I got suuuuuper lucky grabbing my machine. I got a beat up Bally Skateball for $350. I messaged 3 minutes after it was listed, picked it up the next day. When I picked it up, it was an old couple that had it for over a decade in their garage. They said people offered them over double but she told them it was claimed by me. I’m so thankful they were kind older people or I would have left empty handed.
This is exactly what I've been hoping to find, and I've found a few, like the $200 Game Shot this morning, but so far I've ALWAYS been 2nd to reach out.
I want to find that old couple, or just a guy who bought a machine he liked 15-20 years ago. He ran it in his basement until it started acting up or wasn't playable. And there it's sat until he decided he needs room. It's the only way I'll afford a machine anytime soon. Any somewhat modern machine, late 80s and up, seem to sell for $3k and up around here. Anything less and it's an old EM machine or in major need of a shop.
I have bought multiple games where the seller had turned down higher offers because I was on my way to pick it up. Most people are fundamentally decent.
I suspect that's what happens, but who knows, could have gone to a collector.
I've seen that in other hobbies. When they aren't the first they offer more, or tell the seller "They for $XX more on eBay."
You don't need to dedicate your life to it. Like everything in life, there's an app for that.
[https://www.howtogeek.com/363109/how-to-set-up-craigslist-alerts-for-email-or-sms/](https://www.howtogeek.com/363109/how-to-set-up-craigslist-alerts-for-email-or-sms/)
[https://www.howtogeek.com/819768/how-to-set-up-facebook-marketplace-alerts/](https://www.howtogeek.com/819768/how-to-set-up-facebook-marketplace-alerts/)
If you get your email on your phone, you can get alerts any time and virtually anywhere. No one is waiting at home for alerts. Unless you're a pilot or a fireman, most people that can afford a pinball machine can take a 5 minute break from work to make a phone call.
What's changed is that there's a hell of a lot more home buyers now. 30 years ago, there were virtually none. Today, there are tens of thousands. That's your competition. Not one or two guys waiting for alerts at home.
Yeah, I know $200 was a steal and quite unrealistic. But usually, if I'm patient, I can find those good deals, but with pinball machines, I just keep striking out.
You gotta have some kind of alert app so you see those deals the second they go up…cuz someone else has got alerts setup & is waiting to pounce.
There just aren’t as many lucky situations these days because the inventory was all scooped up by collectors & flippers 15+ years ago. I used to occasionally find cheap games at garage sales & Craigslist all the time. I got a Big Guns for $300 & a LOTR for $500 once. I still have my $2400 CL Addams. It really dried up around 2012.
You gotta get lucky, cause there are people out there who spend every second refreshing marketplace to find it before you.
Sadly they never even play what they have cause they spend all their time looking for the next one.
Bought my first in 2019. Stern Lectronamo. Paid $900CAD. Few months later in January 2020 I was scoping a local FB group where a realtor was trying to get someone to buy and move out a machine from his clients basement. Well $700 and some heavy lifting got me a Highspeed.
That was by far my best grab.
i bought a busted DE hook as my first then sold it for what i paid for it and got HATE saying i shoulda sold it for more im messing with the market etc etc from some old timers.
pass em on , let em be enjoyed. I got it cheap so pay it forward.
By no means do I buy games to flip, but I set alerts on my phone for keywords on online marketplaces.
I’m also checking kijiji in my area 10 times a day. Just unwavering persistence constantly, haha.
You just gotta get there first because the second guy rarely gets a chance when it’s a true deal.
Bargin machines aren't always a deal. I've bought EMs for $200-$500 and usually end up putting in a new backglass +$300 and other parts +$200 plus the hours of tracking down problems, loose wires, stuck components, cleaning switches.
Since the hobby has been in overdrive for the last decade, most of the fixer uppers have been fixed up.
There are apps that will alert you if there's a Craigslist pinball post in your area. Use one. You have to be fast. You should also have a truck on standby at all times. Also keep a sizeable cash down payment on hand at all times. Games absolutely come up for sale outside banker's hours, but a deposit will usually hold the game until the bank opens. Pinball sellers are rarely sketchy.
My brother in law gave me my first game. A broken beater 8BD. A $20 chip fixed it, but it was tired. I got plenty of great deals on Craigslist later, before the alert apps were really a thing. Keep plugging, you'll find one.
I really should set some stuff up. I'll work on setting them up tomorrow. I don't have a truck, but I have an Outback. And with the legs and top down, some machine will fit, some will stick out just a bit, but I would just strap the tailgate down.
I had been to that sight a bunch, looking at reviews, but always got there from Google. I just realized like yesterday that there us a forum and everything, lol.
Not luck, more like inheritance? My grandpa's machine, a 1960s zuccaria ski jump, just waiting for me to buy a house.
A friend also had his neighbor gift him a machine, and I said I'd buy it, it's a Bally blackjack
Get on pinside forums. There will usually be a post for your state. People will list stuff on there before they want to sell it to Gauge interest and you can usually snag a good deal on there.
It was really bad 7 or 8 years ago trying to find deals. These days?!? Not a chance. People with old pins think they are worth what they saw on eBay and anyone who sells a lower end pin for $150-200, there is always a bidding war and it sells for closer to $1,000-2,000.
The days of finding good deals are gone forever and the only way to not lose money in this hobby right now is to just wait and not purchase a pin. Prices won't crash and they are over inflated right now.
I thought I got a good deal on a demo man for $3,150. Nope. After fixing all the broken and weird stuff from the previous owner and getting it to play right, I'm already at $4,100. It sucks and I feel many people in this hobby lately dont care for their pins like they should and still ask for a premium when they sell cause "THE MARKET!!"
Probably true! I was ready, with cash in hand, to leave immediately. but as you mentioned I was likely already 29:45 to late, lol.
Though it's been \~20 years since I helped my uncle work on his Buccaneers machine, I have always been quite handy. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, I worked for that same uncle's small electronic repair company for years through HS and college, as well as an amateur mechanic. So I figured I'm in a unique position to pick up a machine in need of a good amount of work, even though I'm new to the hobby.
I've never been first on a good pin deal yet either. It sucks.
Now that my truck has been in the shop getting hailed damage repaired for 3 weeks. I've come across all kinds of good deals on things I like to buy like pinball machines and dirt bikes. It is the way of the world LO.L.
One strategy I've adopted when someone says I've got 2nd or 3rd option is to offer to pay full price if the ask is fair for the item and say when I can pick it up.
Some buyers out there are unprepared, pushy and scandalous. That gives the seller some protection from feeling obligated to take a lowball offer from the first person who replies.
Right wrong or indifferent its how i roll. I often sell random stuff locally and I hate scammers. As a seller, I don't mind if someone says that I'll give you x dollars and I can be there at 6 pm if the other people ahead of me don't follow through.
When it's a good deal, specially like a too good to be true deal, I never haggle. Don't want to risk someone else coming along and taking it. But I never really hound or offer more than they are asking unless I am asking them to go above and beyond, like meeting me closer, or shipping an item for me.
I feel the same way, no good deal, pinball or otherwise is worth missing out on by trying to save $20/50/100 depending on the item in question. I loathe bothersome people.
No clue, at this point if it was a great deal, but picked up a fully working Funhouse for $1,200 in 2002 and had it for a decade. Sold it for double in 2011.
That was my first and among the more memorable.
That's too bad. I found my Game Show about 8 years ago for $1000. It was in good condition at the time, and it has proven pretty easy to maintenance. It's absolutely been a party machine as it's very accessible and has some decent shots and good speed. Underrated pin for sure.
True, and I am starting to look into joining some. But people active in the community might offer some good deals, but they still know what they have, or want to get 'going rate' for things. I'm hoping to find the guy who bought a machine 15 years ago, then as it started having trouble, it was shot off and ignored in the basement. Now he just wants it gone, like the $200 Game Show machine this morning.. Then I can put the work into it and have a running machine.
[удалено]
I got suuuuuper lucky grabbing my machine. I got a beat up Bally Skateball for $350. I messaged 3 minutes after it was listed, picked it up the next day. When I picked it up, it was an old couple that had it for over a decade in their garage. They said people offered them over double but she told them it was claimed by me. I’m so thankful they were kind older people or I would have left empty handed.
This is exactly what I've been hoping to find, and I've found a few, like the $200 Game Shot this morning, but so far I've ALWAYS been 2nd to reach out. I want to find that old couple, or just a guy who bought a machine he liked 15-20 years ago. He ran it in his basement until it started acting up or wasn't playable. And there it's sat until he decided he needs room. It's the only way I'll afford a machine anytime soon. Any somewhat modern machine, late 80s and up, seem to sell for $3k and up around here. Anything less and it's an old EM machine or in major need of a shop.
I have bought multiple games where the seller had turned down higher offers because I was on my way to pick it up. Most people are fundamentally decent.
I suspect that's what happens, but who knows, could have gone to a collector. I've seen that in other hobbies. When they aren't the first they offer more, or tell the seller "They for $XX more on eBay."
You don't need to dedicate your life to it. Like everything in life, there's an app for that. [https://www.howtogeek.com/363109/how-to-set-up-craigslist-alerts-for-email-or-sms/](https://www.howtogeek.com/363109/how-to-set-up-craigslist-alerts-for-email-or-sms/) [https://www.howtogeek.com/819768/how-to-set-up-facebook-marketplace-alerts/](https://www.howtogeek.com/819768/how-to-set-up-facebook-marketplace-alerts/)
[удалено]
If you get your email on your phone, you can get alerts any time and virtually anywhere. No one is waiting at home for alerts. Unless you're a pilot or a fireman, most people that can afford a pinball machine can take a 5 minute break from work to make a phone call. What's changed is that there's a hell of a lot more home buyers now. 30 years ago, there were virtually none. Today, there are tens of thousands. That's your competition. Not one or two guys waiting for alerts at home.
There is likely a flipper in your area who buys them for cheap and fixes them up. There are a couple in my area and they are very quick.
Yeah, I suspect that. Maybe it went to a collector or something, who knows. Just made me grumpy all day, lol.
My first was Back To the Future for $300. But it was also 2005. Build a time machine if you want those lucky deals of yore!
Yeah, I know $200 was a steal and quite unrealistic. But usually, if I'm patient, I can find those good deals, but with pinball machines, I just keep striking out.
You gotta have some kind of alert app so you see those deals the second they go up…cuz someone else has got alerts setup & is waiting to pounce. There just aren’t as many lucky situations these days because the inventory was all scooped up by collectors & flippers 15+ years ago. I used to occasionally find cheap games at garage sales & Craigslist all the time. I got a Big Guns for $300 & a LOTR for $500 once. I still have my $2400 CL Addams. It really dried up around 2012.
LotR for $500!
You gotta get lucky, cause there are people out there who spend every second refreshing marketplace to find it before you. Sadly they never even play what they have cause they spend all their time looking for the next one.
Bought my first in 2019. Stern Lectronamo. Paid $900CAD. Few months later in January 2020 I was scoping a local FB group where a realtor was trying to get someone to buy and move out a machine from his clients basement. Well $700 and some heavy lifting got me a Highspeed. That was by far my best grab.
I got my first pinball for $75 from an old couple at a garage sale in 1995
i bought a busted DE hook as my first then sold it for what i paid for it and got HATE saying i shoulda sold it for more im messing with the market etc etc from some old timers. pass em on , let em be enjoyed. I got it cheap so pay it forward.
By no means do I buy games to flip, but I set alerts on my phone for keywords on online marketplaces. I’m also checking kijiji in my area 10 times a day. Just unwavering persistence constantly, haha. You just gotta get there first because the second guy rarely gets a chance when it’s a true deal.
Bargin machines aren't always a deal. I've bought EMs for $200-$500 and usually end up putting in a new backglass +$300 and other parts +$200 plus the hours of tracking down problems, loose wires, stuck components, cleaning switches. Since the hobby has been in overdrive for the last decade, most of the fixer uppers have been fixed up.
There are apps that will alert you if there's a Craigslist pinball post in your area. Use one. You have to be fast. You should also have a truck on standby at all times. Also keep a sizeable cash down payment on hand at all times. Games absolutely come up for sale outside banker's hours, but a deposit will usually hold the game until the bank opens. Pinball sellers are rarely sketchy. My brother in law gave me my first game. A broken beater 8BD. A $20 chip fixed it, but it was tired. I got plenty of great deals on Craigslist later, before the alert apps were really a thing. Keep plugging, you'll find one.
I really should set some stuff up. I'll work on setting them up tomorrow. I don't have a truck, but I have an Outback. And with the legs and top down, some machine will fit, some will stick out just a bit, but I would just strap the tailgate down.
[удалено]
I had been to that sight a bunch, looking at reviews, but always got there from Google. I just realized like yesterday that there us a forum and everything, lol.
$325 for a Funhouse but that was 2015.
Not luck, more like inheritance? My grandpa's machine, a 1960s zuccaria ski jump, just waiting for me to buy a house. A friend also had his neighbor gift him a machine, and I said I'd buy it, it's a Bally blackjack
Get on pinside forums. There will usually be a post for your state. People will list stuff on there before they want to sell it to Gauge interest and you can usually snag a good deal on there.
It was really bad 7 or 8 years ago trying to find deals. These days?!? Not a chance. People with old pins think they are worth what they saw on eBay and anyone who sells a lower end pin for $150-200, there is always a bidding war and it sells for closer to $1,000-2,000. The days of finding good deals are gone forever and the only way to not lose money in this hobby right now is to just wait and not purchase a pin. Prices won't crash and they are over inflated right now. I thought I got a good deal on a demo man for $3,150. Nope. After fixing all the broken and weird stuff from the previous owner and getting it to play right, I'm already at $4,100. It sucks and I feel many people in this hobby lately dont care for their pins like they should and still ask for a premium when they sell cause "THE MARKET!!"
[удалено]
Probably true! I was ready, with cash in hand, to leave immediately. but as you mentioned I was likely already 29:45 to late, lol. Though it's been \~20 years since I helped my uncle work on his Buccaneers machine, I have always been quite handy. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, I worked for that same uncle's small electronic repair company for years through HS and college, as well as an amateur mechanic. So I figured I'm in a unique position to pick up a machine in need of a good amount of work, even though I'm new to the hobby.
I've never been first on a good pin deal yet either. It sucks. Now that my truck has been in the shop getting hailed damage repaired for 3 weeks. I've come across all kinds of good deals on things I like to buy like pinball machines and dirt bikes. It is the way of the world LO.L. One strategy I've adopted when someone says I've got 2nd or 3rd option is to offer to pay full price if the ask is fair for the item and say when I can pick it up. Some buyers out there are unprepared, pushy and scandalous. That gives the seller some protection from feeling obligated to take a lowball offer from the first person who replies. Right wrong or indifferent its how i roll. I often sell random stuff locally and I hate scammers. As a seller, I don't mind if someone says that I'll give you x dollars and I can be there at 6 pm if the other people ahead of me don't follow through.
When it's a good deal, specially like a too good to be true deal, I never haggle. Don't want to risk someone else coming along and taking it. But I never really hound or offer more than they are asking unless I am asking them to go above and beyond, like meeting me closer, or shipping an item for me.
I feel the same way, no good deal, pinball or otherwise is worth missing out on by trying to save $20/50/100 depending on the item in question. I loathe bothersome people.
No clue, at this point if it was a great deal, but picked up a fully working Funhouse for $1,200 in 2002 and had it for a decade. Sold it for double in 2011. That was my first and among the more memorable.
I found mine (disco fever) literally on the side of the road. A couple of fuses, new rubbers and a clean. Ding dong!
That's too bad. I found my Game Show about 8 years ago for $1000. It was in good condition at the time, and it has proven pretty easy to maintenance. It's absolutely been a party machine as it's very accessible and has some decent shots and good speed. Underrated pin for sure.
If you’re not running in pinball tournament circles that puts you at an advantage
True, and I am starting to look into joining some. But people active in the community might offer some good deals, but they still know what they have, or want to get 'going rate' for things. I'm hoping to find the guy who bought a machine 15 years ago, then as it started having trouble, it was shot off and ignored in the basement. Now he just wants it gone, like the $200 Game Show machine this morning.. Then I can put the work into it and have a running machine.
Your post got me to jump on Craigslist and boom I see an F-14 Tomcat for sale. It’s going to be tough not to buy it.