tbbk
Well-known member
In dealing with games I have found 3 classes of leads that are usually pretty terrible.
#1. The game in a public place.
There are a million variations on this one, but the most common ones are that there is a game for sale in a used game shop or pawnshop somewhere. Or there is a broken game out somewhere that is probably for sale.
I no longer even consider these leads at all. The stuff for sale in a store is invariably either priced way high, or not actually even for sale. The broken stuff is never for sale.
#2. The garage sale.
I have bought a few games from garage sales in the past. However they are still terrible leads. The seller is invariably a woman, selling a machine or machines that actually belongs to her husband that he doesn't actually want to sell (or that he paid retail for). The prices are usually outrageous and she never seems to have any negotiation power with them. If the price on anything is actually decent then they will be gone the night before the sale. Usually don't bother checking out the garage sale lead unless it is really close.
#3. Relative's pinball machine.
My aunt donna has a pinball machine in her basement that works great and no one ever plays, I bet she would sell it. If you actually get to see the machine, it invariably has a bunch of stuff broken on it, hasn't been waxed since they bought it from a pinball retailer 15 years ago, and they still remember paying $1800 for it and thus think it should be worth about that now (even though it is a model that would be really lucky to fetch $1000 fully shopped out).
Am I missing any?
#1. The game in a public place.
There are a million variations on this one, but the most common ones are that there is a game for sale in a used game shop or pawnshop somewhere. Or there is a broken game out somewhere that is probably for sale.
I no longer even consider these leads at all. The stuff for sale in a store is invariably either priced way high, or not actually even for sale. The broken stuff is never for sale.
#2. The garage sale.
I have bought a few games from garage sales in the past. However they are still terrible leads. The seller is invariably a woman, selling a machine or machines that actually belongs to her husband that he doesn't actually want to sell (or that he paid retail for). The prices are usually outrageous and she never seems to have any negotiation power with them. If the price on anything is actually decent then they will be gone the night before the sale. Usually don't bother checking out the garage sale lead unless it is really close.
#3. Relative's pinball machine.
My aunt donna has a pinball machine in her basement that works great and no one ever plays, I bet she would sell it. If you actually get to see the machine, it invariably has a bunch of stuff broken on it, hasn't been waxed since they bought it from a pinball retailer 15 years ago, and they still remember paying $1800 for it and thus think it should be worth about that now (even though it is a model that would be really lucky to fetch $1000 fully shopped out).
Am I missing any?