Hobby or Wallet? Not what you think...

modessitt

Volunteer: Encyclopedia Submission Moderator
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
33,414
Reaction score
325
Location
Austin, Texas
Here's something I've been thinking about lately. I'm going to use an example that does not apply for reasons that may become apparent later.

Let's say that Pac-Man boards were plentiful, but that Ms. Pac-Man boards were not, and that it was considered impossible to convert a Pac-Man board to a Ms. Pac-Man board. This causes Pac-Man boards to sell for about $100, but Ms. Pac-Man boards to sell for up to about $250.

Now, let's say that you figure out a way to convert a Pac-Man board into a Ms. Pac-Man board, and that it can be done for about $20 in parts and less than an hour of labor. Do you:

a) Post instructions online so anyone can do it? This will also have the effect of causing Ms. Pac-Man boards to go down in price by quite a bit as people won't have to track one down at great expense.

b) Buy Pac-Man boards and convert them and resell them as Ms. Pac-Man boards? Or charge people to convert them?

You could make quite a bit of money with obtion b. At least until someone buys one from you and then figures out how you did it and either spreads it all out there for free or starts doing it themselves and undercutting you.

So, would you put the hobby (posting free info to help others) or the wallet (making as much money as you can before the info gets out) first?


The reason I ask is - I might be on the cusp of figuring out how to change something that is found easily into something that isn't with minimum cost and effort...
 
I think I would do a modified option B. The price point would be the modified part. If the original board only sold for $100 I would probably charge $150-175 for the modified board. Would probably charge $50-75 plus shipping for the service of converting the board. My reasoning is you make a profit while keeping the cost reasonable enough where people will still want to pay you rather than doing it their self. Of course some will figure it out and do it on their own. Probably even pass on the info but if your price is reasonable enough you become the go to guy for most people. Of course if this is not something that you want to do for too long then go for the big money then let others copy.
 
I would suggest posting the info, then offering it as a paid service for those who can't/ don't want to do it themselves.

I burn the rom for the Tempest Tubes mod and wire up the switch. The info is online so anyone can do it, but most don't want to even though it is simple. I don't sell them, but I have made them for a few people who didn't want to mess with it. I am going out to install one now. I didn't charge, but offering the service sealed a deal on a game trade. I think there would be plenty of people who would pay for your mod. Probably plenty of others that would be mad that you are doing it too...this is KLOV. :)
 
If it makes you some money to benefit you and your family,go for option B! You are putting forth the time and effort to potentially making this happen,so why not get reimbursed for it? Other people in the hobby have also chose option B and I honestly don't blame them. I would not think any differently of you either option you choose,but I'd again say B.
 
Do both. Post the instructions for those that want to (and can) do it, and offer the service of converting someone's board or supplying a converted board.
 
While something might be easy most people do not have programmers if this involves any kind of swap, which it would seem. There are plenty more people who can not solder to save their life so they would want/need that to be done for them. There are also people who just don't feel like or have time to do the work and would rather pay somebody else to do the work or the piece of mind that it has been done right/will work when they get it.

Try to make a little arcade fund money. If you want in a while release the instructions for people who can do it or what until some one reverse engineers it and release it since you have nothing to lose at that point. Even then there will still be people willing to buy your product. Also, try to make it available, too many things are hard to get.
 
Do both. Post the instructions for those that want to (and can) do it, and offer the service of converting someone's board or supplying a converted board.


I like this idea as well since you will help both the hobby and the wallet.
A lot of hobbyists will want to do it themselves,yet ops and others who don't want to mess with it will pay someone else to do it.Similiar to what goes on with phoenixing CPS2 boards,etc.
 
There's nothing wrong with either option. Like you said it won't take long to figure it out for anyone industrious enough to do so.


How about a third option...

You get really good at converting them so that it can be done much faster and price it moderately so that anyone who wants this board won't take the chance of screwing it up during the conversion.

So instead of making 100 bucks you make 65. If it takes an hour to convert it theres a strong likelyhood someone will screw it up and ruin a board.
 
i would briefly do option b, like on ebay, to make a few bucks real quick, then post it online so the hobbyists could do it.
 
I'll just mention that this is monitor-related. As monitors are quite expensive to ship - plus the threat of damage - it can be quite a dollar amount out-of-pocket if you need a specific type of monitor for a game. If a modification can be done to a more common type so it will work as the hard-to-find and more-expensive type, that would save a lot of people time and money....
 
Obviously, you don't tell anyone shit, and slowly leak converted boards onto the market until people figure out they're conversions, and the price starts to drop, then you do conversions so you aren't sitting on stock of rapidly depreciating boards.
 
I should also mention that I am leaning towards sharing the info, possibly selling kits to those who can't get the individual parts themselves, and offering to do the work for a fee if they want....
 
I'll just mention that this is monitor-related. As monitors are quite expensive to ship - plus the threat of damage - it can be quite a dollar amount out-of-pocket if you need a specific type of monitor for a game. If a modification can be done to a more common type so it will work as the hard-to-find and more-expensive type, that would save a lot of people time and money....

Now this sounds like it might be worth more cash than I was previously thinking. I'm thinking it's gotta be one of two things. One I would think the best option would be to offer the service to those who want it and release the info. If it happens to be my other guess then i would say mod the units and sell them for top dollar. When interest dies move on to offering the service for a lesser price. Why do I get the feeling go7's are gonna go up in price?
 
Now this sounds like it might be worth more cash than I was previously thinking. I'm thinking it's gotta be one of two things. One I would think the best option would be to offer the service to those who want it and release the info. If it happens to be my other guess then i would say mod the units and sell them for top dollar. When interest dies move on to offering the service for a lesser price. Why do I get the feeling go7's are gonna go up in price?

G07's? Hmm. What idea are you thinking about? PM me if you have to.

Let's just say that - if this works - we'll have an answer the next time someone asks if they can use a standard-res monitor in their 720...
 
G07's? Hmm. What idea are you thinking about? PM me if you have to.

Let's just say that - if this works - we'll have an answer the next time someone asks if they can use a standard-res monitor in their 720...

Was thinking in the direction of what you are implying I believe. Was just thinking with the go7 being so common, that might be the candidate you were thinking of using. Of course I was thinking 19" and it sounds like you are looking more at the 25".
 
Was thinking in the direction of what you are implying I believe. Was just thinking with the go7 being so common, that might be the candidate you were thinking of using. Of course I was thinking 19" and it sounds like you are looking more at the 25".

Nope, 19" can be done, too, but as the G07 never had a medium-res version, I'm not sure how easily it could be included...
 
For me, I would also do a hybrid of option 1 and 2.

Xbox 360 repair is a good example. I can repair 10-15 Xbox 360s for under $20 (minus tools, which really only ad another $5-10).

People out there charge $50 all day for repairs. And, I would say about 80-90% are willing to pay that.

Others sell a kit on ebay or similar.

I hate when I look online to find out if something is an easy fix, I find out it is, but then the people want to charge you to tell you. Digging deeper will usually find it for free anyway.
 
Information is valuable. You've taken the time so you should receive something from that...your time is money.

Eventually, even if you didn't divulge your method, the 'approach' would most likely be uncovered and your window of opportunity will shrink. Get what you can now and then reveal your intel later.

It's a hobby but don't forget to put a value on your time. Unless the method for this is simple and you don't have a lot of time or money invested, AND you're in a giving mood....make it available to the community at no cost.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom