I thought it would be fun to post this up... feel free to add any. It would be funny to reference these as time goes by:

#1:  Make sure you have room to collect games. Dining rooms, bedrooms, living rooms and bathrooms are not great spaces for games.

#2:  Get a minivan or at a bare minimum, a car with a hitch. You WILL need it.

#3:  If you have room for 5 games, that means that at some point you will own 11.

#4:  DON'T LIE to your spouse... just omit details.

#5:  Don't spend lots of money on garbage. Pinball is not a religion. You don't NEED to save every one out there.

#6:  Invest in a dolly. Your back will thank you for it.

#7:  If unsure about a repair, ask. Don't attempt some dumbass hackjob and permanently screw your machine up.

#8:  If unsure about a machine for sale, ask. Don't attempt some dumbass purchase and permanently screw your wallet up.

#9:  Get informed. It will save you money.

#10:  Get tools. Chances are mess will break within the next few minutes.

#11: if the machine is rare, it doesn't mean that it is good.

#12: It's never "probably a fuse".

#13: Machines for sale on Kijiji, CL, Lespac etc are usually broken. People sell broken machines when they are frustrated or can't be bothered getting them fixed.

#14: Don't forget to ask for the paperwork when you buy a machine. It is likely somewhere else than inside the machine where it is suppose to be. Ask and ask again.

#15: Unless a machine is current, things will break far more often than you would have thought.

#16:  Dont buy machines a decade or older unless you are prepared to learn to repair them or you have someone who can and will fix them as frequently as you may require.

#17: You can never have just one.

Quoted from websherpa

#17: You can never have just one.

Correction.... there can NOT be only one (80's movie reference )

#18.  Make sure all your plumbing is good and your gameroom isn't prone to flooding.  (Sorry Sparky, I just HAD to do it!)  

#19.  Be wary of sellers with their own Urban Dictionary entry.

Quoted from Monkeybug

#19.  Be wary of sellers with their own Urban Dictionary entry.

BHAHAHAHA

#20 When you first start out take what you think a machine might be worth and multiply it by at least a factor of 5. You might actually find something for sale in that price range.

#21 Never think your the first guy to contact a seller with a fairly priced machine. If you think you were lightning quick responding your number 26 or higher on the list.

#22 If an ad looks like a deal is too good to be true, make sure you have a really good spam filter and don't expect to get anything other than life long email from the sale.

#23 Always trust sellers who respond all in lower case, don't punctuate appropriately and use "Mr." often to address you or themselves. This is especially true for sellers who have the machine in your country but were sent to a different country from which they are selling the machine.

#24 Western Union and wire transfer are the best way to send money... and never see anything in return for it.