Folks tend to be friendlier in Texas.

If this is the game it has potential for sure. I don't know what Corvettes are going for right now but my guess based on my experience trying to sell this time of year is not much!

Plenty of jerks in any hobby. Sellers, buyers, it goes both ways. I must say, though, after 10+ years in pinball, the list of lifelong friends is MUCH much longer than the list of 'people I'd cross the street to avoid, if I were walking down the sidewalk and saw them coming'.

As a buyer on a pinball forum, you always want the best price. As a seller, you have to make money to survive. Making money isn't necessarily evil. Trying to negotiate the best deal isn't always evil.

You know when you go to look at any pin that a sale/deal is not guaranteed. That's why you're going out to look at it. As LTG says, no deal is better than a bad deal!

I've walked away from a transaction where the seller had an unrealistic price in mind, handed the seller my business card with a number written on it, and said 'The game is worth $x to me, please call me if you get to the point you will take $x', and gotten calls back.

I've had sellers not understand what was required to bring the game back into shape before. Some think I'm lying to them. Some believe me.

Just because the guy has a price he put on the item that seems unrealistic to you, or the condition doesn't match what you describe, doesn't make the guy a bad guy. Maybe it's worth that price to him, he will keep it if he doesn't get X. That's OK.

Treat people how you'd like to be treated, whether you are buying or selling, and you'll have better luck. If a deal doesn't work out, there's always the next.

It's only pinball.

Don't ever do that, a lot of times it is a flipper stringing you along until they can find a buyer.
I have done this before and by the time they are done jerking you around and you call the other interested parties they have moved on and bought something else.
I will hold a game long enough for someone to look at it, they miss the appointment I call the next guy.

Guy wasn't a jerk when I interacted with him. I met him a month ago and bought a pin from him. I played the corvette. It was in pretty nice shape, though not clean. I didn't notice rust, but I wasn't buying that pin.

Sure, the garage was a mess, but I wasn't buying the garage. Yes, the pin I went for was in worse shape than I expected, but I was very apologetic about it not meeting my expectations, and he was super nice about it and we came to an arrangement that we both found agreeable. Buying and selling is a delicate dance and it's very easy for someone to get offended on either side of the table. It's my least favorite part of the hobby, by far.

The guy was the real deal and had a lot of war stories from being an operator and deals gone bad. I think it's tough for folks who've been in pinball for a long time, but also out of pinball recently to know what to make of the new inflated prices and the recent expectations on condition that accompany said prices.

Bottom line; I wasn't there when you were, but I wouldn't hesitate to but a pin from this guy again. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with him, but someone else might not. I also don't know how many jerks have shown up to his garage between me and you that might have changed his disposition. (I still owe him an email, actually).

I'm glad it wasn't a long drive for you, as a deal not working out is really frustrating. I'm also willing to bet that had you handled the encounter differently, he would have worked with you on the price.

It really is what you make it. Let everyone who read this learn a lesson about what could have happened differently to make this a great sale,and use that as awareness of the kid gloves one must wear going into it.
I got lucky and bought my first pin from PDXMonkey,a local Pinsider who was understanding,patient,willing to educate me a little,and didn't sell me one I might not have been happy with.

Strange enough for this thread, is the fact I bought a real Corvette from a dealer on EBAY nonetheless,which most would say is a risk one should never take. But in the end it was a great experience.
The guy picked me up at the Airport ,drove me back to the lot, and did everything necessary to make me a happy buyer. He even refunded some money back for undisclosed problems that I found later.
I drove away knowing that Corvette was in good hands now, and had the best drive of my life traveling back up to Washington over the weekend.

You really can't control how somebody will respond to you. They could be having a bad day, have personal issues, or just be a jerk in general. Different personalities can clash. The size of a person can intimidate (hey, I'm 6ft 6)
I feel sometimes my quiet nature is a put off to people, but I'm just observing and thinking, often times without negativity in my thoughts, unless you do or say something I don't like. Bottom line, I like to think of myself as pretty easy going.
Too often though, I feel myself getting annoyed about people that underestimate, like in trade deals and what not. They will buy for peanuts or value your trade for peanuts but they value their pin as gold and won't budge. This becomes even more annoying when you know you've cut deals with them in the past and budged on pricing for them, but yet they still won't for you. Lessons learned.

There have been times over the years though that stand out where you feel like you just can't win. (until later)

There was a pinsider that bought a game from me last summer, a listed and described project machine. He called me up and asked me to hold it, asked what games I had and seemed excited about the chance to see and play some of my games. I told him I could hold it and come on out when he's ready.

He comes here to pick up the machine and describes himself as ''new to the hobby'' that this was his first machine but that he was experienced with videos. He asked a lot of questions about different machines, and I answered everything he wanted to know about those and the game he was buying. When we were getting ready to load up the game, I noticed that the playfield glass had some severe chipping in it. I simply wanted to warn him, that he was welcome to leave it with me or just be careful when taking it in or out and how you place it- those that have broken one know the fun behind that experience :/

He loads up after asking dozens of questions, basically brain picking which was fine by me. He never did bother to play any of the other pins lined up he was raving about over the phone.

later on in the week, he slams me on here in public forum, saying it was ''total bullshit'' about the playfield glass, and had many other things to say about the pin he just bought, not one of them accurate. I called him on the phone, naturally, pretty pissed. After that settled, he apologized to me through PM on here, and said he would inform the group that it was a misunderstanding. He never did.
Several weeks ago when I was selling an F14 project, he pm'ed several times that he wanted it and I never responded.
Why? I said to myself. To possibly get slammed for trying to warn you about a playfield glass? and he never did make it right. I was all set. That was my win.

It is often said but seems seldom practiced: Treat people the way you want to be treated.

I agree it's in the way you approach it. If you start stating what is wrong and not up to your expectations, and then start subtracting money - that's going to offend a lot of people. It's much better to just go over the machine, and either make an offer right there, or perhaps wait until you get back home (if you weren't planning on taking delivery right there) and just make your offer if you're not going to pay asking price. I have to agree that it's not a pleasant feeling to sell a game and have the person come and start "subtracting" money for this dirty part, this light out, this needing cleaned, etc.

As a seller, if you aren't willing to haggle, it's also best to state that upfront before anyone wastes their time. And there's a big difference between haggling price, and stating a list of what you think is wrong and start dropping dollar amounts off.