Well, I guess we now know why you only have 1 pin from 1974

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Halfway to thinking this pinball seller had sold the machine a week ago and not cared enough to remove the ad, then got a bunch of outrageous nonsense from a former lowballer and decided his fingers would be better spent removing the ad than replying.

No response ain't necessarily mean he is mad. Maybe the machine was already sold.

I didn’t have time to read everything here this morning. I talked to the guy “Rob” a few weeks ago. I was the first caller at $1000 and on my way to get it with his address in hand. He even told me all about the history l, his tile business etc etc. He called me in the morning while I was driving to him and said not to come because he was throwing up. I asked if he had a better offer and he said no it’s yours I am just sick and can’t meet. I have no idea what games he is playing. He seemed legit when this all started. He went totally dark. This was weeks ago.

Maybe he died?

I thought he might have or been in the hospital. He is older and told me about all of his medical conditions and that he won’t take his meds. Then he lowered the price and re posted it!?!?

I have no idea what he is up to on this game. I have the address. I can give it to this op for $5. Hahaha

You screwed up by lowballing him.

I talked to him last night. It’s still available sitting in a storage space. He offered it to me for $1,200 and I told him his ad says $800! He has no clue what it’s worth.

He told me he doesn’t care about money.

I have texted and called on the machine and have not got a answer.

I texted and called on it too.. he read my texts too, but never replied. The guy is messing with us lol.

Op needs to lighten up; they’re just games and there’ll be more to be had.

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It sounds like he has wasted a lot of people’s time. I am guessing it’s real but the guy is a time waster for sure. The op here never had any chance of really getting it just wasted time.

Hey he replied. Ha ha

To the O.P., I don't think you pissed off anybody on CL. But you sure started a shit storm here on Pinside with your thread and you don't like some of the very good, informational answers.

Don't get me wrong, there can be some pretty amateur hour replies from some members here pertaining to certain subject. I just don't see that here.

Cash in hand, ready to turn the ignition to blaze the road is the best advice everyone here has given you.

Damn.... Both my vehicles have push start

You have to move quick when a deal comes up. Real quick.

1. First of all, don't lowball something that's already a steal.
2. If it's a drive, send them a deposit and ask them to remove the ad. I will send $50 and tell them I plan on taking the game, but if for some reason I don't they can keep the $50.
3. I keep $2k-$3k cash at the house to jump on a deal any time/day of the week. Nothing like a deal popping up and you can only withdraw $500 on a Sunday morning. Been there, lost that.

The guy is fishing for the highest offer.

I'm a relatively new pinballer...
I knew nothing about flaking, playfield wear, or board damage until I got into it, and honestly I still am not the best judge of these details.

I would say, that most people out there don't understand the details at all. If they do, then they accurately price their item and you are probably looking at a fair deal vs a great deal.

If you are buying from a non-pinphile and getting a great deal, I would expect to see the type of pics in his ad.

Now his non-response...yeah some sellers are really bad sellers, or just bad communicators. Personally you should just call him instead of texting him, and see where he stands.

Dude, we’ve all tried calling him. He never answers and it goes to a vm that hasn’t been setup. Meaning, you can’t leave a voicemail.

This. If it looks like a steal:
1. Commit to the price and ask when you can pick it up. Get there as soon as you can so you don't get poached. And unless something is SIGNIFICANTLY different than what was advertised, or there is a major concern/issue, don't be a douche and pony up the dough. You are only as good as your word.

Or

2. Let them know you are interested in checking it out and figure out the soonest you can possibly see it so you don't get beat to the punch by another buyer. You can always then negotiate price if you feel it isn't worth what they are asking.... Just be willing to walk away if the seller won't meet you at a price you are good with. Wasted time is the risk you take when what looks like a great deal pops up.

Definitely don't START by offering less than asking, just because you don't have all the details and haven't seen the machine in person. You can't buy a machine if you can't get in the door.

.... Although in this case, seller sounds like an ass, so maybe good it didn't work out.....

I agreed to his $800 price and was suppose to pick it up Monday. He said he would call but never did. Needless to say I didn't wait around as I figured he wouldn't.

Yes.

Depends on the man...

ttown made an offer to buy it 3+ weeks ago, the seller accepted, provided the pickup address and then flaked on him when he tried to pickup the following morning.

I saw that. I was just trying to see what would happen.

Well that was a pretty funny read thanks!

I think the title is a little off, could have been CL seller trolls pinsider and he didn't even know it.

So it sounds like Saturday is the pickup day. Just talked to him on the phone?!? I really don’t trust anything he says at this point. He told me he is confused because of all of the people and blamed his son for the mixup.

When an iphone shows the ellipses [...] in a messaging/text app, it does not mean the sender is typing, it only signifies the sender's [Enter Text] field is active. If they saw your messge, and intentionally or accidently taps their [enter text] bar, you will see the ellipses on your end regardless of whether or not they are actually entering text. Phones are fallible. Very likely they looked at your msg and put the phone down w/o out closing out the text msg app.

He may not actually own a pinball machine. This whole thing could be to keep him entertained.

BTW, that's Charles Bronson not Tom Selleck

Ha! Just learned about this thread from another craigslister/pinsider that I was considering buying a machine from today.

I am the guy who bought the playfield. It’s rad. The machine is in great shape too but it didn’t work and I don’t really like older games. I offered to take both for $1000 but he passed. I would have turned it into a head/BG light and EK coffee table.

Funny thing is, he passed my number to someone else later that day who generously offered me $1k. He was cool but I said no. It’s not about the money or putting it in a machine. It’s about a kicka$$ piece of Americana.

Let’s just be clear, the seller is extremely challenging to deal with at best. He actually cancelled on me once when I was leaving to come get it and then after 4 days of texting he sold it to me for $450, not $400. He had plenty of time to do whatever research he wanted and was free to say ‘no deal’. He said someone was coming after me to look at it. I don’t think they did or they pbly would have bought it.

The machine is in nice condition. IMO, for a machine like this, value depends on how bad the buyer wants it but there is some meat left on the bone for whoever can finally manage to pin this guy down.

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Oh wow. That looks great!!! You scored for sure. I got the game after a lot of messing with him. Not sure it was worth The hassle but it seems to be in good shape. I have not tried to get it running yet.