat it! If you want to contact them the lady I use is below:

Shannon Donahue
National Account Manager
E. [email protected]
P:(800) 716-7608 Ext. 1003

Never hurts to try different companies! One thing I would recommend, no matter who you use, is when you receive the machine and they ask you to sign for it sign it "STI" unless you plan to sit and go over the whole machine while the driver is there!! "STI" in the shipping world means Subject To Inspection! This means if you find an issue you still have recourse with the shipper!

Edit - Also ask the shipping company if their quote includes insuring the machine! Most companies don't include insurance unless you specifically ask for it!

I wouldn't do it unless you're comfortable taking a risk. If you are, go for it. But, just be aware, you could end up with a headache that's all yours.

When i say 50%, i mean....a scratch, dent, etc..
Something always happens in a truck regardless of tons of packing blankets.

I've bought two - one from Georgia, one from The Netherlands. Both worked out really well. The one I bought from overseas took forever to get here, but it finally arrived. Both games came in as-expected shape. the TZ was pretty pristine, the other pin was.... uh, not. But this was expected. TZ worked, the other one... yeah I did a lot of work just to get it functional. Lots of board work.

Anyway, it's a lot of money to send, you are taking a big risk. I try to buy local as much as I can still, way cheaper, less headaches. We've all heard the horror stories...

I've bought and shipped several,>6, with out issues.

Just be smart but you don't have to avoid it just because it is shipping from TX.

Sometimes you just can't get it locally which is the case in GA.

I am surprised you are shipping a new game though. Is he really discounting it that much? You can prob match the cost or very close if you bought NIB yourself.

Very surprised with all the negativity in this thread with regards to shipping. I have purchased and sold many machines that required shipping and never had any issues. Some were high end and pretty expensive as well. Of course you hear about the horror stories but they are small in number compared to all the successful shipments. I cannot comment on the wire transfer because I have always used paypal which is considered blasphemy to most Pinsiders.

I have purchased 5 pins that had to be shipped long distance in the past 2 months. I used Sti 3 times, Fastenal once, and a single carrier once. None of these had any negative issues whatsoever. Personally I would like to see the feedback function used more often. That would give buyers and sellers a more accurate snapshot of how people are to deal with.

I have done paypal and cashier's check

As a seller I wouldn't take a cashier's check. Wire, postal money orders or paypal.

I ship games all the time. It isn't complicated at all. You call STI, they come, wrap in front of you (I don't wrap so they can inspect and notate any issues). Only complaint I ever had was one of the feet unscrewed. I sent the buyer a new one.

Accidents can always happen but I don't hesitate to buy/sell and ship.

Every game I ever bought has had and issue with it and not from shipping. That's pinball I guess. However, once they leave my possession they are 100% perfect and working. Maybe because I am OCD with my machines.

Not sure what game it is, but Most pins come up within a day's drive if you're patient.

Correct. The second the funds are gone they are gone. You are 100% trusting the seller.

So if shipping saves you 900 versus NIB that means the guy is taking a 1200 discount on a new game? And he can't find a local buyer? Sounds fishy to me.

I wouldn't do it.... dam local idiots cldnt even deliver my nib dile from nj to md without sticking a forklift threw it..... thank goodness my distro and jjp took good care of it.

Vids guide to buying...
Escrow account...
Is this a Hobbit by chance?

These things must be handled properly. I'm shipping a game from the states to Canada ! Shop around on your shipping , what truck shipping cost STI was going to be $640.00USD and 4-6 weeks to pick up depot , got done buy air with door to door handling for $600.00 Canadian and in 3 days

I have shipped games and had games shipped to me. Pallet, no pallet. Never had a single issue.

If I'm selling I ask the buyer if he/she wants me to pack or have the shipper do it. Do they want them on legs or on a pallet. Pros and cons to each and I explain them to the buyer and let them make the decision.

As far as payment, that's the sellers call. If you feel comfortable that's what matters.

You should of just driven up and bought my GB tho.

I wouldn't. I've never had a used pin shipped. New? Sure. But used? Sorry, I don't trust the seller. No matter who they are.

I'll miss some deals. And most of the time it would be proved I was overly cautious. However, that 1% of the time that it goes bad... it won't be my money. Cash on the glass, every time.

Having just put a BM66LE back into it's original box (because Stern F*cked up and had the wrong playfield fitted in it - but that's another story), I can quite categorically say, you can't get it any where near back to the protection it had when it first arrived.

It needs packaging properly, preferably by someone who has done it before and knows how to do it.

I wouldn't consider buying a pin sight unseen (in person) from someone I didn't know and trust a lot. Let alone have it shipped without seeing it.
There's too many possibilities of it arriving damaged and the seller saying it was damaged in transit, it may actually be damaged in transit, etc. etc.

I'd go with the advice of others and wait for one to come up locally - even if it's a long wait.

If you MUST have it, reach out to somebody from the pinball community (preferably somebody you actually know) near the seller who would be prepared to give it a look at, and play test first, as well as help with the packing.
I've done this on 3 occasions, twice the person advised me not to buy, the third time they pointed out a couple of minor issues, and I then travelled the distance to see for myself.

It's likely that it's going to be a not insignificant amount of money you're spending - the question is how much would you be prepared to lose if it arrived in bits?

I have not had any NIB issues ever. Just super expensive to ship used games. Especially if you buy from an auction house at 20% buyers premium. Not a good route.

There is only a few used machines I would consider traveling for now. Tron,.Indyjones, indy 500, Totan or BBB. Dont have the fire in my loins to drive hours and hours for surpises and dont trust want to pay absurd rates to ship games. Ive learned alot of lessons in this hobby and am blessed to have what I have without loosing to much on my investment. Learnt to listen to My peers and be patient in this hobby.

Its all for sale eventually.
Ive had the legs on, legs off argument with several here on pinside.
Ive discovered mostly the argument is from those that want, need, or do this as a full time job to keep the argument alive about shipping.
Skip the ship, eliminates surprises and accidental damage.

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

I've shipped multiple times mostly 2 at a time. Done PayPal, wire transfer, certified check. I've never had a problem. I've shipped at least 20 games maybe more. Every seller has been top notch, but I do my homework

I've shipped out nearly that many.

Shipping is scary, glad it all worked out for you! Enjoy the new pin...