People told me I was too harsh in my description of my Getaway ad, and indeed it seems to have put people off as I didn't get much interest. As a result though, the next owner knew what they were getting and is really happy with it. (Because it really wasn't that bad.)
I've personally found it difficult for that same reason. I was brutal in my description of my El PinBotto, in my opinion, and then had to slash the price (not sure how much was due to the general slowdown in sales, but it wasn't overpriced to start with).
Lots of pins being advertised on here with incomplete and sometimes downright deceitful descriptions. To be fair, not everyone has the technical knowledge to find out all the flaws - some people don't even know how to lift the playfield. I'm talking in general, not making any comment on this particular sale.
I think that's the problem. One of the flaws mentioned here is a frayed wire, but I'd say a lot of buyers of HUO modern Sterns probably don't spend time looking under the playfield. Certainly, when I get mods for modern Sterns, I now usually start the instructions about five pages in after 'how to switch off machine, remove lockdown bar, remove glass, remove balls, bring playfield forward, lift playfield'.
There's a 'transition point' (probably around 2000, in my experience) where you really have to expect the pin to have at least intermittent issues, which you can't detect by examining the pin on site or simply by physical condition (I've had faulty pins that are immaculate under the playfield and our Fish Tales is chugging along despite being literally caked in mildew and rust). I've only had one vintage pin (
AFM) arrive in the house without developing a fault simply through being moved from one place to another. We've just fixed a fault on Fish Tales that developed as a result of moving it to another room, never mind between sites!
There's a point, when you get into the classics, where you're buying a pin in the hope that it actually switches on when it arrives, and it doesn't immediately release the magic smoke and trip the downstairs circuit breaker. Being able to play a game when it comes in is a bonus. The idea of 'mint' is laughable at that point. You're literally negotiating the price over exactly how actively wet, mouldy, rusty and disgusting it is. I've lifted the playfield to find living spiders in pinball machines (I'm guessing I pay extra for tarantulas living in there).
One does build a reputation on here, and there are definitely some members I would not buy from, as well as some I would buy blindly from. The tricky bit is that buyer feedback is usually only obtained by word of mouth which makes it hard to navigate especially for new members.
I think that's fair. I've had a repeat customer so I, personally, cross fingers, can't be that bad (although a pin I thought was in excellent condition was apparently filthy and smelt of cooking fat, which was a little distressing as I'd only cleaned the playfield a couple of weeks earlier. I've now learned that black rubbers, even new ones, filth up playfields very fast in play, and have developed a hatred of the things).
I just realise, having seen various people’s collections, both playing in league and otherwise, that expectations can differ a lot without any deceit being intended 
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