Wherever this guy listed his pin (craigslist hopefully) I would create a thread and share your experience. Save others the time and trouble. Sorry you went through that!

If you haven't already, try posting a "WTB pins within X miles of RI" thread and I'm sure you'll get pinsiders contacting you.

I have found that arriving at a quick "no" can be a good thing.

That aside, I am sorry to hear that your day started off on the wrong track.

Was forced to read this. Thought it might be about me!? Here's a "DONE" Corvette for ya:

I look forward to reading your next 10 threads on this subject.

Patience and timing is what this hobby is all about a lot of people will tell you here. Not all people who own pinball machines are "pinball people".

Yeesh, that sounds horrible. A jerk indeed. Some folks aren't nice, some folks are...but it's not just sellers. Sometimes potential buyers really turn off sellers.

Consider this story: the guy I bought my IJ from had it in his basement for like 13 years. It came with his house. Only machine he ever played. He posted it on CL, and was hounded constantly by people calling and then showing up only to offer way less than his (very reasonable I should add) asking price. Like half what he was asking. Or they'd want to do some wacky deal when the dude clearly stated cash only. Then they would harass him on the phone over the following weeks asking if he was ready to sell yet. I showed up, cash in hand, machine was as described, I bought it. His whole family was super nice, and I still communicate with them about non-pin topics from time to time. But the collectors that had showed up before me had given us all a very bad reputation in their view. And hearing their horror stories, I can't blame them.

I've found the BEST folks to buy from aren't dealers (though I had a nice experience with Trent), but folks here on Pinside. They are knowledgable, and the ones I've dealt with have been very honest.

And if they're not other folks will tell you.

Jersey isn't too far from you, and we have a plethora of pins. Or wait until the Allentown show
Yes, I said "plethora."

you get that now and then henhel
keep hunting and you will find game

Yeah, I'm guessing the seller probably felt brow-beaten from all the other CL tire-kickers looking to get it for nothing and walking up and picking the game apart immediately.

Just a thought. But with a machine like this, and an inexperienced non-collector, try saying a couple positive things about the title itself to break the ice, how you used to play it, the cool features it has (which may be broken), and eventually merge that in with the observations about the condition of his particular machine.

I picked up a gorgeous condition, but broken, EM once from a guy who had this same negative attitude from collectors trying to basically tell him his machine is a hunk of debris. He was immediately ready to usher me to the door as soon I asked him what was wrong with it but I stopped him, "Hang on dude, this is an awesome title... that's why you're getting all the interest. The game is killer! But it will need work. Let me just see what's going on with it for a minute... if it's an easy fix or a fuse, I'll be honest with you... and I can offer you more..." End result is after about 5 minutes of this we were buddies and he basically started venting to me about the other collectors who had stopped by, and I end up getting it for less than he was offered by one of them, and less than I went there ready to offer.

It's about dealing with people, as much as machines, when you go to buy something off CL. And when other collectors have already muddied the water, yet the machine is still there, then you need to not come at him like the typical annoying tire-kicking pinsider trying to get a machine for half its value. I know, I know, in this particular case the seller overreacted and all. But just think of the annoying things buyers do and say when they come to look at something you have for sale, and do the opposite. Just an observation on overall buying tactics with inexperienced machine owners.

Don't give up henhel. Finding pins is like rain and/or fishing. They came up in storms and schools. I see nothing for a while, and then I have two to four pins to choose from... and I live in a state/area where the pin community is really small. I have meet great people and a$$wipes looking to purchase pins. It's not just the pin community, it's just way people are in everything, no matter what hobby your into. Remember one thing... you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you cant pick your friends nose's. It's just the way it is.

Never did get thru this video, I got tired off all the cute banter and posing for the camera. Nice game, tho...

You should of pulled out the cash set it on the ground and taken a crap on it and when he complained said OH BOY here we go I don't have time for this!

Great advice. I key in on a few positives right off the bat. For any issues that I come across while looking at it, I kind of pause for a little bit so the person knows what I'm keying in on/concerned about without saying a word. I guess I'm lucky that I've never had a bad experience buying or selling.

Consider yourself lucky you got out of there alive.

hope you did not have to drive too far-

imust admit it did sound kinda of funny in that it sounds like he has been told about the poor cond befor, think they would take the hint and knock the dust off of it.

An accurately worded add could prevent most of this^ I have driven hundreds of miles to look at a "perfect condition machine" only to be sorely disappointed when I arrived (low quality pics can only tell you so much)

Couldn't agree more. I just got in the hobby a few years ago and just got my first pin last May. One of the first thing the local guys told me is to have is patience. All of them are on pinside. That network of pinball friends also helped me find a pinball machine. I got a heads up of a Creetch for sale on another forum from a local pinsider that was searching for pins. Well the email address in the ad was "dead" So I contacted the guy that gave me a heads up and he gave me the guys Phone #. He had dealt/purchased from him before. Long story short I was the only one contacting him. In the end I got my Creech for a fair price. It will happen, feast or famine my friend.

That sounds pretty horrible man. I'd imagine it will be for sale for a while with his attitude and maybe he'll call you back? Or you can shoot him an email apologizing for wasting his time, even though he was the jerk. Just be the bigger guy and apologize and let him know you have cash in hand when he is ready to actually sell it. It works months or weeks later sometimes.

On another note, it seems that pins are so inaccurately represented these days on the whole, highly depressing. I like to under promise and over deliver, especially if shipping.

That's a stupid idea. I hate reading those. Just makes you both look like assets

Youre always going to encounter guys who think they have something worth more than it is. Whether it is a guy who is looking for a sucker, or just an ignorant person, you are better off walking away and not looking back. Dont be upset, its going to happen again.

Then don't read them, no one asks you to. I think you're the "asset" for making that comment.

henhel,

This stuff happens all over the place. I've had my fair share of run in's here in AZ, even from pinsiders.

- There's the type you listed
- The guy who never responds back to his own ad
- The guy who acts like your beneath him because you are either new or don't own as many pins as him
- The highballer who has no clue and overvalues their pin

And many more! But for every doucheturd you meet, there's someone that's friendly, helpful, and you'll end up knowing for a long time.

I just look at the dick's that treat me like crap and know that I could knock their block off if I wanted to, dream about it to get it out of my system, and move on.

The guy did you a favor.

No deal is always better than a bad deal.

LTG : )

I also have a Corvette story.
I tell the guy if the game is in the condition you describe I will take it so I drive the hour+ to the guys house and the game is in the garage and there are two guys there.
I glance over at the game and the seller says this guy wants the game too so you guys work it out and he goes into the house.
The other guy say what do you think?
I say you were here first so you get the game and I walk away.
There is no way the seller is going to walk into his house and leave two strangers in his garage so it was obvious the other guy was his shill.
I went there to buy a game no haggle full price if I wanted to be shilled I would buy on Ebay.
I was pissed at the time, a total waste of time and gas but now I just laugh about it.
I didn't even want the game, I know a guy that collects Corvettes that wanted one and wanted me to rebuild it for him.
Never did find one, the flippers seem to grab them when they do come up.
I told him a Corvette pin just isn't going to happen so he just bought my ELVIS instead.

Knowing you guys it's MINT!!

i just don't get being a dishonest jerk or going to all that trouble for a few measly bucks.

If your in RI, there are PLENTY of good Pinsiders that sell games, if you deal with CL you get the CL type crap-shoot.

Unless you are limiting yourself to that particular pin in which case you are just going to have to live through the wait for luck to happen.

Agreed. Just what the Internet needs, another useless friggin review.

In this instant-gratification-Amazon-prime-world, I think the art of buying/selling/haggling/bartering is nearly extinct.

Buyers and Sellers... its a 2-way street.

Craiglslist buyers and sellers are some of the worst offender....

When I bought RCT I put up a want to buy thread here on Pinside. A couple of days later I got a PM from a local Pinsider. He needed to sell a game to make room for a planned ToM purchase but wasn't sure which one he was going to sell from his collection yet. He said he might risk upsetting his kids and sell the RCT if he could get a fair price. He told me all about the game and his asking price. I went to see and it was minty fresh and beautiful as described. He took the time to teach me a lot of things I didn't know about care and upkeep, and he also showed me how to properly break it down to move it. To those who have been in this hobby for a long time that may seem like a "duh", but when you've never done it before, things like "take the balls out when you lift the playfield" and "back legs off first" are really good to know. Also, just running through the under side of a playfield so you learn what is what, is so valuable.

Then he drove the game to my condo in his truck (we had discussed that part ahead of time), came upstairs with me and ran me back through the process of setting it up with me. We had a beer and played a game before he left. He cared about his game. He had cleaned, polished, and customized the game himself, so it was more than a random machine to play. It was something he was really into and took pride in. He's a really good dude. He didn't have his RCT up for sale, but yet I was able to buy it and own it for a fair price. See what I'm saying?

Some dude off of Craigslist just wants money without hassle, but the Pinsider typically wants to share the passion. If you can, see what other Pinsiders around you might be considering. Some of them might have machines that they would sell for the "right price". Even though not every experience will be like mine, I'd still rather pay a fair price to someone who's going to not only know everything that is right and everything that is wrong with the machine, but they will more than likely be totally up front and honest with you about the exact state of the game from top to bottom.

Just my 2 cents from my experience.

Honestly dude, we all put him up to that sale just to see if you really are married to that woman. Damn it all if I didn't lose $5.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that or I would need a new laptop!

We're lucky to have one of the best sellers on pinside right in our back yards, eabundy. Watch for his FS posts or send him a PM to see what he has lined up for sale. A great guy to deal with and his prices are always fair. Good luck in your search.

Steve, right over the RI line in Killingly CT

I think all of us have had really bad, and really good experiences. Hopefully the good balances out the bad.

HenHel, come swing by my garage later this week or even tomorrow, and you can see what I have, and maybe we can work something out. I guarantee I will do better than the pinball store, and I have some cold beers in the fridge

Spiderman
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I communicated with the same seller, but the pics of his Corvette were enough to scare me away (not to mention it was a considerable drive). He did seem convinced that it was in great shape, but I've found a lot of sellers seem to feel this way.

Do you ship? I want in lol, I still haven't had a good experience with the pinball world. Been ripped off twice now!!

I think this is it: ebay.com link: Corvette Pinball Bally Williams Midway

Yeah that pin needs a good over hall top to bottom. Layers of dirt and debris then a bunch of tlc and touch ups

"ripped off" once shame on them, "ripped off" twice........................

Fool me can't get fooled again.

Well i might have been a jerk one time. I was selling a MM and one guy who had a 8 hours drive did call. I told him the price was fixed (it was a great price for the game), and i told him please dont drive 8 hours and haggle. I also did send a ton of pictures. Well he did drive the 8 hour drive with his dad, he played for like 1 hour and looked at everything, glas on, glas off... after a while i did leave the gameroom since i had work to do and started to get sick of him (He did play with glas off and saved the ball with his hand, also he did enter a GC score....) 1 hour later he did came out and told me he did find a problem with a target and did like me to take off 100 Dollar... I did kick him out "Leave my house NOW!!!", my wife told me she never seen me that angry

How many gambit pinsiders do we have?

If you live near eabundy, then you're in luck. Guy has had deals listed on Pinside that almost had me driving all the way from Houston. In fact the Northeast seems to have more pin deals than anywhere else.

Better than my day.
Held a game with no deposit for two weeks based on when the buyer could make it. Literally rescheduled my birthday dinner for him last night. Get a call in the morning that he has no cash but still wants to get the game??
He asked me once before if I would take a check and I had said no. Oh and the funds needed until Wednesday to clear.
I got pissed and after some banter he emailed me in the afternoon saying he still wanted to get the game??