Arcade Auctions - real cost of a machine?

jcellegood

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
803
Reaction score
9
Location
Pendleton, Indiana
Am I doing this math correctly? If one buys a machine for $500, is there really the potential for an almost $200 swing between the buyer's and the seller's perspective? If that's the case, I guess I'm surprised anything is ever sold at auction like that.

I'm using http://arcadeauction.net/ as a basis for this calculation.

====================================
Buyer's Perspective
====================================
$500 machine price
+ $75 buyer's premium (15%)
-----------------------
$575 subtotal
+ $34.50 sales tax (PA 6%)
-----------------------
$609.50 total

====================================
Seller's Perspective
====================================
$500 machine price
- $10 per item registration fee
- $15 per item handling fee
- $50 commission
----------------------------------
$425 total
 

Attachments

  • Capture.jpg
    Capture.jpg
    47.9 KB · Views: 19
Last edited:
Oh, I love an auction. :) But my experience at these is pretty limited, I've been to three arcade auctions and only bought one item ($60 for a box of Pacman boards), I guess it did have a 10% premium on it and I paid Indiana sales tax, so it turned out to cost almost $70 (but one did work and I traded the others, so it was still a great deal to me).

I was just looking at the post for this auction and thinking "When I'm done with IT, I should get an auctioneer license." It just seems like there's a double dip, the seller pays, the buyer pays...
 
I love the auctions. But I go with a business mind set always figuring in the total cost. As for selling don't forget the fuel cost, food, hotel and a full day. I have made on some and lost on several. but still go and enjoy every minute of it.
 
I've only been to one arcade auction. No extra fees. No Tax. What I bid is what I paid. Wish I would have gone with a bigger trailer. Probably 30 machines went to a scrapper.
 
I think its only 10 to set, and 10% commission.. Sales tax sucks especially in TN..its like 9% there, and if you register as a business, the buyer commision is less.

At least thats the case for AGS.
 
I've been to so many auctions and seen it all. You get these auctions where all the sudden utter crap is selling for like $250 upright MK conversion on a beat to hell Defender and then I've been to auctions where theres like a Marvel vs Capcom 2 going for $40 on a Dynamo with no bidders. Auctions are hit or miss, but the thing you have to watch out for are hand in pocket good ol boy shill bidding types. Some auction companies (I won't say which) are in good standing with some of the local ops that then knowingly place shill bidders on the floor to drive up the bids on utter crap to make fat pockets for themselves. See it all the time, just know when to say "no". The other thing to be wary of is the uneducated crowd. This lady attended this one auction set out to make her boys and girls club full of arcade games and spent probably 2x to 3x the going rate for every game. She contributed to the problem having no idea what these things were worth. Lots to learn, stand and watch and stick with your limits.
 
In my experience, the two pain-in-the-butt groups who bid stuff up the most are a) non-arcade people who stopped by out of curiosity and just want one game, no matter the cost, and b) internet bidders who don't see that the game is actually in terrible condition and only working intermittently.

There is also definitely something to be said for the psychological factor of "winning" a game for what sounds like a low price, because when you're in the moment and bidding, you have a tendency to forget about the added fees later on. Here in socal it's 15% + 8.75%, so basically a 25% mark-up on every game.
 
I've gone to a lot of auctions, the best advice I can give you is set limits and have an idea of what the item is worth. Last auction I was at they had some old slots, which I was bidding on, however the prices went far over what I could go to a dealer and purchase for. It is also important to know the terms of the auction prior to bidding and to review every item you are interested in. I would also suggest writing down the lot number(s) of the items you are bidding on, I have seen multiple "like" items come up (not shown in preview) that are the same thing just in worse shape. Again it's on the buyer to know all of that. Having said all of that, auctions can be a lot of fun and you can get some great deals.
 
Back
Top Bottom