Nick505 Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Recently I was out locating and I came across a pizza place. I missed a great opportunity by a week. My competition just installed a 7way rack, a crane, and a buck hunter. there is still lots of room and the owner wants more machines. He requested a pinball and pacman game from me @ %50 commission. this would be my first location operating pinball and arcades. I am thinking that the roi is far much greater than I would like. Also my guess is repair costs are pretty expensive for these machines. What would your recommendations be as to go about this? The two options I have as far as pinball machines used locally are a 1988 data east pinball machine or a 2002 stern monopoly pinball machine. 1988 -$ 1000 2002- $ 3500 Seems like at %50 percent commission the roi would not be very quick. What would you guys suggest as to how I should handle this location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Recently I was out locating and I came across a pizza place. I missed a great opportunity by a week. My competition just installed a 7way rack, a crane, and a buck hunter. there is still lots of room and the owner wants more machines. He requested a pinball and pacman game from me @ %50 commission. this would be my first location operating pinball and arcades. I am thinking that the roi is far much greater than I would like. Also my guess is repair costs are pretty expensive for these machines. What would your recommendations be as to go about this? The two options I have as far as pinball machines used locally are a 1988 data east pinball machine or a 2002 stern monopoly pinball machine. 1988 -$ 1000 2002- $ 3500 Seems like at %50 percent commission the roi would not be very quick. What would you guys suggest as to how I should handle this location? personally i wont mess with pinball they are too hard to move and need a lot of repairs i had a pinball as a kid and it was always breaking down. newer ones may be more relibale but it is a huge mess of relays and wires inside arcade game is easy, get a 60 in one jamma board and a cabinet with a good working monitor. just look on craigs list for any old arcade cabinet make sure it has a jamma harness and a working screen then buy a 60-in-1 board off ebay or jammaboards.com and drop it in. optionally remove the side art from the cab. I would also invest in a DBA and a coin door that has a DBA cut out. set it for something like 5 plays for $1.00 dont even bother with coin mechs just have a DBA only. set the 60 in one up so it only plays one or tow games at a time that way you can switch the game out every month. people seem to find the menu system confusing because a lot of times i will find my 60 in 1 sitting idle with credits still on it. it wont make very much i think my best month with these was like 50 bucks but u should be able to put one together for under 400. frankly i would look for a prize redemption machine like a stacker, or a slam dunk or maybe gravity hill something like that...arcade games dont make much, or put in a coin pusher the other guy will want to kill you lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Vending Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 I wouldnt do either pins just dont make money any more and like dogcow said they always need cleaning and repair. For the arcade game i would pass on this also because at this location you are talking about the crane and big buck is going to rake in 90% of the sales and you would be lucky with 10 % with your arcade game. Games dont make much anymore unless you get something fairly new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billnuts Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 the only pin that would still make money is south park maintence is changing the balls and cleaning the playfield every 2 months is a operator expense coils, pop up targets and lights are the things that normaly go wrong. if you dont know how to fix and solder wires and troubleshoot. then put a arcade there bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Yea, I think I am going to avoid the pinball machine. I actually own a sega arcade machine called pengo. Also I am going to go with an American Chicken Machine. I wish I could kick the other guys crane, 7way rack, and buck hunter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 If that pengo game has a jamma harness its perfect for making a multi-cade just drop in the 60-in-one board, and remove the art you may need to drill in an extra button though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QBTCoin Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I would stay away from pinball machines unless you can pick an older one up for under $2000. I had a 2010 Stern Avatar pinball machine at a local roller rink that cost me $4600 new. It would bring in around $30-45/week average. I pulled it out and replaced it with a 1990 Williams Rollergames pinball machine that cost me $1000 used, and it still makes $30-45/week. If an account demands a pinball machine, get an older one so you'll have a quicker ROI, since just about any title will make the same amount in an average street location. Matinence is not bad since I use black rubbers and replace most of the lights with LEDs. I usually clean the playfield once or twice a year, and never use wax, since it attracts dust and dirt build up much quicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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