Another rant by Peale

[SirPeale]

I have a 'wanted' ad on craigslist for arcade games.  Haven't heard anything since I placed the ad nearly a month ago.

So ~4pm I receive an email from someone just down the road from me in CT.  They say they have an old game called 'Ouantum' which, obviously is 'Quantum.'

It was left by the previous owner of the house some years before.  It was in the way, and they wanted it gone.

Doing some research, I find the game to be fairly rare (500 made, only perhaps 200 left in existence).  Double bonus for being a vector game.  Price in good condition?  ~$2,500 +/-

I email back stating that I would love to take a look at it.  This is about six PM.

It's now 11pm, and I received an email stating that someone from MA just came and 'hauled the game away' and 'thanks for my interest.'

Now...WTF?  If you're going to hold a carrot out to a donkey, don't give the carrot to another donkey!

I'm just so frusterated I can't see straight now.

[TheTick]

It was in the way, and they wanted it gone.

It wasn't a carrot, it was a hurtle. You only said you would "take a look at it". Obviously the other person offered to remove it. Beggars can't be choosers, you also have to be more decisive and sympathetic to others  

[SirPeale]

Aparently he emailed a lot of people about the game.  This was willing to take it off his hands right then.  So was I for that matter, but I didn't know he'd contacted others about it.

[menace]

You know I had considered doing this tactic to see what i would get--ad in the paper or something--sounds like it might be more trouble than its worth--any thoughts/suggestions?

[APFelon]

I would have fired up the van and had it out of his house by 6:10.

I know, there is nothing worse than the regret and bitterness of a busted deal. I have busted them myself, and I regret doing so. I had some major interest shown in the Daffie pin I offered on this forum. I had to filter out those who seemed wishy-washy about it and wanted to "look at it" from those who would buy it / take it sight unseen. They all seemed to be good people, but I had to have a commitment. The seller / owner of the Quantum probably had the same attitude.

But that is the nature of this business. I have mentioned in the past that there are some seedy characters in this business who will try to talk down an excellent deal (50$ for a complete, yet non-working pin is too much? Get it working and you could sell it for 15x that, probably more if you parted it out to collectors with a working pin who are looking for parts). There are also those who would undercut your deal. It sucks, and I hate the business for this practice, but that's the nature of it.

Anyway... back to your regularly scheduled program...

APf

[SirPeale]

I would have fired up the van and had it out of his house by 6:10.

So would I, had he gotten back to me in time.  Well, I would have had to wait for my wife to get home from work.

Aparently he contacted several people regarding the game.  If he had left a phone number instead of just an email I would have called him as soon as I got the message.

I know, there is nothing worse than the regret and bitterness of a busted deal. I have busted them myself, and I regret doing so. I had some major interest shown in the Daffie pin I offered on this forum. I had to filter out those who seemed wishy-washy about it and wanted to "look at it" from those who would buy it / take it sight unseen. They all seemed to be good people, but I had to have a commitment. The seller / owner of the Quantum probably had the same attitude.

See above.  Multiple people.

But that is the nature of this business. I have mentioned in the past that there are some seedy characters in this business who will try to talk down an excellent deal (50$ for a complete, yet non-working pin is too much? Get it working and you could sell it for 15x that, probably more if you parted it out to collectors with a working pin who are looking for parts). There are also those who would undercut your deal. It sucks, and I hate the business for this practice, but that's the nature of it.

Anyway... back to your regularly scheduled program...

Indeed.  I was going to offer him money for the game.  But guess how much it went for?  $0.  Not one red cent.  He just wanted it gone.

[spidermonkey]

Man that sucks Peale. . Talk about huge let down. Heck I'm dissipointed too and it didn't even happen to me. I would never do that to someone because I wouldn't want it done to me but unfortunately their are many people out there who can screw a person over and still sleep like a baby that night.    Maybe you'll have better luck on the next one.

[Dave_K.]

Nobody leaves a videogame "behind" when they move.  If they did, then you can bet it A) didn't work B) probably had multiple problems (most likely with those vector monitors).  Worse yet, it could have just been Quantum cab with another game put in (with raster monitor and jamma game)...  Who knows!  Point is, don't kick yourself over something like this as it was probably more trouble than it was worth.

Hope that makes you feel better.  

[SirPeale]

They might leave it behind if their new place does not have room for it.  When moving I've left behind stuff before.  Of course, it wasn't a video game.

A couple blokes over @ RGVAC have said that likely someone was pulling my chain.  I don't know if they were or not, but it still sucks either way.

I'm not going to let it get me down too much.  I just got a call about a Terminator 2 machine (they want $400 for it, and that's not the kind of swag I'm looking to spend) and an email about an original Asteroids machine (supposedly working).  We'll see.

[eightbit]

You can't blame the guy.

If I sent out an email to a couple people that expressed interest (not spamming people here) offering to give them something or even sell them something then I have to give or sell it to the first person that makes a commitment to it.

It sucks that you missed an opportunity Peale but now you know, next time don't show hesitation. Jump on it and make a committment.

I did this with the boat I bought last summer. The guy wasn't even selling it. I heard from a friend of a friend that his wife wanted him to sell but he didn't so he wasn't doing anything about it. I called the wife up and made arraignments to look at it the next day. I showed up with cash and took it home. I could have turned around and sold that boat for $1000 more the next day had I wanted to. Point is it was a good deal and I jumped on it. A week later I bought a boat lift from a ad in a local newsletter site unseen. He wasn't available for almost a week though for me to come get it. When I got there the guy said his phone had been ringing like crazy and that he wasn't charging me enough but that he had made a committment to me to sell it for that price so he would. I could have turned that around and made $1000 profit on it as well.

[SirPeale]

That's just it, Eight...I would have jumped on it.  When he emailed me, the only thing that he left was his email.  No phone number.  Otherwise I would have called him straight away and made arrangements to pick it up that night.  Sight unseen.

Some guys in RGVAC have said that likely someone was pulling my chain.  The chances that a Quantum were just left somewhere are pretty remote (possible, but not probable).  Either way...

[BillyJack]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Beat the crap out of her.  That'll teach her to touch your stuff..--- oh wait, i mean... burn that guy's house down.


BillyJack