Nope. The opposite.

Give it time. Actual wealth and liquid cash takes time to disappear. Prices will come down.

Asking prices continue to be higher than ever. If anything They’ve increased since March.

Where are the bargains dammit?!

I would wager that most pins are in the hands of individuals who are relatively well off, or they wouldn't have a bunch of pins to begin with.

So emergency sell-offs are uncommon.

Plus people are bored sitting at home, which might even increase demand.

As someone who wants to potentially purchase their first pinball but has a limited budget, right now feels like the worst possible time to purchase a machine. I thought it was just me, but it does seem like sellers are gouging pretty bad. Although as long as the demand is there prices will continue to stay sky high, which is unfortunate for newcomers.

Never mind the virus, you're about ten years too late!

Ten years ago I was a pauper and wasn't able to even afford a mini-table let alone a full size one, haha.

Are there more people getting in the hobby or leaving? There is your answer.

Ten years ago I was buying 8 or 10 machines a week some weeks. In the past year I don't think I have bought 5 machines all year. Not because I don't want to buy but because the guys I was buying from have stopped contacting me with stuff for sale. I have been paying more for project machines the past couple years than I was selling the same titles fully shopped & working 100% for seven or eight years ago.

For example I sold three Jungle Lord machines about 7 years ago (all in nice cosmetic condition and fully working) for $700 each (give or take $50). This Spring I was trying to make a deal with a guy on one he had for sale in worse shape than the ones I sold and I couldn't get him down under $1700 for it. By the time I convinced myself to pay his $1700 it was gone. Demand is insanely high right now and so are prices. I really don't see that changing any time soon so my days of buying & selling are pretty much behind me.

You can still score a deal from time to time but nothing like is was even 3 or 4 years ago. I can't even buy "junk" parts machines these days let alone anything worth fixing! And when chime units, Stern & Gottlieb lock bars, and other key parts are bringing over $100 each I fully understand why you can't find anything cheap these days!

Classic Bally & Classic Stern prices have really gotten crazier than anything else from what I have been seeing. Now Classic Williams titles are starting to catch up!

It's because of all the dolls people hot-glue gun to the PFs and PinStadiums getting installed and calling it a "thorough shop job with MASSIVE upgrades",

Can't let go of that quality work on the cheap.

This is just the same response as the stock market. No one truly realizes or wants to realize that we have record unemployment and a massive domino effect will surface after the dust settles. This is 100% going to happen. Yes, some rich guys won't be affected, but 90% of the middle class will be losing wealth because of direct or indirect relationships to covid. Trust me. Prices will come down... on everything, especially luxury items. Even Stern will have trouble surviving this.

unemployment rate hit 14.5 % today. worst since the great depression which was 25%

I would never want to make a living selling 6K-12K pinball machines, but especially in this climate.

This topic again... sigh...

Actually this post is over a year old but as I see it, almost all pins are commanding an all time high because of demand.

Wife was laid off 3/30/20 and was brought back this week, girlfriend was let go on 4/10/20 and will be going back next week, so yes, the numbers are staggering, but hopefully just a blip. A BAD blip, but nothing regarding the jobless situation seems permanent...

I hope for your sake that your wife and your girlfriend don't read your posts here on Pinside.

You beat me to it! I was gonna say the same thing. And you must be doing pretty good if you can afford a wife and a girlfriend these days

Not one to start threads but this topic would seem to be the most related to the thought, since bars and restaurants are going to be a tough reset, those of you that spot games, are you considering or have you started rentals of games to residences?

I can't believe prices have not even been dented yet. People are much more optimistic about the economy/future jobs than I am, have a lot more coins than I have, or both.

Lol, it's not what you think....

I am super optimistic about the economy. We had the greatest economy in the history of the world so the bones are strong. Everybody is starting to get back to work and soon that unemployment will dip back down. We have a lot of folks in TN still milking that 8 weeks of extra unemployment. As soon as that crap goes away people will have to go back to work.
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Well I am new to the hobby and just bought a machine that was rated horribly and paid 400$ more than pinside averages its worth. My wife and I are having a blast with it, LW3 . People like me that are new are willing to overpay for titles that have been bashed over the years show that prices will continue to rise. High demand low supply. Maybe this will cause people to leave on the other hand, sorry guys.

LOL, sorry, but that's just funny. Current U.S. debt is 25 trillion dollars. That's $25000000000000, which translates into $76315 per person or a whopping $202,531 per tax payer. Plus there is currently blow-out spending by the fed. They're talking about a major airline going under, and a huge swath of companies that are moving toward chapter 7. Shipping from China was interrupted, so there will be a massive lag in manufacturing. Old people can't get out to spend their retirement dollars. Tourism is set to be in the toilet for at least a year. Do tell where this optimism is coming from because I'm sniffing a fart, not a flower...

It doesn’t matter what people bash when you’re getting your first pin...your first pin is always a blast because there’s a f***ing pinball machine in your house! It’s awesome! LW3 is plenty fun.

This is how the hobby’s always been, too. When I started, the “collectors” ONLY wanted Bally Williams games...so anything else that was off their radar was easy to find “cheap”. My first pin, BTTF, was $300!!! I got tons of Sega & DE games for less than $1000. Ultimately they didn’t last in my collection, but I had a lot of fun with them while I had them.

One of the best things Stern did was get their games down about 50 pounds. I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of lugging these these all over the world.

If they could get rid of another 50 pounds that would be fantastic. Would a metal lower cab hold up as well as the metal heads they make now?

Rubber casters on every game always! The best mod!