Renting Machines

Jdel

New member
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
103
Reaction score
0
Location
Findlay, Ohio
Has anyone ever rented out their arcade machines? I'd like to start renting out some of my games that I havn't been able to play recently. What is a fair monthly charge for a game? and what should I do to ensure that I don't run into a legal battle?
 
I've thought that would be more of a day or weekend thing - like for someone's party. Seems like it could be more trouble than it's worth. After hauling the game(s) over there, then hauling back, etc. And yeah when the glass gets broken are you gonna pay/deal with a lawyer to recover $100? Know what I mean?
 
I've never rented them out, but I have loaned machines out for parties and such.

If you are goingt to "rent" them out, that sounds like a business proposition and for that you will probably have to get an arcade operator's license and tags for the machines you will be renting out. It may not be financially worth it.

ken
 
I was thinking of building a trailer and mounting 8 games on it with a step up and would pull it to parties so help people complete the 80's theme. I just didn't think the expense would end up being worth it. How much are people really going to pay to rent a trailer of games for a party?
 
I was thinking of building a trailer and mounting 8 games on it with a step up and would pull it to parties so help people complete the 80's theme. I just didn't think the expense would end up being worth it. How much are people really going to pay to rent a trailer of games for a party?

Actually, I remember seeing a thread on here with just that, a mobile arcade. Kindof a cool idea.
 
I've never rented them out, but I have loaned machines out for parties and such.

If you are goingt to "rent" them out, that sounds like a business proposition and for that you will probably have to get an arcade operator's license and tags for the machines you will be renting out. It may not be financially worth it.

ken

The law varies from state to state and city to city, obviously, but usually, if the machine itself isn't accepting payment in some form it doesn't count or falls under a different, more permissive category. In practice, if it's just for the event and you're not charging for the game specifically, no one will care, any relevant laws/taxes will go unenforced.
 
I used to work for a catering company and would always ask the boss if he could find an arcade rental service to offer lol. never found one though....but it's got me thinking now!
 
Has anyone ever rented out their arcade machines? I'd like to start renting out some of my games that I havn't been able to play recently. What is a fair monthly charge for a game? and what should I do to ensure that I don't run into a legal battle?

never rented out machines. As for price I don't have a number but I always thought what might be fair would be to figure what an operator would make in a month with his game on location. I'm thinking it's not huge money but logically if an op is willing to put say a pinball machine in a pizza place where it only earns $50 a month then why wouldn't he rent the same game to a private party for their home use at that same amount?
As far as the legal side I'd guess for starters that you need to make sure to have the proper business license since you would be running a business and of course need to pay taxes. You would want a contract that details physical condition (like renting a truck) and specifies that the game will return in this same condition or the renter will pay a specified penalty. I would also figure that your machines may break while at someones house. In this case I think two things would have to happen. 1 you need to be able to pick up the game asap and possibly replace with a different game (or fix if it's as easy as a 15min fix). 2 have a predetermined rate break down by day for monthly renters so if the game dies after 20 days they only get charged for the days the game worked. Probably want to have a credit card on file for each renter and a clause that allows you to charge necessary amount if game issue ends up deemed as users fault. I'm sure it's likely someone will call saying a game just died and you will discover they did something that caused it to break.

In line with the last above thought you might want to include a list of things the user should not do. For example Do not set drinks on games as they could possibly spill and liquid could get into the games electronics causing damage to the game which the user would be responsible to pay to repair.

Do not hang from or allow children to hang from joysticks.

Probably won't prevent these things from happening but it will give you a leg to stand on when someone does something stupid and tries to deny it's their fault.
 
Back
Top Bottom