Selling my self-built MAME cab (UK)

[pboreham]

Hi guys,

You may remember me from last summer  but I built my own MAME cab at my first ever attempt!

http://paulmakescab.blogspot.com

I'm now moving house in a couple of months into a smaller place and will have no room for the cab - so I'm reluctantly looking to sell.

As this is my first go at selling something like this, I'm a little unsure what to do. Are the self-built MAME cabs desireable (its an excellent build if I say so myself, but wouldnt say it was 100% perfect) or am I better off selling the individual parts (i.e. good PC, 19" TFT, some of the best control panel components) etc.

Also, any advice on pricing please - the total cost of the cab (materials, controls, PC etc) was around £700 - thats without the build time etc.

Thanks for any help and advice on this!

Paul.

[vertygo]

That's a great looking cab.. no way to store it or rent a corner in a friends place ?

I'd say sell the whole thing in once piece, but only if you have no other option of keeping it.

[pboreham]

Thanks - I've really got no way of keeping it  which is a shame.

Guess I'll have to stick it on Ebay - unless any UK chappies on here would like it?

[Ummon]

Dude, I live in a 420 square foot studio apartment, and I have room for a full-size bed, full-size couch, good size computer desk, and four or five old-style cabs...and um a corner of assorted junk. I still have half the place in floor space. There must be a corner or something you can put your cab in....unless you just don't play it anymore.

[Turnarcades]

I'll give you a more balanced perspective from a prolific UK seller.....

Contrary to many purists, MAME cabinets are in high demand - particularly in the UK, where many originals did not survive the dead arcade period of the last 15 years keeping prices of originals too high.

My advice is to bung it on ebay. I'm the biggest seller of arcades on ebay UK, and even though I only list on there periodically, demand is always huge. UK buyers love MAME cabs, but only quality ones at reasonable prices. Most machines on there are £200 piles of crap, lame conversions or £2000 rip-offs. I imagine yours will be snapped up quickly, particularly this time of year when people are buying for games rooms and summer houses.

If I have one critique I'd sayswap the monitor for a larger 19" or 21" CRT, as they are relatively inexpensive and will boost the overall look. I'd be surprised to see it go for less than £800 if listed correctly and promoted properly, but be careful of ebay/paypal fees and avoid mentioning any inclusion of roms unless you want to get booted.

Good luck with the sale and love the cabinet. If you do consider splitting, I'd like to purchase the mini-wheel and turbotwist to experiment with.

[pboreham]

Dude, I live in a 420 square foot studio apartment, and I have room for a full-size bed, full-size couch, good size computer desk, and four or five old-style cabs...and um a corner of assorted junk. I still have half the place in floor space. There must be a corner or something you can put your cab in....unless you just don't play it anymore.

Think its partly the fact I dont get time to play as much as I could - and also 'downsizing' everything to move to a smaller place. I dont think its fair to put the cab in the main room of an apartment when living with someone who doesnt care for it!

[pboreham]

Thanks so much for your advice, its great to hear from a UK seller/buyer! 

If you dont mind, I'm going to drop you a quick PM just for more info, but again, genuine thanks!

I'll give you a more balanced perspective from a prolific UK seller.....

Contrary to many purists, MAME cabinets are in high demand - particularly in the UK, where many originals did not survive the dead arcade period of the last 15 years keeping prices of originals too high.

My advice is to bung it on ebay. I'm the biggest seller of arcades on ebay UK, and even though I only list on there periodically, demand is always huge. UK buyers love MAME cabs, but only quality ones at reasonable prices. Most machines on there are £200 piles of crap, lame conversions or £2000 rip-offs. I imagine yours will be snapped up quickly, particularly this time of year when people are buying for games rooms and summer houses.

If I have one critique I'd sayswap the monitor for a larger 19" or 21" CRT, as they are relatively inexpensive and will boost the overall look. I'd be surprised to see it go for less than £800 if listed correctly and promoted properly, but be careful of ebay/paypal fees and avoid mentioning any inclusion of roms unless you want to get booted.

Good luck with the sale and love the cabinet. If you do consider splitting, I'd like to purchase the mini-wheel and turbotwist to experiment with.

[ark_ader]

I'll give you a more balanced perspective from a prolific UK seller.....

Contrary to many purists, MAME cabinets are in high demand - particularly in the UK, where many originals did not survive the dead arcade period of the last 15 years keeping prices of originals too high.

My advice is to bung it on ebay. I'm the biggest seller of arcades on ebay UK, and even though I only list on there periodically, demand is always huge. UK buyers love MAME cabs, but only quality ones at reasonable prices. Most machines on there are £200 piles of crap, lame conversions or £2000 rip-offs. I imagine yours will be snapped up quickly, particularly this time of year when people are buying for games rooms and summer houses.

If I have one critique I'd sayswap the monitor for a larger 19" or 21" CRT, as they are relatively inexpensive and will boost the overall look. I'd be surprised to see it go for less than £800 if listed correctly and promoted properly, but be careful of ebay/paypal fees and avoid mentioning any inclusion of roms unless you want to get booted.

Good luck with the sale and love the cabinet. If you do consider splitting, I'd like to purchase the mini-wheel and turbotwist to experiment with.

And where did you get that information to make that statement?

Pubs & Clubs are buying arcade machines, but the general market for the average punter is dead.

Go look on ebay.  I know of arcades just smashing up cabs to get rid.

I have said the same thing time and time again and again, there is no place to put a large cabinet in a small UK house.  Sure if you live down south in a 900K dwelling with upteenth rooms, but in a normal semi you would be pushed to get it through the door.

Bartops yes. 

Full size?   


I'm all for self promotion, but lets keep it factual and not fiction.

[Franco B]

I have said the same thing time and time again and again, there is no place to put a large cabinet in a small UK house.  Sure if you live down south in a 900K dwelling with upteenth rooms, but in a normal semi you would be pushed to get it through the door.

You dont need a 900k house to fit a full size cab in. Ive had my full size cab in bungalow, semi and detached with no problems. At the end of the day if you want a cab you will make space for one. I know a few people with small apartments that have cabs.

Also Im sure when pboreham designed the cab he did so that it would fit through a standard door, as most people do.

[Turnarcades]

Ditto Franco. I've had this conversation before, which is why all Turnarcades cabinets are designed to fit through UK doorways without trouble anyway. pborehams is a slimline model with a flat panel monitor, and he's already assured me that he designed his with that same thing in mind. I live in a very modest 2-bed semi, and recently I've found room to line up 4 full-size machines in my small dining room whilst I do some programming.

If we're talking facts, my sales would certainly show more people than ever are finding space for arcade machines in their homes. And if we're talking ebay, no-one watches it as close as I do as I have to monitor the competition. Some people struggle to see beyond their own circumstances wheras when you do a bit of research and have the sales figures and buyer feedback to back things up you see the reality.

Previously I wouldn't have said people have the floorspace in their house for a cocktail cabinet, and I can certainly say enquiries to us about cocktail machines are few and far between, but I know we don't have as much experience (and personally me and my friends dislike them) but on looking elsewhere on ebay I acknowledge that cocktails are big sellers so demand must be big.

For the record, I tried marketing various different models of bar-top a long time ago but UK sales were very low and the profit margins were too small to justify them as the flagship of our business. When I asked potential buyers why they were put off, it was always "It's not the same as the real thing, so I'd rather go for a full-size". With our 'Master' design (and the generic JAMMA cabinets it was modelled on) having an average floor space of 2 foot square, it's not really pushing it to find space.

 

[pboreham]

Yea, one of the considerations in building the cab is that it has to be 'moveable' as it is in my spare bedroom (3 bed detatched).

We are moving to a 2 bed appartment and whilst it has a large living room, I wouldnt subject my other half to having the cab in there. The 2nd bedroom has to be an office for me as I work from home - so I have a couple of desks, PCs etc - no room in there.

But as Craig points out above, I modified the 'BYOAC' book design to be small enough to not only fit through a door, but the biggest problem is one wheeled out the room it is in, there is a wall across the hallway - so I had to modify the depth so it could be 'pushed out and pushed along' the hallway!

Anyways, I've done all the pics now and made a video in the evening of the lights etc and will be wacking it all on a web page for easy viewing.

Hope it sells, otherwise it will be left in the garden 

[Turnarcades]

Is this up for sale yet Paul? Not seen it in the ebay listings.

[pboreham]

Is this up for sale yet Paul? Not seen it in the ebay listings.

Nah, not yet - I've taken loads of pics and a vid and put a simple web page up (which I need to finish first).

http://www.paulboreham.co.uk/arcade.htm

But the most important thing is I need to move it from my room, downstairs - which is going to involve removing doors and (obviously) a heavy lift downstairs. As we live far away from friends and family, I'm waiting for my dad to come up and help me do this - which should hopefully be next weekend.

[Ummon]

We are moving to a 2 bed appartment and whilst it has a large living room, I wouldnt subject my other half to having the cab in there.

Hell, if that's all it is....why not just discuss it?

[pboreham]

Yea we have and whilst she 'wouldnt mind', i think deep down she does and anyway, I also dont think its really fair as its a bit of an eyesore! And I mean that generally as its quite a good looking cab, but not something you'd find in a living room!

Guess I'm just not as hardcore as some of you! 

[Ummon]

....well, perhaps beating this a little bit: life changes. Some things are worth keeping along through it. Often people get rid of stuff or whatever, to find some time down the road they want it again - or, they want something else in the same way. And in the latter, many just deprive themselves or let their relationships/lifestyle tell them what's okay. Personally, I can't see a nicely-built cab as an eye-sore just because it's in the living room. That's a mental thing. I mean, what did people do in the living room before TVs were put in there?! But, if you really don't want it anymore, then so be it.

[pboreham]

Really appreciate all the 'keep it' vibes I am getting, but its honestly not possible - and due to another circumstance change with the move, I now also really need the money.

I've touted it around a few forums, where it got really excellent received and lots of "wish I had the money", "seen them go for a lot more, bargain!" comments -  but no firm bids.

So in a long shot whilst I contemplate where to go with it next (and the move pending in 3 weeks now), I will offer it officially on here.

http://www.paulboreham.co.uk/arcade.htm

There is all the information and if anyone has any questions, please fire away.

I'm looking for around the £800 collected mark, but at the moment, I'm interested in hearing all offers!

Thanks 

[pboreham]

This is now up on ebay starting at £499 

I'd hate to see it go for that - and hopefully it will go for more, but needs must.

I know the purpose of this forum is to really 'build your own' cab, so I can appreciate there not being much interest in here, but if anyone is building a cab, this has all the 'guts' you will need to make a great MAME cab. Nice monitor, good spec PC and some of the best control panel components from GroovyGameGear - hardly used.

Add to that 2 reels of wiring, the BYOAC book, various tools etc - you could be more than half way there buying this - even if you build your own cab to house it in and as much as it pains me to say, chop me cab up for fire wood 

[pboreham]

Now sold for £700  be genuinely sad to see it go... anyone who's built one of these knows the hardwork and money needed to make it happen.

[Franco B]

Glad you got a price you are happy with 

I can imagine how sad you will be to see it go. Good luck with you move! We all know you will be back before too long once you are settled with plans for a new cab 

[Turnarcades]

Glad to know it sold for a respectable price in the end, a just reward for your hard work. You weren't asking that much more when you had it on buy it now; just goes to show people are more easily coaxed in by the thrill of bidding - even though a lot of auctions end up exceeding buy it now prices anyway!