Quoted from markmon:... in that case, what you consider "a fair price" is a ridiculous low ball. These are no longer the days of afm at $2800, Theatre of Magic at $2500, and demolitionan for $1100. I know you can still find deals like that sometimes but that doesn't reflect their value. It just reflects you getting a good deal. Also, all these price guides that average value over the last 5 years are worthless.
I politely disagree on this one. I have bought JM, JP, and TFTC, all for x < $1900 with the average value being $1550. I've seen TFTC on CL for $3000 and JP for $2200 - and I don't mean just in my local CL area.
What kind of prices do you consider "low baling" ? I have definitely heard about this "low ball" mentality, and so far, I have not disrespected any seller that I have bought from. All three of my transactions have been extremely pleasant, and I would buy from any of the three - all fellow pinsiders - again with confidence knowing those bridges were fully intact. With AFM and TOM - I agree - those days are history. But DM, T2, JD, JM, and various other mid 90's B/W/DE games can ALL be found for reasonable amount of $1000-$1500 - save a few like JP and BSD starting to spike a little more. I sure as heck know I'm not nuts enough to buy a BSD for $2400, but at the same time I know I am not being unreasonable going for $1500-$1600.
What annoys me is when I think some people put 200+ LEDs in their machine and now it's worth $1000 more. I think someone wipes the playfield down with a damp rag and changes out 5 rubbers and that's a "shopped" job meaning add another $500 to the price tag. I think some people buy pins, keep them for a year and figure "Well gee, the price MUST have gone up by now..." and add $700 more than what they paid for it when the pin not having ANY work or maintenance done to it; thereby, the seller is buying entropy on a machine -___-...I think some people read stories (read there: not FACTS) about how some people think pins are getting more rare and all of a sudden each of their pin's values just increased in their game room by $500 to $2000. I think people drill into their heads and force themselves to believe that pinball machines are getting so rare that the only thing that makes sense to do is automatically try to make themselves believe their pins MUST be more valuable now - even though they've done nothing to support that price increase. These are just a very few examples I care to name off, and if I thought of them I'm sure others have too or have personally witnessed some of them. I KNOW I have (looks at the retailers here in Dayton...AGAIN)...
I think some people are very realistic with their pricing, and I think others are asking the moon for their junk. AFM, MM, TZ, CV, TAF, TOTAN, and whatever other "crude oil" games there are out there - yes they are priced at high values for a reason(s) - scarcity, S&D, etc. Most titles though I simply just tell myself "The price isn't going above $2000." That's just my personal "ceiling", and with the exceptions of TAF and BSD(machines I'll be willing to spend a lil' more on), I'll keep to it. One thing I have seriously learned in this hobby for all of 1.5 months - patience. Funny correlation: as patience increases so does the amount of money saved. Just something I've noticed 
...
. And even then, I have started to look at tables with a bit more of a scrutinizing eye, and man - some of those pins on ePay - OMgoodness. You got to be kidding me - as stated earlier - the moon for their junk. 
.
