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HLD (again)

By weird coincidence I noticed this morning that they've managed to sell my old Cue Ball Wizard for £3500.
 
I have to say i've dealt with HLD a few times and they are good bunch of guys. Sure they want to make money - doesn't everyone - they are no different to the other home leisure dealers (liberty games for example).

Neil.
 
I think the issue with this and why a few forum members get upset are

  1. This is an open forum, so anyone can get on, real identities can be opaque
  2. Many forum members see this as a supportive, co-operative type, community where folk do stuff for reasons much broader than financial gain
  3. Folk on this forum may give things away, or sell things at a discount on the basis items are being kept in the community
  4. Auctions are not tolerated. So sellers save the 10 per cent fee, meaning games can trade more efficiently and sometimes things have a queue of willing buyers at the asking price
  5. So good guys on here can miss out on games that (quickly) sell only to see them advertised elsewhere at massively marked-up prices
So when a £ motivated buyer just floats around buying games that would have otherwise have stayed in the community, whilst seemingly giving nothing back to the forum - it feels like the spirit of the community is being violated

I suspect that some on here will not care who buys their games, but others very much do care. I would suggest that if a seller gets more than one buyer that they ask questions about who they are and decide whether they are the right people to buy that game
 
Blindly selling things cheap on a forum because it's 'helping the community' is a little naive IMO, although I'd be a bit disappointed if someone deceived me when negotiating a sale. Sell cheap to those who actively participate on the forum if you like, their posts are their 'feedback'. Anyone else, assume they're Joe Public. If anyone got rich selling 2nd hand pinball, I'd be surprised, even at 3.5k a pop.

Maybe worth a sticky post in the selling forum, if there isn't already?
 
DRD said:
This is an open forum, so anyone can get on, real identities can be opaque
Click to expand...

This opaqueness drives me nuts, isn't that the inverse of community? Why don't people just use their real names? I guess it's because they have something to hide, like flipping machines! I've been D-Type for over 20 years on video and pinball related forums, so I put my name in my signature, in a not-obvious form for search engines.

I knew loads of people personally from the Yahoo groups forum, many of which probably migrated over here, but I don't know them by handle on the forum so it's like starting all over again.

Nick Bennett from Pinsanon had a website called pinballfaces that was a directory of all the community members, that was a great idea, I reckon.
 
D-Type said:
This opaqueness drives me nuts, isn't that the inverse of community? Why don't people just use their real names? I guess it's because they have something to hide, like flipping machines! I've been D-Type for over 20 years on video and pinball related forums, so I put my name in my signature, in a not-obvious form for search engines.

I knew loads of people personally from the Yahoo groups forum, many of which probably migrated over here, but I don't know them by handle on the forum so it's like starting all over again.

Nick Bennett from Pinsanon had a website called pinballfaces that was a directory of all the community members, that was a great idea, I reckon.
Click to expand...

i second that
 
Arv said:
Was it someone on here who bought it from you?
Click to expand...

No I sold it on eBay. Didn't expect any interest for it on here.

Re earlier posts - I can't see too many people wanting to use their real name on the internet along with a list of valuable house contents. I certainly wouldn't anyway. Would be good to have an identity verification process whereby a site donation by paypal is mandatory before anyone has the ability to post. That would also put off scammers.
 
D-Type said:
This opaqueness drives me nuts, isn't that the inverse of community? Why don't people just use their real names? I guess it's because they have something to hide, like flipping machines! I've been D-Type for over 20 years on video and pinball related forums, so I put my name in my signature, in a not-obvious form for search engines.

I knew loads of people personally from the Yahoo groups forum, many of which probably migrated over here, but I don't know them by handle on the forum so it's like starting all over again.

Nick Bennett from Pinsanon had a website called pinballfaces that was a directory of all the community members, that was a great idea, I reckon.
Click to expand...

I think the opposite. There's no way I'd put my personal details up on a publically open forum - that's just asking for trouble with hackers or others involved in nefarious activities.
 
RobZombie said:
No I sold it on eBay. Didn't expect any interest for it on here.

Re earlier posts - I can't see too many people wanting to use their real name on the internet along with a list of valuable house contents. I certainly wouldn't anyway. Would be good to have an identity verification process whereby a site donation by paypal is mandatory before anyone has the ability to post. That would also put off scammers.
Click to expand...

JT. said:
I think the opposite. There's no way I'd put my personal details up on a publically open forum - that's just asking for trouble with hackers or others involved in nefarious activities.
Click to expand...

if you think that makes you any more secure- good luck!

Regards,
Neil.
 
If someone I don't know wants to buy my £1500 game and sell it for £3000 then I'm ok with that. I'd sell the same game to a mate for £1300 or to another forum stranger who had an obvious desire to fiddle and play it at home for £1400, but in the absence of those two, the market decides. Ok so someone paid too much but still, the hobby grows and the HLD employees get paid and that's life in a capitalist society.
 
Know your buyer if the chance of a game going into a dealer's hands bothers you...

You should be similarly mad if it goes into the hands of a person that will never let anyone else play on the game, ever again... never takes it out for shows... never contributes a single post back to the boards... destroys the game through bad repairs/mods... Can't avoid those situations either if you don't know the person. At the very least dealers present a tiny chance for the games to enter circulation again.

The risks you take to try and grow a hobby.

I don't have any love for dealers by the way, as by pricing games above mint price, they remove games from my reach, both literally and mentally. I was too late for the environment I would have blossomed in (floods and floods of cheap junker projects nobody else wants to save)
 
Neil McRae said:
if you think that makes you any more secure- good luck!

Regards,
Neil.
Click to expand...

Oh Neil... With the stuff you have posted here and elsewhere across the internet about your personal life, travel itinerary, cars you drive, belongings, work, job title and so on.....i'm surprised there isn't a Nigerian town or an Indian call center named after you. :D:D:D
 
Rus121 said:
Oh Neil... With the stuff you have posted here and elsewhere across the internet about your personal life, travel itinerary, cars you drive, belongings, work, job title and so on.....i'm surprised there isn't a Nigerian town or an Indian call center named after you. :D:D:D
Click to expand...

I only allow Burmese Hamlets to be named after me. :rofl:
 
It seems kind of obvious that putting your name and personal details makes you less secure. Anybody who really is determined to can get that information can of course, but it does at least rule out lazy opportunists.
 
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I'm not worried about lazy opportunists. They are more likely to pay your postie £20 quid for your bank statement or other valuable token. Thirty years of being on the Internet and so far so good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So HLD managed to convince someone that a £1,500 Gott was worth £3,500. Question: if offers were allowed on For Sale posts on here and some random noob waved £3k5 at you when fellow forum members were making offers of around £1k4 or £1k5, would you take it? I know I'd be thinking "Jeez! And extra 2k! I could buy another whole new game!" And if you did accept, would you tell everyone about the amazing windfall you'd had?
 
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