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Is there a living to be made from arcade cabs?

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sealslayer:

Does anyone on here actually do this as a full time job?
I'm having so much fun making my cab I was wondering if it is possible to sell cabs if they are built to a really high standard, seems like the perfect job to me  ;D

NiteWalker:

It's definitely possible. I make and sell desktop arcade controls as a for the most part living. It is fun working out of home.

quarterback:


--- Quote from: sealslayer on September 17, 2006, 03:02:19 am ---Does anyone on here actually do this as a full time job?
I'm having so much fun making my cab I was wondering if it is possible to sell cabs if they are built to a really high standard, seems like the perfect job to me  ;D

--- End quote ---

Well, I guess I should defer to Night Walker's answer since he does this and I don't.... but I'd still say the answer is "no".

Search around, you're certainly not the first person to wonder and not the first to ask.   My response is that there already are already people who have established businesses doing what you're asking about but I'm not sure any of them are rolling in the dough.   It's a niche market.   The advice in the past has been something to the effect of:

 "Give it a shot.  Try selling some to your friends, neighbors, co-workers but you'll probably find that the market is small"
"You'll find that people don't want to pay what it costs to make one-off cabs (and for your labor)."
"You'll find That shipping cabs is expensive, and that legally selling arcade cabinets without MAME and ROMS installed, means that the end-user needs some MAME knowledge, in which case, it's likely they'll build their own cab"
"You'll find that you become a computer tech who has to troubleshoot their machines for them when something doesn't work" etc

Again, there just aren't that many people buying these things and most of those who might buy them are going to want them to be a turn-key gaming solution. 

If it's fun for you, then go for it.  Give it a run and see what happens.  But you should think about how many hours you've spent on your cab?  What hourly-wage would you need to do this for a living?  Then add that up with all the supplies and come up with a total.   Now shop that price around and see what you can do.  If you've got some rich friends, you could be in business, but one reason that this community exists is because we're not willing to spend $3,000+ to play 20-games on an Ultracade machine.    And, outside of people in this BYOAC community, I know exactly ZERO with arcade games in their homes.

My 2-cents

unclet:

Has annyone heard from 1up lately ..... ?

horseboy:


--- Quote from: unclet on September 17, 2006, 09:37:18 am ---Has annyone heard from 1up lately ..... ?

--- End quote ---

He sold his prototype spincade a couple weeks ago in BST. He said that it is just because he was moving and that he still plans on selling them, but who knows.

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