quses
Member
This is not the first time this has happened to me, but it underlines why I don't feel guilty if I work some magic on a seller to reduce the price of a pin they offer on CL.
In this case, the seller had a Williams Jive Time posted on CL. Asking what I thought was a reasonable price for the game, but not "an offer I can't refuse"-type price, especially since it was a 3 hour drive to pick it up. The pictures looked like the machine was in pretty decent condition. I contacted the seller and explained to her that what she was asking was a few hundred dollars higher than what they'd been selling for on eBay. I low-balled her with a figure that was worth it to me to pick it up, but I also gave her some info on the sales stats for the game. I've gotten more conservative in going after games lately so I didn't think i'd get a chance to pick up this game, even though it's pretty rare and was in good condition.
Anyway, after a few days, she calls me and says she will accept my lowball offer. I still wondered whether I needed another project, but I decided to go for it. I drove about 350 miles to pick the machine up and bring it back. I was told the machine was "operating perfectly when we put it in storage" and the woman was really nice and friendly and I had no reason to doubt her.
Unfortunately, once I started examining the machine, it was obvious this was not the case.
While the game was in good condition, there were several coils that were clearly shorted and burned. One pop bumper was completely missing its coil - the bracket had broken. The machine would not power up *at all*. It was obvious this machine was completely un-playable when it was put in the shed.
However, since I low-balled the seller and got a pretty decent price, I'm not that upset. The difference between what they were asking and how much it will cost me to pick up the parts makes the deal work out. I would have been upset if I had paid the asking price only to later find out the game needed a lot of work.
In my experience, about 85% of the time, the machine is in much worse shape than what the seller claims. I'm not suggesting they are lying but we all know how high maintenance these machines are. I feel a lot better skipping over machines if they're even "fairly" priced these days, and going for the super-low deals, because the majority of the time, the games end up needing a lot more work than originally claimed.
In this case, the seller had a Williams Jive Time posted on CL. Asking what I thought was a reasonable price for the game, but not "an offer I can't refuse"-type price, especially since it was a 3 hour drive to pick it up. The pictures looked like the machine was in pretty decent condition. I contacted the seller and explained to her that what she was asking was a few hundred dollars higher than what they'd been selling for on eBay. I low-balled her with a figure that was worth it to me to pick it up, but I also gave her some info on the sales stats for the game. I've gotten more conservative in going after games lately so I didn't think i'd get a chance to pick up this game, even though it's pretty rare and was in good condition.
Anyway, after a few days, she calls me and says she will accept my lowball offer. I still wondered whether I needed another project, but I decided to go for it. I drove about 350 miles to pick the machine up and bring it back. I was told the machine was "operating perfectly when we put it in storage" and the woman was really nice and friendly and I had no reason to doubt her.
Unfortunately, once I started examining the machine, it was obvious this was not the case.
While the game was in good condition, there were several coils that were clearly shorted and burned. One pop bumper was completely missing its coil - the bracket had broken. The machine would not power up *at all*. It was obvious this machine was completely un-playable when it was put in the shed.
However, since I low-balled the seller and got a pretty decent price, I'm not that upset. The difference between what they were asking and how much it will cost me to pick up the parts makes the deal work out. I would have been upset if I had paid the asking price only to later find out the game needed a lot of work.
In my experience, about 85% of the time, the machine is in much worse shape than what the seller claims. I'm not suggesting they are lying but we all know how high maintenance these machines are. I feel a lot better skipping over machines if they're even "fairly" priced these days, and going for the super-low deals, because the majority of the time, the games end up needing a lot more work than originally claimed.

