And this illustrates the "gray area" that occupies many pinball deals.

We have no idea what the OP is whining about. His "we had a deal" may be the seller's "Who knows if this guy is going to show up and I have a guy who wants to come today with cash."

It's all so pointless. Just relax people. Deals happen, sometimes they don't, stop wasting keystrokes on it. Nobody cares.

I don’t think there was too much dicking around because it was a holiday weekend. However, there was definitely a verbal agreement between the realtor and the individual who made the first offer. It will be interesting to see if they try to contest the sale or just move on.

Well clearly people do care as its one of the top threads right now... that and if you didn't care, you wouldn't have wasted the key strokes over it.

I'm no expert, but in general I don't think verbal deals on real estate are legally binding. The most the jilted buyer can probably do is complain, and then maybe find a new realtor that understands you need to get your offer signed ASAP if you want to lock in a sale.

Really? So you care - you have a deep vested interest - in the OP's tragic failure to seal a pinball deal, and his quixotic and absolutely pointless effort to make sure the guilty party knows that "you suck?"

This is keeping you up at night?

If you are gonna invoke the dumb "you care because you posted" clause, i'm gonna invoke the equally tired "it's a pinball forum, we talk about stuff" clause.

CHECKMATE SUCKER!

(soon to be followed up by the "take it to PM!" cliche)

If offer wasn't in writing & accepted by the seller I doubt there is anything anyone can do.

Years ago I had been looking for months for a house about 3 hours west of where we were living. I was working with a good agent but just wasn't finding anything. Then one day when I had a little free time I stopped by a local real estate office just to looking through the MLS book. I found a house I was interested in looking at so I called my agent. She set up a showing and we bought that house. The agent at the office I stopped in at tried to sue me because she didn't get a commission from the sale. She spent ZERO time with me just handed me the MLS book I paged through. My agent had worked with me for months. Long story short - nothing ever happened. Funny how aggressive some people can get over a few dollars.

Isn't it possible that OP's open letter to pinball buyers was intended, not to catch the eye of the specific person that outbid him, but as a general gripe perfectly in line with your "it's a pinball forum" clause? Sure, we've all had this same conversation ten or twenty times before, but so it goes on any hobbyist's forum.

Goddammit!

OK you may be right.

So where does that leave us? Can I still say "nobody cares?" I mean that's a value judgement not a fact. Seems permissible.

I'm also not really noticing any actual "caring." Most people just want to go off on a tangent about how shitty sellers or buyers are, nobody really seems emphatic about the OP's issue.

Stock Car/Road Race. One of the worst games ever made.

Dont blame the buyers, blame the sellers. No longer do we live in a world where a mans word is his bond. A huge FU to any seller who has pulled this crap. You are a scumbag with no morals. HONOR your word as our word is all we TRULY ever own in life.

Personally I'd stick with "noone cares."

I always get pissed at the buyers who gloat about ripping off some poor old lady on a game because she's not up to date on the current pinball pricing. "Wow, what a deal!"

Then, they bitch about someone swooping in and offering more, or god forbid, someone sells a game for a profit! "You're the reason games are so expensive!"

Dude. Supply and Demand. Low supply, high demand. It is what it is. It's not a deal until there's cash on the glass, everything else is bullshit and hot air.

If you see a pin for a good price on craigslist or facebook or even here, you should assume other people are interested. I have missed out on most if not all. I have had more success with offering a fair price on something that somebody has listed too high.

No need to beat up the guy...geez.

Just because I know this kind of thing happens, doesn't mean I have to like it. In the grand scheme of things, no matter your background, religion or morals, nobody likes to be taken advantage of, have their time wasted, or miss out on an opportunity.
People that don't care, or don't speak up when they do are a large problem in many facets of the world today, not just pinball.
You don't like the thread discussion?..You have the freedom to bail and drain the topic.

I also have the freedom to bitch about it. See the often invoked "it's a pinball forum!" clause.

Really? So this is a new "problem?"

As far as I know people have liked money since the dawn of time. I seriously doubt that someone not complaining about losing out on a pinball deal would somehow contribute to the further decline of society.

I get that people like to "vent." So that's cool. Well it's a twofer, they get to "vent" about not getting a pinball machine and I get to vent about being annoyed for the 788th time over 20 years by a thread like this. Everybody is happy.

I don't care about OP's lost deal, but I do now want to hear how @mike_j's neighbor makes out with his multiple-buyer conundrum. Keep us posted!

This. Other people’s personal property is not mine until money changes hands. If someone wants to back out, nothing I can do about it, wasn’t meant to be, etc. I appreciate when someone honors an arrangement but I don’t get bent if it doesn’t work out.

The only exception for me is if there is a road trip involved. If we have agreed on price and I'm making a drive I expect it to be there. Same if I'm selling if the guy is making the drive I'll hold it till he gets there. Any other situation cash is king.

If I drove hours, or across states to get a game and a seller pulled this - let's just say they will be using some of that money to pay for my gas, room, meals, and strippers.

I'm glad you care deep down. This post is funny.

I never said it was a new problem. People not having integrity to follow through seems to be getting worse though, as well as having any common courtesy. I'm just one of those that if I made a deal with someone, I don't screw them over - no matter how much is offered. If I had to back out of a deal I would at least bother to send a message, not like the F@$ktard that didn't show up on me not once, but TWICE. Fu@k shitty people.

You want to give me more than I'm asking?

No way! But I will be happy if you want to give me less.

Agreed. Bottom line to me, if you list it at XXX price and you get a buyer who agrees and will show up the same day with cash, you sell it at that price. Pretty simple. The way the world worked for the last 50 years I've bought stuff. I don't give a rat's azz if you got a better offer, you should of researched better and priced accordingly. But when you say "it's yours" if you hand me cash today, that's it. Honor the commitment. I've passed on 100's of $$ from 2nd & 3rd in line because if your word isn't enough your not worth me dealing with you ever. Dickhead sellers aren't worth my time nor will I get in a "bidding war" over a priced game. I'll walk and wait for the next one.

As a buyer I’ll make you very very happy

The missing context here is whether or not an agreement is made beforehand. If someone has already made an agreement with you for full asking price, you honor that commitment. Accepting another offer that is lower is also rude.

Been on both sides. I just sold t2 and had a guy offer more money to sell it to him over a buyer that was on his way to pick it up. I sold it to the original offer not the higher priced guy. I agreed to sale and its a dick move to do otherwise. I bought a machine and got a call from the seller as I was in my car on my way to pick it up and was told a guy offered $200 more than we agreed upon and would pick it up immediately. Dick moves either side.

Was in the same situation yesterday. Guy told me he was considering an offer on his machine that was a lower offer than i would have made (offer in my headbefore he told me this 7% higher). I wanted the machine but i wasn't about to pull the dick move and offer more to get it, just said if it falls through please get back in touch with me.
I lost the chance to buy it but i don't think my reputation would be very good if i took opportunities to pull the rug out from someone. Although i wouldn't want to mow it, it's a small world in pinball.
Machine's are not worth acting dishonorably over.

dup

From how you described it, the seller didnt have a deal struck, was just taking offers. No shame in putting your own offer in at that point.

“...enjoy your game, you not cheap as me bastard!”