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WHY DO I BOTHER

C

chris b

Registered
10 Years
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Messages
2,521
Location
Bradford west yorkshire
Just looking back on e bay sales in the last month and thinking to myself why do I go to the bother of workshoping them and making sure they play 100% as project pins seem to go for even more than fully working ones few examples I sold
T3 fully working and workshoped with new display £1215
a non working one with one pic goes for £1079
a fully working HS2 workshoped £810
a project party zone £880 0n ebay
whats going on
 
I was thinking the same, I couldn't believe your HS2 only making that. If I wasn't saving every penny for MMR I would have had that in a heart beat, in fact if I had seen it sooner I would have got rid of one of mine for it!
 
Why is T3 so cheap? How much was it when released? The game isn't that magical but seems too cheap regardless.
 
Also, les potts' Very nice shadow went for £1062. It had ZERO sanctum wear. A week or so later an another one pops up, not nearly as nice, and goes for £1220!

The shadow is the finest game for the money I ever had.
 
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Could there be a psychological thing going on for people who are vey inexperienced pinball buyers (I'd put myself just out of this bracket having purchased 2 in my lifetime & now spent a few months on pinball info) with the philosophy that you're meant to be able to pick-up bargains from ebay & the best deals are things that people don't want e.g. "Slightly knackered pinball machine that just needs a couple of bulbs changing a new fuse & a wipe over to make it a fully functioning machine you'll treasure and be able to sell on ebay at a profit in a year or so" being sold by somebody who knows nothing about pinball and hence doesn't appreciate the bargain they are letting go versus a "fully fixed/cleaned/tested machine that is obviously being sold by someone who knows a lot about pinballs & hence will be charging top-dollar so I don't want to buy from him as he'll probably be ripping me off"


Perhaps worth advertising as "needing a couple of bulbs changing and looking a bit dusty" and offer to include bulbs ( that you you will fit for free! ) and a free duster for purchaser to wipe machine down with?
 
To be fair, selling here for less means less chance of being screwed over by dodgy/awekward buyers and charged eBay fees. As for the crazy price differences, all it takes is one idiot with more money than sense!
 
Plus there's no dodgy bidding on Chris' sales. Any of the high selling projects come back for sale "due to timewasters" yet?

I take it you don't do anything different that might put prospective bidders off, such as making your sales "private bidding only" or anything?
 
Personally I'd avoid anything with a 'seller refurbished' title. I'd much prefer it grotty than having been shopped by most people. At least then I'd know it was as complete as possible.
 
Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason. @chris b, did your auctions finish at an odd time, like 7am on a Monday morning instead of the more profitable 7pm Sunday evening?

And you never know how those other sales actually finished. Pinball machines inevitably require the buyer to collect and it wouldn't surprise me that people will bid to win and then haggle on collection. On your pins this is unlikely to happen - you can see clearly what is being offered, a top-notch pin; there's nothing of significance to haggle over. But if the pin is poorly described and requires work then a buyer can easily claim it wasn't as described and get away with not completing the sale... unless the seller accepts their there-and-then cash-on-collection offer.
 
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I wouldn't worry too much about the T3 that supposedly sold for £1076, it has been resisted because (surprise surprise) of a time waster
 
Shill bidding is absolutely rife on ebay, especially on pinball machines it seems.

Chris, I think you are wrongly assuming most of those "sold" items are genuine.

I've had it a lot on ebay, where I bid on a pinball item, get outbid, and then about 30 seconds after the auction ends I get a message from the seller saying that the highest bidder was a timewaster (what really? 30 seconds after the end) and I can have the item at the timewasters bid price if I want.

As has already been mentioned above, the T3 has been relisted again already due to "timewasters" as a perfect example
 
I think "time wasters" is also another word for "people who came to pick up and realised it was not in the condition advertised". A flashing alarm in any case, basically.
 
Now I assume ALL pins are garbage unless I know (or know of) the reputation of the seller.

After taking everything into consideration, only the playfield condition and the odd non replaceable component truly matters when buying a game. Fixing up the rest is all part of the fun!
 
lukewells said:
Shill bidding is absolutely rife on ebay, especially on pinball machines it seems.

Chris, I think you are wrongly assuming most of those "sold" items are genuine.

I've had it a lot on ebay, where I bid on a pinball item, get outbid, and then about 30 seconds after the auction ends I get a message from the seller saying that the highest bidder was a timewaster (what really? 30 seconds after the end) and I can have the item at the timewasters bid price if I want.

As has already been mentioned above, the T3 has been relisted again already due to "timewasters" as a perfect example
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node said:
I think "time wasters" is also another word for "people who came to pick up and realised it was not in the condition advertised". A flashing alarm in any case, basically.
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My point exactly. If it get's re-isted 30 seconds later then it's been shilled by the "time waster". If it gets re-listed a few days later then the "time waster" rocked up and for whatever reason offered less than their winning bid. If I were the seller in the latter situation I'd be right f***ed off and would not accept on principle.

Makes me laugh @lukewells that they offer to you at the time-wasters bid price but not your own! If you were willing to pay that much you'd be the winner anyway, so the only decent thing to do before re-listing is to offer it at your bid price. Another sign that the whole deal is a crock of s**t.
 
Rus121 said:
After taking everything into consideration, only the playfield condition and the odd non replaceable component truly matters when buying a game. Fixing up the rest is all part of the fun!
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I've learnt this the hard way already, absolutely true! :D At the same time, it's like my builder mate says - you can get just about anything repaired, for a price!
 
Location location location.

A grotty table will be fought over if it's within 10 miles of London, same machine will go for 20-30% less if it's in the borders.
 
abaxas said:
Location location location.
A grotty table will be fought over if it's within 10 miles of London, same machine will go for 20-30% less if it's in the borders.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with this one. I live in sunny Surrey, the very heart of the middle-class commuter belt. I've bought precisely 2 pins in my life, both of which were very much north of the Watford Gap: Lincoln and Liverpool. The prices (£150 and £350) made the 400-mile round-trip each time totally worth it, in terms of both time and cost.

I eagerly watch all the pinball machines for sale on eBay that might be within my humble price range (so, not many) but the few that turn up relatively close always go for significantly more. I guess it's all supply and demand, etc.
 
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