Champaign, IL
Quoted from tacshose:My problem with $6,495 for a pro is it actually turns people OFF from ever thinking they will buy a pinball machine. Stern provides a warranty and support. He does not say he provides a TNT type warranty or an in home setup and repair warranty, just that he prices pins high.
My point, my friend wanted to buy a pinball machine at Amini's at over retail and decided he just couldn't swing the cash. He heard I had pins and I told him the REAL NIB DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR PRICING, and BOOM he bought a pinball machine.
Correct pricing gets more people in the hobby not less
Pinball doesn't need more people in the hobby to survive or (hopefully) flourish.
Very, very few of the general public are interested in buying a pinball machine for their home. Even less want to maintain them or mod them, unlike the audience here.
Whether the price is $4500 or $6495, it's mostly irrelevant. It's still an expensive luxury toy for most people.
Listen to Gary's stool speech...a portion of their business is indeed the (paraphrasing) "rich doctors and lawyers with three car garages" that want a single pinball machine for their home gameroom. These people don't read Pinside, and don't really care about price...they generally buy from a retailer, that probably includes a comprehensive warranty.
I would not want to be a consumer, paying $4500 for a new machine that would inevitably have issues. Stern's warranty is technically only 60 days (although they support much longer than that in practice) and even at that, they are *not* set up to handle a mass volume of calls from consumers. They also don't include labor, or offer on site repair. So, who would support these people, the distributors? Not likely, unless they are a retail establishment...which charges a lot more, offers an extended warranty/support, etc.
As a consumer, paying $4500 for something that breaks down and doesn't have a long warranty or support (like a new car) actually would *turn off* more people to pinball. They are commercial devices, not consumer ones.
Getting back on topic...why would Pinballz sell a machine with only a slight markup, if it's not their core business? Do you know how much work is involved in finding quality machines to put on location? It's a lot of effort/time/expense. This is why I rarely sell machines from my route or arcade.
Pinball needs more public exposure, and machines on the streets.
Pinballz is doing that.
-Mark
