Quoted from Whysnow:

Mike is a nice guy.
All of his stuff is WAY overpriced and takes advantage of noobs so he can build a business. You can view it as he has overhead, retail space, blah blah blah. i view it as a guy that makes it a full time gig out of flipping pinball machines. He hunts down the goods deals making ot harder for hobbyiests to find them. HE shops them out and then charges almost double value in some cases. His buyers are more and more of the new people coming into the hobby that have more money than most of us and are happy to have his "service".
I agree that I would like to be able to filter his junk from the market and not see it. IF it means I need to ignore Mike altogether then so be it.
Again, I think Mike is a nice guy. however, I don't care for his business or business practices. i think it is fair to have both oppinions as the same time.
Retail guys unfortunately have a place in the hobby and that seems to be growing based on the influx of ritchie riches.