Quoted from brenna98:

I've had so many new people tell me, "I would love to buy a pinball machine! But, I don't want to spend more than $500".
I just have to say, "well.. You're not getting one then."
Those "deals" on CL usually turn into major projects just to get them working.
In my experience, it's far better to pay a fair price to a respected pinsider. You'll save a lot of time and money in the end.

Quoted from Bbismuth:

I was lucky enough to find someone who used the "first to email gets first response" rule on CL for a Stern Dracula. The price was set at $250, which seemed pretty fair to me. When I got there, the smell of electrical fire filled his basement. He said that the machine worked perfectly for years, but he just turned it on and it started smoking. It didn't freak me out much, just a stuck coil and a burned out transistor. No big deal. When I asked if he had a backbox key, he had no idea what I was talking about. Oh no, here we go. Fortunately, the backglass came right off; however, I was met with the most corroded set of boards I had ever set my eyes on. There was so much acid damage, the the corners of the MPU were rounded. The corrosion even extended to the power supply and sound board. I told the guy that the clean up on these boards might not be possible and they may need to be replaced. I didn't really feel like dickering him down, and I wasn't really ready to put another $300 plus in boards into the machine. I told him that I was sure he could get $250 for it, but I really didn't feel comfortable putting much more into it. I walked away from it, and he informed me later that it did sell. I still kind of regret it. I'm not sure if it was the right decision. However, I had just bought a Solar Ride two day earlier for $200 that needed some work, and it felt a little glutinous to be buying another machine so soon. It's kind of crazy, but I still watch videos of Stern Dracula and think about the shots that I'm missing. Oh well. Why I can't be happy with six of these damn things, I'll never know.

Quoted from Bbismuth:

That's not making me feel any better. :/
At least I can pay personally property tax this year. Ha!
Also, the backglass was pretty flaky. The woman's leg was almost totally missing.