Why Do People Only Want to Trade (Rather Than Sell)?

Everyone has a unique financial situation maybe. If they should own a business it's not always wise to show money in and out all of the time. Some may also do it as a way to keep it in budget and not to overspend. Their are several reasons.

I feel in certain trades you can come out ahead.

Some times it takes awhile to find a game at a fair price without shipping.

Some games I have that I don't want to sell but if a trade was offered I'd let it go at a fair price.

Just my thoughts as a guy with radical for trade not sale

Maybe...hypothetically....they think if they liquidate a game into cash, that money might get blown on a non pin item and make it harder to get the replacement game. The trade provides instant gratification and no negative space in the lineup, along with avoiding the feeling of spending money on a game.

Trade is easier in most cases.

-You don't have to let random CL people into your life and deal with tire-kickers and/or lowballers.
-It's 99/100 times local.
-You now have an additional strong-man to help you move the pins out/in.
-You don't have to redo the whole CL shitshow when trying to buy the pin you want (so many great people in the hobby, but when you're looking for the pin you're after, odds are you'll always find the one Mr Bungle).
-Usually, both parties aren't in a hurry to trade because they can typically get what they are looking for (as long as it's reasonable), so it's a more laid back interaction.

For me, it just seems harder to find the games I am looking for these days. I hate having cash in my hand and not have a machine lined up right away because it always seems to get spent on other things and these days I just don't have the extra money to add a machine so I have to sell first. I sometimes first try to find a trade and then go the for sale route. That said, its very hard also to make trades in my opinion. In my experience two sides just can't agree on price on either end and it makes it hard to make a fair trade.

I have often wondered about this myself. Isn't this why people created currency, in order to avoid the inefficiencies of a barter economy?

Sell a machine for its fair market value in cash and then use that cash to purchase a game that you want at fair market value. Seems so much easier than trying to find two people that have games to trade.

I really don't need a pile of cash sitting there hoping for a game that I want will appear locally. Most of my dealings have been trades +/- $. Game goes out and a new game comes in on the same day. Right now I have a IJ for trade in Tampa. I will play it until the right deal comes along (looking for a LOTR or SS as my top choices). If I have $ in hand it tends to go to other projects

I usually sell only when I have a buy lined up. Trading keeps the lineup full and you get to shoot the shit with another pinhead vs random dude with game he's had sitting untouched in his basement the last decade.

Trading can sometimes get you items that would not otherwise be for sale.

In my area demand is much higher then availability. Selling your game might mean months without before a good replacement comes along, and then you NEED to jump on the sale listing or it will be sold while your left playing with a wad of cash.

I just find the specific trades comical. Will trade this, this, and this for that, that, and that. Haha i think the odds of winning the lottery are better than finding a trade to meet the criteria.

If someone said that, I'd give them a number. Trades are best when they work out. But if I'm trading a game, I'll trade it for cash too.

My bf is currently out for trade and here is why.

Its relatively rare. I am in no hurry to get rid of it, but if I can get another machine I want, sure. I also avoid dealing with penny pinchers trying to nickle and dime me when selling. It also means I do not have to fight other buyers or overpay for the machine I want. It is much easier to establish a fair price for both machines when trading. Also trades tend to be among collectors so I dont need to do a full tear down on what i get.

For me... the buying market is small here. And I'd rather not be sitting down a pin waiting for the right deal. When I try to trade a pin it's usually because I'm at the take it or leave it stage with that pin. I'm fine if it stays, I'm fine if it goes as long as I can find a pin I want to take it's place right away. Only time I'd jump on a straight cash deal is if the offer is too good to pass up. Won't even tell you what someone just offered me for an arcade I had. Couldn't say no.

With trades, you don't have to deal with any exurbanite amount of bs. You don't have to deal with everyone low balling you on selling. You don't have to deal with outrageous prices when buying. And most important you don't have to deal with not having a pin while trying to look for what you wanted to trade for.

The biggest reason is often what you have MIGHT interest what someone who has what you want. Also an empty spot in your line-up is sad. I know for me I have a set amount of pins I can fit, and when I sell one I want to fill that void. Now you COULD do the sell, then buy deal. But that is an extra step that...well isn't a lot of fun. There is a whole new set of negotiations, back and forth...blah blah blah...

For me I am ok selling if I have already set a price for another machine I want. But it's been said before, then I need to get the ca$h out of what I have to cover that. And often I don't like too much in between and covering that hole in my account

If you are the one actively marketing for a trade, you are on the vulnerable side of negotiations and thus generally need to be more flexible to make the deal. Obviously both parties are interested in the deal (the respondent may actually be more motivated), but the respondent "should" negotiate with a slight, but noticeable, advantage.

Buy low, sell high. Everyone does this. That said, I find that when the time comes to get rid of a title, you tend to get more credit towards a trade applied to your game than cash value assigned in an outright sale.

Ive never understood this concept and never will. I want a game that's "trade only" but I don't have the games he is looking for, thus the game has been available for months. Put a price on it, I buy it and yes maybe he has to wait to find another game but really that's a big deal? Cash in hand is never a bad thing and in this case, avoids 6 months of " I want to trade".

I don't get it either. I'm very specific about what pins I want. Maybe people who are into trades are not as finicky. Like walking into a swingers party...

While I see your point because god knows I hate tire kickers and wasted time, answer me this....

Guy has a game for "trade" I have numerous titles that are better more valuable but he's not interested in them, fair enough, I get it but its been 6 months and if he just said I want $2500 for it, Id pick it up tomorrow. It makes no sense at all.

Lol, im still finicky there too..

Exactly what I meant.

Because every now and then it works out.

In case you haven't noticed selling a game can be a pain in the ass. Sometimes a trade works better.

I've sold far more games than I've traded but I've been pretty happy with the handful of trades I've done.

I think some people just float it out there that they have a game to trade, but still play it regularly. So if they game doesn't trade, they're just as happy continuing to hold onto it and playing it versus selling for cash them getting in the mindset of trying to find the pin they want, for cash sale, and have that money burning a hole in their pocket.

I'm only going off of my mentality when I had a WCS94, I was in no hurry to sell and really only wanted to trade - so I just hung onto it until a trade offer I randomly threw out to another member here on pinside accepted it, ezpz compared to trying to sell for cash like I had with TSPP.

Different strokes, different folks I guess. But I totally understand the frustration when someone is looking for 'that one' specific pin and offers cash, but the seller only wants to trade it away

Yup, for sure. BUT..... to make it a trade or nothing is crazy. I would have already picked up the game. Selling is a pain in the ass and so is trading,nature of the beast I guess.

My problem is I got cash, but I don't have the games on the trade list. Sucks I cant just buy it and everyone is happy.

Selling a game is only a pain in the ass when you want too much money.

Buying a game is only a pain in the ass when you're lowballing.

Moving a pin is a pain in the ass every time

Preach brother!

Sometimes in a trade the other guy does the moving.

A very tangible benefit of some trades.

Bingo. A trade opens up a door sometimes.

Great answer. I've always been stumped about trading & now I understand the benefits. Thx!

When I am selling a machine I will put that I would also be open to trades and then see whatever happens,if you trade for a cheaper game plus cash somtimes it is easier to sell the cheaper game after and get what you need out of the game.

Once its gone he has no trade bait for others wanting to trade only now

I get the idea of trading machine's but some of us don't always have something to trade or what we have is considered players junk nobody want's to trade a nice well kept machine for a players beater.
But when the economy is going great and everybody's working 40+ and everything peachy cash isn't a problem. When the current state is some working almost full time,some working 2 jobs to just cover their tracks cash isn't just laying around to get that next machine. So your tired of the current line up and your looking for a change trade can be your best option.

I've generally been confused about it too...but had a realization just the other day.

Say someone local is asking $3500 for TFTC, but would consider trades. That's way overpriced. We can argue over that price, or I can trade a game of equal value, say FT. Hard to argue those aren't worth about the same.

If I sold my FT first, I'd be $1000 short.

boyfriend? best friend?

Simple explanation:

A trade is one transaction instead of two. Even if you have lined up a buy ahead of time, the sell then buy is two transactions.

BF is the common abbreviation for Batman Forever

.... because my wife can sense when I have cash in my jeans, but couldn't name one of the pins we have downstairs.

It is quite simple.

You are reducing the # of transactions...

Not necessarily. A mint old Bally game might be worth the same as a beat up 90s DMD game.

And bf is the common abbreviation for boy or best friend

This is simple , money is easier to come across than pinball machines these days

When you trade, you know you're dealing with someone who understands pins, the maintenance requirements, and how to fix them. If you sell, you're inviting people into the transaction who have no idea, and will expect that if (or more likely, when) something goes wrong in a month on a 25-year-old machine that you'll give their money back or fix it for them.