I received this link about Stern possibly distributing his pinball machines through Costco in the US. Has anyone heard of that happening up here in Canada? Lots of pros and cons and for my 2 cents, I say that more exposure out in the general population, the better it is. Enjoy the read.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_thread/thread/864e20fb10b63eb3?hl=en

it's not possibly, they ARE in the us (search for stern on costco.com) ... nothing here on costco.ca.

I remember Costco having Stern Pins for sale in Canada a few years ago.
(TSPP comes to mind...).

They were not physically located in the store,
but I clearly remember seeing it as an "orderable" item from their stock.

Prices were obscene though, I think it was $5700 CDN PLUS tax...

Haven't seen them advertised for awhile though...

Steph

I just went through the Canadian Costco website in detail and could not find anything related to selling pinball machines. It could be limited time only, seasonal, who knows. For now it looks like this is an American phenomenon.

Selling pinballs through Costco makes no sense in their business plan. They are volume sellers and usually bring in product and sell it before they have to pay the vendor. They want a max. 40 day shelf lfe for any product. Slow moving products are discontinued. This allows they to always in be a strong cash position and to get better pricing from vendors. Can they sell a high volume of Stern pinballs? Would they setup pins to be played in stores? To me I could see them only offereing them on the online store.

Most likely they would draw from either factory order or manufacturer/distributors stock similar to how they sell window blinds, high end mattresses, closet organizers etc. I did see a 100 in 1 video cabinet in the store last year for about 3K but I only saw a display model. This would not be high volume for them, but might be higher than many distributors. Probably on a highrer margin than most of their other items too.

CSI Arcade Pinball Machine
by Stern Pinball
Speech from Robert David Hall
Item # 435454
Be the first to write a review.    Share this Product: Facebook Digg DelIcioUs Twitter
$3,999.99
Shipping & Handling included
The estimated delivery time will be approximately
2 - 3 weeks from the time of order.


Standard shipping is via common carrier, curbside delivery, signature required. Carrier will call to set up a delivery time. Extraordinary delivery requirements may necessitate an additional fee to the carrier. The estimated delivery time will be approximately 2 - 3 weeks from the time of order.
Delivery is not available to Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii.
Costco.com products can be returned to any of our more than 500 Costco warehouses worldwide.

Sears at POTC in the wishbook last year, and costco has sold arcade legends machhines before... doesn't surprise me

Quoted from Mrhide

CSI Arcade Pinball Machine
by Stern Pinball
Speech from Robert David Hall
Item # 435454
Be the first to write a review.    Share this Product: Facebook Digg DelIcioUs Twitter
$3,999.99
Shipping & Handling included
The estimated delivery time will be approximately
2 - 3 weeks from the time of order.


Standard shipping is via common carrier, curbside delivery, signature required. Carrier will call to set up a delivery time. Extraordinary delivery requirements may necessitate an additional fee to the carrier. The estimated delivery time will be approximately 2 - 3 weeks from the time of order.
Delivery is not available to Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii.
Costco.com products can be returned to any of our more than 500 Costco warehouses worldwide.

was this US or Canadian site info?