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Is my eyesight getting so bad, that when I look at bid amounts on eBay, they seem to be adding a comma, and an extra number or two?
There is a very common Exhibit Supply "Horse Shoes" Dicer on eBay, (Item #230925852347), that generally will sell in the range of $350 to $450, for one in as nice of condition as this.
Only problem I see with this one, is the word GATEWAY is stenciled over the artwork of the card. I have seen quite a number of these over the years with that name. Dick Bueschel told me long ago, that it was an operators name. Guess they didn't want to put the name on the glass, because it would be worn or scraped off. Who cared back then, Right? Nobody was going to be collecting these machines. Ha! Who have thunk-it?
Now, the big question here is, who are all of the Nut-Case bidders, with bottomless pockets, that have managed to bid this thing up to a whopping $1,925.00 so far, with little over a day to go?
I can understand the Newbie, with the feedback of (26), not knowing anything about machines. But the one with (206), that placed the huge amount 4 days ago, that the newbie hasn't been able to climb over as yet, must have been doing a little research by now. Go Figure! Do I smell a SHILL here? I sure hope not, as I know the seller, and do not think he would participate in such shenanigans. Guess I'll have to start listing some of my common duplicates, and maybe even singles, if this is the new trend. Wow!

The seller is a friend of mine and the machine was not shilled in any way. The seller is as surprised as everyone else.

Watlingboy

watlingboy wrote:The seller is a friend of mine and the machine was not shilled in any way. The seller is as surprised as everyone else.

Watlingboy

Glad to hear your views on him as well. I really didn't think so, but it sure sends up a RED flag, when something like this takes place.
It will be very interesting to see if it climbs the ladder even more at the end. Hopefully, for the sellers sake, the winner doesn't re-neg on the win.

watlingboy wrote:The seller is a friend of mine and the machine was not shilled in any way. The seller is as surprised as everyone else.

Watlingboy

The auction ended on the 17th. Has your friend been paid from yet? The bid history shows that the high bidder raised his bid three times.
Member Id: b***e ( 206Feedback score is 100 to 499) US $1,925.00
Feb-17-13 18:26:13 PST

Member Id: b***e ( 206Feedback score is 100 to 499) US $1,925.00
Feb-16-13 18:44:52 PST

Member Id: b***e ( 206Feedback score is 100 to 499) US $1,925.00
Feb-12-13 16:40:30 PST

Hi -
I sold the machine on eBay and am happy to report the buy paid promptly and has subsequently received the machine and is delighted.
As to the question on the buyer entering more bids at the close of the auction - - I too have gone back to items that I was high bidder on and entered more bids as a protection against last minute snipes. This is not an uncommon practice on eBay. It's the "virtual equivalent" of boldly holding up your paddle during a live auction.

OH THE ATTITUDE OF THE OLD TIME COLLECTOR...NEVER LOOK DOWN AT WHAT SOMEBODY IS WILLING TO PAY. IF YOU ARE A COLLECTOR YOU
WANT TO COLLECT. *(THAT BECOMES YOUR PRIMARY FUNCTION) IF YOU ONLY BUY THE "STEAL" , IF YOU ONLY BUY AT THE LOWEST PRICE,
YOU ARE VERY FORTUNATE. IF YOU LOVE A MACHINE, AND WANT IT...YOU WILL PAY MORE THEN YOU SHOULD, EVEN PAY MORE THEN ITS WORTH.
THE TERM NEWBIE IS DEMEANING, YOUR CASUUAL STATEMENT "SHILL" ACCUSES A SELLER WITH OUT DOCUMENTATION.
I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING FOR MANY YEARS, AND have seen all the weird things happen.
At Doc Smiths auction a bidding war developed. themachine went from 60K to over 90k. Comment between the two bidders--
bidder A-(to bidder B ) you cost me a lot of money . Bidder B's reply,If your not happy, I'll buy you out. THATS WHAT AUCTIONS ARE ABOUT,
what some ONE is willing to pay, is nobodies business but the buyer. SHOW A LTTLE RESPECT HE OWNS THE DICE GAME HE WANTED,
.
REGARDING E-BAY, COIN OP IS A LIMITED HOBBY, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE AND BUY WHAT YOU LIKE IS LIMITED. HOW MANY SHOWS DO WE HAVE
IN CHICAGO- HOW MANY MEMBER ARE THERE IN COCA (iTHINK 700). MANY OF US FOLLOW THE ON LINE AUCTIONS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CENTER OF OUR
OPPORTUNITIES TO SEE AND BID ON GOOD AND GREAT COIN-OP. ( HOPEING ALL WILL BE AS DESCRIBED AT A 20% PREMIUM.)HOW MANY OF THESE AUCTIONS
CAN WE AFFORD TO ATTEND.

DAVES FORUM IS ONE OF THE FEW, THAT HELPS THE NEW COLLECTOR- BECOME AN OLD COLLECTOR. LETS USE A LITTLE RESTRAINT .
FINALLY , IF SLOT DYNASTY SAYS THAT MACHINE , IN THAT CONDITION IS WORTH $350 TO $450- HE IS PROBABLY RIGHT-IF HE WILL SELL ME THAT
DICE MACHINE AT $ 450 DELIVERED WE HAVE A DEAL.
GOODGUY

What the bidder is willing to pay $1925.00 is absolutely a stupid amount. I bet the seller is laughing all the way to the bank. The word "Gateway" on the machine is nothing but a word stenciled onto the glass. I have been keeping track of eBay sales for about seven years. The highest the Exhibit Supply Horse Shoes was sold for was $600.00. The average price is between $350-450.00.
I found another "Gateway" on Dave's price guide. This sold 1/11/2009 for $255.00.
Ron

I may be an old-time collector, but I don't think I look down on what anyone is willing to pay for a machine.
However, recognizing that a lot of people have a lot more disposable income than I do, I am often really, REALLY surprised.

$1925 for a Gateway Horseshoes; I'm really, REALLY, REEEEAAALLLYYY surprised.
Within a week, the same model machine (item 230930590640) without the Gateway logo (and the graphics look a little faded) only got 1 bid and sold for $495.
Go figure. The land of ebay is a strange place indeed.

If the Gateway logo is worth that much, I'm sure the the faker in Sin City is out buying a stencil machine right now.

Another Horse Shoes (without Gateway) is currently up for auction; it has 1 bid at $495 with 2 days left to go.
Better jump on that one quick!
EDIT: Oops; this was supposed to refer to a Select-Em (same model, different graphics) with 0 bids and, it should be noted, in considerably worse condition than the Gateway.

Also within a week, a "vintage Vendorama Ball Point Pen" machine sold for a mere $1301.
Wow; somebody got a real deal there!

Just to be clear - have a close look at the machine that sold for 495.
- Substantial fade to the graphics
- Tilt mechanism replaced (fake - just a ball in a tube)
- gum mech incomplete / not functioning (as described by seller)

Obviously the bidder(s) also saw significant differences in the two machines.

Why is any of this anyone's business but the buyer and the seller?
Coin op stuff isn't available on the shelves at Walmart. If a guy tells his wife that he wants a Bally Eight Ball Deluxe pinball machine for his 50th birthday, and she isn't "connected" to the coin op world, she might very well buy one on Ebay with a $3,500.00 Buy It Now. Even though an "informed" coin op collector would say that the value is only $1,200.00 MAX. Number one, she doesn't know any better, and number two, like I mention above, you can't just buy one of them at Walmart.....
Last year I REALLY wanted one of those huge, 4 ft long Rapala store display lures for my lake cabin. So I bought one on Ebay for like $150.00. A few weeks later a friend of mine who collects decoys told me that he can buy them all the time for like $40.00. So is the guy on Ebay who sold me the lure a crook or shill? NOPE! Am I an idiot for buying a $40.00 lure for $150.00? Well, I wanted it, it was available at the time, and to be blunt, the difference between $40.00 and $150.00 isn't enough to make me do anything more than shrug my shoulders....
If you watch that "American Restoration" show on TV you will see people every week who are willing to spend $3,000.00 to get their childhood tricycle restored.
On one hand I really admire the people on this forum who try to keep people from getting ripped off by fakes or repros. But on the other hand, I don't see a lot of good in being a "killjoy" to people who are perfectly happy with purchases that they have made.
One of the things that I miss most about this hobby in recent years are the "positive mentors" like Dick Bueschel. When I first got into the hobby I would be at the Chicagoland show and would show Dick something cheesy like a beat up Northwestern 60 gumball machine that I just bought for 4 times what I should have paid. He would take it and look it all over and would say "WOW! This is GREAT! Tell me how you are going to fix it up! This is going to look GREAT! You are gonna have SO MUCH FUN with this!!!!!!!".
Now the coin op "royalty" look down their noses at anyone who would even be SEEN with something like a Northwestern 60 machine! "Oh. I would NEVER have that machine in MY collection. FAR TOO common. Those machines aren't worth ANYTHING!"..... Heck even the "goals" of the COCA club say (or used to say) that the club is for collectors of items made before like 1951or some year like that. So basically all "flipper" pinball machines and ALL Video games would be excluded. This might have changed, but I don't believe so. We need to encourage and be happy for anyone who buys ANY coin op device, and not ruin their experience by telling them that they are stupid for paying too much for it!
Anyway, my long overdue point is that in my opinion it's none of our business what price someone asks for an item, OR what price someone is willing to pay......