Can anyone verify this seller as legit. I'm thinking of buying a couple of pins from him.
Maurizio Guido
General Manager
Expand & Buy in Italy
www.exp-and.com
Maurizio Guido
General Manager
Expand & Buy in Italy
www.exp-and.com
Pinball info
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Verify Seller in Italy
- Thread starter Vimtoman
- Start date
Are you actually speaking to a "Maurizio Guido" or have you Googled that based on finding, or being told about www.exp-and.com ?
It sounds like you're talking about a guy called Andrea aka MrPinballs. From what I know - and it's not much - Andrea/MrPinballs is either affiliated with, or runs exp-and or is otherwise heavily involved in it. By all accounts he seems to do a lot of business in pinballs. I spoke to a UK dealer who has done £300k+ of business with him, so in that respect you would at least be assured of something turning up if you send money.
I spent a reasonably long time negotiating with him on a TAF, but got cold feet because of a few issues with the playfield and some startup faults that may have been minor but scared me nonetheless.
What I would say based on conversations with various different people is that:
a) the standard of restoration work in Italy and elsewhere might not necessarily compare to UK restorers on here
b) the days of finding an amazing bargain are in the past
I had a chat with a dealer about Andrea and he put it quite simply to me - he (and probably every guy who is professionally trading machines) has heard about these pins weeks or even months ago, and if they haven't bought them already then that means there is no money in it in flipping them as is.
What is your comfort level? Would you be able to deal with a pin that turns up in a condition different to what you're expecting, either because it got shook around in transit, or simply because it wasn't accurately described?
It sounds like you're talking about a guy called Andrea aka MrPinballs. From what I know - and it's not much - Andrea/MrPinballs is either affiliated with, or runs exp-and or is otherwise heavily involved in it. By all accounts he seems to do a lot of business in pinballs. I spoke to a UK dealer who has done £300k+ of business with him, so in that respect you would at least be assured of something turning up if you send money.
I spent a reasonably long time negotiating with him on a TAF, but got cold feet because of a few issues with the playfield and some startup faults that may have been minor but scared me nonetheless.
What I would say based on conversations with various different people is that:
a) the standard of restoration work in Italy and elsewhere might not necessarily compare to UK restorers on here
b) the days of finding an amazing bargain are in the past
I had a chat with a dealer about Andrea and he put it quite simply to me - he (and probably every guy who is professionally trading machines) has heard about these pins weeks or even months ago, and if they haven't bought them already then that means there is no money in it in flipping them as is.
What is your comfort level? Would you be able to deal with a pin that turns up in a condition different to what you're expecting, either because it got shook around in transit, or simply because it wasn't accurately described?
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I'm in email contact with Maurizio Guido via the site email.
I've had pictures of the items they have for sale.
The prices are a bit steep considering condition of pins.
The TAF is well over my price range. He stuck on the list as 5000 Euro's.
How much were you in negotiations for?
I've had pictures of the items they have for sale.
The prices are a bit steep considering condition of pins.
The TAF is well over my price range. He stuck on the list as 5000 Euro's.
How much were you in negotiations for?
He wouldn't budge from €5000 shipped for me either, but then said he would come down to €4800 a couple of weeks later but by that point I had already bought another (better) one, albeit for more money.
The TAF has some dirt or something under the mylar around the magnet in two places (doesn't look like magnet burn). Spoke to some guys on Pinside who suggested it likely wouldn't be a simple fix. There's some discolouration on Uncle Fester too. As you say, the price seemed steep considering the condition - but TAF is an odd case anyway.
Here is the TAF he was selling - likely it is the same as the one you've asked about: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Dtw5d3BhPJcPlrVK1R4LgFRgrz--Ldc5
The TAF has some dirt or something under the mylar around the magnet in two places (doesn't look like magnet burn). Spoke to some guys on Pinside who suggested it likely wouldn't be a simple fix. There's some discolouration on Uncle Fester too. As you say, the price seemed steep considering the condition - but TAF is an odd case anyway.
Here is the TAF he was selling - likely it is the same as the one you've asked about: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Dtw5d3BhPJcPlrVK1R4LgFRgrz--Ldc5
Mate, just wait the pin you want will turn up. As has been said the best pins do tend to get snapped up by the regular dealers. So you could imagine what’s left..
Factor the drop in value of the pound. You get better value buying in the uk!
Factor the drop in value of the pound. You get better value buying in the uk!
He's on WhatsApp - +39 328 659 7568
He advertises his number in various places so don't think it'll be a problem to give it to you.
His looks a lot better to be honest. That £4.6k TAF looked really shabby.
I feel like I got a relative bargain on my TAF, compared to what I had previously been quoted and seen for comparable condition, but as said TAF is an anomaly.
I do think fundamentally if you're importing from abroad you need to make peace with the fact that it might turn up in a different condition to what you might expect, requiring fixes that might be beyond your expertise if you're not in the business (certainly this is the case for me). To give some perspective, the only reason my TAF probably didn't end up on its side in the lorry was because the UK driver noticed it was no longer strapped and took care of it himself.
If you're not viewing it, and it's travelling through several couriers, you had either better make peace with the fact it might turn up with problems, or buy from someone in the UK where you can actually go and see it and transport it yourself or use someone very trustworthy like Martin.
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As others have said ... I see no reason to be buying blind from abroad unless the price is VERY good, or the title you want is virtually unobtainable here . There are tons of TAFs in the UK, if that's what you are after ?
