Maybe nobody is the asshole and someone else offered more before he could respond to you.

I'm sure that's not going to be the only game in town. You gave it a shot; that's all you can do. Try not to make assumptions from a lack of response and try not to get worked up over it.

He has no clue about pinball it was his dads machine. When he listed it there was a picture of a NOS playfield and he ended up selling it to a guy for $400...not me.

What was the pin? CL link?

seattle.craigslist.org link

Some people don't like too many words or questions.

And DON'T mention you are on Pinside, or they will bar you.

Sorry, not my friend. I sold a "wall hanger" playfield to him. He told me the story when he picked it up.

I'll tell you what the problem could be, you are only 30 minutes away and you are asking the guy to take time and examine the machine for you and send you more pictures. A good way to judge if a inquiring person is a tire kicker is how much work they are willing to do. Serious buyers generally say something along the lines of 'I want to buy it, when can I come check it out/pick it up?'. If you are 30 minutes away and you don't want take the time to go look at it yourself, you might not come off as a serious person that is ready to buy. There are a lot of time wasters out there. It probably didn't help that you started with a fairly low offer compared to his asking price, that can turn people off pretty quickly too.

I had a guy last year ask me for the total history of the machine I was selling, a list of all the work done to it, and more pictures covering every inch of the machine. The guy lived 35 minutes away. My response was "That sounds like too much work." I sold it to someone else.

*Also, those pictures are pretty friggin good for a random craigslist ad. Most photos on CL are much, much worse.

And this statement -> "Honestly I’d go look at it in person, by my time is valuable and I don’t think I want to waste it looking at an 800 pound paperweight." implies that your time is more valuable than his. Another turn off.

LOL, I sound bitter? I'm keepin' it real baby!

No, he sounds like someone who knows exactly what he's talking about. Everything he said was right on the mark.

I don't see where you "pissed off" the seller.
Sounds like he ignored your offers and sold to someone else.

Yeah, that was worth way more than $500.

800 was a steal for that game. Don't fart around. Buy it now. You snoozed and lost.

He was offering some good, experienced advice.

A hour's drive is nothing. I've driven 4 hours each way for a single potato quality craigslist photo the size of a postage stamp. Most of my pick-ups are usually a 2-3 hour's drive each way.

1) You need to be decisive.
2) You need to be quick.
3) You need to make it as easy as possible for the seller to say yes to you.

If you're wishy-washy, indecisive, and/or not willing to pick up 'n go immediately to close a deal, then you probably aren't going to end up getting the game.

Sellers are not going to serve at your pleasure. It's very competitive out there--sellers have ample opportunity to pick the lowest hanging fruit for a quick & easy deal. If you don't sound like you're going to make it a quick & easy deal, then sellers have plenty of other options.

You're reading quite a bit into that.
"Hmmmmm....... Should I send 'No Thanks', or not. Hmmmmm....... Nah."

You Serious?
B4414E5C-A820-415D-9E4E-A937DBB17CED (resized).jpeg

Saw a game I wanted for over 2 years that was 5 hours away. Messaged seller. Placed 100 deposit. Locked down sale. 10 hour round trip today to pick up.

This how you do it or you will continue to be disappointed. And pin-less.

Bam! Force flow knocks it out of the park again.
Absolutely correct!

We are only a pissy bunch when we get lowballed AND asked too many questions.

Peace to you...and you may want to find a new hobby.
The days of less than $500 digital pins are over, forever.

You’re not on the shit list nor is this a crucifixion. There’s some solid advice in this thread along with a very minimal bit of snark. Stick around and enjoy yourself, we’re all here to have fun and flip.

Wow. You asked the questions. We answered the questions.
Apparently you don't like the answers. No one has been nasty, rude, or dismissive about it.
Lighten up. It's only pinball.

It was listed at 1200 and I emailed , no reply. Went to 1000, emailed again no reply. I saw it at 800 and figgured it was a scam. Good buy at 1000 I think

If you ask a genuine question, you'll get thoughtful answers. If you're snarky or sassy, you can probably expect to see that in return.

For example, you said:

Instead, you could say: "Do you have any advice on buying games from craigslist?"

Hey, you started a post and got that little fire going by it. I've never done that.

Irrelevant. Game was worth $400, $500, or $800.

You drop everything and jump in the car at once, if you want the deals. It's called making a move.
If you do not, someone else will (and apparently did).

We are all basically telling you the same thing!
Look at our collections.
We know what we are talking about, because we've all been in every conceivable situation similar to this (both ends).

Enjoy your Triple Action.
90 seconds of fun filled pinball entertainment!

It's time to get up from the keyboard and play some pinball.

Post removed per request of moderator

Plonk

I can only imagine the CL seller's disappointment in not having a chance to make a deal with the OP.

What machine was it?

In our area, yes.

Doubt it was 5mins of typing at all. More likely started to type, got a text from another person, maybe even the one he sold it to, and left yours hanging. could of been one letter, but until you hit send (or erase what was started) it’ll look like someone’s typing but really they’re not.... eventually it times out and goes away.

What game is it?

You have piqued my curiosity.

Seriously!!!
It is obviously Bette Midler.