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My reflection on the e bay thread

C

CHRIS B PINBALLS

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5Years
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Feb 11, 2019
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bingley
As this got locked down and maybe rightly so then I thought I would say a common sense post firm but fair

Matt Addams is a good chap and all round nice guy he has every right to list him stuff on e bay and let’s be frank what would it have fetched on here my guess around £1500 I don’t know what the listing price was probably 99p start you take a gamble when starting at low bids it could have equily gone for £1000 that’s the change you take it sold for £2500 that’s what someone was willing to pay on the day and that person can rest assured that it will be an honest description and Matt would help the guy out if any problems would come up
Neil mention £2500 is a lot of money for a grand lizard but may have been done in the wrong context but it’s only an opinion neil has a led zep i think it’s an utter pile of ****e only my opinion I have a stern Star Wars I love it one of my favourite game neil thinks this is a pile of **** again only an opinion

most group members don’t want to pay the money for games and sadly there ain’t many bargain s out there anymore due to the availability of face book and e bay and many other platforms and at the end of the day most people want the best price they can get for a game
There are many wanted add that pop up I have messaged them to see how much they want to pay and it’s nothing like the going rate you are not going to get a deadpool for 4k in today s market these seem to be the people who moan about silly prices

lots of group members and good people too chose to use fb or e bay over here because they know they won’t get what they want for it here or you often see them on here with no luck and then sell quickly on other platforms that’s down to them
Then you have traders and lots of people on here sell to those I would say over 60% of stuff at Williams amusement s has come from group members on here these guys have contend on that they can buy pretty good machines on here with no problem s stick them in the show room and put a mark up on them with very little hassle the tmnt le I sold went there listed on here for a day with no interest so sold to them at what I listed it for they are always asking me if I have anything for sale and the answer is I will list on here first if no interest then you can have it the bm66 that was listed for weeks went to them there is also a few of my restored game in there stock too I always offer everything I get on here first but if people just don’t want to pay the money then what can I do

I love the freedom for discussion on this site but I do feel people get offended too easily but saying that silly name calling that’s just stupid and ended in the playground back in the school days

hopefully this topic will be a good honest way of people voicing there opinion s on a Sunday afternoon
 
I don't understand why people get so upset about it. It's almost as if any comment regarding price is an attack on the sellers masculinity or like poisoning their dog or something.

Neil's post was expressing his disbelief at the price at which a game sold. If the seller wasn't on here no-one would have given a ****.

There are loads of posts on here whereby members make derogatory comments about pin prices on eBay but because the seller isn't on the forum this is acceptable. Which way do you want it guys?

If I was the seller I would be jumping for joy at that price. I certainly would not be upset if someone suggested it was a little too much.

As a separate matter, while I accept that Calimori locked the thread (temporarily I hope) we once again have insults and offensive language being directed towards forum members. Mods?........

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I avoid drama on here. It’s my hobby and to me it should be fun.
All I would say, Matt can’t help how much something sells for on eBay. It’s not like it was a classified advert with a set price. What’s he supposed to do, say excuse me sir, that went for a bit more than I was expecting, here’s £500 cash back!!! Don’t think so.
 
Its easy for newbies like me to look at the prices of yesteryear with envy, but we have to remember that pinball was in decline then and that £500 pickup thats now worth ££££s could easily have been worth less than firewood now if the trend had continued. If people haddnt have taken that risk there would be no older games left.
 
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Spandangler said:
I avoid drama on here. It’s my hobby and to me it should be fun.
All I would say, Matt can’t help how much something sells for on eBay. It’s not like it was a classified advert with a set price. What’s he supposed to do, say excuse me sir, that went for a bit more than I was expecting, here’s £500 cash back!!! Don’t think so.
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I absolutely agree. The market at the time dictated the price.

But why get bent out of shape if someone suggests the price was higher than they would have paid? [emoji2369]

If we continue down this route we'll be moderating posts where an opinion disliking pin "A" is made because a forum member owns that pin.


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mufcmufc said:
The whole point, when I started it of the ebay thread was so people could give each other a heads up as to what they were bidding on to try and prevent machines going for too much and so we could help each other out. It turned into some sh1t show, whatever happened to community?
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And it does still work nick look at the Ripleys that popped up on e bay gone in seconds when someone posted the link on here

I am hoping that that at pinfest the coming together of lots of great people will change things a bit it’s just been too long since we have been able to meet and chat in person
 
The Grand Lizard was an auction, so you can't really blame the seller for it ending at such a seemingly high price. On the flip side, it's fair for anyone else to voice an opinion that prices have gone mad without that being seen as an attack on the seller.

My opinion about eBay prices is that a small number of sellers on there are attempting to distort the market by listing loads of machines at ridiculous prices. I have no idea why they are still doing this, as a quick check on their seller feedback and sold items suggests that they are not actually selling them (on eBay, at least). The use of stock images instead of photos also suggests that they may not even possess the machines they are listing.

Some people who are thinking about buying a machine are looking at all this and are now conditioned to think that £6k is the going rate for an average 90s machine. A neighbour of mine asked for advice about a Batman Forever at £5.5k and was thinking about putting in an offer because he thought that that was the going rate and he would be able to get his money back. I guess these eBay sellers only have to find one sucker to buy a machine at a bonkers price and they've made an easy profit.
 
Prime example Flintstones just popped up on e bay starting bid £1999 I assume the same guy who asked on here what it was worth with estimates between 2-3 grand
Guys done nothing wrong so let’s see what it goes for
 
paul h said:
The Grand Lizard was an auction, so you can't really blame the seller for it ending at such a seemingly high price. On the flip side, it's fair for anyone else to voice an opinion that prices have gone mad without that being seen as an attack on the seller.

My opinion about eBay prices is that a small number of sellers on there are attempting to distort the market by listing loads of machines at ridiculous prices. I have no idea why they are still doing this, as a quick check on their seller feedback and sold items suggests that they are not actually selling them (on eBay, at least). The use of stock images instead of photos also suggests that they may not even possess the machines they are listing.

Some people who are thinking about buying a machine are looking at all this and are now conditioned to think that £6k is the going rate for an average 90s machine. A neighbour of mine asked for advice about a Batman Forever at £5.5k and was thinking about putting in an offer because he thought that that was the going rate and he would be able to get his money back. I guess these eBay sellers only have to find one sucker to buy a machine at a bonkers price and they've made an easy profit.
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Great post Paul h again I will be frank is this does annoy me a fair bit I assume you are talking about the retro gaming company that seem to list a lot of stuff on e bay and face book at absolutely stupid prices with poor and library pics and the old chestnut that’s it’s fully refurbished if so then why don’t we see good pics of all the machine I see the sttng at £8500 with poor pics I have just sold a super mint one with new playfield pin sound colour dmd all new ramps and plastics full nut and bolt re build ton of expensive mods for 8k most people on here will just pass them by on here but they will snare the odd sucker I have absolutely no problem with people selling for a profit but they just take the **** in there defence I think they have jumped on the Covid band wagon when it was on fire and probably paid well over the odds for the stuff but as you say Paul if you look at there feedback they obviously ain’t selling much and it’s been floating about for some time
Has anyone on here bought from them
 
End of the day a machine is only worth what someone is willing to pay for and also supply and demand

I recently sold three of my classics via word to mouth... Could have stuck them on Ebay and made a little more but needed them moving so sold them to forum members for what I paid.

@CHRIS B PINBALLS has to me told me multiple of times I've overpaid for all of my Stern Classics but he does not valve or want them like I do

If you look at Europe and USA they all valve machines more then peeps in the UK

A lot of people who complain on here have all profiteered over the years a lot you have been in the hobby a long time and the machines you brought for £500 your not selling for £500 now... And none of them would sell a TAF they could sell or trade for around 5k for what they paid for it 10-15 years ago

So no one can preach.
 
This is just all to be expected given the way prices are going. There's a dual economy at play here versus everywhere else and unfortunately, anyone who engages in buying/selling here who also taps into the high prices elsewhere is going to catch heat. Unless the classified section here is simply removed and we all move to the other platforms, that's sadly always going to be the case.

I sold my last machine at the price I got it + the cost to get it up and running. I put blood sweat and tears into fixing that up and it just got some degree of a refurb (looks like new legs) and flipped for like 160% markup (albeit with a warranty) on Ebay. It is what it is and it's nothing personal, nor should it be if someone buys a machine here and flips it to Facebook or Ebay, but it's our duty to apply heat to those people. If we're going to keep our prices vs their prices, we just have to keep reminding ourselves what those prices are by laughing at those people.

I'm going to keep servicing the pinball player community by buying and selling at fair prices. If I have to let one go elsewhere because nobody wanted it, I'm happy to do so at the same price to do my bit to keep the prices reasonable and sell to a player whenever possible. I could pocket more cash by playing the inflation game and I'm well within my right to if I didn't get the machine from here. I just don't want to be part of the problem and I don't begrudge anyone who does. My conscience is clean.

It's upto us to make the effort to keep a wholesome community and niche economy between ourselves. If that's going to prosper, we sadly have to keep chastizing.
 
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Reading up on last nights antics really does just make me so sad for this community and I'm glad I've somewhat stepped back from the forum this year. I'm by no means innocent in the past in the indulging of drama and I do regret how things went down with Backhouse - but I'm not the only party involved in that one so we will leave that there. At the end of the day we are a veeeery small minority of people who enjoy, in the grand scheme of things, a rather bizarre, petty and unproductive hobby.

I'm well aware that it is quite literally impossible for everyone to get along without disagreements, that's just how the real world is - sadly its not all rainbows, sunshine and ice creams out on planet Earth like we were led to believe as kids. But is it really so difficult for us to just take a chill pill and get along? There is no need at all to discuss or bash the price of a pin unless you're selling it and you're asking for a valuation, or it is clearly a scam and to warn other unsuspecting people of the scam. Going by the opinions of people on here I've probably overpaid for the majority of my pins, but it's the price I was willing to pay and if I didn't I wouldn't have any of them. A pin is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Sadly the days of cheap games are long gone, and quite frankly I think a lot of people on here are so out of touch for what pins actually sell for behind closed doors that its almost laughable.

This forum should be about building a trusted community of crazy pinheads who truly love the hobby. I've had plenty of customers in the past say they don't come on here because of the drama and I completely understand why, and that is a shame and a great loss to us here. The future of this hobby depends on gaining momentum, generating more interest and building a bigger community, and the toxicity of this forum sometime is only damaging that. Just be nice, and if you cant be nice, don't post. But most importantly, after all of that..... VIVA GOTTLIEB! :p
 
The world is becoming an angrier and more insular place. Demos, defend the police, cancel culture, the seeking offence folk, wokesters ..

Covid, lock downs, income falls, furloughs, ongoing terror in the media, a scared population - the Double Indian Variant........

I am a member of 2 forums - both are noticeably less polite/ civil now than they were even 3 years ago. I very rarely visit the other one anymore as it is so full of aggressive smart-****s that will seek to argue and contradict for the sake of it.

There is a complete collapse in customer service in the UK. Ghosting is ever more common.

Sadly this is the way the world seems to be heading
 
I for one anyway believe the sense of community does still exist here. I don't buy or sell like I would love to due to space as well as cash (standard for most people) but what little I have sold has been through here.
The Gilligan's Island I sold on here last year for £900 (working for the most part). The PZ I bought from here and sold for here for exactly what I cost me a couple of years back. The Alien Poker I had off Neil for cheaps really. If I were going to sell it, it would be through here. I sold some EM's last year my ratty Pioneer here for £100.

I'd like to think all regular members did the same and as I said above, most do. So kudos to Neil and ChrisB for doing just that, if we don't have the cash after being advertised here then go externally to traders. Sure that makes good sense.

Were I to buy something from outside of these circles I'd consider eBay but still rather it stayed here. I'd inflate it for eBay but be cheaper for members and regulars here. If someone is going to pay for an overpriced (started high by me I might add) then show me the money! A mates rates thing if you like. The only thing not on is to buy off here, then inflate it for no good reason shortly after, don't offer it back and sell externally.
Do that and I will never, EVER sell you anything again.

So those are my experiences and thoughts. Seems a bit long winded I know and I've touched on the same thing more than once in previous rambles....

Rich
 
All this over a GL? We have cabin fever guys, buying here and doubling the price is dirty pool in my opinion one thing I have seen over last year or so is “ I did offer it on here and it didn’t sell “ so I put it on eBay ... see that a fair bit but the sales section had been a ghost town for the last year or so when we’re those pins listed ... I remember the days you would seer 3 90’s games a day listed for sale. But those days have gone. For me the forum was W place you could trust sending 3 k bank transfers as long as a member knew the seller the doubt was mostly taken out of a dodgy deal or lost money but since most stuff sells on fb I’d find it really difficult to send 3 k to an fb person with no links to people I know. Happy to sit on the side lines really fingers crossed cgc will kept pumping out the classics as I feel that’s the only way I’ll get one now.
 
Iirc it was Elton who sang “Saturday nights alright for fighting” but maybe Elton was wrong.
I’m old school and I’ve been in this hobby for just over 40 yrs. Like has already been posted, Years ago you could buy a non working machine for peanuts but once you’d spent time and money getting it sorted you were lucky if you broke even.
Times change and unfortunately so do people.
Those days are gone and they’re not gonna come back.
I went to a grammar school where the masters wore long black gowns and mortar boards.
Our form teacher, a Mr Scott taught us and I quote “ if you’re not involved in a dispute, then keep out of it” sound advice!!!!
If someone says God is black and a woman, then that’s their opinion. But unless they said it to me direct I’d ignore them. Yes I’d think to myself you’re a pr*t but that would be it.
It’s all too easy to criticise/chastise people today for something they did or didn’t do or say of didn’t say.
We’re all in this hobby together. We either sink or swim and I don’t wanna drown cos I can’t swim. 😊
 
Sako-TRG said:
Can’t believe all the morons paying way over the top for NIBs. Perhaps they’ve been to Recall .......been lobotomised........
Oh sh^t.......hang on a minute 🙄
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Indeed. The only game I lost a penny on was a NIB. I'd imagine get fed up of an LE could cost more than that Grand Lizard.
 
DRD said:
The world is becoming an angrier and more insular place. Demos, defend the police, cancel culture, the seeking offence folk, wokesters ..

Covid, lock downs, income falls, furloughs, ongoing terror in the media, a scared population - the Double Indian Variant........

I am a member of 2 forums - both are noticeably less polite/ civil now than they were even 3 years ago. I very rarely visit the other one anymore as it is so full of aggressive smart-****s that will seek to argue and contradict for the sake of it.

There is a complete collapse in customer service in the UK. Ghosting is ever more common.

Sadly this is the way the world seems to be heading
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It's easy to feel a sense of doom and gloom if people focus on the negative things in life. There are many positive things, the vaccine for example - things are slowly opening up, life will get back to how it was pre-covid for most people, the economy will recover.

Each generation has its own issues to deal with, just going back 100 years - World Wars, post war shortages, national strikes (the 70s looked grim!) but because this is the one we are living in we feel the effects more.

Like you say, avoiding the other website because it annoys you can be applied to lots of other situations in life, if something has a negative impact on you, remove it from your life. Easier said than done in some situations, but some people seek out things that annoy them and angry up the blood.

Things really aren't that bad, and the coming year should be a lot better than the last one. It makes you realise how good things were pre-covid, and not to take things for granted.
 
There's a great little community here and it's fun to be involved with. Met some great people through it and really stuff like last night is pretty rare. Ultimately though prices are probably going to push me away from pinball. There's so many other things I want to spend my cash on and when Flintstones is going for that kind of money I'm likely out!
 
The biggest issue, as I see it, is that people don't think that they should.loae money on a machine when they come to sell it.
I've lost count of the number of people, many on here, that say a pinball machine is a good 'investment' and 'you won't lose money' to noobs asking for advice.

What other item can you buy, use and then sell on after a number of months and not lose any money?

If you want to buy something as as investment, or to make money, why not ditch the pinball forums and concentrate on stocks and shares.
 
Marvello said:
It's easy to feel a sense of doom and gloom if people focus on the negative things in life. There are many positive things, the vaccine for example - things are slowly opening up, life will get back to how it was pre-covid for most people, the economy will recover.

Each generation has its own issues to deal with, just going back 100 years - World Wars, post war shortages, national strikes (the 70s looked grim!) but because this is the one we are living in we feel the effects more.

Like you say, avoiding the other website because it annoys you can be applied to lots of other situations in life, if something has a negative impact on you, remove it from your life. Easier said than done in some situations, but some people seek out things that annoy them and angry up the blood.

Things really aren't that bad, and the coming year should be a lot better than the last one. It makes you realise how good things were pre-covid, and not to take things for granted.
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That’s a great post Martin and bang on too but I do think the media focus on only negative things and nothing positive so much so I will turn the news off if it’s on
 
Wayne J said:
The biggest issue, as I see it, is that people don't think that they should.loae money on a machine when they come to sell it.
I've lost count of the number of people, many on here, that say a pinball machine is a good 'investment' and 'you won't lose money' to noobs asking for advice.

What other item can you buy, use and then sell on after a number of months and not lose any money?

If you want to buy something as as investment, or to make money, why not ditch the pinball forums and concentrate on stocks and shares.
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Another great and true comment if you buy a nib pin then odds on you are going to loose money when you sell it but you are buying it because you want it and I think if you loose a grand on a nib you have owned it for a year played and enjoyed it it’s not too bad
 
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