If the game is "OK for its age" -> it was not a fair offer.
If the game is more like your "assumptions" -> it was fair.

I'm okay for my age.

They won't provide pictures.
It doesn't start.
Okay for it's age.

I think $200 is more than fair, but no way I do 9 hours round trip for that.

It's road kings... Cool game but not exactly top of the sys11 pinball charts. Fair offer considering all the unknowns.

Doesn't matter if it was fair or not, buyer didn't accept it.

Offer more or move on.

It sounds like the seller had a price in mind. Ask them what he wants for it and tell him "don't make me buy it and sell it for you". It will probably be too much, but you already had contact, so why not ask for fun.

an out of the box mint road kings has a hard time fetching 1500 and a good players game would be worth around 800.

When people say "ok for it's age" that means it has playfield wear and issues that they're trying to say is charm or patina.

if you guys were close in price they would have countered or said what they wanted out of it, because they didn't it's most likely unreasonable.

-c

Plus if the guy is already insulting you,,, time to move on.

Yes for a pig in a poke, $200 is a start. Without the insults, maybe a counter for higher and a 9 hour drive story.

You would take it to the dump before accepting payment for it? I think I know where the stupid people are.

To be fair, you should probably up your lowball offers to the $400 to $500 range.

Well its $200 more then he had before. But I guess taking it to the dump costs more than that. But I have to say, without out any pics, any offer is fair. If he wanted it "just gone", then the first offer would have had it. No labor plus money in his pocket = win; but I think that's not the case. I think you did right, if he wanted more, there would be pictures involved.

I would have only offered $100 so I think it's pretty fair

What ever happened to manners ? Didn't peoples mother's ever teach their kids anything. A simple "no thank you" would suffice

I think $200 is fair sight unseen. I probably would have declined to offer anything based on a 9 hour round trip for a Road Kings machine in suspect condition. The time and effort required to retrieve that machine would easily outweigh that machine's value. I'm not a huge fan of Road Kings though, as you may be able to tell.

Nothing wrong with offering someone $200 for what is not a desirable game in essentially unknown condition.

Just tell him. If you expect more, provide a few pix...

If the games doesn't start, you don't know the condition, and they won't take any pics. I would say $200 was a fair offer especially since the seller had no price in mind.
I'd tell the seller not to waste Your time!

No pics. No real report on the condition. He provided you NOTHING except what game it was. Every time I see something like that the person is just trying to rip you off. He is hoping that your mind builds up to thinking it might be a gem. You should write back and drop the offer to $100.

How far is the pin from you? If within an hour or so, I'd just go look at it. Then haggle.

Worse case scenario is you've wasted an hour drive. Best case scenario is you pick up a cheap pin.

Biggest thing in pinball searching/buying is to get there FAST and with cash.

I guess you didn't read everything...

If the guy said "just want it gone" then he started out with a lie. Then he continued with "It will go to the Dump before that "... another lie.

You can't reason with someone like that.

9 hours round trip!

I skimmed.

9 hours round trip!?? I wouldn't drive that for most pinball machines period, let alone a road kings!

Seller called buyer stupid. Seller is a jackass.

Make sure you write him back, explaining his stupidity and jackassery in a 4th grade reading level. You don't want to go over his head.

People on Craigslist get very mad for no reason. I just made a reasonable $150 offer on a beat EM game that had almost no backglass paint left. Trashed cabinet, poorly touched up playfield. They were asking $300. The seller responded with such anger like I asked for their first born. Just a no will do. Was all by email, no real effort wasted.

Just find another machine somewhere and move on.

Now THAT'S the way to sell a game.....NOT! OP, move on and don't look back.

I wouldn't drive that far with no pics.

Anytime someone says they just want an item "gone" (which, to me implies it has no value to them), any offer is reasonable without pics.

yes, you did fine. You can't give a firm quote with out seeing it. If person selling is unreasonable, walk away.

Perhaps if person was close, you could say I will come by an inspect it and then make offer.

9 hour round trip from unknown person for a machine with no pics? No freaking way anyway.

But definitely, you can't buy and sell at the same time.

I wouldn't drive 9 hours for a free Road kings. ...

First I thought it was kinda low. But then I re-thought. Be glad that you saved your $200 and he didn't accept it. Too bad sellers don't just decline the offer and feel obligated to insult the offer, considering they didn't have the guts to just list a price. Next thing you know you're in for $200, plus around $2000 in boards/display/parts and your time to get it respectable. Now your upside down on an OK pin...

Let this POS sit in this guy's house not working for another 5+years. Seller like this is hoping for a newbie to the hobby that will say, "Heck, new machines are going for $6K to $8k... I'll offer you $2k and fix it up."

Submit a new offer... Offer him $100 to take it to the dump for him.

Relative anonymity brings out the worst in people.

Make a personal connection with potential buyers or sellers by speaking on the phone whenever possible.

You'll have better luck.

$200 is low if the game is in nice shape. Rather than firing off a low offer and risk losing the deal I would have asked if he can provide pictures. At same time, politely point out it's a 9 hour trip and you cann't make an offer without knowing the condition. Then you can always throw it back at him and ask, "Do you have a price in mind.".

On the plus side, RK is a pretty crappy game. You didn't miss out on a gem

But to a true Road King, a 9 hours round trip is peanuts...
A road trip for a road king makes sense. The journey is the reward. Even if you end up not buying it

OP said the seller refused to provide pictures or even a description of the game's condition! Hard to imagine undertaking a 9 hour drive under those conditions ...

How about this instead: "Without photos or a more complete description of the condition, I can offer you 400 as a baseline. This will necessarily be adjusted upward or downward once you fill in the blanks."

I wouldn't drive 9 hours to pick up a Road Kings for free. What if you show up and they sold it to someone else? What if you show up and it's still a Road Kings?

Absolute bottom of the barrel System 11 (Though I've never played Millionaire). The best part of the game is that the bonus countdown sound will momentarily make you think you are playing a High Speed.

No point in a catty back and forth with this idiot I'd just move on with my life.

I just think it's hilarious he would rather dump it than take $200. What an idiot.

He's full of shit, you can't take anything idiots like that say at face value.

The proper way to deal with guys like that is so "Ok, thanks for the feedback. If you have no luck selling it please get back to me later." This used to work a lot for me in the old days...a couple months later I'd hear back and they'd take me up on my offer. These days not so much everybody pays more for games (overpays get off my lawn) of all types so deals are hard to find.

I would have told you to go eat a dick.

Thread wasn't a total loss. I finally learned where the Bay of Fundy is located.

A 9 hour drive and no pics??? How hard can it be to take a cellphone pic and send it by mail, takes less than a minute altogether.

He's just trying to lure you into driving there knowing that you will take the machine in any condition and for a really bad price just so you haven't done the long trip for nothing.

He's suspecting a desperate buyer as you've shown him that you're even considering driving that far for such a machine without any knowledge about it's condition.

Let it go! The seller is actually pretty smart, he's playing with you and sheer existence of this thread is proving him right.

He's obviously hoping for dick pics ...

He's actually trying to lure him into bringing a pin. Puts the OP in the weakest possible position for negotiations: The OP will be stuck hours away from home, trying to sell a pin he most likely doesn't want to take back all the way while longing to buy something he's never seen.

Price of the Road Kings will suddenly go up, offer for the machine brought will be half of what was agreed and it will end with a trade offer that is an even worse deal.

He's using the most basic sales psychology possible.

9 hour drive for a Road Kings even for free ? Pass