Why no arcade price guide?

the11thdoctor

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Just curious but why no "kelly blue book" for arcade games. It would be the same concept.

Original cabinet or conversion
Upright or cocktail
Condition of CP, marquee, side art
Does the game play or not
Dealer price vs private owner

All it would take is for respected collectors or dealers to all agree upon set prices and then figure in the cost of each replacement item.

Pac Man UR #1 - mint condtion all original $1100

Pac Man UR # 2 - bad cp - 50
side art scuffed up - 100
repro joystick - 25
Estimated value of Pac Man #2 $925

Or is it really not that simple? What do you think?
 
That's cool but that is just one person's observation and experience. His observations/experience is different then mine and mine is I am sure different then others. I guess maybe the market varies too much to make a standard price guide fessible.
 
It isn't anywhere close to that simple at all. This comes up every few days really.

There are many thousands of different titles. Only about a hundred of which change hands often enough to have anything close to a going rate (mostly the stuff eXidy listed on his price guide).

Game prices also vary by location and they can fluctuate quite a bit in even short periods of time.

Every single conversion game has to be appraised individually. There are so many factors involved with a conversion game that it is basically impossible to accurately price a conversion game with a list (a Final Fight conversion in a 25" Dynamo cabinet might literally go for 3 times what one in a Ms. Pac cabinet would go for, even if the condition was identical).

Just curious but why no "kelly blue book" for arcade games. It would be the same concept.

Original cabinet or conversion
Upright or cocktail
Condition of CP, marquee, side art
Does the game play or not
Dealer price vs private owner

All it would take is for respected collectors or dealers to all agree upon set prices and then figure in the cost of each replacement item.

Pac Man UR #1 - mint condtion all original $1100

Pac Man UR # 2 - bad cp - 50
side art scuffed up - 100
repro joystick - 25
Estimated value of Pac Man #2 $925

Or is it really not that simple? What do you think?
 
Price guides can also have some real downsides to them. The first one is that a widespread price guide has to either fudge the prices higher than the real going rates or by its very existence it will create downward pricing trends on the items it is pricing, which might sound great if you are buying, but isn't so nice if you are selling or even holding. Particularly when downward pricing trends in arcade games can lead to complications not seen in a lot of other hobbies.

Prices that are too low (which can be driven there by a price guide or by any other reason), encourage people to part out games. Most games are already worth more in parts than as a whole, but lower prices make the part out even more attractive.
 
Every single conversion game has to be appraised individually. There are so many factors involved with a conversion game that it is basically impossible to accurately price a conversion game with a list (a Final Fight conversion in a 25" Dynamo cabinet might literally go for 3 times what one in a Ms. Pac cabinet would go for, even if the condition was identical).

For the record I'd buy the Ms. Pac and donate it to Jr. Pac just so that silly resto thread would have something in it.
 
If you've ever tried to put one together you'd know that it's not easy and all a matter of opinion.
Most good ones give a general range and let you figure it out from there.

I like Exidy's guide and I think people should start there...

Something is always worth what someone is willing to pay for it, right there and then. Ebay changes things a bit but these machines are big and hard to ship. The price may be higher in your immediate area cause something may be rare etc. Here in my area, we see lots of most things. I can't complain...

If you think it's easy then go give it a shot... your guide is only worth your opinion and whoever you can get to work on it with you. A handful of us did one on just PCBs and it was fun but was a bit of debate on a few items. Is it perfect? NO NOT AT ALL... is it a generally good starting point for someone looking to see what they can get for and or how much they'd need to cough up for particular board... yes...
 
Just curious but why no "kelly blue book" for arcade games.

There are online price guides. You can also look at the eBay history of 'sold' games and get a baseline price.

The pinball price guide books are a joke. Some pins are somewhat close but other games are way off. Find me a Gottlieb Spirit, Gottlieb Eclipse, Williams Varkon, etc for the price that is listed in the Mr. Pinball price guide.
 
There was an Arcade Game Price Guide published in 2002. Search the rec.games.video.arcade.collecting news group (or Google group as it is now). Some of the prices, as you can imaging, were far off, with most of the rare games extremely undervalued (Zektor worth $300-$400, Quantum $600-$700, etc)
 
Price guides suck. Even online price guides suck. They are NEVER updated. They are ALWAYS off (up and down).
 
...

@FrizzleFried, eff you. I update my guide once every few months.
Either way, its a place to start and to get an idea. Arcade game and Pinball Machine prices are regional and prices vary a lot, but I think the price guide is still helpful.

Jon
 
@FrizzleFried, eff you. I update my guide once every few months.
Either way, its a place to start and to get an idea. Arcade game and Pinball Machine prices are regional and prices vary a lot, but I think the price guide is still helpful.

Jon

Hey broham... nothing personal... just my opinion on price guides in general. I hate them. Newbs look to them as if they are "the bible" ... I can't count how many times I've made an offer on a pin only to have some one quote some obscene pinball price guide dollar amount.

EDIT: The best price guide I use (for pins) is the BOSTON PINBALL EBAY TRANSACTION history... that talks about real dollar amounts on games that are sold via ebay.
 
the only decent price guide in the entire hobby only deals with pinball machines and thats the Boston Pinball website where they analyze every sale on ebay , over 30, 000 machines in three years- so at least you know highs, lows, and averages.

But I do like Exidy's guide, its pretty much the only one there is for us.
 
...

Heh I never take stuff personally :)

Its too hard to do a price guide, mostly because people who use them exclusively tend to not know enough about games to know what an original machine and a conversion.
Ive had my price guide thrown in my face before when buying games, and I have to explain to them how it works :) And what is wrong with their machine.

Jon
 
....

@CocktailsWanted , I totally disagree.
it doesnt explain anything about condition or anything. The price guide is also too broad in the pricing. Look at the DR WHO for example (on the boston price guide), its a joke.
also who buys machines strickly off ebay? There are prices outside ebay including collector to collector as well as craigslist, etc.

Oh, id also like to mention the last time that was updated was 11/11

Jon
 
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the primary issue is regional supply and more importantly demand.

if you have a limited number of desirable tangible goods but a lot of people looking for them the price will reflect that.

A Ms. Pacman in NJ (where there were a lot of operators in the tristate area and the supply is high) might go for less than it would in lets say.... Arizona or Minnesotta or someplace in the midwest...

I reference ebay sold items searches to be honest, and whatever they go for on klov... add 25% lol! ;)
 
I personally find most price guides to be a waste. There are just far too many variables involved. Location is one very important variable. A game in PA may be worth less than one in CA, yet worth more than one in IA. Three games in exact condition, and the price will vary depending upon the location.

Using eBay as a pricing guide also is a poor idea. eBay is an auction site, meaning an item will more than likely sell for what a person is willing to pay for it because a lot of items are not fixed-price items. Just because a machine may fetch $1000 today doesn't mean that the exact same machine in the exact same location will fetch the same price. Heck, I sold PCBs that one day fetched $100 and the next week, $300. eBay prices are far too sporadic and all over the place. You get two people who really want an item and see what happens to the price! Ouch!
 
I don't like price guides, either. It provides a good starting point, but ultimately a thing will sell for what someone will pay. It eats me alive when a seller says, "On Amazon these go for like $1500," but you can at least argue that. If some dork thinks this price guide is the Qu'ran, then there's no explaining. After all, people don't write price guides. Gods write price guides, and they totally infallible.
 
Totally, regional prices on games varies greatly. The same game will cost 3x to 4x in NYC versus here in rural New York.

Edit:
And a candy cabs are much easier to get on the West Coast, and virtually impossible on the East Coast, and if you do find one it is overpriced and old and hacked to death.
 
Most of the complaints about price guides are covered by the same clause being repeated over and over again: they are meant as a starting point.

People who think there needs to be a "better price guide" tend to come off like they are saying (whether intentional or not), "I want a price guide that matches and doesn't deviate from my opinions". They aren't there to validate opinions, just to give you the basic range to start from.

Exidy's guide is a good starting point. The board guides Prairied started are good starting points. The PC10 guide is a good starting point. Research ebay, craigslist, what your pals locally have traded for, etc. There are so many resources out there already to help you do your homework (I remember when you only had IRL auction results and word of mouth to work with). Sheesh.
 
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