Pinball price checks

shardian

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I have no problems with discussing pinball pros/cons and/or price. Still, I think it is time we have a sticky in this forum for pricing info. Many of us are aware of IPDB, Boston Pinball price guide, Mr. pinball, etc; but many are not.

There needs to be a sticky that links to all of these great pricing resources.

My personal guide when I see a pin:
-Check out the IPDB entry
-Do a quick search on ebay
-Check Boston Pinball price list (which is a summary of ebay final value sales for each pin)
-Download the PinMAME table.

By that point, I have a thorough basic knowledge of the pinball machine in question - from general playability to expected price range.

What does everyone else think?
 
I really like the price guide at pinside.com. Since that's constantly averaging out eBay sales, the price adjusts on the fly and you get a great idea of going rates. The whole site is pretty cool, actually.
 
One thing that might be important about asking for prices though is that you can describe the condition of the specific machine you're looking at. The price guides will give you a general idea, but many of us have a better idea of how much you should knock off for certain parts of the machine being broken or where wear spots are acceptable.
 
I agree.
Or even divide the Pinball section, one for general discussions, price check, random questions, opinions etc. One section for pinball tech questions.
I have posted twice for technical help here and have recieved few responses, and from looking at other tech questions, many recieve few if any response. Yet discussions of price or which game is best can draw pages of babble, some good, some just babble. Problem is such babble moves the tech threads down and makes them less likely to be seen.
I understand not everyone has the same machine so responses to tech questions regarding specific machines will be limited, but those threads would have more chance to be seen it they didnt get bumped to a back page because of price or opinion threads.
 
One thing that might be important about asking for prices though is that you can describe the condition of the specific machine you're looking at. The price guides will give you a general idea, but many of us have a better idea of how much you should knock off for certain parts of the machine being broken or where wear spots are acceptable.

I totally agree.

And... if you're looking at a game include the asking price. I know it's a lot easier for me to say "yes or no" to a deal than give a bunch of theoretical prices.
 
The price guide is pretty reasonable, it's at least a starting point or reference.

The Mr. Pinball classifieds should never be used to gauge price though, unless the person is looking for the price of "I need one this minute and will pay any price." There are a LOT of overpriced games on there. It almost seems like everyone on there is fishing for a sucker!

Wade
 
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