ebay auction or ebay For Sale listing ? 2 x different animals ofcourse. But i know what u mean. One is a buy it now ofcourse and one is a open auction starting at 99cents etc. the buy it now are always jacked to the max and overly inflated.

ofcourse ebay is not the start and stop of pricing a game but it certainly helps to give a "mood" for the present open market.   a unshopped game cant be compared to a professionally shopped game, and anyone expects to pay a grand plus extra for the later.

i think it is important that container pins are all not lumped into the same egg basket as being these machines that are clapped out with massive wear. an example Nino would be the containers u bring in. I dont believe u would bring in rubbish. my contacts are the same.
In QLD the people I deal with and the machines I have always bought are a cut above the rest. The large majority of the machines are so good infact, they all look Home Use Only and rarely need anything more than a globe and a rubber, if at all, and a wipe over with a wet cloth is about the majority of it. that has been the case with the last several machines I have bought, and at very low prices, and I got no favours done for me, that was the public open pricing. Maybe dealers have driven the prices up in melb ? someone has.

Perhaps the majority of the containers coming into melb are the bottom end of the euro stuff, i dont know, but it sounds like it from your feedback of some of the private importers.but only some of them. I think alot of people sell both projects and ready to play, with the price reflecting which is which. I agree, the old rule that you pay for quality is still alive in the pinny industry.