Is this a good idea?

[thefreakhouse]

This is in reference to the thread about arcade games being found in laundromats.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64237.0.

In the area where we live there are many places that have arcade machines hidden in corners. Many of which have been used and abused  and are no longer functioning properly though the operators keep them plugged in.  I know that some of the machines I have found are owned and operated by the local vending companies. But There are a few that I would assume  are operated by the business owners where they sitting at (like the laundromats). There's a few machines I would love to get my hands on. One in particular is an Addams Family pinball machine that has a few minor problems (found at the local municipal airport...needs a little TLC.)

My question is have any of you ever contacted a private business  owner to negotiate purchasing their machine?  If so, what's the best etiquette for doing this? I feel kind of weird calling someone out of the blue to ask them if they'd be interested in departing with their arcade machines. Plus I don't know exactly what I should offer them if I do  being as I  assume that the owner doesn't know the collector value  or the cost to fix the machine.

[am_monkee]

yes! if you're interested in getting old cabs, just call up a few places and ask them if they have any they'd like to get rid of. a lot of times, they'll just throw them out when they're done with them (a tragedy, i know). most people are happy to have someone haul them away. if you're interested in a specific game you know a place has, call or stop by and see if they'd be willing to part with it. even just letting them know you're interested and building a repoire helps. that way, even if they may not want to get rid of it now, they'll think about you when they do. being friendly and making contacts goes a long way...

[thefreakhouse]

How about Vending companies? Same deal?

[paigeoliver]

You would be wasting your time. Most of those games are indeed owned by operators, not the business owners. And people try to buy old games off location A LOT. Even if you could buy them they would be a bad deal. A game on a location is a lot more valuable to an operator than a game sitting in his warehouse. A game in the operators warehouse makes him no money, a game on location makes at least SOME money, and will likely have a $100 tax stamp on the sucker to boot. If the operator sold you that game and pulled another one out of his warehouse then he would have to buy another tax stamp ($100) and make a special trip out to his location to replace the game.

As for games actually owned by the business owner (which is rare, amusement equipment on location needs maintenance too often for unskilled business owners to keep the running), that are broken down you can likely forget those too. The business owner will either have a really unrealistic idea of the value of the thing (likely remembering what he paid for it), or won't want to sell it.

If you want to get games off operators then try and buy out of their warehouses. But businesses are no longer the arcade gold mine they used to be. Today the majority of arcade games are in private collectors hands and no longer owned by businesses.

[armax]

freakhouse, don't be discouraged by some of the talk here.  It won't hurt to actually call or visit the places and ask (do a search...plenty of people here have done what you did and came out with a killing in arcade games).  you'd be surprised how one man's junk ends up being another man's treasure.

[am_monkee]

freakhouse, don't be discouraged by some of the talk here.  It won't hurt to actually call or visit the places and ask (do a search...plenty of people here have done what you did and came out with a killing in arcade games).  you'd be surprised how one man's junk ends up being another man's treasure.

i absolutely agree and this is the point i was trying to make. calling or visiting never hurts and you never know what you might get. i think saying that it's near-impossible to get these deals anymore is too pessimistic and untrue. but, obviously, don't expect to get every game you see

[thefreakhouse]

Not discouraged. Paigeolivers advice, while it seemed a little bitter, is something I had already taken into consideration.  I'm interested in hearing any advice on the matter. I would like to hear someones personal experience on it however.

[Texasmame]

Money talks.  Be prepared to buy and move THAT DAY.  If you delay, you'll get put on their backburner, never to return.

[paigeoliver]

The thing is that EVERYBODY calls operators. It is in all those arcade collecting FAQ and all that, so everybody does it. You might find a deal, but focusing your efforts elsewhere is a lot more likely to yield results.

Now if you can find an EX-operator that still has equipment, well, those guys can be a gold mine. The guys that are actually in the phone book get called all the time.

Networking with everyone you know, going to arcade auctions and checking the classified ads DAILY, IN THE EARLY MORNING is a lot more likely to pay off than chasing down operators. Ebay can also be a gold mine if you live in a low population state (stuff in Arkansas for example usually goes way under market value).

[armax]

I think you tend to have a slanted view given this website.  Let's face it, the majority of arcade collectors may not even be aware of this site.  Arcade machine collecting is not exactly what you would call America's next collector's fad.  In other words, not everybody would call operators (in fact, just from this site I've noticed that alot of members here have gotten them as machine owners were getting rid of them...some for free....others at near-free prices).  On top of that, I would think you couldn't make a generalized statement because availability may depend on location.  Arcades are more popular in some areas than others.  My suggestion to freakhouse is to exhaust his initial idea and follow your suggestions as a backup plan.

[paigeoliver]

Well, I am just giving the view of someone who has owned well over 100 arcade games, is a moderator on klov.com (that website is to real arcade games what this one is to mame cabinets), and has more than a bit of experience in snapping up games at bargain prices.

If you read the klov.com messageboard and the arcade newsgroups you will see very few posts about people snagging games from operators. I am not saying you can't do it, I am just saying it isn't really going to be very fruitful in most places. If you live in a big city then it will be worst of all. If you live someplace low population that still has a few operators around then you might be a lot more successful.

[am_monkee]

i see where you're coming from paige and you definitely have valid points, especially about your odds of actually getting one (and it being harder in the
city ).
 i guess my only point was that it can't hurt to try.

texasmame also raises a good point about being prepared to take something that day. i was living in chicago a couple years ago and heard a pizza parlor owner talking about getting rid of a ms. pacman cocktail. i told him i wanted it, he offered to give it to me for free, but i ended up delaying for a couple days until i could get my buddy's truck. by that time, it was gone. 
anyways...

[shorthair]

i see where you're coming from paige and you definitely have valid points, especially about your odds of actually getting one (and it being harder in the
city ).
 i guess my only point was that it can't hurt to try.

texasmame also raises a good point about being prepared to take something that day. i was living in chicago a couple years ago and heard a pizza parlor owner talking about getting rid of a ms. pacman cocktail. i told him i wanted it, he offered to give it to me for free, but i ended up delaying for a couple days until i could get my buddy's truck. by that time, it was gone. 
anyways...

Dude, free?...straep it oon yer baeck.

[paigeoliver]

I would have just shoved it in the car somehow. You can usually a shove a cocktail into a car if you have to.

[TOK]

A lot of operators seem to over-value their machines. If that Double Dragon cost $3600 in 1987, it should be worth at least $2500 today. I can't believe they actually think that, particularly if they go to any auctions, but I agree with Paige that you'll find very few with games on location that are actually willing to deal with you.

You're much better to go to an auction or somewhere that has a bunch of gutted or dead cabs.

[am_monkee]

i've never owned a car, but i also grew up in chicago and now live in nyc, so there's never a need for one (with this exception of course). the pizza place was about 20 blocks from my apt. and, while i did contemplate dragging it, it just wouldn't have worked. this was also a few years ago when i wasn't as immersed in arcades as i am now. plus, i was a lot stupider in thinking a free cab just 'happens' and believed it would happen again easily. it hasn't and a part of me dies every day that i recall this story

[DrewKaree]

A lot of operators seem to over-value their machines. If that Double Dragon cost $3600 in 1987, it should be worth at least $2500 today. I can't believe they actually think that, particularly if they go to any auctions

There's 3-4 regulars at the auctions in my area who are ops.  It's not that they believe that's what it's worth, it's that the people who actually go to THEM to buy a machine more than likely only knows how much Hammaker Schlemmer or The Sharper Image sells a brand new machine for, so they can easily be scammed if they're ACTUALLY in the market to buy.

The alternative is the "well, I've got it, and you want it" idea.  Set the selling price super high to start with, so in the end after haggling with the op, the buyer think he got a stellar deal, when the op actually just sold the machine to the underinformed buyer for double what he could have bought it at an auction for.

Either way, the op makes a ridiculous amount of money if that person buys a machine from him.

My brother-in-law in Florida was bragging to me about how he bought a Golden Tee '04 for $3200 from "someone he knows" (who turned out to be an op, after the conversation went further) after I was telling him I was going to an auction.  An '06 at that same auction sold for $1500

[thefreakhouse]

LOL. You guys are a riot. I should have expected the thread to go off track a little with the banter between the regulars...never fails. It's probably why I like this board so much.

Anyway!!! Has anyone actually done a blind call to a owner/operator in regards to getting a machine from them? If so, what did you tell them? Did you let them make the first offer or did you? If you did, did you low-ball the price by a severe degree or did you try to be reasonable?

I am pretty sure the owners of some of these machines pick them up from an auction and pay for the tax stickers on 'em rather than buying new/referb..I doubt they paid much for them to start. (Example - local private owned laundromat has a barely working NeoGeo cab.) Over the years I have never seen anyone play the thing (except myself and my wife until we realized the controls were wonky) with the exception of the degenerate laundromat children I see hanging off the thing furthering the damage.

OH!! Wanted to add- a few of the local arcades post prices on their machines ($200 and up)...

Perhaps I am bit jaded by my local area mentality...but I get the overall impression most of the people in my community know diddly about the machines they own. Especialy since a large number of them aren't well kept or operational. I would suspect that if the machines were vendor operated they would have flipped the machines out years ago. So, I think my chances might be better than expected.

I was considering cold calling them and telling them I saw their machine, noticed it wasn't working properly. Ask if they'd be interested in getting rid of it.

[knave]

I'm relatively new to this hobby and one of the first things I did was call a few local operators.  Most didn't have anything to sell and those that did had all there cabs in a central branch warehouse which was too far away from me.  I also found that big commercial ops charged a lot for their old games. 

I found the smaller ops to be more reasonable.  Check the local adds and eBay for your area.