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.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

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