Why won't they sell

pacman71

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2007
Messages
2,169
Reaction score
193
Location
Iowa
Have you ever hit a place, offered better than fair money, and not walked out with anything?

The worst part of the situation is that several classic are eventually going to be completely trashed by the elements. Perhaps even worse if the entire barn collaspes.


ARRRRGH
 
Have you ever seen the show Hoarders? Some people just ain't right
 
I know a guy that will not sell a single machine even if his life depends on it. He has this notion that in 50 years his kids will be able to sell them off and retire.
 
I know a guy that will not sell a single machine even if his life depends on it. He has this notion that in 50 years his kids will be able to sell them off and retire.

Sadly, he's probably dead wrong - in 50 years the demand for these things is going to be VERY low, and while they will probably be pretty rare, with no demand there's probably not going to be any significant money in them. Especially since after a 50 year sit, they aren't going to be functional.

Remember folks - old does NOT mean valuable. It just means old. Some old things are valuable, but most are just junk.
 
These games are like cars -- 95% of them depreciate over time without exception.

But some people think that Pac Man they own is the equivalent of an Austin Healey 3000, and should be worth big bucks now.
 
mhkohne said:
Remember folks - old does NOT mean valuable. It just means old. Some old things are valuable, but most are just junk.

You can thank the *reality* shows for this.....

Well, not all of them. Rick on Pawn Stars, for instance, must say the following at least once every three episodes: "People think that, because it's old, it's worth something. But that's not necessarily the case."
 
Have you ever hit a place, offered better than fair money, and not walked out with anything?

The worst part of the situation is that several classic are eventually going to be completely trashed by the elements. Perhaps even worse if the entire barn collaspes.


ARRRRGH

I feel your pain. One of the workers at the my local computer shop has a friend that is in some big financial trouble and he has a working donkey kong and some other games . so I offer him a fair offer but he would no except. (sigh)
 
Last edited:
I believe all collectibles have a 20 year sweet spot for max. resale value. The Toys/games you played when you were in your early teens give you fond memories-fast forward you are now 30-40 and have some extra cash, a home, recroom, so now you can afford to relive those memories. Now my kids will have No interest in owning a pacman when they are 40 but they might be interested in buying an OLD xbox off ebay.
 
I once asked about a Ms. Pac sitting in a local Pizza Joint. I'd say it was 7/10 condition and all original. Not a bad example... no route sticker...

The owner tells me he'd owned it since 1981 when it first came out and that it's made him a ton of dough over the years. He then admits he's only been pulling about $10-$15 a month out of it the last few years.

I ask him what it would take for me to buy it from him.

Dude says...with straight face... "Oh, I dunno... $3,500 and we can call it a day."

I looked at him in (what I imagine was) horror... simply said "Uh, pass... thanks anyway." and went back to my table to eat.

As we're leaving the dude says "Hey, I'd probably let her go for $3,200 if you're really interested..."

"I'll let ya know!" was my response as I was walking out the door.
 
Have you ever hit a place, offered better than fair money, and not walked out with anything?

The worst part of the situation is that several classic are eventually going to be completely trashed by the elements. Perhaps even worse if the entire barn collaspes.


ARRRRGH

Hmm. I think I spoke with the guy in question. He said a guy from Iowa came by recently and offered $50 per machine.
 
I believe all collectibles have a 20 year sweet spot for max. resale value. The Toys/games you played when you were in your early teens give you fond memories-fast forward you are now 30-40 and have some extra cash, a home, recroom, so now you can afford to relive those memories. Now my kids will have No interest in owning a pacman when they are 40 but they might be interested in buying an OLD xbox off ebay.

you gotta thank the internet and ebay for that too. it's good in the fact that a lot of us, at least me, wouldn't really be in this hobby if it wasn't for the internet being so easy to find games on CL, etc., but bad in that ebay and stuff like that makes everyone think they have a gold mine they're sitting on...
 
I haven't been on a lot of game buys but there was only once when I intended to buy that I did not. The cabinets the guy was offering were in horrible shape. He didn't want much for them but they were beyond the amount of work I wanted to put into them.
 
Have you ever hit a place, offered better than fair money, and not walked out with anything?

The worst part of the situation is that several classic are eventually going to be completely trashed by the elements. Perhaps even worse if the entire barn collaspes.


ARRRRGH

This happened exactly to me. I was driving by a place (an operator) and he had several empty cabinets under his carport. I stopped by and asked to buy one of them. He said no and one day he was planning on putting them back together. A few years goes by and I won a pinball machine off eBay. It was a local deal and I went to the address I got from eBay to pick it up. It just happens to be the same operator. He had the same games still under his carport. I got the pinball machine and over the next few months I became friends with the operator. He did not remember that I was the same guy whom several years ago offered to buy one of the games from under his carport. One day I was at his shop and he was cleaning up his warehouse. He points to the cabinets under the carport and said do you want them for free?
 
could be what you consider fair money is really not... without context, you can't say if your right or wrong...


400 for a non working tron. Nice cabinet...completely unkonwn problems.

300 for a parts only professor pac.
 
Hmm. I think I spoke with the guy in question. He said a guy from Iowa came by recently and offered $50 per machine.


Not me.. but if you can tell me where a load of games is at ... I'd love to look them over.
 
What about doing this, only to find out that months later something you offered more than fair money for...was practically given away?

Owner of a pizza joint here, had a pin that wasn't working and was in "ok" shape.
I offered what I figured it was worth based on other machines, minus what I estimated it would cost me to fix and replace broken parts. I could have wound up paying more than what I should have for it...but whatever.

Months later I find out that he GAVE the machine to a guy that "helped" him move a few things when they changed locations.
This guy moved some of his smaller items down the street, and had you paid a mover to do it...wouldn't have run you even half what I offered for the machine.
I had offered to purchase the machine multiple times, even offered to do the repairs for very little.

The even bigger insult? I get a call from a friend that knows who the guy is, he has no idea how to fix it and wants to sell it. Wants about 3x what I offered originally for it...that guy got told to go fuck his hat.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom