modessitt
Volunteer: Encyclopedia Submission Moderator
Doing the little things when selling - based on price, of course...
I'm not going to be specific, as it'll just cause shit from someone who already doesn't like me for no good reason that I can ascertain.
When you sell a working game, do you do the little things that make the game a more attractive buy:
1) Take a little magic eraser and clean up the control panel or side art/cabinet.
2) Pull off some easy-to-remove brackets/trim pieces/bolts that show some rust or wear and sand and paint them.
3) Put in a lock with a key?
4) Replace burnt-out coin door lights?
5) Fix burnt marquee lamps?
6) Wipe down the cabinet (especially the top!) and clean all the glass/plexi?
7) Etc.
Or do you just feel happy the monitor comes on and a game can be played, and figure only arcade hobbyists are going to be looking to buy your game anyway and they should be able to take care of that stuff on their own?
What about price? Let's say an average-condition working game (no-rebuilt monitor, etc) normally sells for $400. If one is listed at $300 or less, you probably don't care as long as the game works. For $300-500, you'd expect it to at least look as nice as possible. For $500 or above, you'd expect everything on it to be nice and rebuilt, right? Or do you expect the nice stuff closer to $300 or $400?
I remember when Scott (TxHotShot) with Hyperspace Arcade used to post ads for "totally refurbished" games, and someone would bitch about coin door or control panel bolt heads being rusty. Yet there are machines listed for sale here every day (one in particular that peaked my interest in this topic) that has several of the items on my list above not done to it (at least as seen in the pictures posted in the ad), even though the price is not sub-$400.
Now, to be fair, the game looks very nice as-is, and I don't think the price is out-of-line at all, as I'd probably ask something similar for the same machine, but as it only takes about 20-30 minutes total to do the 3 or 4 little things to make it nicer (at almost no expense to the seller), why not do so? You might pull in that casual buyer who wasn't looking specifically for an arcade game, but might if they think it looks "nice enough" that their wife/gf won't bitch too much about it being in their house.
Every working game I sell gets the little things done, even if it's a cheap sale. I do this because I'm a tech and the game is going out with my name and reputation on it. A lot of times, this might be someone's first game, and you want them to be happy with it, and maybe come back for more.
So, what do y'all think about the "little things" when it comes to selling? Or even as a buyer? Does it make you more likely to buy a machine if the price is what you expect, but you can see the little things have been done to make it nicer?
Discuss...
I'm not going to be specific, as it'll just cause shit from someone who already doesn't like me for no good reason that I can ascertain.
When you sell a working game, do you do the little things that make the game a more attractive buy:
1) Take a little magic eraser and clean up the control panel or side art/cabinet.
2) Pull off some easy-to-remove brackets/trim pieces/bolts that show some rust or wear and sand and paint them.
3) Put in a lock with a key?
4) Replace burnt-out coin door lights?
5) Fix burnt marquee lamps?
6) Wipe down the cabinet (especially the top!) and clean all the glass/plexi?
7) Etc.
Or do you just feel happy the monitor comes on and a game can be played, and figure only arcade hobbyists are going to be looking to buy your game anyway and they should be able to take care of that stuff on their own?
What about price? Let's say an average-condition working game (no-rebuilt monitor, etc) normally sells for $400. If one is listed at $300 or less, you probably don't care as long as the game works. For $300-500, you'd expect it to at least look as nice as possible. For $500 or above, you'd expect everything on it to be nice and rebuilt, right? Or do you expect the nice stuff closer to $300 or $400?
I remember when Scott (TxHotShot) with Hyperspace Arcade used to post ads for "totally refurbished" games, and someone would bitch about coin door or control panel bolt heads being rusty. Yet there are machines listed for sale here every day (one in particular that peaked my interest in this topic) that has several of the items on my list above not done to it (at least as seen in the pictures posted in the ad), even though the price is not sub-$400.
Now, to be fair, the game looks very nice as-is, and I don't think the price is out-of-line at all, as I'd probably ask something similar for the same machine, but as it only takes about 20-30 minutes total to do the 3 or 4 little things to make it nicer (at almost no expense to the seller), why not do so? You might pull in that casual buyer who wasn't looking specifically for an arcade game, but might if they think it looks "nice enough" that their wife/gf won't bitch too much about it being in their house.
Every working game I sell gets the little things done, even if it's a cheap sale. I do this because I'm a tech and the game is going out with my name and reputation on it. A lot of times, this might be someone's first game, and you want them to be happy with it, and maybe come back for more.
So, what do y'all think about the "little things" when it comes to selling? Or even as a buyer? Does it make you more likely to buy a machine if the price is what you expect, but you can see the little things have been done to make it nicer?
Discuss...


