Rating things does not seem to work well on Pinside
The Game rankings are one of the most hated features on the site

It already has one!

Just go here and search by recent sales for whatever title:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive

Why do people continue to delude themselves into thinking something can be done to “keep prices in line?”

If you don’t like the asking price on a game, don’t buy it. That’s all you can do to “keep prices in line.”

The problem is that price is so different on the same pin depending on its condition. Also people have vastly different idea of what condition any given pin would be considered. That and the rate at which prices fluctuate over any period of time would make it very difficult to implement. It's not a bad idea, ot would just be difficult to make it happen.

Here is your case and point. How much is this paragon worth? Nice ones go for 3800. How do you account for this?

Incidently... this is part of a trade offer on my fathom so let me know.

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That is not in very good condition. How are the boards and backglass?

Most of these descriptors are subjective.
Especially to newer members or trolls who think a game with cabinet fade, dirt ground into the playfield from 10 yr old balls etc is an HOU machine.

Pinside average prices are behind what games are actually selling for. I think Pinside would rate most for sale ads as bad deals.

Problem is

Backglass is okay. Guy says "would work" by time of trade. I'm thinking 2200.

How about a rating system for buyers who pay too much?

I’d like a filter to weed out ads with overused phrases such as “best I’ve ever seen”.

Any sort of sales/deals/condition rating system would be too subjective to be of any use. I saw a thread a few days ago where someone thought an EM playfield worn to the wood was 9/10 for its age.

These systems have been suggested many times in the past. If it were easy to implement, and easy to agree upon a common standard, it would've been done already. But each game is different, even between games of the same title.

If there is truly a good deal, it doesn't last long--sometimes it only takes minutes to sell. So there's not usually much point in marking them in some way. People watch sales listings like hawks hoping for a good deal.

However, there are a few podcasts that do segments where the hosts look at ads and prices and offer their opinions, such as the slam tilt podcast. Those are probably more helpful and informative for folks who are still learning about game titles and game condition.

If it is fully working, the boards are good, and the backglass is decent...I would offer 2000. If they are in bad shape, I would deduct from that amount. The playfield has a lot of wear and the cabinet fade is rough. It is a very fun game, but those things certainly take away from it.

Don't forget the $3k in mods that every machine seems to have now. Accounting for that is another hurdle. I don't think we need a "deal rating system" I don't think most non-trolling people are wading through hundreds of new ads a day trying to buy a pin. I can look at the 5-10 I see and pretty quickly figure out if I'm interested or not.

Don't forget that location is important too. Cali prices aren't the same as Midwest prices and so forth.

Once again a brutal truth comes into focus…

Try as we might to force it into reality with hundreds of fallacies a year, pinball machines just aren’t like cars.