With all the other stuff I have going on in life and the fact I am getting older I am "toying" with the idea of selling off my "pinball parts business" if anyone local to PA has any interest in a decent sideline business to work at part time. Being up front I will say it isn't a "get rich quick type business & it involves a lot of work and space but it is rewarding".

When I have time to work at it I typically sell about $2500 in parts a month working 3 or 4 hours a day. In order for it to make any sense at all I need around $25,000 before I would consider selling the business.

What would be included is thousands of parts, all my shelving & organizational stuff and over 50 parts machines that are basically untouched as well as dozens of playfield and other parts. Most of the stuff is woodrail and EM parts with about 20% being early SS stuff. I have actually found EM stuff sells better for me so I have worked more in that direction over the years as far as the parts end of things.

My inventory would take about a two car garage to store (if packed in tight) and I have "saved" a ton of the valuable stuff off dozens of machines to sell down the road. Typically I list the "junk" off machines first and save the better parts to sell in the future when I am older and can't move machines around as easy. So I have lots of lock bars, bells, chime units, populated playfields, etc set back for the future.

As with everything I sell I don't need to sell this stuff but I figured I would put this post up to see if there was any local interest. The reason I say "local interest" is it would cost too much to move this much stuff any distance.

In any event if anyone wants to know more PM me and I'll tell you what I can. I have sales records for over 5 years I can show a serious buyer but they don't tell the whole story because I typically only list parts a few months each year.

Beyond the parts I have lots of nice portable shelving units, a couple Husky tool boxes (that look like new) and dozens of plastic bins & bin boxes I used for listed parts, etc (over $2000 invested in just that stuff and it all looks new). As well as several hundred shipping boxes (specifically purchased for odd shape pinball parts that don't fit in USPS boxes).

Sale would be basically a "turn key" type business with everything you would need to get started. Then you could just customize the business to fit you needs as you move along.

John,

I have machines & parts packed into 4 cargo trailers & mini storage units so I really can't get any pictures that would do a buyer much good. I will say there isn't a machine I would consider worth saving in the lot and there isn't anything super rare. It is shear volume of "cheaper parts" that has served me well while I have been doing this. I love doing it but I am about ready to turn 65 and I have a ton of other stuff to get sold off before I am too old to deal with it so I figured I would put this post up to see if anyone might be interested.

I would keep doing the pinball parts and wholesale some of the other stuff instead but I think the pinball parts will be the easiest to sell as a lot.

In the Spring I might be able to spread some stuff out and get some decent pictures of it but even then it would be impossible to get enough good pictures for anyone to really gauge what is their.

Space is one of the keys it takes to make this work. Being very honest anyone interested should have about a two car garage for storage and another area about the size of a one car garage for processing listed parts & packing for shipping. I have done it using mini storage for the parts machines & extra packing stuff but that gets expensive over time.

An extra bedroom or space in a home garage or basement about the size of a one car garage will work for listed parts and processing. But you will still need another area about the size of a two car garage for everything else.

After thinking about it some I realized I could post a few pictures of stuff here in the basement just to give people an idea what maybe 3 or 4 % of the total mass looks like. Ignore the semi empty plastic bins they SHOULD be full of listed parts but I have not had time to list anything new since last Spring. That is part of what has me discouraged right now!

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Just thinking about an "exit strategy" while I am healthy enough to lighten the load. My original plan was to do pinball parts until the day I died but I have so much other stuff around I will never live long enough to sell everything. So I figured I would see if anyone was interested in the pinball parts as a part time business.

Another "sample" of more of the little stuff sitting around the basement to make assemblies complete and other odds & ends.

Just for an idea of value in the bumper cap lot there is a little box of NOS "gear style" bumper caps. I get $15 each for those when I list them and there are 30+ of them in that drawer (over $500 retail for just that one little box of bumper caps).

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Sorry for the HUGE picture of the little drawer unit full of coils - I don't know why that ended up being so large. That little drawer unit has over 150 coils in it and that is just one small box of coils I keep handy to replace bad coils on assemblies before I list those assemblies for sale.

I am not going to go out in the cold to open back doors of 4 trailers just to take a picture of machines standing on end piled to the ceiling with heads & boxes of parts on top of them. You will not be able to see much anyway the way the stuff is packed in.

What I can say 100% for sure is someone with some free time can make the parts I have into over $100,000 in less than 3 years. And if they keep buying junk machines as they sell parts from what I already have this business could net someone working full time at it over $50,000 a year. The key is TIME & SPACE but more importantly the desire to help other people in the hobby save more of these great old machines. A few machines must die to let others live on - I only "kill" machines that are too far gone to save.

The key to making this work is to figure out how to sell every part from a machine. I have that all worked out and it works out well for me. Using what I have learned will save someone getting into this 4 or 5 years of "trial & error" trying to figure out the "best way" to sell these part. I am not claiming to be smarter then the next guy I just have made most of the mistakes already so I can save someone a heck of a lot of time telling them what to avoid & why.

John - PM sent! I hate to make too much information public but being very honest every part from most machines does sell. Some stuff sells quick and other parts can take a while but over time every part will sell. I find the hardest sale is playfield plastics - some of those sell the day I list them but others can take years before someone needs it. I use those as "fluff" when I need to toss a few listing up quick they are easy to list. I don't consider most of those worth listing but over time every plastic does manage to find a new home.

Since I keep getting PM's about the stuff in the trailers I decided to just go over and take a few pictures so people might understand what I am talking about as far as not being able to see much. Trailers ARE NOT included in the sale but I took pictures of those just to give people some idea of size space that would be needed to hold everything. A two car garage would work but it would be packed totally full.

The grey trailer isn't packed as full as the others because I have to empty that once in a while to move stuff around. The couple of "close up pictures" are just to give you an idea how tight stuff is packed into those trailers.

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As with everything else I am putting up for sale I am willing to work with a serious buyer and am more than happy to take what ever time it takes to show them anything they want to see and tell them anything they want to know. In fact I have two fairly local guys very interested and I am suppose to meet with the first one this coming week.

I NEVER take the easy way out and always try to be sure there is value to what I offer for sale. I just don't need to unload 4 trailers and take pictures for the "picture collectors" here on Pinside. The more I post here the more I feel that is what most of the people here are! As I have said in other post here on Pinside - if you have any doubts about me just take two minutes and look at my feedbacks. That should give most people a good idea what I am about!

What I need in my life right now is a little less stuff. One way or another I'll make that happen over the next few months. How I get to that point is my business and shouldn't concern anyone else. If no one sees the value in these parts I'll just keep selling them myself and wholesale one of my other businesses off. As I get older I just don't have the time for everything so something will go in 2019. What will be gone is what ever someone else sees value in. I know there is value in everything I own or I never would have spent over $5000 a year storing it!

It is funny how a few people here ALWAYS seem to have something to say about what I am doing or I try to do. If you don't like reading my post it is actually pretty simple just ignore them. If you are interested and have questions feel free to ask. As most of you already know I am always more than happy to reply.

At least my post are not wasting time talking about what the next Stern or JJP machine might be or which LED's I should put in one of my machines. When I post here on Pinside it is typically offering something for sale or trying to help someone. Nothing more & nothing less.

And by the way Pinside makes it really SIMPLE to ignore someone. If you don't know how to do that on pinside just ask and I'll be happy to guide you through the process.

I am thinking the number will end up at between $100,000 and $120,000 once everything is sold off. It was part of my retirement plan but that plan just has too many parts right now so it is time to let something go.

Post says PINBALL PARTS BUSINESS FOR SALE - how much clearer can I be. The "toying with an idea part" has nothing to do with these parts being for sale that is on a personal level looking at different exit plans for about a half a dozen business ventures I am currently involved in.

What it boils down to is I have way too much stuff for someone my age and it is time to start passing some of it along to someone else.

If this "business" does not sell as a business I'll likely end up just selling off the best parts over the next few months and tossing the rest into dumpsters. I know I can get my $25k in less than 6 months doing that and the way people act here on Pinside I am starting to care less and less about the hobby every day. Every time I try to do something to save machines or parts there are a handful of people that start attacking me for what ever reason. I just don't need all that drama so one way or another this stuff will be gone in 2019.

Larry,

Thanks for the kind words! It is great customers like you that keep me going. Sadly a few people here on Pinside just don't understand my love of these old machines and how much I want to see these parts in the hands of people who need them. I hate to see those few people ruin it for the people who look to me for hard to find parts but I really need to start enjoying life a little more before I get any older.

Without writing another chapter of the book about my life - I just need some stuff gone so I can finalize a couple things I have in the works then after that I will likely walk away from the pinball hobby with the exception of keeping a few machines in our gameroom. My wife & I love to travel so we want to start spending more time on the road. This shouldn't be all that hard for Pinsiders to understand but yet a few people just don't seem to get it?

Thanks! I think it would be a "perfect fit" for someone who doesn't mind a little work and has space to store machines & packing supplies. I just don't have the time & energy for everything I am involved with at this stage in life so I need to sell something off. I figured I would try posting these and if that doesn't work I would try doing the same thing with one of my other collections or businesses.

I have had what sounds to be some serious interest but I'll know better after talking to the people in person. I am almost expecting people who come to see me to want to "cherry pick" the best stuff but that isn't going to happen. If I didn't pull that stuff to sell it all along why would I wholesale that stuff to someone. I hope I am wrong but only time will tell.

I will actually likely just close my Pinside account once some of this stuff is gone. My adult son & I were super heavy into the hobby together for about 3 years (about 10 years ago) but he has since lost interest. My main reason for getting into the hobby was to work with my son fixing up machines and enjoy some quality time with him. These day we argue over pinball stuff more than enjoy the hobby together so all I want is a handful of machines in the gameroom and everything else gone.

I originally thought if I built a nice little business with the pinball parts he would take it over when I died or got too old to do it. He has so much other stuff going on in his life he has ZERO interest in doing that. So that is one of the main reasons I think it is smart for me to just move on.

We still get along great and enjoy spending time together but he just isn't interested in working with "dad's crazy ideas" anymore and I can't really say that I blame him. For those of you that don't already know he is Wayne from Pinitech and he has his own thing going on with great looking LED displays for Classic Bally machines as well as doing some test stuff for working on machines and NVRAM's to get batteries off your MPU's. So it isn't like he has lost interest in the hobby completely he is just doing his own thing in his own way and I am proud of him for doing that. Sadly that stuff keeps him too busy to work with dad fixing up machines like we had in the past!

I am sure Steve would love to have some of this stuff but I doubt he would want everything and I prefer selling it all as one lot. I have several ideas in mind if I can't find a buyer for everything in one shot but at this point I really would prefer finding a buyer for the lot so I can travel more in 2019. When I have traveled over the past few years I feel like I am letting my regular customers down. I am hoping to find someone younger to take the business over that will do a better job than I have keeping plenty of parts listed.

In any event I am going to be sure anyone interested knows the value of taking care of the International customers. You guys have been great to work with over the years!

Thanks!
Skip

Most people would not believe what I am willing to do to help the right person take this over. It isn't for just anyone but the right guy could do very well with this business if he (or she) has the time to devote to it and space to store the inventory. I have years of documentation showing what this business could do if someone had the time to do it right. Months when I am actually able to get new listing up I have a hard time keeping up with the packing & shipping.

Sadly over the past couple years I have had limited time to devote to it so I feel like I am letting my customers down by not getting more parts listed. At the same time storage cost are killing me since nothing has been headed out the door. When I was listing on a regular bases I could empty a 10x20 storage unit in 5 or 6 months now all I seem to be doing is filling more of them with parts machines that keep coming in.

Anyway - I am meeting with someone tomorrow about it and have another guy that wants to come see me if the first guy isn't interested. I am hoping someone local will see the value and want to grow this even more! I already have had several customers see this post that are very upset to see me heading down this path but like I keep telling them I will not sell this to just anyone. I want to find someone who will work with their customers like I have done with this in the past.

As with anything pinball - it isn't as much about the money to me as it is about saving machines. I know the parts business sounds like I am more interested in destroying machines rather than saving them but I only part out machines too far gone to save in most cases. And machines I part out help dozens of other machines live on!

Selling this business is actually less about the inventory and more about showing someone how to market these parts correctly. Beyond that I have an International following that I will direct to the buyer as well as guys constantly contacting me with "junk" machines for sale they don't know what to do with. If someone buys this "business" from me they are getting a lot more than just piles of parts & machines.

There are also several great looking populated playfields I have been holding on to looking for machines to drop them into, some bodies with nice playfields that need heads. Boxes of little NOS parts I have not even thought about listing yet that need to be listed and tons of little impossible to find parts I have been hoarding since before we owned our first pinball machine.

Originally when we got into the hobby we started with Jukeboxes, arcade machines, Skeeball Machines and just about anything else you would find in an arcade. We were in the hobby for about 8 months before we bought our first pinball machine but during that 8 months I had already spent close to $2000 buying pinball parts I knew would be valuable to me down the road. (I was in the model railroad hobby for years so I know the value of having impossible to find parts when you need them).

My goal is to find a buyer that will take off running with this business and let it continue to grow. I am 100% sure the right guy can have his investment back within 8 months to a year and still have over 80% of the parts sitting in their inventory. This isn't about my trying to dump a bunch of "junk" this is about me trying to get parts to people who need them without me actually doing the work anymore.

Currently when we travel I feel like I am letting my regular customers down by not being home and listing new parts for them. At the same time I know if we don't travel now I will likely never have the chance to do everything on my "bucket list". This wasn't an easy decision for me but I know it is the right thing to do. Now all I need is the right buyer and life could be good for everyone involved.

I am 99% sure there is in excess of $100k in parts and likely more. But when I talk to potential buyers we will discuss all of that. Pictures don't even begin to show everything, plus I have more machines coming in all of the time and that is a big part of my problem. I have kind of created a monster (or a money machine) because I have several local pinball guys constantly contacting me with "junk" for sale. I also have a ton of additional machines and parts coming in from my warehouse deal so a buyer does not need to worry about running out of parts any time soon!

You guys that keep trying to drag things in a negative direction don't have a clue who I am or what this is all about. For the 10+ years I have been in the hobby it has been a hobby for me. I enjoy every aspect of this hobby and do all I can to match machines & parts to people who will do something with them. I have also come up with a way to help my local pinball buddies do something with "junk" they don't want or need to keep that stuff moving instead of just sitting. My issue is I am just getting way too old for all of it!

Anyone interested in my little part time parts thing could do very well by expanding it. I just don't have near the time or energy it takes at this stage in my life. But I do know what it could be if someone has the space - time - and energy to do it right. Sadly that is not me at 6 months away from retirement age and with another warehouse full of stuff to move in the next few weeks!

I have done business with Lloyd in the past both buying & selling and I am 100% sure he would have ZERO interest in this stuff. However he will be my go to guy for the Jukeboxes & Arcade Machines in Phase 2 of the warehouse deal if my other contacts don't grab that stuff.

Lloyd is a very smart business man that works on fairly low profit margins and makes his money by doing volume. I have used that approach in some of my business ventures in the past and it is a great money maker but it is also very labor intensive. It takes a very special person to work as hard as Lloyd does buying and selling massive amounts of stuff with very few people working for him. I find his most recent collection the most interesting - it seems like he has now taken up the hobby of collecting warehouses to fill.

Can't help you with anything for Slugfest. Sorry Skip

I just talked with my first potential buyer today and he seems like the perfect fit. I don't know exactly how serious he is but I am hoping he and his sons like what we talked about and we can make a deal. If I can put this deal together as a result of my post here I would like to know what a "fair amount" of money would be to send to Pinside as a thank you for helping me find the right buyer.

If any moderators read this post please PM me and let me know what you think. Otherwise anyone else reading this please let me know what you would give.

THANKS, Skip

PS - I'll update this post either way but for now stuff is still for sale.

That was kind of what I was thinking but somehow it just doesn't seem like enough. So the more I thought about it the more I think $250 might be the right number. Without Pinside I would not have found someone interest anywhere near this quickly.

I am not saying it is anywhere near a done deal - I am just thinking out loud again and want to be sure I give Robin & his crew a reasonable amount if this does work out.

I just sell on eBay. Typically I also pull parts for "special request" and I likely have the ball lift you are looking for but until I work something out with my potential buyer I don't feel right pulling parts from my inventory. We don't have a deal yet but I still want to just let everything I don't currently have listed sit until he decides either way.

If you want to check back with me in a few days I can see what I can find for you. I'll also check my stash of parts here in the basement and if I do make a deal with the guy I see if he is OK with me selling one to you and taking that money out of the purchase price.

Mike,

That is basically how I came up with the my original idea of sending Robin $250 if I make the deal as a result of this post. I am still waiting to hear back from the guy that was interested but he said he would let me know either way this coming week so the waiting is not any big deal (or unexpected). He just needs to have time to decide if it is the "right fit" for him and I am good with that.

My only concern is I am starting to have sellers remorse even before I know if the deal will happen. I know in the end if it do happen it will be good for everyone but at the same time I am having a bit of a hard time thinking about "giving up my baby". Time will tell and everything happens for a reason.

Thanks,
Skip

It isn't about "stuff" to me it is about helping as many people as possible with these parts. I have a huge following with these parts - especially with International buyers and I am just worried things might not be the same for them with a new owner.

I have also developed a network of guys that use me to "off" their unwanted "junk" machines and that will be changing also.

I know in my heart selling the business is the right thing to do and I am doing it for all the right reasons I just hope me selling it doesn't impact my past customers in a bad way.

John,

The CRAZY thing is my buyer agrees I should keep listing some parts on eBay and in those listing refer people over to his new eBay user. So it will not be like getting out of it "cold turkey". But is has taken me over 10 years to accumulate a nice mix of parts machines from the late 1930's up to around 1990. Normally I don't list much SS stuff for sale because we were still working on those machines but as I exit the hobby I will not need that stuff either going forward so it will basically all go except for what I keep to advertise the transition.

Anyway - only time will tell. I am kind of excited and sad at the same time. I know those feeling will continue until either I decide to just keep listing this stuff or everything is gone. Either way I'll be OK with the results!

The biggest issue for someone too far away is going to be transportation cost. Basically we are talking about a full tractor trailer load of parts and parts machines. Unless someone has some great connections that much stuff will not be cheap to move beyond locally. If my other buyer doesn't work out I'll be posting an update on this thread. At that point feel free to reach out to me via PM and we can talk some. The way I have things figured out I really doubt it would be necessary for someone to see everything in person for a deal to make sense to them. I don't want to disclose why on a public forum but there is enough value to this deal it will pretty much be impossible for a buyer not to make great money on it. The way I see the math is if a buyer hit the ground running they could have their investment back in about 10 months to a year and still have over 80% of the parts including lots of great hard to find little items for working on their own machines.

I think my potential buyer is a perfect fit but he needs to decide that not me. Time will tell! He is suppose to get back to me tomorrow but I will not see his email until Thursday when I return home from a trip South to drop off some sold machines. I'll post an update once I get back on line Thursday or Friday. I am an "old school" guy and don't have a smart phone. I also don't log on to any of my accounts when I am on the road so I don't need to worry about wireless hackers. I'll just have to wait a few days before I know what is going on for sure.

Lloyd worked hard at making contacts & following up with things but as long as I have known him I have never really seen him as the guy to do the heavy lifting or dirty work. I can't say that I blame him but I think you are correct about Ben. I think Ben will do well on his own - it is always tough when working with family (as I know from first hand experience with both my dad and my son's).

As I kind of expected my "perfect match" buyer decided it wasn't for him at his age. He is in his early to mid 70's and his two boys thought it would be too much for him. I don't mind not selling it to the first guy who talked to me but it kind of upsets me he didn't buy it because it was a "perfect match" for him. He had the space - times & energy needed to make it very successful and that is the guy I am looking for. Hopefully there will be someone else that will be a good match but only time will tell.

Actually the "right buyer" should likely be a guy that loves pinball and collects mostly SS. That way he (or she) isn't tempted to "steal parts" from the parts business for their own use. Don't get me wrong - there is nothing wrong with that but selling EM parts and working on SS stuff just makes things easier. There are a dozen (or so) solid state machines in the mix but I mostly concentrated on woodrail & EM stuff because I tended to hoard SS parts when I got them.

The more I talk to people and the more I think about things the more I think the next thing that might happen in my life is "toying with an idea" camper for sale. And at that point just give up on traveling and focus on the parts business. I love doing both but one has to go because I just don't have time for everything.

After giving things a lot of thought and probably having the best potential buyer I will ever find pass on this deal I think I am just going to sell the camper and just keep doing the parts myself. I doubt I'll ever find the "right guy" not because it isn't a great deal for someone but because it is going to take a lot of space and most people just don't have that space. And secondly most people today are "fairy lazy" and this is not the business to be in if you are lazy.

I might still consider selling the business if someone who is a great fit comes along again but for now I am going to get back to work listing and selling parts like I had been doing for the past 7 or 8 years until I got derailed this past Spring. By the end of 2019 I will have the same $25k (or more) and still have most of my parts sitting here so it is actually kind of foolish on my part to even have considered selling the business to begin with.

Actually it was going to be him and his two boys using some additional help from there construction business during their slow times. He had the right mindset, plenty of energy, and lots of space so it would have likely worked out well for them. But in many ways I am glad it didn't sell. I just don't know if I am 100% ready to walk away from it yet.

My main issue right now is space with "phase 2" of my warehouse deal right around the corner. But if necessary I can always rent a few more mini storage units short term to make that deal happen. Time will tell!

Since my last post I have received three new PM's from potential buyers and all of them seem super interested. So instead of getting less confused I am now more confused. I really need to decide one way or another and get to listing parts. Either listing them for the buyer or listing them for my eBay store as long as something is getting listed I am fine either way.

I know you can't rush things like this but I am really hoping to have something finalized either way before the end of the year. I don't sit still well!

Regardless of what happens with the sale of this business I will be sure everyone knows where the parts went. I have several major concerns when trying to find the "right buyer" -- the guy I am looking for needs to be someone who will keep getting these parts up for sale to help others, the guy I am looking for needs to have the space & time to do it right (at this point I don't have either and that is one of my main reasons for putting the business up for sale), and lastly the guy I sell it to needs to be doing it for the love of the hobby.

If I didin't have so much other stuff going on there is no way I would even consider selling the business - I love doing it and intended to do it until the day I died. My issue right now is time & space and without those two things these parts have just been sitting way to long for my liking. If I can't keep stuff moving I need to find someone who can. It is the only logical thing to do! Otherwise you are just another hoarder and hoarders are bad for the hobby.

Some people consider "flippers" bad guys but at least their stuff keeps moving - the guy hoarding parts or machines is the guy that isn't good for the hobby and I don't want to become one of those guys. So one way or another I need to get parts moving to people who need them or I am no better than anyone else sitting on piles of parts and dozens of machines.

Over the next couple weeks I intend to totally reorganize my storage & processing areas in the basement. Once that is done I'll be back to listing a ton of parts either for myself or for the buyer of the business. I don't care who it is for I just need to make some of this stuff available again before it drives me crazy.

Over the past couple days I have been contacted by several people that are 400 to 750 miles away and are interested in knowing more about the business. Just to put this on the table - I would consider delivering everything but it would take me 4 or 5 loads with my van and a 7x16 trailer. I would do that delivery AT COST if a buyer would cover my fuel, tolls, motel, and food.

I am still hoping for a local sale and still have a couple local people to meet with after the Holidays but one way or another I need to get this stuff sold or start getting some new listings up.

When I researched rental trucks to move warehouse deals in the past it was more cost efficient for me to do smaller loads with my van & trailer. But more importantly some buyers might not be able to handle a tractor trailer load of machines & parts all at once. Typically when using a freight company for something like this they want that trailer unloaded in 4 hours or less. That is a tall order for one or two guys especially without a loading dock - etc.

For me the advantages of smaller loads far outweighed any cost saving you might find by using a freight company but that is something that would be 100% up to a buyer. All I can do is offer my services if it helps someone but beyond that everyone's needs are different.

One thing I know for sure is a local buyer would be the logical choice but I am willing to do what ever it takes to get these parts back up for sale instead of them just sitting in my storage units & trailers for another couple years. If all had gone as planned most of this stuff would have been listed and sold by now but several things outside of my control derailed those plans. Now I really just want to see these parts available to people who need them.

As far as shipping method - what ever a buyer wants to do is fine with me. All I know is from my past experiences moving machines & parts is I can do it cheaper than any service I have found. But shipping method is totally up to a buyer.

My main goal is to get these parts to someone who will do something with them right away. I just don't have time to be listing parts right now and that is driving me totally crazy. If necessary this stuff can just sit until later in 2019 or sometime in 2020 but I would really prefer it going to someone who can get it listed & sold sooner.

I wish I could but family obligations will keep me from doing the parts thing effectively for at least most of 2019 and storage rent is killing me. When I am actively selling my $500 a month storage rent is just part of the cost of doing business but when I am not selling it is eating me alive.

But that isn't the worse part - Phase 2 of my warehouse deal is about to happen and I'll need another 400 sq ft of storage space for that at an additional cost of almost $250 a month. Since that is already a deal I committed to and I never go back on my word something has to give or my wife & son are going to kill me.

I am still trying to figure out what is my "best move" but one way or another I need to lighten the load. Thankfully most of our collection & project stash is now sold and that helps but it still doesn't give me near the space I need.

It is looking more & more like I will be continuing to do the parts thing myself. For my plan to have worked out I would need a buyer before about the second week in January and that is looking highly unlikely at this point. I have gotten over a dozen emails about the business but most people are looking to do something with me in the future. By then I'll have the time again to do it myself and at that point all I did was give away most of my profits by wholesaling my parts inventory to someone else.

My family obligations over the next few months are what concerned me the most and I was hoping to find someone for the business before I started with those in a couple months. Once those family obligations are behind me I am the "perfect fit" to keep running the business. So instead of selling everything I might just have to spend a few thousand dollars to store it until I have time for it again.

Regardless of what happens I want to see these parts listed and available to help others as quickly as possible. If that can be accomplished better by me just keeping the stuff that is what I will have to do. Not my first choice right now but in the end it might be best anyway.

After two full days of trying to clean up the gameroom for Christmas I am finally starting to see some progress. My piles of parts are getting smaller and my boxes of parts are getting more full. I tore machines apart for months and never bagged & inventoried those parts - I just piled them under, on, and in front of our machines in the gameroom. With family coming on the 27th I needed to finally get busy cleaning up and so far I have bagged and boxed 100's of parts. Sadly I am not even close to being done.

While everyone else is enjoying Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I'll be working through some of this mess. I don't mind & it is actually nice to be making some progress with this. I just wish I could have gotten to it sooner.

For anyone that still might be interested in the business it will be "for sale" until it is sold or until the day I die. The mix of parts will constantly keep changing and the bottom line price will keep changing according to my actual inventory but at least most of these parts will be up for sale as a lot if anyone is interested. I might even consider selling something like 1/2 the stuff just to gain some space if that would be of interest to someone.

The only thing that will change will be my ability to help a buyer get off to a great start by me listing the first 600 or 800 parts for them. That can only happen if I can get a deal done in the next couple weeks. Once we hit early Spring I will not have time to do listings so the buyer would be on their own at that point.

OK - back to bagging & tagging I must go!

Still bagging & boxing up parts - four 14 hour days in and I am really starting to see some progress. Sadly it looks like I am going to run out of boxes & space for boxes long before I run out of parts. So once my backstock racks are full it will be time to start doing some listings again trying to get through this mess in the basement any way possible. What is worse yet though is even once the basement is fully cleaned up I still have stuff in the garage to sort through before Spring. Then in the Spring I need to start attacking machines in 4 trailers & 2 storage units.

One thing 100% for sure is it will be years before I run out of parts to sell and that is if I live that long. I would still love to find a buyer for at least some of this stuff but only time will tell as far as that goes! I am suppose to meet with another guy & his wife shortly - hopefully they will see something they like and we can work something out. But I will only sell the business if I find the right buyer - I don't want to see a hoarder just sitting on these parts I want to see them listed for sale ASAP.

More or less the exact path I have planned. My only issue right now is a warehouse deal that is suppose to happen fairly soon I can't pass along to someone else because seller only wants to deal with me. It is a pretty long story and I would just pass on it but I know if I do the stuff is headed into dumpsters. Sadly the family has no interest and really doesn't care what happens to the machines and parts so it is basically up to me to "save them".

I am still hoping for a "Christmas Miracle" in the form of a buyer for the parts business quickly but I also realize that is highly unlikely. The sad thing is I really don't want to give up the parts business but I just don't see how I can handle everything 2019 has in store for me without giving up something. So the parts business just seemed like the most logical place to start.

For now it is more sorting , bagging & boxing stuff up to find a gameroom. Then after that I'll figure out what is next.

I actually plan to do more or less exactly what you are talking about but even doing that will take several trips to Norfolk, Virginia (about 900 miles round trip each time) so if I spend a day in Norfolk dealing with meeting people their it will be a 3 day trip each time. The tough thing is going to be the transaction with the seller. When I was doing my "first deal" with them they were upset that I brought my adult son along? So the first trip I will not be able to get anyone else involved.

What will likely happen - if all goes as planned - is I'll buy the contents of the unit and move some pinball machines back to PA on that first trip. Then I'll likely try to wholesale all of the arcade machines and jukeboxes to Lloyd (coinopwarehouse) or to a couple other people I have talked to about the arcade machines. The biggest issue I have with the unit is the 15 or 16 1970's jukeboxes that no one will really want except for maybe Lloyd.

So my second trip down will hopefully get the rest of the pinball machines & parts into my van & trailer and hopefully I'll have a buyer secured for the balance of the unit. If not I'll have to drive down to empty the jukeboxes into a dumpster and then transport the arcade machines back to PA to sell them.

Regardless of how it plays out I figure I'll be tied up the biggest part of a month getting all of it worked out. Then as far as the pinball machines go - they will likely be headed to the Allentown Show like I did a couple years ago with phase one of this same deal. I just don't have the time, interest or space to sell these machines from the house one at a time.

As far as me keeping the stuff from this second part of this deal -- if I keep anything it might be ONE machine. We are down to about 12 or 14 machines in our collection at the house and would like to sell off another 4 or 5 machines this coming year so I am really not interested in keeping anything from the warehouse deal. But there are suppose to be 4 or 5 High Speed machines in the lot and if one of them is nice I might hang on to that for a while. We have never owned a nice High Speed and I would like to add one of those to our collection short term if there is a nice one in the mix.

What would be idea is if I found a buyer for the parts business & got that sold before I need to start with the warehouse deal, then got that deal behind me before Allentown & could sell the stuff off from that deal at Allentown. Then after the Allentown Show I would be free to finish up with my two kid's houses and be ready to start on my sisters place by this coming Fall. That still doesn't give me any time to deal with the rest of my shit in 2019 but at least I wouldn't be trying to work on 3 houses at once and still be trying to sell pinball parts.

Sorry for another long post but as I always say it isn't as easy as people might think when you have your hands into way too much stuff.

Just a quick update - I have not had anyone else follow up with me about buying the business so over the next couple weeks I'll try to get back to everyone who PM'ed me about specific parts. If you had sent me a PM about something specific and you don't hear back from me by around the middle of January feel free to contact me again. As always my main goal is to get parts to people who really need them to fix up their machines. Sadly I have not had the time to do that as well as I would like to but over the next couple months I'll be working with the pinball stuff pretty much full time.

And for anyone else possibly interested in the business it is still for sale. Price will be adjusted according to what I buy and sell as time goes on but my original asking price was just a "guess" anyway. If I were to sell the business I would want to do a full inventory of what a buyer was buying to be sure I was being fair with them and adjust final price accordingly.

My last "potential buyer" dropped off the face of the earth after several emails asking questions about things so I have decided to change things up a little bit with what I might consider selling at this point. Originally my plan was to help a buyer hit the ground running by setting up their first 800 (or so listings) for them but I will not have time to do that at this point. So my "latest idea" is to just offer up something like 1/2 the business for sale for somewhere around $15,000

I would still do all I can to help a buyer get off to a good solid start but I couldn't do hundreds of listings for them at this point. Business would include me working with buyer to get cash flow moving as quickly as possible for them. I solid inventory of packing supplies, shelving & bins, and about $60,000 worth of parts & parts machines to help them get a great start.

Basically the major differences at this point would be me not doing their start up listings & them only getting about 1/2 of my total inventory. This would still give someone a good solid start but if they worked the business hard they would have to start looking for additional parts machines much sooner than if they purchased the entire parts business from me.

The right buyer could have their full investment back in less than 6 months once they had items up for sale.

My motivation is still the need for some quick space so this needs to be finalized in less than a month or it will do me no good. So if anyone has any interest please contact me as quickly as possible. (Basically at this point I am looking to sell off about a 20' box truck full of parts & parts machines to make some room).

We try to travel at least 60 to 75 days a year and have been doing that for about the last 12 to 15 years (pretty much ever since I semi retired when I was in my early 50's). I doubt I'll ever get outside the US though because I don't want to fly. I am not afraid to fly I have been up in small planes & choppers before I just can't imagine all 6'6" and 300 plus pounds of me in a small commercial airplane seat and I am too cheap to fly first class.

I know there is a ton of stuff to see and do all over the world but I am happy seeing & doing what I can just in the US. At 64 (and only a few months shy of 65) I really want to be on the road even more in 2019 and that is a big part of my reason for wanting to sell off at least some of the parts business. I have a hard time traveling & enjoying myself when I know I should be doing more with these parts. So I was really hoping to find a buyer as much as I hate to sell something I built from the ground up over the past few years. But age tells me it is time!

I always find it kind of funny when people complain about a place they are staying in for a few days. Clean with a decent bed and a place to get cleaned up is all you really need. For what it is worth that could be a tent!

My daughter-in-law spends more time each year deciding what vacation house to rent then she did on what house to buy? You are renting a vacation home for a week or two - you are buying your house to basically live in forever yet most people spend more time deciding on a car?

I am finally starting to feel a little better about things after over 10 months of not having time for the business (or to do any new listings) this past week I managed to get about 50 new listings up and sales have been insane. I am only running about 60% of my normal number of listings and yet my sales for January on on track to pass my best months last Spring. I never had any doubts the parts would do well again once I finally had a little time to get some listings up but I am totally amazed how well I am selling right now considering I am not really listing anything "high powered" yet.

I would still love to find a buyer for the business that would have the time to run it correctly but for now I am just happy to at least get some new listings up for my regular customers. Now if I could only find time to help all the people who keep emailing me from both eBay & Pinside with "special request items" I would really feel great about things. Hopefully I'll be able to get to some of those people later this month!

It has been a while since I have done much posting here on Pinside so I figured I would bump this post again tonight just in case anyone might be interested in a great little sideline business. It has been about 60 days now since I started listing parts again and as in the past when I list I sell like crazy. I still can't keep up with getting back to everyone who emails me about parts but I am making some progress on the mess in the basement.

Anyway - if anyone fairly local has any interest in the business I am still looking to sell it if I can find a buyer. I have had two guys come take a look so far and both of them were "blown away" at the volume of stuff that is included for $25k. One guy is seriously interested but can't do anything for over 3 years until he retires. The other guy decided he was just too old to take something like this on and I can't say I blame him (he was in his mid 70's).

I do have one other guy that is "suppose" to come look at the stuff "one of these days" but he keeps falling off the face of the earth so I don't have much hope that he is my guy. If a buyer just did what I have been doing working part time at it and his sales were similar to mine it would take less than 9 months for them to have 100% of their investment back. (And yes I do have the "paper trail" to prove that). My issue is I am less than a month away from having to shut down again until Fall. So here we go again - feeling bad about not taking care of my customers while I travel & help family. But family comes first and always will!

Back online after 3 months of total INSANITY in my life. Without getting into a lot of details the short answer is just way too much stuff going on for me to have much time to devote to the internet, Pinside, or the parts business lately. It really makes me sad because I have lots of great customers I feel like I am letting down every time life takes me in other directions.

I got back home from a 6 week "bucket list" vacation on Monday evening and when I opened my emails I had over 400 emails in my in-box asking when I would be selling parts again - etc. At my age & with my bad knees & feet I know my time to travel is coming to an end and I really have more stuff I want to do before my feet & legs will not allow me to make those trips. So sadly the pinball hobby is not at the top of my 'to do' list right now.

Anyway just another bump in case anyone who has some spare time and is looking for a nice little "side line business" with a lot of potential to become even more. Without trying I can typically make over $100 a day working with it just a few hours each day. With more effort it could be 4 or 5 times that!

Anyway - if you have any interest and are fairly local to Central PA contact me ASAP. (The reason I say "fair close to Central PA is there is way too much stuff to move a long distance). I'll be back on the road again in a few days for another couple weeks. After that I should be around most of the rest of the Summer. My parts inventory is at a record high after I finally finalized a warehouse deal I have had in the works for several years. So there is no shortage of parts machines of parts just not enough time in a day - week - or month for me to do everything! And as I get older everything seems to take longer!

As luck would have it after a nice few weeks away I managed to come home sick and still can not shake what ever I have. Three weeks later I am still felling really run down and just can't seem to get back into the swing of things. I did turn my eBay store back on and have been selling a few parts here & there but it hasn't been great since I have not been getting any new listing up for almost 4 months now.

Anyway all of this makes me realize I am just getting too old to keep up with everything I have going on. I figured I would bump this post again just in case anyone with more time & energy than I have would be interested. I wish I had discovered just how good of a business this was 10 years sooner. But at this point in life I just don't have the energy to do it right.

I would love to find someone local who could do this right - helping the pinball community & making decent money in the process. It drives me totally crazy to have all of these parts just sitting when I know there are people who need them. Anyone with any interest PM me & I would be happy to share what I have learned over the past for years.

I know without a doubt someone with the time & energy could build this into something really good. I have the foundation well built now it just needs someone to build on it!

If there were less parts eBay might be the way to go but with so much stuff it would be pretty much impossible for someone that isn't local to buy everything. I know that limits my potential customer base but I just don't think eBay would be a good way to go.

I have had 5 or 6 "fairly local" guys contact me but the timing wasn't right for any of them. The three guys that came out and looked around were totally amazed just how much stuff I had that I was including and were more concerned on how they were going to get it all moved then they were about making money on the deal.

If I can find the "right buyer" I would be more than happy to work with them selling things "in phases" and/or helping them with transporting stuff to their location. I can't do a ton of physical work (because of my health issues) but I still have my van & trailers so I would be more than happy to help them move the stuff as long as they provide some help loading.

I know sooner or later I am going to find the right guy. I just feel bad to have thousands of parts I know people need just sitting in trailers or storage units. I am going to try and get some stuff listed on eBay again over the next few weeks. But I have another trip planned this Fall so I know my time to get stuff sold is limited.