Pinmeister - quite a collection you have (had to look after reading where you purchased them from)!

My 'garage' workshop has higher standards and quality control than the average 'distributor'... and produces IMO a higher quality product.

Hmmm....trying to think of a time I didn;t buy a machine out of a basement or garage

The quality standards were exceptional for the game I bought out of John's garage and I would do it again.

Mike O.

Iron Man out of a living room...nnot sure what he had in his garage...but a good guy all the same..

So I have a question for the OP. First Guys that my ad! Because guys are selling for more then full retail out of there garage with no warranty or anything.

My question is, why do people like distroying comerce on craigslist by constanly flagging? Scared cause I'm the big guy in town? If you guys want to distory pinball sales on craigslist for Denver I can join in too, but I'm a bit to adult for those games..

Um, aren't YOU "distorying comerce" when you get on CL bagging on other sellers? Did you secure your status as "big guy in town" by trashing others, or by doing good/reputable work? I like to buy from a guy who conducts themselves professionally; making petty slam posts indicates you aren't focusing on doing good work.

JJ is a great guy with great service and he does good and reputable work. I bought a NIB machine from him and would buy another without question. He has helped many here on pinside on offers good prices to folks.

Great looking restore!

Good to know!

JJ is great and great to talk with. Gexchange is an awesome storefront and I check their inventory often. I have yet to buy but that is more for lack of my target titles than their prices or service. I got a big guns for a cheap price out of a garage and it is in great condition but it is constant problems. I am on my own with it. You take that chance out of a garage I guess. But the exchange had the manuals I needed and let me browse them for free. I feel lucky to live near them.

This may be a dumb question, but who would this be?

I see a few folks saying all is great to buy from a garage, house etc... all which I agree with 100% and have done so many times before and will continue to do so, but my question is I also read the a few say when it comes to a NIB to go to a distributor for the warranty. If I were to buy a NIB Stern or JJP from a garage dealer, don't I also get a warranty if not from the dealer but from the manufacturer when I register the machine?

I believe he was referring to "farmer Trent" at Tilt amusements?

If your fancy....you call your garage a warehouse! That's what I love about pinball, small hobby, small businesses with the personal touch, handmade goods, it truly makes the hobby unique. It is safe to say, most pinball business are a hobby, the owners have passion.

If I were to guess at what JJ was trying to convey is this :

"Hey people, If you are going to spend that much money on current models NIB, why dont you just buy from an authorized retailer that will provide support and tech after the sale.

If something does happen with your purchase and you are expecting full warranty and support when purchasing from a non authorized retailer, you will not get this.

Buying NIB from an authorized retailer is a value added experience."

If I was selling NIB as an authorized agent, and someone purchased a nib from some random dude and needed free warranty parts, I would kindly tell them that I cant get free parts to them, but I can get them for X price. And perhaps the person they purchased it from will warranty it. I would also explain to them that if they were to purchase new from me in the future I would be able to take care of them in situations like this.

The way I see it is that I would be disrespecting my cash paying customers to give them the total VIP treatment. VIP treatment is a value added commodity that customers pay for by doing business there.

And they are just that. SMALL BUSINESSES....not small charities!

I will post this.. This is the rest of the text of that part of the ad. Rather then just one sentence.

Fully Reconditioned by our staff of factory trained service staff. Why buy a pinball from some guy working out of his garage? Buy from the Largest dealer this Side of The Mississippi with over 32 years in business! We service what we sell, all of our reconditioned pinballs come with a 30 Day Bumper to Bumper Warranty!!!! Call JJ at 303-962-4666 Delivery and Setup Available, we will even lug it down the stairs for you! Game Exchange Of Colorado! 2650 w. 6th ave Denver, Co 80204

JJ

Sorry to have attacked you personalty I thought you had admitted to flagging my ad's when I read it the first time, re reading it I realize you said before it was flagged. So For that I apologize.

My Ad is written just as that an Ad, Explaining why my company may be better for a new pinball buyer vs some one who is selling there pinball out of there garage. OUR service goes on FAR beyond the sale were most hobbyist guys don't offer warranty or after sale service.

I have no issue with you posting my public ad, I wish you would have posted the rest of the paragraph where I explain why, but I understand you posted the line that you felt was offensive. But this was clearly posted in the BY DEALER section, many of the other dealers in the Denver area only post there ad's as by owner even though they sell as a dealer on CL.

I'm curious.. did Stern Pinball really train your service staff? I've never heard of Stern offering classes

I think the retailer's Craigslist post was for a used game, not NIB. Can't remember the exact details (game, price, etc).

It was for an Agent 777 Pinball $995

Yes, Back when Data East, Williams, Bally and all were around they all had classes once and a while. We used to fly them out and have them put classes on for our staff / Operators as well.

Ad can be seen here

denver.craigslist.org link

You have a better reputation around here than that. Why not just remove the part about the garage if some find it offensive and move on?

"Bumper to bumper warranty" is cute! Now that your ad is viewable in full it doesn't seem too rough on the garage guys after all. I'm a garage-folk (my shop is in a repurposed loading dock) so I was sensitive to the language. Hahaha sounds like you Denver guys have a tumultuous Craigslist pinball climate, too! Always an adventure.

The local stern dealer located near me did this as well.

OT- I prefer buying from JJ than using this particular dealer located in my county. Thats how good JJ is!

They *did* - 20 years ago! Using that claim now seems.. well, dated. The way it's worded in the CL ad leads me to think it's a current, ongoing thing.

Why are people so sensitive to everything? The guy posted an ad for his business. He is competing with other companies. Im sure the people working out of their garages would love to take sales from their competition. Thats how business is dog eat dog. I didnt see anything offensive in the ad he wrote, it looks like advertising 101 to me.

Why settle for the same old burger from Mcdonalds when you can have it your way at burger king.
Disclaimer:
I am not affiliated with any of the companies above and am not advertising for them just using an ad to prove my point.

Sorry, but I'd rather have a burger from In-N-Out

Amen to that! I lived out in Arizona for a lot of years and had an in and out right by my work

I think the ad is fine, I have never bought direct from JJ, but definitely given him a shake at my business a few times and referred him to couple of friends in Nebraska and IA. Competitive and reputable. I think there is nothing wrong with advertising to buy from a reputable company with service techs that can support you. JJ keep up the good work, maybe the next pin of mine comes from you!

Basically this just sounds like a Denver CL war which spilled over to Pinside.

The phrase "working out of his garage" is meant to be a cliche slur, and in the world of many commercial businesses it might be. But for pinball dealers it's just not a detraction, considering 90% of all of our collections were rolled out of garages at some point. I mean, the Treasure Cove garage door with gleaming games in front of it!?!! That's what I think when I hear "out of a garage"! Or I think of all the goodies I've bought over the years in garages, or all the goodies I have packed in my garage currently!

Garages invoke warm fuzzy pinball feelings! The opposite of the effect the ad was going for!

I don't know of any good that ever came from battling it out on CL, via war of words, flagging contests, etc. Other than to give others a chuckle watching/reading the carnage!

Why buy a pinball from some guy working out of his garage?

Because my entire collection of 5 awesome pins bought out of various garages and man caves cost well less than 1 NIB Avatar.

Chris

I don't even bother with CL, networking is where it is at and I am not getting into a war with the 50 dollar more guy.
Why a retailer would bother with it is beyond me.

I hope not

I started my business 21 years ago in my garage. My products sold from my garage were the same quality products I sell today. A garage is a good place to start . . .