How much for a pinball machine from a service shop?

cspacefan

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Messages
808
Reaction score
16
Location
BC, Canada
How much for a pinball machine from a service shop?

Hi there, a friend of mine is thinking of getting into pinball but he really just wants it for his kid to play. He doesn't want to do any maintenance, he just wants to bring it home, plug it in, and play it a lot. I told him the kinds of prices pinball tables can fetch on things like Craig's List and eBay but I did warn him those machines could be in any state of disrepair and to be careful. There is a local pinball shop that restores machines and sells them in excellent working order plus they provide a little after sales support if you find the machine doesn't work when you get home. The trouble is they tend to elevate the price a bit and I am wondering if I should be recommending this place to my friend or not.
Obviously this store is in business to make a profit so I can see why their prices are so much higher and when I factor in the good condition of the restoration and the after sales service I reckon it's an alternative that my buddy would fine appealing.
Only thing is the prices are high, like three thousand bucks for a good popular table.

Is that too high to make a recommendation? I'm on the fence. My buddy has the cash so it's not like he can't afford it (the pinball will be going into the house's dedicated games room afterall).
 
If he's ok with spending it do it. Me, I would never pay retail. I just bought my Whitewater for $1700, everything works great. If you look at a retaliers price, it's usually $2500 or more.
 
Pinball

If he just wants a Pinball too sit and play it? I would say Pinball Machines are not for him or his son for that matter. Theres alot of up keeping with keeping everything cleaning and running right.

I think your son would be bored with a pin quite quickly inless you get one of the newer ones. Does'nt sound like he wants too spend big money on this.
 
Like any other business, there will be good places and bad. Any reputable shop will have completely gone through the machine fixing any problems and will usually stand behind their sale, thus reflected in the price. Most machines listed on craigslist and ebay will need some amount of work, and any machine purchased will need occasional maintenance. Buying from a pin dealer will also give him a contact to call with any service the machine will need in the future. As for price, it really comes down to condition and title.

If he is looking for something plug and play - Stern has started selling brand new pins through costco.com - and from what I understand the price includes delivery.
 
I have had a couple friends get involved in the hobby and I have no problem referring them to one of the service shops. If they have zero technical skills then it is in your best interest to have them buy something that will be delivered, setup, and come with some kind of warranty. The first machine can be very intimidating to the uninitiated.

I know last year when I started looking for my first machine I also seriously considered going the reseller route. The thing that ultimately stopped me was the added cost. I'll use the example of a Black Knight. The reseller gets $2.5k for it, and that includes setup/delivery/warranty/service plan. On ebay/mr pinball the same machine goes for $1k-1.5k. I ultimately picked up a project and got it working for under $500. The project it took me about 3 weeks to bring it back to life, and then maybe another month to perform the final tweaking to get it working 100%. This clearly isn't for everyone, and does take some skill, knowledge, and desire. The key is to make the price differences known to them and then let them make their own choices.
 
Back
Top Bottom