What's new
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Prices and Demand Falling?

DRD

DRD

Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2014
Messages
5,450
Location
Newark
We have all seen the massive increase in prices over the past [3] years or so. For new and pre 2000 games. Stuff like Fish Tales and Getaway which were 1,000 to 1,200 going for around 2k. The 3k Addams of about 3 years ago, going for 5k

But are they now topping out, possibly falling ? There has been A lot in the press about declining car sales around 9m now

The drop in the £ associated with Brexit from about 1.50 to 1.20 made used UK games attractive to foreign buyers and made new sterns and jjp more expensive, this drop had largely been reversed now with the rate around 1.40

A nice looking CV and SS have gone unsold for weeks on here and Gumtree, with no takers and surprisingly few comments on the sale thread.

A nice looking TZ on ebay with a remarkably unfaded cab only made 4,450 yesterday. A nice creech on ebay made about 3,100. A nice shadow on here went for 1,750. A working gilligans made 800 on ebay.

The really nice looking strikes and spares on facebook went unsold at 650. There is a lovely looking beat the clock on here is still up at 750 ...
 
I think folk are being choosy over games and becoming more educated. Most of us have limited space too. Personally apart from a few new titles I’m only interested in one or two older pins now that fits my collection. Unfortunately I’ve not seen them come up for sale. But when they do I will pounce.
 
That TZ finished at 01:54 AM, which probably isn't the best time to attract last minute bidding. :)

As a counterpoint there is a unmodded TAF up to £4.5k with several days left to go :(
 
It seems that the older pins are becoming more rare as the good ones are holed up in collections, people don’t want to sell theirs until they’ve found their next pin. The ones that come up for sale people think they’re too expensive because we’re comparing today’s price with prices 5 years ago. What we’ve forgot is 5 years ago there will of been many more of the same title up for sale, good supply = low price. Now supply is low so price is more. However as price is higher this reduces the number of people who can afford them so slows the market down.

Newer pins are just not selling in any kind of numbers so these don’t really circulate. How often do we see a TWD or Metallica up for sale? The ones available are in collections and because they’re great pins don’t leave. The ones that do come up hold their price because there’s less of them. The worry is the new games being launched now, there’s some great games. GOTG, TNA even SW. The chances of purchasing second hand are slim because the number sold is just so small :sad: I was lucky enough to play Kiss when it came out which I really liked even on early code. I don’t think I’ll be adding it to my collection any time soon sadly because only a handful made it to these shores :mad:
 
Durzel said:
That TZ finished at 01:54 AM, which probably isn't the best time to attract last minute bidding. :)

As a counterpoint there is a unmodded TAF up to £4.5k with several days left to go :(
Click to expand...

That TZ in Broxburn has been discussed before and was supposedly sold last year! The owner had passed away and a relative was selling it! or am I getting confused?
 
DRD said:
A nice looking TZ on ebay with a remarkably unfaded cab only made 4,450 yesterday. A nice creech on ebay made about 3,100. A nice shadow on here went for 1,750. A working gilligans made 800 on ebay.
Click to expand...

Think you answered your own question ...... those prices are pretty much top of the pops for those titles aren't they ??

Demand is def still there - unfortunately because we get shafted here on NIB Sterns there just aren't enough recent Sterns filtering thru to the 2nd hand market which keeps prices up on the classics - people hang on to them rather than shifting to fund a newer title. I really think Stern are missing a trick - NIB Pros priced similarly to that at which our US friends could buy them would certainly result in many more sales over here. Interest in pinball is higher than it has been for years. F*ckwits.
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
Think you answered your own question ...... those prices are pretty much top of the pops for those titles aren't they ??

Demand is def still there - unfortunately because we get shafted here on NIB Sterns there just aren't enough recent Sterns filtering thru to the 2nd hand market which keeps prices up on the classics - people hang on to them rather than shifting to fund a newer title. I really think Stern are missing a trick - NIB Pros priced similarly to that at which our US friends could buy them would certainly result in many more sales over here. Interest in pinball is higher than it has been for years. F*ckwits.
Click to expand...
If we paid the same as the US I would have bought two NIB games in the last couple of years.
 
I don’t think prices are going down but there is a bit of a lul at the min I would say but I do think it comes in spurts
Take tron for instance you couldn’t get one for love or money 2 years ago I have had 5 in the last 2 years the first few sold in seconds the last 2 have taken a few days this says to me that the market has gone for this perticular game
But one thing in the uk market is everyone wants it but nobody wants to pay the money most sales are only done if the customer is going to get his money back not because he really wants it
That’s why most of my top end stuff sells out of the uk nobody over here sees any value in the quality top end stuff just I can get ex game for so much
 
I wonder if export games are more expensive than US games so that they can keep the US price lower ?
 
chris b said:
I don’t think prices are going down but there is a bit of a lul at the min I would say but I do think it comes in spurts
Take tron for instance you couldn’t get one for love or money 2 years ago I have had 5 in the last 2 years the first few sold in seconds the last 2 have taken a few days this says to me that the market has gone for this perticular game
But one thing in the uk market is everyone wants it but nobody wants to pay the money most sales are only done if the customer is going to get his money back not because he really wants it
That’s why most of my top end stuff sells out of the uk nobody over here sees any value in the quality top end stuff just I can get ex game for so much
Click to expand...

Tron LE will be the last game I will sell.....
 
Woops.. Double post, slow Internet in the alps
 
Last edited:
I think some prices have got to a point where its more risky that you're going to take a punch on it. Take the three or four Indiana Jones going for 3-4K - whilst its a good game does it compare to many of the Stern machines that have been up at that price? I picked up a spiderman for £3500 thats a hugely better game...
 
And Paul perfectly highlights my point with some folks valuing his opinion and some mine... the paradox of thinking about some games as they get expensive needs you to find the right buyer - whereas some games will sell without trying. TSPP for example or games like TWD. CV is another one - playing wise it’s a pants game - collecting wise it’s an interesting game that’s different. I wanted one of these badly until I played it. And it demands a mental sum of money if you want one.
 
Spider-Man has always been undervalued, bet it will go up as newer buyers get it into their collection, if a stern or jj is 9k, a afm or mm, becomes great value at 6 or 7 to new buyers. Tron only has a small buying group because the theme is crap, hence why I would never buy one, and it is not a good enough game compared to spider man, ac dc, or 10 other sterns that might float your boat for me, others absolutely love it.
But it became a fan boy game like Metallica or ac dc has in the past, but now you can pick both those games up far Easier than 1 - 2 years ago.
Just look at the games that bigger pocketed collectors buy when in their first years afm, mm, iJ, ss, etc Metallica, AC/DC,a new stern and a jj for good measure will be in the vast majority of them I think, certainly in mine.
And lately there have been quite a few new faces with pig pockets all good for the hobby.
 
Neil McRae said:
CV is another one - playing wise it’s a pants game - collecting wise it’s an interesting game that’s different.
Click to expand...

I’ve owned almost all the classic B/W titles over the past 13 years or so and CV is one of the last three remaining. I’ve kept it much longer than games like MB, TOM, and TOTAN, all of which got old pretty quickly. I love it and don’t see it leaving anytime soon - my favourite Jpop game by a mile.
 
[QUOTE="mission65, post: 251633, member: 665"look at the games that bigger pocketed collectors buy when in their first years afm, mm, iJ, ss, etc Metallica, AC/DC,a new stern and a jj for good measure will be in the vast majority of them I think, certainly in mine.
And lately there have been quite a few new faces with pig pockets all good for the hobby.[/QUOTE]

IJ and SS are not in the same league of MM and AFM - I’d out Wh20 before IJ and SS - I’d also say that a lot more of us go the stern route - the games have more longevity -
Not to say the other games aren’t good they just have a limit of play. But everyone’s different so I suppose that’s good.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
JustLikeMe said:
I’ve owned almost all the classic B/W titles over the past 13 years or so and CV is one of the last three remaining. I’ve kept it much longer than games like MB, TOM, and TOTAN, all of which got old pretty quickly. I love it and don’t see it leaving anytime soon - my favourite Jpop game by a mile.
Click to expand...

I prefer ToM and MB! I know I can flog both of those games quick - CV quite a few on here have taken a while to sell and I think one ended up going out of the country.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
For me a lot of the fun has gone out of the hobby as it’s got more expensive. The last thing I want to stress about is am I overpaying for a game.

In the past I’d take a punt on a game like Dirty Harry for £750. Keep it a year and flog it on for a similar value. If I lost £100 then no problem

Now the same game is nudging 2 grand. Would I take a chance and buy and potentially lose £500? Maybe but I hate having to think about it more

Similarly I find myself hoarding games rather than selling. Where’s the fun in that?

There’s a lot of new games coming out but we’re not seeing a corresponding sell off of older games to fund them.

I’d like to own Aerosmith, iron maiden etc but would really struggle to justify paying out 15k to do so

I thought it was noticeable how quickly Alice Cooper sold when Phil announced the price. I suspect the game code will be no where near as good as some modern sterns but the price point was a lot more palatable.

Hopefully prices will at least stabilise but I suspect we’ll still see the bottom end creeping up. Think back 10 years when an IJ was £250 more than FT and £250 less than TAF. Both the higher rated tables are now 3-4K. I suspect the lesser rated games will still go up. We’ve already seen it with DE tables. Will gottliebs and Segas follow?
 
Don't view it as "losing a few £100's on a machine", see it instead as "spending a few £100's on something you love and are passionate about, your favourite hobby, if you will".

You've bought your pinball (NIB, second, third, or fourth hand, etc.), played it for hours and hours and had tons of enjoyment and pleasure out of it. You then get bored and want to sell it on (second hand). If it was a car, or a set of golf clubs, a tennis racket, or a video game, a bicycle, or a treadmill, etc. etc. You would expect to sell it for less than you paid for it.

Not all pinball machines are collectors items. Some are, they are sought after, limited editions (whether intentionally limited or not - older popular titles are 'limited' by the fact they are no longer produced). But that is only a few 10's of titles of the 1000's available. It's the same for cars, only a few ever make it to 'true classic' and hold or increase their value.

If you have bough a machine for £1,500 and then sell it 2 years later for £1,000 and you've played it 1,000 times, You've paid 50p a play. Sound like a bargain to me.

I'm getting into the EM's - a £250 purchased machine, easily runs up to £1,000 by the time it's been delivered, cleaned, mended, refurbed, re-rubbered, LED'd, etc. It's unlikely these are going to ever give me my money back. (yes they might in years to come, but that's mainly the effect of inflation). Truth is I don't care, I'm paying money to have the pleasure in refurbing as well as eventually playing these machines. And, for me, it's money well spent!

I have friends who chop and change their cars frequently, they spend a fortune each time as they lose money on each deal. It's exactly the same with pinball - if you swop and change frequently you will lose money, unless you are adding value, or consider yourself a dealer (i.e. are an expert in spotting and negotiating a bargain, move them on quickly, and are in it to make a living).

My friends who swop their cars frequently and spend a lot of money this way are totally happy; for them the price is worth it because they get to drive a new (to them) car every few months. Same applies to pinball. There are others who choose to drag the best value £'s wise out of their cars. Same applies to pinball.

THE REALLY GOOD NEWS for all us pinheads though is this: PINBALL MACHINES DON'T DEPRECIATE AS FAST AS CARS.

So, run your car into the ground and use the money you save to buy another pinball machine - SIMPLES! :)

I'm not having a pop at anyone here, just illustrating the fact that pinball, like any other hobby, is going to cost you money. Pinball might even be a religion, but it ISN'T an Investment product*, and should not be seen as such.

*The value of pinball machines can go down as well as up. Blah Blah Blah. :)

END OF SUNDAY SERMON!
 
Totally agree Alan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
AlanJ said:
Don't view it as "losing a few £100's on a machine", see it instead as "spending a few £100's on something you love and are passionate about, your favourite hobby, if you will".

You've bought your pinball (NIB, second, third, or fourth hand, etc.), played it for hours and hours and had tons of enjoyment and pleasure out of it. You then get bored and want to sell it on (second hand). If it was a car, or a set of golf clubs, a tennis racket, or a video game, a bicycle, or a treadmill, etc. etc. You would expect to sell it for less than you paid for it.

Not all pinball machines are collectors items. Some are, they are sought after, limited editions (whether intentionally limited or not - older popular titles are 'limited' by the fact they are no longer produced). But that is only a few 10's of titles of the 1000's available. It's the same for cars, only a few ever make it to 'true classic' and hold or increase their value.

If you have bough a machine for £1,500 and then sell it 2 years later for £1,000 and you've played it 1,000 times, You've paid 50p a play. Sound like a bargain to me.

I'm getting into the EM's - a £250 purchased machine, easily runs up to £1,000 by the time it's been delivered, cleaned, mended, refurbed, re-rubbered, LED'd, etc. It's unlikely these are going to ever give me my money back. (yes they might in years to come, but that's mainly the effect of inflation). Truth is I don't care, I'm paying money to have the pleasure in refurbing as well as eventually playing these machines. And, for me, it's money well spent!

I have friends who chop and change their cars frequently, they spend a fortune each time as they lose money on each deal. It's exactly the same with pinball - if you swop and change frequently you will lose money, unless you are adding value, or consider yourself a dealer (i.e. are an expert in spotting and negotiating a bargain, move them on quickly, and are in it to make a living).

My friends who swop their cars frequently and spend a lot of money this way are totally happy; for them the price is worth it because they get to drive a new (to them) car every few months. Same applies to pinball. There are others who choose to drag the best value £'s wise out of their cars. Same applies to pinball.

THE REALLY GOOD NEWS for all us pinheads though is this: PINBALL MACHINES DON'T DEPRECIATE AS FAST AS CARS.

So, run your car into the ground and use the money you save to buy another pinball machine - SIMPLES! :)

I'm not having a pop at anyone here, just illustrating the fact that pinball, like any other hobby, is going to cost you money. Pinball might even be a religion, but it ISN'T an Investment product*, and should not be seen as such.

*The value of pinball machines can go down as well as up. Blah Blah Blah. :)

END OF SUNDAY SERMON!
Click to expand...

Best post ever job done
You wouldn’t spent 2k on a fishing pole and worry about what is going to be worth on a year you would just use and enjoy it and get a new one when you need it and at that point it would be worth nothing
 
johnwhitfield said:
But can you imagine how much more grief your other half would give you for filling up half the house with machines if you couldn’t pull the “but it’s not wasted money because....” card?;)
Click to expand...

No matter how you look at it you can't escape the fact that prices/value have risen dramatically the last decade. And like it or not it does impact and how you view the purchase.

The fact that these things retain their resell value is a massive factor for most of us less financially well off types. And probably the major factor in justifying a 'collection'. If I considered the money spent on a machine as gone forever, regardless of the pleasure I get from pinball... there is no frickin way in hell I would own a dozen.
 
Along the lines of @AlanJ I look at the whole 'depreciation' of a fun thing by comparing it to how much you sold your last holiday for when you got back...

Thought maybe that's why I have such a poor record of choices on depreciating assets!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom