Author Topic: Pinball machine importers in Melbourne  (Read 2698 times)

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Offline GORGAR 1

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Pinball machine importers in Melbourne
« on: May 02, 2016, 12:08:53 PM »
^^

Del from Bumper said they grabbed the last lot of Bally Williams machines hidden in an Alpine cave on the Italian border back in 2003 and it has been slim pickings in Europe ever since.  @.@

Sounds more like a dealer using a tired worn out sales pitch to justify a price gouge.

The bulk of the machine exports back in the '90s went to Europe. Like I said, a lot of the fly by nighters were/are content to take the leftovers from the usual Euro importers for a quick flip and double/triple their money (an 800Euro Baywatch with a playfield clean and a new set of rubbers listed for 4500AU for example), but you wouldn't take that route if you were importing for the primary purpose of adding to an existing collection. In that case, you would cast your net further afield since you don't want any John West rejects in your catch.

I remember that old chestnut. Always brings a smile to my face. An even funnier gem was from another Melbourne dealer. Upon the news that I was going to follow in my Father's footsteps and import machines, I was told "Containers are extremely expensive and many fall off ships these days. If you have the container sent to my factory, it would be much safer".. :D %.% *.*

Talking to a guy last night "who actually imports machines" he was saying the prices of games overseas are considerably higher these days and harder to find quality games. I'm no expert but it was a interesting conversation and I learnt alot. As Nino said place a wanted ad and something might pop up especially with the new games coming in someone may want to free up some cash :)

Sounds like the Euro honey pot is drying up.

The prices doubled last year. I asked one of the main suppliers why this was the case and he replied that he had been keeping an eye on EBay Australia, and he found that the importers were listing games at massively inflated prices. Of particular note, was the fact the games didn't appear to have as much done to them after leaving Europe ! So the supplier increased the buy price. This flow on effect created an issue for end customers as dealers became more greedy.

So when you hear some dealers complain about the prices, it effectively is a problem created by their greed.

There are still good machines available, you just need to know where to look.

Yep fair enough Nino  :) but prices for older games are crazy-do sellers say "hey people are paying 12k for a new Stern/JJP so let's put prices up on old games"?