Last year I sold a late model Stern that had several thousand plays on it. It was pristine. And perfectly dialed in. Priced at market value. I was a little surprised when 2 potential buyers passed after hearing the number of plays. The buyer who got it was an experienced collector who did not even ask how many games were on it after he inspected it and he was thrilled with the purchase.

The classic B/W games they we collect and own probably have 10s of thousands of plays on them. A game is not worn out just because it has a thousand plays on it. I would argue that buying a 1-2 year old game with a 1000 plays from a seller who has cared for the game means you already know if there will be playfield issues or node board issues, etc. The crappy Stern coil stops will likely be replaced and the game will be dialed in. Obsessing over the number plays seems silly to me.