Once I make up my mind, I never change it. Cash in hand is king.

However for the undecided types who can't make up their minds, once it has left the building, it is too late.

once you've accepted an offer that's it. if you regret it you buy another.

When money changes hands, IMHO.

However, if the seller does backpedal, they should be responsible for any fees/costs that you can't get refunded.

this is way past the point where someone can honorably back out.

you want to change your mind, you do it before any money has changed hands, and before arrangements have been made for shipping.

any point after that and you're an asshole.

I am sorry, that blows.
Cash in hand, or a reputable seller, that's the only way. I have only shipped with a reputable seller, never from someone private.

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Oh no! Not the Goldeneye?! I would be frustrated as I just had someone back out of a deal today as well, can be very frustrating when you have made plans and then passed on other offers and etc....although as another person who has sold a Goldeneye I understand not wanting to let go of that game, wish I still had mine.

Just happened to me last month. I had a trade involving a TZ for a SS, BTTF, and cash. The person with the TZ was the person who reached out to me for the trade and I accepted the trade.

During the week, he attempted to "change the deal" many times, asking for more cash. I went ahead and took off work so I could meet them at my house for the deal.

After talking to him on the day of the deal, found out he wasn't coming after pulling together the cash and getting the games out of my basement.

This individual now proceeds to want to talk to me to ask technical advice through text messages. Weird.

Mr Cold feet should buy the stuff

I had a deal with a pinsider. Was holding a pin a week for me till I got down to him. Bought from him prior. Once that 'deal' was made I sold one quick to open up room. Called him back to confirm a meeting time, and his mind had changed. It happens. The guy was/is a little mealy mouth sob though.

That exact situation has never happened to me, but I have had supposed deals (buyin and selling) drift away like a fart in the wind. In your case, I think it's a little unseemly to nerf a deal when money has already exchanged hands but what are ya gonna do. I've never had a deal that far along go sour and I've been doing this a long time, so for sure not cool.

But Shit happens. Move on...there's always another deal. I'm not a big fan of starting up a drama thread when a deal never actually happened - save that stuff for bad deals, misrepresented machines, flat out cheats...Life really is too short and it will accomplish nothing. the sooner you forget about it the happier you'll be. In 16 years of doing this I've changed my mind a couple times as well and I've always been grateful that people haven't tried to make a capital case out of it, and I've been "the victim" more times than I can count.

You really NEVER should assume a deal is done till it's done, we all know that. I wouldn't make any dramatic moves (buying or selling another game) on the assumption that another "deal" I have is a closed case. Easy way to create space and money problems in your life you don't need.

It would be worse if later you found out that the seller made another deal for more money. Hope your day goes better from here.

To avoid this situation from now on, insist on having the machine delivered before any exchange of money or buying any parts for it.

Once someone has paid you for something, it's no longer yours.

If he got cold feet, he should have reached out and asked you about it.

Totally unacceptable.

Once money change hands (even if only a deposit) then the game is sold, PERIOD!
In most cases that exchange of money actually makes it a legal sale.

If the seller got cold feet then they shuold first and foremost reach out to talk with you. Cancelling a paypal payment via refund is not the way to go about it. Most people are pretty reasonable if you just reach out and talk with them.

In this case I would be requesting additional funds to cover my expenses and time. I can only imagine if you sold something else or other dominoes were tipped to make this all happen.

The way I look at it if money changed hands the deal is done. Sucks that the seller pulled out. I wouldn't deal with him again if I were you.

I would just like it to be known that it wasn't me. I may be a douchebag, but I'm definitely not a dick.

Not cool.

well at least one good thing came out of it - you know to never deal with them again.

That's what she said.

Unfortunately there are only unwritten rules about buying and selling in pinball and many times it involves sending money before anything is received. Best way to do buisiness is to exchange cash and item simaltaniously. But somebody may still feel shortchanged

From now on I insist on getting anything I order or buy before sending any money so I can decide if I got the better end of the deal or not. And that will set a standard for a new way of doing pinball business.

Same kinda thing happened to me last year. A Pinsider was buying a game from me, and after some back and forth sent the full amount of money via PayPal. Scheduled time to come pick up the game in a week. Hence, I responded to several inquiries, pending and new ones, that the game was sold.

Late the night before pick up, I get a sporadic email from the guy asking that I refund this money because he "found another game he wanted that was closer." He offered to let me keep $50 for my trouble, but I refunded the full amount anyway. Emailed a few other Pinsiders that the game was available again, and it was actually picked up two days later by someone else. Not a huge deal to me, but definitely an inconvenience. Always worse when a deal requires shipping and arrangements are already made.

Some people get irritated when you ask about a game with no money or definite commitment offered, then change your mind, and I think that's ridiculous. At the point you were at, the deal is done (or at least a serious no B.S. verbal discussion has to be had about why he was backing out). Waking up to a payment refunded email without an explanation would definitely be frustrating. People do back out of purchases / sales, emergencies come up...shit happens. But the guy really should have considered whether he really wanted to sell the game before engaging people.

Ha ha me and a friend were talking about this today. He has been looking at a couple of pins and seller initiated contact ready to sell them he said money was ready and seller gave him the runaround! It's happened a few times to him.
Me as the buyer I think I made a guy mad one time. I really wanted his game but only have a truck and weather was all over the place and was having a hard time getting up to him! So he sold it to someone else. No bad feelings on my end I just felt bad for him because there was so much back and forth!
But the seller stuff is crazy!!!!

I hope that "Goldeneye" wanted add isn't a factor, that would only make it worse to go to someone else. IMO chalk it up to experience, its a shame that begins to be the norm. It happens but the handling seems deficient. Good luck on your search.

damn just sold a near mint one a month ago.

and yeah you need to call him out on here! maybe a little public humiliation will keep him from doing it to somebody else.

You dodged a bullet. Mice had set up home in the cabinett and had eeaten the wiring. The fuses had been replaced by rusty nails. That the game had spent time in a brothel, well i would not touch the flipper buttons....

Maybe you didn't get the whole story... I had a situation once where I sold an arcade game. Buyer paid and setup shipping.
Then the damn monitor went out. So, I explained the issue and said he could have a full refund. We ended up settling on a reduced price.

Just saying... Maybe find out what the reason is for backing out before publicly complaining about your transaction woes.

If it is just cold feet.. I agree; dick move.

I think what could have happened is that he was offered more money when word got out to his group of friends. I sold my TAF last year to a buddy and was holding it for him for about a week until he prepared his basement. While I was holding the pin I was offered $300 more for the pin. I told the guy that he could offer my buddy $300 to walk away from the deal or else he can't have it. My buddy kept the TAF.

That doesn't even make sense! And "that's what she said" is almost always the lowest hanging fruit of any joke genre.

Unless, I guess, the guy was selling his dick?

Agreed. Pansy Ass move on the seller's part. Not cool at all.

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lol well played

I woulda kept the 50 bucks. That's a better offer than you'd get from almost anybody busting a deal around here.

Well I still think the guy is a douche.

I had something like this happen to me on eBay. I won an auction for what I thought was a fair price, but another bidder emailed him and offered him more money...So he "was nice enough" to let me match it, but then refunded me my PayPal payment and sold to the other person. I emailed eBay (who could care less) but at least I was able to mention my experience via feedback.

Sorry this happened to you, especially since you already began the process of accessorizing it and having a spot for it. Hopefully one in even better condition and for less money heads your way.

Once the game is paid for it's sold. Things can happen that make sales fall through that are unexpected but if something crazy like that come up the seller should do what they can to make it right. He needs to pay for any items you bought for the game within reason. Maybe purchase them from you?

I had someone coming to buy a game once and had a family emergency that happened early morning of the day the game was supposed to get picked up. I had to cancel things that morning but the buyer had already rented a van and purchased a few items for the game. it was to be cash purchase so no money had exchanged hands but the game was as good as sold. Just an absolute worst case situation that you cannot plan for. I sent him money by paypal to cover the rental and what he bought. Things worked out a few months later and he was able to get the game away. If something changes and you are the seller you need to try your best to make things right. Anything less is just being a dick.

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Isn't it like legally yours (yes, I know, only "technically") once the money changes hands?

That sucks. I had something like this happen once but I was the seller (mine would have been buyer cold feet). Had a pin list on CL sold it, Guy contacts me about the same time the pin got picked up. I let him know sorry just sold it, asks if I have any other games for sale. Think about it and say yes I got a so and so I would sell, plays but I haven't waxed or installed new rubbers, but I have them and for $X I will sell it like it is or for $Z if I clean it up and get it ready. He chooses $Z so I go ahead clean it up install what I have already bought. During tear down I find a few more small things so I let the guy know I ordered a few more parts to make it nice. The hole time this guy is texting me and emailing me how excited he is and that him and the kids will play it and so on. Then the day before pickup I get a text can't come tomorrow, some issue with his house. Tell him that’s okay just let me know when you want to come get it, then the next text he backs out but offers to mail me some money for my parts and time. I think about it but never text him back (to pee'd off at the time) and eventually just list it on CL and sell it to someone else. It really wouldn't have bothered me so much if he wouldn't had been texting and emailing me all the time about it when will it be ready and so on. I stuck to my end of the deal and time even bought a few more plastics to make it sharp.

Let's pretend that were actually true.

Lawyers don't work for free and it would hardly be worth the trouble. In the end he'd have a $5,000 Goldeneye, if he were lucky.

If you buy items for a game not yet in your gaming area you're taking a risk.
Learn to manage your own risks. You wouldn't have the seller keep your payment if he called and said the game was struck by lightning and burnt to the ground would you? Of course not.

Write a contract if you want to minimize things like this.

This really sucks. My second-ever pin purchase was a TZ (which at the time was supposed to be my one-and-only pin... oops). I had sent a several-hundred dollar deposit to a seller who held it for me a few days, and I was driving up 2 or 3 hours to pick it up.

The night before I leave, he sends me a message that he's backing out. I was *furious*. I (forgetting that not everyone has integrity) thought we had an ironclad deal, due to the deposit. Not so, apparently. "Oh yeah I decided to keep it." Uh, ok.

I sent him a couple of nasty emails and explained I had already spent a bunch of cash getting the truck and gas as I had driven home early from a trip, etc etc. He offered to reimburse me for the gas, which I thought was the least he could do, and this calmed me down. Cooler heads prevailed, he refunded the deposit, I continue looking.

then 2 months or so later I see the EXACT same game for sale on Pinside, jacked WAY up in price. All class.

So yeah I feel ya - I feel like I have an obligation to sell even if I've just verbally agreed; extenuating circumstances, sure. But in my life and in my business, my word is bond. I've screwed that up a number of times, but that's always my goal.. Not everybody has the same viewpoint on keeping their name on the up and up, unfortunately.