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My reflection on the e bay thread

My simple view..

If you sell something on here, “to keep it in the community”, etc then make sure you get what you want for it, because once someone else owns it they can do what they like with it, including flipping it straight on eBay.

I’ve personally got no interest in doing that, mainly because I’ve got other ways to make money and quite frankly can’t be bothered. Some people make a living out of it though, and good luck to them.

Selling something below the odds on here “to do the community a favour”, or whatever, is all well and good but what if the person who buys it decides they aren’t a fan after all, or they suddenly need to liquidate some stuff to get some cash, etc - are they obliged to hang on to it for X months so they can pay their dues, on top of paying their dues when they bought it in the first place?

I don’t personally begrudge anyone seeking to make a bit of extra money on eBay, if they can. It’s not my place to dictate how much profit someone should make after selling something I’ve sold them. If I wasn’t happy with how much I was getting in the first place, I should’ve asked for more.
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
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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This is kinda how I've operated a couple of times and an excellent way around skyrocketing second hand prices. Bought NIB. Lost a few hundred quid but had an absolute blast on the games whilst I've owned them. Worked out cheaper than playing golf which is where my money used to go.
 
Rob zombie said:
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.
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... I guess it’s nice to never lose money on a purchase. However I see I differently.
I’ve pretty sure I’ve over paid for some items, namely arcade cabs and may well do with pins in the future but I pay precisely what it’s worth to me at that moment.
if I move it on down the line for less and make a loss then that’s what I’ll pay for the joy of buying, playing and owning that particular cab/pinball and I won’t bat an eyelid.
Not a great business model, but then again I’m not in business 😆
 
Bobbdobalina said:
... I guess it’s nice to never lose money on a purchase. However I see I differently.
I’ve pretty sure I’ve over paid for some items, namely arcade cabs and may well do with pins in the future but I pay precisely what it’s worth to me at that moment.
if I move it on down the line for less and make a loss then that’s what I’ll pay for the joy of buying, playing and owning that particular cab/pinball and I won’t bat an eyelid.
Not a great business model, but then again I’m not in business 😆
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I'm not in business either. But it certainly helps in this stupid hobby if you can justify it in some way when she's moaning that you're filling the house with massive noisy contraptions that nobody else plays.
 
Coming at this as a member of this community, I do not see the issue as simply a difference of opinion or that the costs are rising.

There was always banter based on opinion, such as who liked Popeye, Gilligan’s Island or Theatre or Magic or who really didn’t. There have always been conversations about how much someone thinks they can get for a machine, especially on eBay. Though even I can now say I remember the days you could buy a TAF for half what they now cost.
At the start of anything, there are a core group who are focused on making it work. A place to enjoy, like building a perfect pub where folks want to be. Over time, some folks go in a different direction, new folks join. Old folks return. The forum changes and is changed by its members.

The eBay thread is a good example of what I felt was very different when I returned after a break from the site. It use to be about pointing out good options or bad scams, keeping us from bidding each other up accidentally. Maybe talking about prices.
It now feels to be about judgement over what “others” are doing.

I don’t think that is the same as having an opinion or disagreeing with someone else’s. It is about having an opinion that in some way makes someone superior to others or is voiced in a way that could imply someone else is inferior. It might not always be the intention of the poster but it gets picked up by others and rolls on.

I might not want to spend £8k on a TAF that is my opinion. But if I was to say you must be an idiot for spending £8k on a TAF then I am doing more than just offer an opinion.
 
Calimori said:
It is about having an opinion that in some way makes someone superior to others or is voiced in a way that could imply someone else is inferior. It might not always be the intention of the poster but it gets picked up by others and rolls on.
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Well said, this continues to happen on the for sale section- it’s not helpful to the seller when a member gives their opinion publicly with a comment which is unhelpful to the sale. Perhaps direct message the seller with a question if they’re genuinely interested in buying; rather than undermine the seller and their pin.
 
I think everyone just needs to lighten up. It's a niche hobby and people are going to rub each other up the wrong way from time to time. Get over it, move on. Tomorrow is another day and this does not matter much in the grand scheme of things.
 
Rob zombie said:
I think everyone just needs to lighten up. It's a niche hobby and people are going to rub each other up the wrong way from time to time. Get over it, move on. Tomorrow is another day and this does not matter much in the grand scheme of things.
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Exactly this.

Grown men squabbling over their toys FFS!

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
Andy, that sort of response will not help reduce issues. You could be implying people who are getting annoyed are children.
FFS really emphasised how ridiculous you think that behaviour is.
It is your opinion but it judges others actions.

Yes, I know this is a public forum and what we do and write is open for anyone to see and therefore our responses are there to be judged. But does sharing this opinion and judging folks help the community?
 
Calimori said:
Andy, that sort of response will not help reduce issues. You could be implying people who are getting annoyed are children.
FFS really emphasised how ridiculous you think that behaviour is.
It is your opinion but it judges others actions.

Yes, I know this is a public forum and what we do and write is open for anyone to see and therefore our responses are there to be judged. But does sharing this opinion and judging folks help the community?
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not-sure-if-serious (1).jpg
 
Yep. I am serious. Trying to get people to think about the issue, as a community member, on behalf of a lot of people who have or who are walking away from this site.

We can ignore it and say this is how the forum is now or we can do something about it. I want to see if I can do something.
 
I do think there is a bit of lighten up needed though Calimori. I just saw the post that the Sarge is leaving (not on a jet plane owing to Covid19 restrictions one assumes).

I was tempted to post: "Does that mean we can unstick the Popeye guide from Pinball General Talk now?" as a humourous response but fearful of it causing more unrest - how can that be true? I assume that most people are having a laugh on the forum and tensions will occasionally boil over but we all go back to being sensible people in the end which is how most forums I've been involved in on the Internet since the 80's. But on this forum it does seem we have some tight underpants on more than we should.

Neil.
 
Calimori said:
Yep. I am serious. Trying to get people to think about the issue, as a community member, on behalf of a lot of people who have or who are walking away from this site.

We can ignore it and say this is how the forum is now or we can do something about it. I want to see if I can do something.
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Lol we're just a few dorks talking pinball and busting each others balls occasionally. It's not some divided and complex community that needs fixing. Will got ****ed and called Neil a name after Neil said someone had overpaid for a game I've never heard of. It's literally nothing.
 
huggers said:
Lol we're just a few dorks talking pinball and busting each others balls occasionally. It's not some divided and complex community that needs fixing. Will got ****ed and called Neil a name after Neil said someone had overpaid for a game I've never heard of. It's literally nothing.
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I think it's more the fact members, some very longstanding, are walking away from here or having very little involvement with the forum anymore.
 
This is a reflection thread, I am trying to highlight the issue that needs to be part of that reflection.

We can make light of it and hope it all goes away, my experience shows it won't and the forum changes into something else. Which may be fine but as @JMP says, when very valued members of the forum no longer want to be part of it, then I want to pick that up and make sure we can understand why.
 
Pinball has skyrocketed in popularity compared to where it was. Prices have gone in the same direction. The hobby as a whole has changed massively. The idea that this site has been hijacked by a load of toxic posters seems way off to me. I'm sure it's changed but that mirrors pinball as a whole. People need thicker skins. I hope for these long-standing members sake they don't dabble with Twitter. They'd probably quit the internet.
 
Andy_B said:
Grown men squabbling over their toys FFS!
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Calimori said:
Andy, that sort of response will not help reduce issues. You could be implying people who are getting annoyed are children.
FFS really emphasised how ridiculous you think that behaviour is.
It is your opinion but it judges others actions.

Yes, I know this is a public forum and what we do and write is open for anyone to see and therefore our responses are there to be judged. But does sharing this opinion and judging folks help the community?
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Really ??

Sounds like we're being hit with the Woke-Stick!!

Guess I'm going to get it in the neck too now, or my comment removed....again!!
 
That's insulting!!

Picking on new members! Surely that can't be allowed! Our opinions aren't valued!?!? Or is it if you've been here 2yrs you're valued more?
 
Yes it is. Which is why we're being asked to try harder, both here and in the wider world. It's easy to say that people should have thicker skins, shifting the blame to the person who is upset while at the same time demanding the the right to be a pr1ck if you want to. Freedom of speech and all that. The alternative of course, is that we all just try to be a bit more kind.

And yes, your tenure shouldn't have anything to do with whether your opinion is valued. It was a joke, but you're right.
 
Thicker skins required....
In the military, you wouldn’t last two minutes if you didn’t have a sense of humour.
Does that mean I can’t come on here to wind Neil up? 😜
 
Discussing games, helping fix problems, doing mods, arranging group buys, etc. are all good positive topics.

Slagging off games per se is not good. You might not like a game but you don't have to tell everyone. You might say that you don't like certain aspects of the game but others might like those same aspects.

Attacks on a personal level should never be made.

Nobody is better than anyone else. They may be better at playing pinball, have more disposable income or be a technical expert but that does not make them a better person. Unfortunately, some individuals have such self belief they think their opinions are the only valid opinions and will trample over others. Sad.

David
 
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