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Legal question regarding the sale of MAME Cabinets.

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quarterback:


--- Quote from: sealslayer on November 27, 2006, 08:19:18 am --- I've been looking into having a design made and CNC cut, I can make a machine for far less than some of the brand new cabinets on ebay and still make a tidy profit to make it worth my while.
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If this is true, then you should do just that and sell cab kits.    Cocktail or Bartop would be my suggestion.  Most people don't want to pay $100-$150 for one.  So sell a kit for $65 a pop and I bet you'd sell a bunch of them.     Cocktail cab kits go for ~$600 with controls and wired CP etc.  They go for $200-$300 without.  If you'd sell one for $150, I bet you'd do some business.

I'm not just being a nay-sayer but, like all 'good ideas', this isn't a new idea.   There are already a number of businesses selling cab kits.  There are already businesses selling ready-to-go cabs with games and everything.  There are individuals on here who have tried to make a go of selling kits.  In the end, the prices are almost always higher than what most people would pay and, therefore, here on BYOAC most people build their own. 

Until somebody comes up with the $150-cocktail kit or the $50 bartop or the $300 complete machine with CP and computer, there will be more people building their own than there are people buying.
My 2-cents

ChadTower:


Yep... can't tell you how many times a person has asked me to build them a MAME cab... we settled on requirements and they chose parts from the options I gave them that would do what they wanted... I started to order stuff, got a cab to strip, and then when I did the math and told them what it would cost (usually with very little if any profit to me), they would balk and act as if I were trying to rip them off.

"What, $600?!  You said you didn't need a huge profit."

AlanS17:


--- Quote from: ChadTower on November 27, 2006, 04:50:12 pm ---"What, $600?!  You said you didn't need a huge profit."

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That's pretty funny. The first time I ever got involved with the purchase of a machine was at a local mini golf place (long before I ever got involved with MAME or BYOAC). The dude was selling my beloved Killer Instinct machine for $600. I didn't know what it was even worth but I ran home and grabbed the money without thinking twice. I thought it was a major deal. (And it turned out that the thing was worth at least $800, but that's besides the point.) I don't think $600 for an arcade machine is ridiculous. Some people have wierd expectations.

leapinlew:


--- Quote from: ChadTower on November 27, 2006, 04:50:12 pm ---
Yep... can't tell you how many times a person has asked me to build them a MAME cab... we settled on requirements and they chose parts from the options I gave them that would do what they wanted... I started to order stuff, got a cab to strip, and then when I did the math and told them what it would cost (usually with very little if any profit to me), they would balk and act as if I were trying to rip them off.

"What, $600?!  You said you didn't need a huge profit."

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 :)

So true.... $600 would be a deal too! I've had people tell me they would love to have a cab and when I tell them the price they decide that "love" may have been too strong of a word.

I've had way more interest in people wanting my jukebox. Music is more universal. If you would market a jukebox machine.... well.... thars gold in tharm thar hillz!

CheffoJeffo:

I would agree 100% with leapinglew on this.

A local collector does restorations, MAME cabs and jukebox cabinets and the stuff he sells without problem are the jukes.

Cheers

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