I don't think the original question is what you've distilled it to though. Everyone has some innate ability to judge things like appearance and whether a game boots, so no one is asking how to value those things against each other. It's about two machines that seem to be approximately the same, one being an import, another domestic, is there a difference in value?

Yes, all things being equal, there is a difference in value.

It's really just Economics 101. More buyers for item A, higher price.....Less buyers for item B, lower price.

Doesn't mean that you won't get as much for re-import, it just means it's more likely you won't. There is no formula though and as always, it just comes down to what the seller and buyer agree upon.

I don't really think so.

The value is in the condition, as I indicated in my earlier post.

But for the sake of argument, let's say the condition is equal. The only visible difference might be the coin door and the serial number sticker (and maybe the service outlet in certain game systems).

Like I said earlier, some people might have a preference for a coin door style, but that's trivial to change. And if the door you're removing is in good shape, you can recoup some of your money on it from folks who just need a decent coin door.

Anyway, if you put these two identical games up for sale for the same price, I imagine both would sell just fine. Certain individuals might have a preference for one or the other, just like some people like certain titles and not others, but I can't really see a reason why one should be discounted over the other. There's not a surplus of games where that's really enough to make much of a difference.

Let's say there was a US TZ and a foreign TZ each listed at $7500 in nice condition and fully shopped & working. Which would you pick? If the one you wanted sold, would you pass on the other? Outside of the usual bargaining/haggling that might happen, would you ask for a discount simply because it wasn't the one you wanted?

I wish I'd known this when I had my reimported Whitewater. I got used to navigating the menus in German to reset the language to English. It was a nice game, and I never was bothered by it's reimport status. I bought it and sold it for a "normal" price.

I honestly don't remember the last time a buyer asked me if my game was a re-import. It's probably been a decade.

Nobody cares.

Exactly. Import games are made on the same production lines as domestic games and are identical in every way, save a jumper wire to one of the transformer plugs to change voltages and the coin door which is easily replaced if objectionable.

I had one and came back home with norovirus.

My wife likes it when I now talk French to her!

I'm sorry. I hope you are better now.

LTG : (

Back in 2012. All good now but it wasn't a pleasant short term experience.

I had a nice Black Rose that had been in Japan at one time. It was jumpered for 100 vac and played fine. Some voltages were a little high, when I noticed I jumpered it correctly and all the electronics survived. It still had cabinet fade but the playfield and cannon were nice.

"Nobody cares" is a curious conclusion. The OP started the thread based on the fact that potential buyers lost interest because they cared. Obviously there are people who care. Never mind asking for a discount, they don't even want anything to do with them.

Given two similar TZ at the same price, one domestic and one import, I'll choose the domestic one. Maybe for a popular title like TZ it won't affect the overall demand or price. But in general, like Tim_Hanian said, less demand means lower value / lower price. I've also experienced this: have been able to pick up some bargains because of it.

This thread could have used a vote, would have been curious to see what percentage care.

Yeah cause that’s how buying pins works. You go to the local supermarket and there’s always TZs available whenever you want. And of course, there’s always two available at the exact same price in the exact same condition on the rack. Except - get this! - One is a reimport and one isn’t. And of course, being a savvy, educated shopper, you take the domestic!!

Back in the real world, on planet earth, if a game you are looking for is available at the right price in the right condition and the right location you buy it, and you don’t think twice about if it took a couple trips across the ocean 25 years ago.

Thats what I meant by nobody cares. Total non issue in 2021.

Anybody else on Thesamba? This reads like a Brazilian bus thread!

Not surprised you don't grasp the value of a hypothetical to illustrate a point.

Someone explain to me exactly the differences between a domestic machine and re-import. Except for the coin door (easily replaced) there AREN'T any! Any talk about hacks and poor maintenance is highly dependent on which operator owned the game previously, just like here in the US. You see nice re-imports and crappy ones, just like with domestic machines. Anybody who turns down a re-import just because its a re-import doesn't really know what they are talking about. Condition is everything, no matter where the game spent its life on location.

Reimport won't have a service outlet. Different main fuse or fuses. Different line filter or thermistor or varistor. Williams DMD era CPU without switches will have the jumpers cut for which country.

LTG

I think you are, too. If you can find a nice TZ in good shape locally and fairly priced you take it. That's it. If you don't buy it someone else will in a minute. Tough to be picky in seller's market.

You may not have noticed, I said a popular title like TZ, it likely wouldn't affect value. TZ wasn't even my hypothetical: I was just playing along.

I have a Dataeast re import from Argentina and yes it has all the things people piss and moan about it was hacked /mismatched parts, water swelling damage on bottom. You can look and see it was played to hell and some bottom playfield screw holes are all the way from the bottom to the top through paint. Took about 2 months to get the smell of the glade plug in out that was in service outlet. Most would have junked it out at some point but hadn't. It was sold local as parts game. They had 2 games in Ad for sale the DE game and a Gottlieb em. By the time i got there the person sold the gottlieb game i was mostly after and not told me but thats for another thread.

Game was complete which surprised me it just looks bad and to my surprise it kinda worked. Bought it for agreed as parts price and learned a lot at and got it working 100%. I will never sell it just because it is so rough. To make it right would be not worth it. New total cabinet faster then fixing that one, playfeild swap, metals would need paint or replated. So yes look with both eyes if you buying any game or even if is a fixed upper. I haven't seen the nice imports that other have got so far. Still play it and still love it so not all bad.