Quoted from phil-lee:

When cash gets short you reach for the easiest possession to unload.
I have standing offers for most of my meager collection. Where I could make a call and they are here before dark.
I'm sure there are Folks here with better machines who could liquidate just as quick(right now).
The question is, will this continue?
The speculation for a significant price drop hinges on the Avalanche Effect.
A few crumbs are sold, then someone gets cold feet and lists similar games. A small bidding War, same Titles showing up for sale in the usual places.
People already freak here when there are several of the same Title offered in Marketplace.
"Does the game suck? What do they know I don't?"
Personally, I am alarmed at the amount of Pinball machines that have been sold/ Auctioned/ offered for sale this Year.
Forget the high prices for a moment.
Fact is HUNDREDS of machines have moved in 2021.
Large Museums and Barcades sold out.
Large Collections liquidated.
A lot of Newbies have their dream machine.
How fast are they going to sell if the rent is due, the Baby is hungry?
Most of the Older Collectors watch the direction of the Sales Wind closely.
They have been banking on the Big Sale to fuel retirements.
Disturbing downturns could (will) hasten their decision to call the Auctioneers.
My opinion only, thats how I see it.

Quoted from TechnicalSteam:

The wisest advice I ever got was from a veteran in the pinball industry.
Never think of Pinball machines as an investment. Only buy a game because you love it.
That logic was hard to follow in 2021 and I think 2022 is going to be different.
When times get tough - and o'boy they are about to get tougher for a large % of population.
We've hit the Apex. When FOMO is the SELL something is wrong. Personally I've hit
the peak. Will wait out the storm.
Many of us are sitting on the sideline and have sold out at this time. I'm not adding
to my collection any more just shuffling titles..

Quoted from Grandnational007:

Everybody want to feel better about all this price bubble hoopla? I've told this story a few times over the years...
Back in 2001, I bought my first game, an Adams Family, from a large operator in my area, who offered it to me because it was "at the end of the line" for him (aka, it started out new in a few popular venues, after a couple years he moved it to a few bowling allies, then it made the rounds to a few dive bars and social clubs; finally finding its way to me at its last stop at a club I hung out before he would take it off route). He offered it to me for...wait for it...
$800.
Sure, it was banged up, filthy, and had been through hell, but it played nice how an Adams should. I had probably spent that much in quarters playing Adams over the years, so I said screw it, and grabbed it. I spent the next few months cutting my teeth on taking apart the mechs, cleaning everything, and getting it spiffed up. The operator was even kind enough to sell me some little bits and pieces I needed for it to be fully functional.
Fast forward a year. Same operator offers me a Twilight Zone. Same deal, $800. Same condition as the Adams was originally, good bones, solid player's game. I sold the Adams for $900, which I "almost" felt guilty about, but figuring I put a few bucks and a ton of sweat equity into it, I didn't feel that bad. I was shocked somebody would pay that for a game at the time, honestly.
I got the Twilight Zone and got it running (mostly) well and cleaned it up. It hung around in the "party room" of a house a couple buddies and myself rented in college. We probably played thousands of games on it, and it was kind of an interesting thing to show guests.
Then graduation happened, and we had to move out. I wasn't moving the TZ again, so I threw it up on craigslist for...you guessed it, $900. It actually took a couple of days to sell. I figured, should I ever get the "itch" again to own a game at home, I could just buy another TZ, or whatever, for $900.
Fast forward about a decade, and I was in a house I owned, and had a decent job. I was sitting on my couch having a beer, and thought to myself, "gee, I should buy another pinball machine". I googled "used twilight zone pinball machine" on my phone. Ooops. And this was 2012/13ish, so they were that much cheaper then, but I was still shocked at what they were going for. Story of my life, haha.

Quoted from arcademojo:

Let me ruffle some feathers here.
Are we finally in a real pinball price bubble? Caused by surge of new people in the hobby and lack of supply to keep up with the new trend. Has pinball become the new hip thing? Are rising prices giving people a false seance of security that they won’t lose money and spending every penny they have to keep up with the Jones’s? I keep meeting more and more people that just got into the hobby within the last 2 or 3 years that already have 40 to 60 k in pins in just those few short years. Took me 22 long years to get to get to that point. Of course I only paid about half of what they are worth now. Will these crazy prices keep going up, will we see the crazy prices come down like they did in 2008/2009? Funny you can easily tell who the resellers are on here and who is just in it for fun just by they way they reply to these threads.

Quoted from CrazyLevi:

What's it like seeing thread after thread where people make it clear they despise you and others like you, blame you and others like you for rising prices and "ruining the hobby", and continue to insist that you and others like you will lose interest when the next shiny thing comes along?
Must be gettin' fuckin old!
I don't know why so many people - many of whom were noobs just a few short years ago - keep insisting this gigantic new wave of noobs is just gonna get sick of pinball in two weeks causing all the prices to settle back down to "normal" levels. Just doesn't jibe with reality; the reality being that pinball fuckin' rules!

Quoted from arcademojo:

That would be true if it wasn't for the world wide product shortage we are going through caused by the pandemic. This isn't just another simple increase in demand. Demand has been picking up for years and there has never been a price increase in the secondary market to this scale before. Yes people have always flipped LE's for a marked up price on some games. However there has never been a time when people were flipping/reselling premiums and pro's while still in production over MSRP in this quantity before in the secondary market.

Quoted from arcademojo:

Many things are crazy right now. We bought a leftover 2020 SUV at the beginning of the year for a good price. 6 months later the same dealership was offering us 8K more for it cash sale. At one point they only had 2 vehicles on their lot that weren't already sold. And this isn't a small dealership..

Quoted from the9gman:

Hit the nail on the head. No matter how you look at it pinball machines are cool and when most people see them in your house they have the urge to play. When you I Look at some peoples collections and houses that are on this site, I sometimes think to myself that I chose the wrong line of work. But when I think again, I didn't because I thoroughly enjoyed what I did for a living and I don't think I would have wanted to go back and change that just for money and things. Plus after working in electronics for over 40 years, I really hate computer problems. So having a new machine is not that attractive to me. I like finding older machines to learn how they work and marvel at how they were designed. Price bubble or not, I could give a shit anymore. There are a lot of ways to enjoy the hobby without spending a lot of cash, the least expensive being playing on site.
One thing I can guarantee though .....if you put up a price bubble thread..... Levi will come !