What's new
By:
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Pinball Price Tracker Database - I'm volunteering to collate it all - but needs your input please?

AlanJ

AlanJ

Site Supporter
5Years
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
8,334
Location
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Hi folks,

We have a brilliant opportunity to build a real community asset - a comprehensive price guide based on all of our own individual purchases and sales. I guess most of us already have records of what machines we have bought and sold, so it could be a relatively easy task to compile all that data up into a useful database (spreadsheet).

So, like a fool - I am volunteering to kick this project off and collate all the data, Once collated, I will publish and also will regularly update as we get new transactions coming through.

Attached below are two spreadsheets - the first is the template to capture the details. Pretty self explanatory. The second is a sample one using some of my own purchases and sales to give you an idea.

CONFIDENTIALITY
This, I feel is really important. All the data is anonymous, so you will not be identified as a seller or buyer.

HONESTY
This will only work if you give honest data. Please do not submit any inaccurate or false information.

TEST PHASE
Before we do this in earnest, I'd be happy to throw open the format of the data - Do we want to add any more columns of data? e.g. where the transaction took place? (eg forum, facebook, ebay, auction, private etc.)

Please don't send me any data just yet - lets agree the data format first.........

Also - has anyone got a spreadsheet with all the IPDB reference numbers and game titles in it please? That would be handy to incorporate.

EDIT:
I have updated the template and example to V1.1 - a couple of columns added, based on suggestions.
6/10/21 - Updated to V1.22 - now added a new column for Machine Serial Number. Optional - If you know your machine serial number, please feel free to use this column.
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Nice one. Yes the more data the better, you never know what correlations might be interesting.

Bet you'll see avg price go something like FB > ebay > forum > mailing list. I wonder if that's changed over time?

Condition of the machine and general notes good idea.

Serial # would be a very cool thing for long term tracking. Imagine being able to find the history of your pin 10 years from now.

Also, and im not suggesting this, but i also record how i felt driving away after pickup. Might seem odd but makes good reading looking back 😂
 
Great idea Alan. Rather than (or better still in addition to ) the condition notes, it would be really useful if there was a very simple categorisation like A: close to minty or fully restored, B; good condition, C: worn, "players condition", D: not working or for parts

Obviously it is a little subjective, but it would be great to be able to look up a game and see for example a Cat A Shadow went for £4500 and a Cat B one went for £3900 or whatever.

Just a thought
 
Mfresh said:
Great idea Alan. Rather than (or better still in addition to ) the condition notes, it would be really useful if there was a very simple categorisation like A: close to minty or fully restored, B; good condition, C: worn, "players condition", D: not working or for parts

Obviously it is a little subjective, but it would be great to be able to look up a game and see for example a Cat A Shadow went for £4500 and a Cat B one went for £3900 or whatever.

Just a thought
Click to expand...
I have tried to figure out a category system - but like all of these things, I felt that the description worked better. But, happy to add if people want it?
 
Don't know if you just haven't added it yet as it's a sample but auto sort on columns will save you a lot of time if you're trying to keep them in alphabetic order
 
Might be worth talking to dr Finlay about his findings, pitfalls etc

might even be able to use his site some way with a U.K. branch or something? I know he was looking to include the U.K. before
 
Jib said:
Don't know if you just haven't added it yet as it's a sample but auto sort on columns will save you a lot of time if you're trying to keep them in alphabetic order
Click to expand...
Yes i’ll add sort and drop down filters soon
BigIan said:
Might be worth talking to dr Finlay about his findings, pitfalls etc

might even be able to use his site some way with a U.K. branch or something? I know he was looking to include the U.K. before
Click to expand...
Not sure who that is? what site does he run?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jib
HI,

I'm a new/recent member - will say hi properly soon.

Just to add - I think this is a great idea - could you have a column beside game title for the abbreviation? Eg: TAF The Addams Family

Mike
 
I did have a working Scraper for Ebay - Would automatically scrape the prices of finished UK auctions and store in a database.

Problem is, Ebay changes their format so often, it needs updating every couple of months. Happy to share Alan if it would help??
 
Hi @Paul - yes I too had a scraper for ebay back in 2004 when it didn't change so often and I used it for years to grab tons of prices for (non pinball) stuff I collected at the time.

I'm not sure it's worth even trying these days as eBay seem to go out of their way to prevent it by changing format so so often.

but if you have a load of historical prices, somewhere - that would really help!
 
Annualman said:
HI,

I'm a new/recent member - will say hi properly soon.

Just to add - I think this is a great idea - could you have a column beside game title for the abbreviation? Eg: TAF The Addams Family

Mike
Click to expand...
Hi Mike - yes I can add that later once we have a populated database. I want to cut down on how many columns people have to complete.

Ive had some useful feedback so will issue a new version of the template in the next day or so, and then invite submissions of data.
 
AlanJ said:
Yes i’ll add sort and drop down filters soon

Not sure who that is? what site does he run?
Click to expand...
Pinballprices.com

you actually posted about it a while back I see after a quick search, hes docFinlay on here but don’t think he’s very active, on here anyhow.
 
check out Pinpedia which tracks eBay auctions and you can sift by a few countries and has some interesting data relating sales across a year and top selling games over a real. It might be a helpful resource.

Pinpedia: Pinball Database

Discover the world of pinball with Pinpedia, your ultimate resource for everything pinball-related. From vintage classics to modern machines, explore a rich database, stunning visuals, global sales insights, and expert guides. Perfect for collectors, enthusiasts, and curious newcomers alike.
www.pinpedia.com www.pinpedia.com
 
swinks said:
check out Pinpedia which tracks eBay auctions and you can sift by a few countries and has some interesting data relating sales across a year and top selling games over a real. It might be a helpful resource.

Pinpedia: Pinball Database

Discover the world of pinball with Pinpedia, your ultimate resource for everything pinball-related. From vintage classics to modern machines, explore a rich database, stunning visuals, global sales insights, and expert guides. Perfect for collectors, enthusiasts, and curious newcomers alike.
www.pinpedia.com www.pinpedia.com
Click to expand...
I am suspicious of the data in pinpedia - for example - a buy it now listing on ebay is often captured on pinpedia, even though it didnt sell at the vastly inflated BIN price. Hence this project
 
BigIan said:
Pinballprices.com

you actually posted about it a while back I see after a quick search, hes docFinlay on here but don’t think he’s very active, on here anyhow.
Click to expand...
Aha - yes - ta. - its all in US$. But its certainly useful.

there is also pinballprice.com - just found that.
 
AlanJ said:
...Also - has anyone got a spreadsheet with all the IPDB reference numbers and game titles in it please? That would be handy to incorporate.
Click to expand...

You can get a full dump of the database at https://opdb.org/ - this has full machine names, abbreviations, ipdb numbers (and opdb numbers which might be useful). opdb's format works quite well because it helps group machines of the same title, but different spec (eg LE, Prem, Pro)
 
The ironic thing is - I could have pulled all these from the database when the "new" sales was running within seconds... however because we went back to the "old" method i.e. running as posts in a forum then I cant do this, and every single one will need to be done by hand :(

Alan - I'm actually wondering if we could stick something together going forwards (and in some cases backwards) where individuals (publically identifiable or not) could put as much into as possible directly into a database via a web form... This way it would 1. Spread the load 2. could be continually be added to and 3. As long as people remember could add historic info.
Failing this, maybe going forwards i could look to implement something if it's possible on here.... Not sure i can though without changing things too much. Deffo will investigate.... I personally believe it's Very important data, and would be very useful.

It would also maybe fill a gap with regards to Tracking Machines between members Via serial numbers if required, which would be interesting!!
 
In the last 10 years the NIB Stern Pro Price has increased by an average $210/year

Godzilla Pro is $6,899

At the current rate we will see the $10k Stern Pro in around 15 years i.e. 2036
 
Hullshark said:
In the last 10 years the NIB Stern Pro Price has increased by an average $210/year

Godzilla Pro is $6,899

At the current rate we will see the $10k Stern Pro in around 15 years i.e. 2036
Click to expand...
I think it’s going to be a lot sooner than that last -10 years have had very low interest rates and low inflation. the next 10 will be different ie higher in both respects. IMHO
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom