Haven't bought for 5 years as not willing to pay the asking prices. Now will try a nib hoping can get some trouble free playing for the bux spent???
The emphasis being on ASKING prices, not necessarily actual selling prices.
A lot of private sellers are taking a leaf out of the ebay dealers books and simply using the platform as advertising with a high starting price, then letting buyers come to them privately with lower offers.
The listing gets pulled and everyone assumes it sold for (or close to) the listed asking price thereby creating a false new benchmark valuation.
No one who has been into pinball collecting for more than a few years would pay $4k for a standard faded cab Getaway or $5k for an unshopped CFTBL and then readily budget another $2500 plus on top of that for a partial restoration. That is strictly new buyer mentality territory based on Stern price rises.
That's been my main contention with suppliers. EBay sellers never sell games at the listed prices. I speak to reputable dealers quite often, and some don't actually want to sell the game, but they overprice the game in the exception that someone desperately wants the title and has a lot of spare funds to facilitate it. Other dealers are known for price gouging, and their games have been on eBay for a long time. The stories I hear every day, and the poor sods that get ripped off would keep VCAT or similar very busy if our industry was regulated !
