MULTICADE GAMES

It would seem you are exactly the fish people like chattanooga pinball are looking to catch. Retail buyers.

To people here that know better there's no way in hell they'd pay that knowing what they can do themselves.. that's why we are hobbyist collectors. You, are a retail buyer. So, give ol' chattanooga pinball a call and drop your 3k if it's no big deal to you. The rest of us will call you a sucker

I wouldn't call him a sucker (and neither would you if he were buying from you).

I'd say he is under-experienced and over-incomed, and that if he doesn't have the knowledge or time to do it himself, there's nothing wrong with paying someone for their time and parts to do it for him.

I can't rebuild a transmission, so I need to pay someone close to $2000 to fix it. But then my friend (who fixes cars for a living) says, "Why pay that?", even though he hasn't volunteered to do it for parts and beer, either. So - he might think I'm a sucker for paying a reputable transmission shop to fix my car, and you may think he's a sucker for paying someone to build him a game.

I DO think the prices are high, by about $500-800 per machine, but then, I work in the retail game sales (and service) business so I know how most of these games are acquired, what's usually paid for them, what's involved in converting or "refurbishing", and what type of profit the owner usually expects for the finished product.

Our company is usually near the higher end on prices, but we're easily $500-1000 cheaper than a lot of those games he's selling.....
 
Yeah 3,000 is way too much. I know a few guys out here in CA that sell multicades for like 1,500. You could probably have one shipped to anywhere in the continental US for about 400 but, if I can find them at that price out here then I bet you can get them for a similar price in any state. Even if you're a retail buyer you need to do your research. Would you pay 25,000 for a car that you can buy somewhere else for 20,000? Maybe you got so much extra cash that you could care less but, even most folks I know with tons of extra cash like to get a good deal.
 
Heh.. i'd still say that if you read what can be found here regarding multigames and still knowingly pay 3k for one you are indeed a sucker
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That's the difference between retail and in the know..
 
You guys are funny. There are a lot of people who have real jobs and do not have the time nor the want to to build a Multicade. I sell my for 2400.00.in which I hope to make around 500.00 of true profit.
Remember true profit is what a owner of a arcade game company makes.
You know only do you have the cost of parts to build one you also have the labor that goes into it which my techs get paid 16.00 per hour. Then the biggest cost is what a 40000 sqft of warehouse cost each month. Remember we do not work out of our home basement or a 75..00 a month storage unit. When we list a DK or a Ms Pac for sale for 1000.00 to 1500.00 it had to be transported, stored, cleaned, monitor recapped or replaced, new artwork so on and so forth so it not just a game we purchased for a few bucks. When I purchase games I buy them by the semi load other wise I could not stay in business. So when you give us store owner hell think about what it cost for the finish ready to sell product and the fact we bring this great hobby to people who would have never thought they could have these great machines they played as kids in their dens.
 
RLewin, I don't think anyone has challenged that fact. you are a business in the retail market and need to charge whatever you want to charge. I think the point that is lost on you is that for the vast majority of people here retail market is not even in the equation, thus coming here and trying to sell to us is really not worth your time. Being a contributor to knowledge and sharing thoughts/memories would be great, but thinking we are a target demographic for sales probably not. If you can get someone to pay that for a multicade, good for you but it probably won't come from a member here or anywhere in the collectors circles. Homebuyers? oh yea, we collectors sell to them too for the best prices we can.. but to each other? different story.

Also, even as a business, 40k sq feet of warehouse is borderline psychotic. I'd SERIOUSLY begin thinking of downsizing and getting rid of all the pole positions and other dumb games that most likely take up valuable space that nobody really wants. If your costs are so high that you use them as justification for pricing you gotta do what IBM did and start trimming costs to get yourself competetive.
 
That makes sense RLEVIN, there are a lot of things us hobbyists don't take into account about running a business. You run a business and you need to charge what ever you need to charge to keep it going. Which is how any large business is run I would imagine.

I do realize you started this post for some advice on selling MULTICADES. Not sure why these guys gave you such crap about high prices. I guess they thought you were trying to push Multicades on us hobbyists, which they can build for half that much and have fun doing it at the same time.

Anyway, good luck with your business, I know there are homebuyers who would love a Multicade and would pay that much simply because they don't have the resources to do it themselves. It's the same as me paying $3000 for someone to remodel my kitchen because I don't know squat about remodeling, nor do I care to learn, nor do I have time because I am too busy working and tinkering with my arcade machines.
 
RLevin, not to jump on the beat-you-up bandwagon, just wanted to point out some points as to what Prok above is saying. Your overhead is way too high! You've got some nice stuff, but at those prices you can't be selling too many of them. You have to think... this crowd of arcade game guys on KLOV aren't your typical "guy off the street" we've been doing this a while, and know what fair average market prices are. We don't want to pay top dollar, we want a fair honest deal. I'll give you some examples that stick out at me on your for sale page as being ridiculously priced, that I've seen posted for half that, that people have had a hard time selling:

STAR TREK UPRIGHT: $2300 WTF?!
TIME SOLDIERS: $750 Whoa buddy!
HANGON: $850 Good god, hits from the bong!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: $950 Breathless...
ROUGH RANGERS: $550 ROFL!!
ZAXXON: $950 Please, put the crackpipe down!
BATTLEZONE: $1200 Thats almost half the cost of a real tank!!
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DOUBLE DRAGON: $900
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4 SLOT NEOGEO: $950 ?!?!
IKARI WARRIORS: $950 ?!?!
T2: $1250 Rape!
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PUNCHOUT: $1150 Hahahahaha
BADLANDS: $950 Ouch!
XEVIOUS: $1200 Good luck, you'll need it!
The icing on the cake is the $2900 S.W. - Thats about what cockpits are selling for!!
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NOW, NO DISRESPECT INTENDED. BUT, IF YOU HONESTLY WANT TO SUCCEED IN THE FUTURE HERE, YOU'VE GOT TO BE REASONABLE ON PRICES. On some of your mainstream games, I'd say the prices aren't out of line. But how can you sell an XEVIOUS for more than a MS. PAC?! It must be a cold day in hell when you sell that one!
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I AM GETTING SO TIRED OF TYPING PARAGRAPH AFTER PARAGRAPH OF TYPE ONLY TO GET "BAD REQUEST". I AIN'T TYPING IT ALL AGAIN AND ONE MORE TIME THE COMMUNITY SUFFERS BECAUSE OF IT.

FMONK: Any ETA on the upgrade? I mean come on...how can this bug even EXIST on a forum? I don't mean to be such a bitch, but Jesus F'in Christ this is the umteenth time I have WASTED my time typing crap only for it to be lost. I can only imagine some have stopped contributing here because of this...I know I've been on the fence a few times.
 
Also, RLEVIN, keep in mind that this is a community of collectors/preservationists, and talk of "multicades" aren't going to draw the same type of respect that discussions of original & dedicated machines are going to garner. Multigame threads are less likely to get shot down as they used to (i.e., the era before reputable places like ArcadeShop started peddling in multicade boards and whatnot), but it's still highly likely to draw some criticism.

And thanks for pressing the caps-lock key.
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Frizz, damn you, when you get that failure to proceed screen, you only need to hit the back button, hit refresh and then retry when that window pops up. Everything magically reappears. If not, the next best idea is to make sure to select all and click copy before posting if it is more than a paragraph.
 
Now you see that was the help I was looking for on here with out the BS. I just had my site done a few weeks ago and to get it up and done we just threw some prices on it. I wanted a little market research and thought what a better place than here. I do plan on adjusting my prices on my site but not to where you guys want them, I was not trying to push Multicades on you guys and if it be know the only reason you guys can buy these old games so cheap now is because of the Multicades. When I 1st started this MAD hobby Ms Pac's were around 2000.00 and Galaga's well we will not go there, now you are lucky to get 6 to 900.00 for one thanks to the Multicade. My Star Wars I play everyday so I really do not want to sell it but if someone yanks my arm off for it than that is what it will take. If you were like me when I 1st started parts were everything and that is why I join this board was to sell this load of parts that has been building now for sometime and when I say parts I walls and walls of it.
Thanks for some feedback without the BS.
 
Frizz, damn you, when you get that failure to proceed screen, you only need to hit the back button, hit refresh and then retry when that window pops up. Everything magically reappears. If not, the next best idea is to make sure to select all and click copy before posting if it is more than a paragraph.

When I hit BACK nothing appears...and I forget to COPY all the time.
 
Now you see that was the help I was looking for on here with out the BS. I just had my site done a few weeks ago and to get it up and done we just threw some prices on it. I wanted a little market research and thought what a better place than here. I do plan on adjusting my prices on my site but not to where you guys want them, I was not trying to push Multicades on you guys and if it be know the only reason you guys can buy these old games so cheap now is because of the Multicades. When I 1st started this MAD hobby Ms Pac's were around 2000.00 and Galaga's well we will not go there, now you are lucky to get 6 to 900.00 for one thanks to the Multicade. My Star Wars I play everyday so I really do not want to sell it but if someone yanks my arm off for it than that is what it will take. If you were like me when I 1st started parts were everything and that is why I join this board was to sell this load of parts that has been building now for sometime and when I say parts I walls and walls of it.
Thanks for some feedback without the BS.

I tend to agree with you as far as multicades killing prices (I was also in this hobby 10 years ago), though I think MAME if a far bigger reason... as well as many other factors (economy downturn, more supply, serious collectors already having their collection, etc...)

As many here have pointed out, your expenses are way too high if you can only make $500 on a game you're selling for $3000. believe it or not there are alot of people on here who know about making money on games. There are even a few people who make their living at it and do quite well with it. You need to seriously evaluate how you run your business. I'm not trying to be an ass by saying that. I just think that you would sell a lot more multicades if you could price them around $2000-$2500 and still make the same $500. By the math demonstrated by others on this board you'll see that it's quite possible even with the $16/hr labour. If you find that it's not then you'll need to hire better techs. As far as your other games go I don't personally think your prices are too out of line for straight retail sales. Perhaps a little high but I'm sure you'll get them eventually. Like I've said before... you're wasting your time trying to justify those prices to the collectors on here. I gave up on that after my first day on this board. I buy games by the trailer load and rent a warehouse myself.

You may also try to be a little less condescending in your replies and stop insulting people... even if they insult you first. It's like being the new kid in school. Everyone can call you an asshole but you call one person an asshole and five guys kick your ass. It's not right... but that's how it is.

You're going to have far more success selling your parts on ebay than on KLOV. Compare ebay prices to what things are generally sold for on here and this will become obvious. Also compare how many "here's a link to my stuff on ebay" posts there are compared to people actually advertising stuff for sale.

As far as the Star Wars goes... I have several games like that myself. Games that I don't really want to sell but would sell for a high price. I've foind that it's best to not put those games on your site because it will give you a reputation as having crazy prices and you'll lose customers.

My 2 cents...
 
You know, interesting point. I'm seeing these xxx-in-one boards being operated all over. Local pizza place has one, same at my local Laundrymat. Both have permits paid, etc

But... in theory, the games are illegal themselves, so an OP using them on routes and arcades is also on the hook, would it not be so?
 
If you head out into the country a bit acreage is cheap and you can build your own large steel building for reasonable amounts of money. That avoids paying too much warehouse leasing expense.
 
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