September 6, 2008

I have had the worst luck trying to buy arcade games lately.  Basically, I have had people sell out from under me, raise the price, and I suspect just lie about their intentions.

Allow me go into a little more detail.  It started when I posted an ad to Craigslist.org, stating I was looking for vintage games.   I got an email back about someone in Indianapolis selling 3 cabinets (a Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus and a mystery cabinet), a 4th M.A.M.E cabinet, parts, and a Ms. Pac-Man marquee.  All for $200.

This email was from a third party.  Apparently he was trying to sell the cabinets for someone he knew, or someone who contacted him though his website.  I expressed interest and received more details.  I was second in line to buy everything, but the first person had not been in contact.  So, it was soon settled that I would be the buyer.

I proceeded to borrow a truck (I can’t fit everything in my Rav4) and was preparing to make the 3+ hour trip.  Then I get word that, for whatever reason, the sellers decided they wanted more money (I think it was $250).

The third-party came back and stated the seller might come down to $200, but that would not include the parts.  This was unacceptable as the deal was for the cabinets and parts.  So I told them as much.  I know $50 isn’t *that* much but the deal was set and they changed the terms.  I was not willing to come across as a pushover.  I then said I would take the 3 Pac-Man cabinets, parts, and the monitor from the 4th for $200, other than that, no deal.

I never received a response.  But, c’est la vie.

About the same time, I inquired about a couple of games near Columbus, Ohio.  I was set to make the trip to buy a full size, working Mario Bros. and a Sega Outrun.  I believe it was going to be $250 for both.  The deal, again, was in place.  But the day before I was set to make the purchase, I get word that they “received an offer they couldn’t pass up” on the Mario Bros. game, but I could still buy the Outrun.  So, again not being a pushover, I told them the deal was off.

Thirdly (actually, this was the first one that started the whole mess) from the original Craigslist posting, someone contacted me saying they had a Donkey Kong Jr. machine for $100.  They originally purchased this from a friend that was moving.  The machine was complete, but the monitor wasn’t working.  Again, just like in the other situations, the deal was set and I was ready to drive to Indiana to pick the machine up.

Then, a day or 2 before, I am told the guys wife, who hated having the machine around before, decided she wanted him to put the time into fixing it.  So, the deal was off.

And finally, my latest adventure which is still in progress.  I see and ad about arcade games for sale so I inquire.  I ask if they are still available, what are they, and what are the prices.

The first response I receive is they are available and make an offer.  OK, but I don’t know what’s available.  But then shortly after I receive a follow-up email with the names of the games and to come by and make an offer (or place a bid as they put it) if I am in the area.

I reply that I am about 3 hours away and just dropping by is out of the question, so if they could tell me how much they are wanting to get out of the games, we can go from there.  I receive yet another email, this time with pictures.  I am told, again, to make an offer.

I reply that the games I’m interested in (Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man) all look in decent shape but I have no idea how well they work, their stability, etc.  That being said, I offer $700 for the lot of 4.  I figure it’s a good starting point to negotiate.  But, like before when I try to deal, I get no response.  Granted, its only been a couple of days but they were so fast with their first set of emails.

That is where I stand.  I have had 3 “sure thing” deals fall through at the last minute.  I suspect the person in this current deal I’m attempting to work on wants some insane amount of money for their games.  Close to $200 a game is not a bad price for the machines listed above, especially if I am willing to take 4 off their hands not even knowing their real conditions.

I guess we’ll see how this last negotiaion goes, but given my past fortune, I’m not expecting anything positive to come out of it.