I recall the good ol days before Stern's price fixing...

Back then to get the best deal a pinhead had to call/PM a distro & wire cash.

Now days prices are higher per Stern to create better margins for distros correct? Is it now common to pay the same price for a new game regardless of funding source because of this?

I can pay cash but prefer the security of using a CC in case SHTF. Has anyone used a CC & received competitive pricing?

IIRC paypal/ebay fees on a $5,700.00 game sold result in the the seller netting apx $5,100.00 so I'd think a distro collecting $5,200.00 via CC outside of ebay would be about the same.

So on ebay a Star Wars Premium is $7,600

Or...

I can email & cold call distros for a price of $7300 + CC fees just to save a whopping $81 to $189 (depending on CC fee of 1.5% to 3.0%)

Seems like at the moment ebay is a good NIB option with a very convenient purchasing process & 2 more forms of buyer protection.

Shit I just remembered with the ebay bucks rewards program it may be cheaper to buy with a CC via ebay actually.

Am I missing something?

Directly from Stern. I am not referring to the increasing MSRP's. I am referring to the newly implemented minimum price fixing that did not exist 1 year ago. They made it clear its to "level the playing field" for their distro model.

I am not attacking the distro making money. I am just wondering what the caveats are to the minimum pricing.

Big Green Egg grills have a similar business model. Dealers cannot sell below a set price but they can sweeten deals with accessories (eggsessories lol) & payment method has no impact on minimum pricing. So I wondered if the latter applied to pinball. Thats all I promise.

I'm already looking @ ebay prices for this comparison so for this particular case its a non issue.

Got it. So a $7600 SW Premium nets the seller $7,160 and then my only incentive to avoid CC's, paypal & ebay remains to be the $89 to $181 savings which for me is not worth the risk & time. Others will disagree since we all have a different risk tolerance & value placed upon our own time/cash.

It just got weirder...

The $7600 game on ebay after my 1% CC rewards & 1% ebay rewards is $7,448 net

But if I go to a distro its $7300 + 1.5% CC fee = $7409

So thats even worse... its only a $38 incentive to avoid ebay... wait, I forgot to wash out 1% of the 1.5% via rewards so its $115

If the distro adds a 3% CC fee on a non ebay sale then its actually $71 more expensive to purchase outside of ebay.

Looks like ebay protection, CC protection, Paypal protection & the convenience of buying a NIB whilst sitting on the toilet comes with at worst case a $38 premium or $71 savings.

Still the distro loses since $7600 -$250 ebay - $190 paypal = $7,160 right?

I guess its better than $7300 - 3% = $7,081 tho

Man, this is silly

Thats the 11th commandment actually

"Thou shall not buy NIB in their own state"

If Aerosmith Pro is still $5200 + 1.5% from a distro then there IS a $347 incentive to avoid ebay

If we look @ a $5300 SW pro then its an aproximate $247 incentive

So distro for Pro's & ebay for Premiums?

Bros before pros yo

I dont think I would be the first guniea pig. The sold tab on ebay shows 17 NIB ghostbusters. Who knows how many more sold via the retailers direct website from google searches.

Several of the very same distros here on Pinside also sell on ebay so going that route makes you both a pinsider buyer & ebay customer.

I'm not convinced Pinside keeps distros in business... maybe we're high maintenance in their eyes?

OK so progress is being made on concrete numbers & if I understand this correctly...

SW Premium via eBay @ $7600 -2% CC rewards -1% eBay bucks = $7,372 net

SW Premium via (insert distro) @ $7300 +3% CC fee -2% CC rewards = $7,373 net

lol it's $1 more to buy outside of eBay & possibly higher risk too