Quoted from jimwe5t:Lol, very funny and creative! I graduate you from the Jim West School of Pinball with only an associate degree for the time being. More degrees to follow after showing a willingness to learn and grow from the experience. Lol
Look this is what it boils down to (to get back on the subject matter):
Pinball machines either hold or lose value based on 2 things -
1. Intellectual Property value
2. Machine reputation value
If the title has both those things going for it, then it holds value. If it doesn’t, it plummets in value, hence the discussion in this thread. As another poster said, he looks through the owners threads of IPs that interest him and if the machines reputation is good, he’ll consider a purchase on the used market.
If the owners thread is full of problems, which past JJP machines owners threads are full of and ongoing headaches are apparent, he will not buy or take a chance unless the price is real low. Used buyers are going to use that information to beat down sellers, which brings resale value down considerably. JJP resale history has proven this to be true.
Also, having so many old weak IPs that have not maintained good longevity value with the used buying market, prices are always are going to be much lower than say a Star Wars themed very popular IP. Even though a JJP table may have much better populated playfields with many more mechs and toys. The used market will not recognize that as real value, because they can have just as much fun on a used Stern Pro with a top tier IP for half the price. User experience is part of the reputation.
You and I may really like and prefer the software depth of a JJP machine, but most used buyers don’t care. They look only at numbers 1 & 2 written above and a Stern Pro at half price on the used market looks pretty good to them.
With the new consolidated leaner operation now happening and if JJP pricing would come more inline with a Stern pro, premium and LE, by lowering prices $2k to be inline with their competition, along with obtaining top notch IP’s like Stern has, JJP will soar to new heights.
Jjp doesn't do pros... heck even the standard offers more than sterns premium and the le are about the same price also. Also have you seen all the issues with stern pins lately? They all lose about the same percentage wise from my experience and the stern pros I have bought were actually a bigger hit for me. Jjp Potc was notorious for issues and look where they have went on price?. Even used wonka le are still getting 8500-8900 which is awesome considering its 9500 nib. . I also much perfer jjp pins and have had to do less fixes on them than any other and they are so great in the code department for home use. I like the stern pins also but they really need to stop being cheap and stop releasing them with bare minimum code. They also need to test things better bc stranger things had so man issues out of the box and no one wants to tear a brand new game apart to fix it.
Overall we are super lucky we can recoup what we do and its a huge reason why the hobby is so strong and popular at the moment. What other hobby can you get 75 percent of cost back after playing it for months/years and in some cases you can make money if you buy smart huo. I have made thousands selling my used jjp pins and thats not including potc
In the end many factors play into where the used price is but overall most lose between 400-1750 depending on the model.