Ethics among collectors

[shred]

That is sad and he is not your freind. He lied twice, he said he wanted it for himself and obviously he didnt because he sold it. Not much you can do about it, you thought you were getting a good deal so be happy but stop being freinds with someone who would do this unless he splits the profit with you. Also people saying it is your fault well it is not entirely your fault because you should be able to trust freinds and family. Becarefull of buying from anyone who claims they think what this guy did was ok.


Dave

You know another thing is you can not even look at it as you gave a freind a good deal because he sold it.

I gave a friend a super deal once on a dk jr and this was when games were going high. This thing was a 9.9 out of 10. I had restored it with a nos marquee, nos bezel, nos control panel overlay, nos side art, not any reproduction parts. I had put a double donkey kong in there. I sold it for a quarter of what they sold for at the time but the deal was he can not sell it to anyone. He can sell it only back to me for what he paid for it.


Dave

 

[shardian]

I sold it for a quarter of what they sold for at the time but the deal was he can not sell it to anyone. He can sell it only back to me for what he paid for it.


Dave

I think those kinds of deals are crap.

 

[shred]

I think those kinds of deals are crap.

Why he wanted it and I did not really want to sell it.. Why should I give it to him for a quarter of the price and in a year he sells it for allot more once he tires of it. I could have sold it to him for full price or told him to find another game. He would have paid more for one in allot worse condition. I put allot into the game and do not want it sold on the street. If he was not ok with it he could have turned it down and I would have found him a different one..


Dave

 

[shardian]

I just think that sales should be considered final with no stipulations. Things can go wrong, and sour relationships.
-His kids could scratch up the art
-The board could crap out
-The monitor could crap out
-It could be damage by water/fire

Etc, etc, etc

You might want it back and then resent your friend when he doesn't want to sell. He might want to sell, and you don't have the room to take it back at the moment.
More etc, etc, etc.

It is in both parties best interests to have a clean sale or none at all.

 

[bit_slicer]

I think those kinds of deals are crap.

That struck me funny too. Why not just loan it to him?

 

[shred]

That struck me funny too. Why not just loan it to him?

What if he wants it forever? If so he got himself a good deal. So far he has had it for 4 to 5 years. Why should I not at least get out of it what I put into it, can not loan it to him forever and he may want it forever. At least I know he will take care of it and if I want to play it I know where it is. Was a awsume deal for both of us.

shardian not going to happen. He is one of my best friends. If something craps out on it he is responsible for it. He can fix it ? He fixes allot of my stuff for me because he has a degree in electronics and worked as a laser tech. If his place burns down I think I would wory more aobut his other losses over a video game. Stuff happens but I am not woried. If he wants it forever that is fine, it was not a loan. The only thing is if he wants to get rid of it I can buy it back for what he paid, if I do not want it he can sell it.

Dave

 

[Phetishboy]

My feeling is and always has been, you buy a machine it's yours. You sell a machine, it's no longer yours. Pretty simple. There should be no stipulations like 'you can only sell back to me', or 'you can't sell it at all', or 'if I sell it to you, you can't sell it for a profit'. What are you guys? Fucking nuts? When you sell a machine, most of you scream 'due to the nature of old electronics this machine is sold as is where is'. Buyers aren't to come back to you should there be a problem, why should they then have to come back to you if they make a profit on what you sold them? Makes no sense. Friends, enemies, who cares? It is a business transaction. You agree to the terms, you are agreeing to walk away satisfied. No tag-backs.

 

[FrizzleFried]

I agree a sale is a sale...most of the time. That said...if I had a game someone REALLY wanted... and I agreed to sell said game to that person at an absurdly low price with the stipulation that when he's ready to sell he sell it back to me for the same said price, I see no harm as long as the terms are agreed upon by both parties. The alternative would be just not to sell it...

 

[shred]

My feeling is and always has been, you buy a machine it's yours. You sell a machine, it's no longer yours. Pretty simple. There should be no stipulations like 'you can only sell back to me', or 'you can't sell it at all', or 'if I sell it to you, you can't sell it for a profit'. What are you guys? Fucking nuts? When you sell a machine, most of you scream 'due to the nature of old electronics this machine is sold as is where is'. Buyers aren't to come back to you should there be a problem, why should they then have to come back to you if they make a profit on what you sold them? Makes no sense. Friends, enemies, who cares? It is a business transaction. You agree to the terms, you are agreeing to walk away satisfied. No tag-backs.

Phet it was a friend not a stranger. I did him a favor. I would not do that with someone off the street. so you think it is ok to do a favor for a freind and sell him something really cheap as a favor because they really wanted it and two days latter he turns around and sells it for 3 times the price and we are talking hundreds not just a few dollars? If he did that we would not be friends but he wouldnt. Maybe I just have good freinds.




Dave

 

[shardian]

Phet it was a friend not a stranger. I did him a favor. I would not do that with someone off the street. so you think it is ok to do a favor for a freind and sell him something really cheap as a favor because they really wanted it and two days latter he turns around and sells it for 3 times the price and we are talking hundreds not just a few dollars?

Dave

That's a fallacy. If he did that, then he wasn't your friend!!
Isn't that how this thread started?

 

[Phetishboy]

Phet it was a friend not a stranger. I did him a favor. I would not do that with someone off the street.


Dave

Friends and family is where the line blurs and things can get a bit dicey. Each situation is different, and I am not faulting you as I do not know all the details. IMO, in this instance you are the landlord and are merely renting the machine to him. If he decides he doesn't want it anymore, you're just refunding his damage deposit. If you truly sold it to him, it's his to do with as he pleases.

 

[shred]

That's a fallacy. If he did that, then he wasn't your friend!!
Isn't that how this thread started?

Ok so you think it is ok for me to sell him at 1/3 the cost and in two years it is ok to turn around and sell it to me at full cost? what should he sell it to me for?

Dave

 

[shardian]

And now you are seeing why you should think long and hard before doing business with friends/family.

If it works for you, then cool. You obviously have a great friend there in your specific case.

I'm just saying that deals like that don't work out for many people, and it can lead to unspoken tensions.

Personally, I would never sell a game at 1/3 the value unless I was comfortable with that price as a final value.

 

[shred]

Friends and family is where the line blurs and things can get a bit dicey. Each situation is different, and I am not faulting you as I do not know all the details. IMO, in this instance you are the landlord and are merely renting the machine to him. If he decides he doesn't want it anymore, you're just refunding his damage deposit. If you truly sold it to him, it's his to do with as he pleases.

How can it be rent if it costs him nothing? If it were rent he would have to pay something for it. I buy it back for what he paid for it so it cost him 0 dollars. I sold it to him because he can keep it forever at the price he paid for it. The only difference is if he sells it, I get first crack at it for what I sold it to him since I sold it to him for a major loss. If I sold it to him for full price then he could have do what ever he wanted with it.

Dave

 

[Lindsey]

I'm new around here, but I have a question. I live in a fairly small town with maybe 5 or 6 fellow collectors. A guy posted on CraigsList about a storage unit with 7 games in it. I went to look at the games and ended up buying all 8 for a good price. Not a steel, but an Ok price. The games were Pacman, Asteroids, Popeye, QBert, Galaga, Crystal Castles, and a Joust pinball game. I don't know much about pins and it looked to me a lot like those cocktail pinball games that aren't worth much. So when a collector/friend came over to look at the games he saw the Joust pinball and said he had been looking for one for a while. He offered me $350 for it which at the time I thought was a fair deal.

I then found out a few weeks later that the Joust pinball game was worth quite a bit more. At first I felt taken advantage of but then I decided to give the guy the benefit of the doubt especially since he wanted to keep the game. Well I just found out that he sold the game a few weeks back for over $3000!

To be truthful I feel a little taken advantage of. I mean if this guy wasn't a friend I would have probably researched the value of the game before selling it. And its not like he is my best buddy or anything just another guy who also likes arcades and we have bought and sold games from each other in the past. Am I wrong in feeling this way?

You got screwed big time. Unfortunately you only have yourself to blame. That sucks.

I would write this guy off. There's no way I would even be talking to him again let alone doing deals.

 

[beerbarrel]

It was me...I'm the one! I sold it for 3000.00......

 

[beerbarrel]

Just kidding....I'm not a pin guy...but I lay the blame on the seller too!

 

[DugDigger]

Thanks guys for all your comments. Here are a few more details.

I bought all 7 games for $2000. The storage unit had no power so I couldnt plug them in but the only games that ended up not working were QBert, Asteroids, and Galaga. I still have all the games in my possession.

When the guy told me about the deal I did a quick search on ebay to figure out value, but there were no Joust pinball games so I assumed it was one of those cocktail pinball games that arent worth very much.

It was my first big purchase and the guy I sold the Joust pin to has been collecting games for a long time. I was hoping he could tell me a little more about it. I guess he did. I did plug it in but didnt play it.

Im not upset because of the money exactly. There are a few other collectors who have helped me fix games or given me parts, and even sold me a couple games at good prices. I figured that was the way things were done. When you are new to collecting you rely on others to help you out and return the favor when you can.

I was hoping this guy would tell me what the games were worth and when he offered to buy the pinball game I thought it was a way for me to make some money back and help out a guy who had given me some good advice in the past. I really thought he was going to keep it.

A few weeks ago another collector was over to play some games and drink some beers and he told me how this guy was bragging to him about how many games he had bought low and sold high. He told him he bought the Joust from me and what he sold it for. I just felt taken advantage of. I trusted this guy and probably shouldnt have. Now I know.

The sad thing is I have bought a couple games from this guy after he bought the Joust pin from me, and he really didnt give me much of a deal. People respect him because he knows a lot about games and how to fix them. Live and learn I guess.

 

[shardian]

Sounds like he has a pretty good racket going on, taking advantage of you and others.

 

[HudsonArcade]

As exhibited by the berzerk/frenzy post... there is no such thing as ethics among collectors. Guess I shouldn't have posted schematics.