Pinball Price Tracker

[DRD]

I think that there may be a relatively simple way to follow the price trends in used pinballs.

If it were possible to create a very basic schedule of Addams Family prices over time, I think that this would act as a fairly accurate proxy for the market as a whole.

I suspect that strong correlations with other games will exist. Ie a Fish Tales might be 0.5x an Addams, a Whitewater is maybe 0.7x an Addams, a TZ 0.9x an Addams, a Med Madness is 1.2x an Addams for example.

Why Addams ? The most common pinball machine. Mature market (no depreciation). Best price data you will have on any pinball machine.

Back in the 1990s I was a UK govt bond trader. This was a horribly illiquid market, offering poor price transparency, with dozens of rarely traded securities. What was actively traded however, with excellent price transparency was the 10 year LIFFE future. This was the canary in the coal mine that you could follow and the market basically priced the other securities off this one.

Of course this was then nuanced for bond duration, tax effects. High coupons v low coupons. Tap issues .... but the simplistic model worked.

It would be the same for pinballs - condition, remakes, projects ...

 

[AlanJ]

There are enough of us on this forum to create a pretty good price database :

date of transaction, which pin, condition (anything that affects price - working or not, mods, new parts, damage) price, buy or sell , nature if sale (forum, ebay etc)

It would rely on the honesty of everyone. I bet most have kept records similar to this. even those who have done 100’s of buys and sells.

A simple shared excel sheet would do the trick. Or send to me and i’ll compile it up

 

[Marvello]

For the last year I've been making a note of the price of Pins that come up for sale, just for my own benefit really to give me a ball park figure if I'm thinking about buying that Pin in future. I know they don't alway sell for the asking price but it's a good estimate and I make a note if it's got any notable extras like a ColorDMD.

I know you can search the history here but prices are sometimes removed from the title once they have sold.

 

[AlanJ]

we could list both actual sales and asking price listings. filter out the asking if you want a more accurate real value.

 

[Deleted member 2463]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[AlanJ]

There are enough of us on this forum to create a pretty good price database :

date of transaction, which pin, condition (anything that affects price - working or not, mods, new parts, damage) price, buy or sell , nature if sale (forum, ebay etc)

It would rely on the honesty of everyone. I bet most have kept records similar to this. even those who have done 100’s of buys and sells.

A simple shared excel sheet would do the trick. Or send to me and i’ll compile it up

For the last year I've been making a note of the price of Pins that come up for sale, just for my own benefit really to give me a ball park figure if I'm thinking about buying that Pin in future. I know they don't alway sell for the asking price but it's a good estimate and I make a note if it's got any notable extras like a ColorDMD.

I know you can search the history here but prices are sometimes removed from the title once they have sold.

Anyone interested in this. I’ll happily compile the spreadsheet if folks forward their details of purchases and sales. ability to remain anonymous is a key factor i guess?