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So how good is the Mame cabinet market?
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Lilwolf:
I don't think there is a profit in it at all....  Main trouble is there are tons of people trying to sell them on ebay... and I don't see them sell for much.  Too easy to put 20+ hours into a cab... not that easy to make a profit...

Its a niche market with people who seem like like playing with this stuff.

If it was me, I would try looking at do them super cheap using existing cabs jamma cabs, not modifying the art or control panel, and splerge on jpacs.  And make them so you can swap the original board back in (or keep it in, and just plug it back and forth.  So you can say 'value add, it still plays the original game' but really, your not doing as much to the cab... and you have a better chance of making a profit.

It would also help because then you could put a crappier computer in it and only support the games that use the original controls...

garnerb350:

--- Quote from: Jack Burton on July 17, 2009, 02:15:33 am ---I'll admit it, if i sold a MAME cab I'd sell it with the ROMS fully installed.  Why shouldn't I?  They're just going to go and download them anyway.  Think what you will of me, become indignant, whatever.  We all download thousands of them, and that's just as illegal as selling them.  We're all pirates. 
--- End quote ---
Arrrrrgh!!! ya dam right ya scallywag!!! :laugh:

This thought has crossed my mind plenty of times...I found plans and i built my cab from stratch...went to some hobo who sold computer parts...and when i told him what i was doing, he told he had plenty of parts for future builds ( he needed steady customers i guess)...over time i am still learning ( i'm not a software pro)and i have friends and strangers asking me to build them one. As of now I am currently in the process of making sure my frontend is complete with all the nessarcy artwork , etc...
If I was to "sell" anything ....i would probley only charge for labor ( construction) for the time being...The worst fear i would have is that something would screw up on the PC and I wouldnt  have a clue to tell them...


--- Quote from: Lilwolf on July 17, 2009, 05:56:26 am ---I don't think there is a profit in it at all....  Main trouble is there are tons of people trying to sell them on ebay... and I don't see them sell for much. 
--- End quote ---

Now i will tell ya something funny....I check my local craiglist to try and find arcade cabs & whatnot...and i always see at least 1-2 listings of people selling mame cabs...The photos are HORENDOUS!!!!...imagine taking your cats litter box and converting it into a cab. And what makes it funny is that those designs are the ones that hold an x-arcade...I cant stand to look at them, and my cab holds an x-arcade! (different design)...But those sellers are listing those cabs anywhere from 1000-1200 bucks...the insanity!....

Now one thing though that makes me feel good, is that I did have 2 people (who know nothing of MAME) on seperate occasions offered me $2000 for my cab...I honestly have to say I think that those 2 times were the hardest to say No. I just cant bring myself to screw people over.  :banghead:
drventure:

--- Quote ---I just cant bring myself to screw people over.
--- End quote ---

I can certainly see your point, but if someone's offering, and the amount of work you have in the cab would justify 2000$, I can't say you'd be screwing anyone over. When I browse Ebay, I often see the EXACT same item for sale with prices that differ by hundreds of dollars. But I suppose if someone really needed something, didn't have the savvy or patience to search and concluded that a particular asking price was reasonable, then so be it. These are discretionary purchases after all.

On the other hand, if you're, say, a drug maker, you've got a drug that saves peoples lives, and you've already recouped the dev costs on it, and it costs .15c a dose, continuing to sell it for 500$ a dose is flat immoral.

I know, apples and oranges. Point is, people will pay what they feel is reasonable.

As far as selling mame cabs goes, I'd be VERY hesitant to sell cabs loaded with ROMS. Baretta's right, that just puts you out there with a big ol' target on your forehead. esp if you start making decent money at it. Not worth it.

Honestly, I suspect the market for cheaper, low end cabs is already saturated by companies out there, and by guys with just enough know how to do it themselves, so they won't buy a prebuilt.

Maybe there's a market for high end, very avante guard designs that wouldn't look like a huge black refrigerator in your living room. But then again, anyone with enough money to afford something like that (sans roms) would likely already have a game room where a black refrigerator would be perfectly acceptable.

I'd say your best bet is to build what you like, play it for a while, look at what you now don't like about it, take copious notes, then strip it of roms, build another one and ebay the original, lather and repeat.
Ginsu Victim:

--- Quote from: drventure on July 17, 2009, 10:31:52 am ---When I browse Ebay, I often see the EXACT same item for sale with prices that differ by hundreds of dollars.
--- End quote ---

Don't look at what people are asking, look at what actually sells and how much THOSE go for. Some people will list the same item over and over at a high price in hopes that at some point they'll get a bite, but usually don't.
RayB:
For some people, the 48 in 1s are a better seller because buyers don't want "some old PC". They feel its a hack and they're not getting their money's worth. But a machine with a "proper" new circuit board, they feel is a good value.

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