(Topic ID: 301617)

Any OPs going to $1.50 with Godzilla Prem?

By Three60in

2 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 328 posts
  • 128 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by PinMonk
  • Topic is favorited by 9 Pinsiders

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Topic poll

“Route pricing. Should it be changed?”

  • $1.50 is the new normal. 20 votes
    10%
  • Its understandable when games are $9k. Go ahead and change it. $1.50 39 votes
    19%
  • $1.25 for prem/LEs 7 votes
    3%
  • Heck no. $1 is what it needs to be. 137 votes
    67%

(203 votes)

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There are 328 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 7.
#1 2 years ago

Its been years since I have upped the price of a game on my locations. All games $1 or 3 for $2. Thinking about going to $1.50 4 for $5 starting with Godzilla Prem. Then once my older spike 2s go onto insider connected moving those to $1.25
I will leave the older games at $1.

Now with pins at $9k Its getting tough. Anyone else doing the same?

#2 2 years ago
Quoted from Three60in:

Its been years since I have upped the price of a game on my locations. All games $1 or 3 for $2. Thinking about going to $1.50 4 for $5 starting with Godzilla Prem. Then once my older spike 2s go onto insider connected moving those to $1.25
I will leave the older games at $1.
Now with pins at $9k Its getting tough. Anyone else doing the same?

Try $1.50 on GD. Sure. You can also keep new games higher for a few months and then lower later on. Another thing you can do is to renegotiate your split. If the pins draw folks into the location and then they spend on food and booze etc then it benefits them, so have them pitch in more with the higher cost of games. Even getting another 10% your way adds up. Don’t be afraid to ask. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

#3 2 years ago
Quoted from pinnyheadhead:

You can also keep new games higher for a few months and then lower later on.

I'd do more than a few months. Otherwise people will wait because they know you'll lower it.

LTG : )

#4 2 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

I'd do more than a few months. Otherwise people will wait because they know you'll lower it.
LTG : )

Right. Unless the game is a dud. Think Godzilla will have some holding power for the 6 months. Take care LTG!

#5 2 years ago

I’m thinking exactly the same even though I believe that my locations or players wouldn’t agree…

58
#6 2 years ago

I’m a small time operator. No way would I ever change that much. All the locations near me have stern and JJP LEs at $1.00 a game 3/$2.00. I keep all my pros at 50cents a game. I think $1.50 a game will scare away casual players

#7 2 years ago

I am not an operator. I have played JP Pro in the wild and was surprised that I got so many replay awarded extra games for not so great scores. The game was set at $1 but with the low replay level and matching every once in a while, the games cost 50 cents on average. Does this happen on Stern factory settings? Also, I played a AIQ Pro in the field and the tilt was super tight, so easy to tilt with no nudging at all. Is the Stern factory setting that sensitive for an installed bob or would the operator have done that? That machine also had a ton of free game replays on not so great scores. Different location between the JP Pro and AIQ Pro.

#8 2 years ago
Quoted from Coz:

I think $1.50 a game will scare away casual players

Or get you players willing to spend and keep you in business longer.

I kept my pins at 50¢ a game years longer than I should have. I was losing players and not getting new players. When I finally started raising prices things started turning around in my favor.

LTG : )

#9 2 years ago
Quoted from Coz:

I’m a small time operator. No way would I ever change that much. All the locations near me have stern and JJP LEs at $1.00 a game 3/$2.00. I keep all my pros at 50cents a game. I think $1.50 a game will scare away casual players

$.50 a game? That’s way to low IMHO. Do you take all the drop?

#10 2 years ago

In the UK we've been paying £1 a game for years, which is about $1.40. Cheap gas and cheap pinball games....you guys have it made.

-11
#11 2 years ago

I’m going to $2. In today’s world now, you expect to pay more. Listen people are paying an additional 30% above the listed menu price to have food delivered. They will pay $2 and not balk.

40
#12 2 years ago
Quoted from djreddog:

I’m going to $2. In today’s world now, you expect to pay more. Listen people are paying an additional 30% above the listed menu price to have food delivered. They will pay $2 and not balk.

Good luck with that.

I know I wouldnt pay that.

#13 2 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Or get you players willing to spend and keep you in business longer.
I kept my pins at 50¢ a game years longer than I should have. I was losing players and not getting new players. When I finally started raising prices things started turning around in my favor.
LTG : )

Like Mercedes.

People expect to pay $2 for a soda, sometimes $3 or $3.50 most places around me!!
You’re telling me an awesome game of pinball is worth less than a bottle of soda???

Mercedes had failing sales of the G Wagon. It was tanking. Then they took it off the market, and reintroduced it the next year for DOUBLE the price. Now it sells like crazy and every rich asshat wants one.
Be like Mercedes and make that bank!

#14 2 years ago

I wonder when stern will change their factory pricing. If there was ever a time. Insider connected + big price hike. Would be the time.

#15 2 years ago

If you own the bar, machines should be .25 .50 $1 max. I spend $10 on pinball and $100 on beer unless the games are $1.50 or $2. Then I go and buy drinks and play somewhere else.

#16 2 years ago
Quoted from KozMckPinball:

Also, I played a AIQ Pro in the field and the tilt was super tight, so easy to tilt with no nudging at all. Is the Stern factory setting that sensitive for an installed bob or would the operator have done that?

The tilt bob is not installed from factory. It is in the coin box to prevent damage during shipping. Therefore it is the operator that sets the sensitivity.

#17 2 years ago
Quoted from pinnyheadhead:

$.50 a game? That’s way to low IMHO. Do you take all the drop?

No, I usually do 80/20. I know this will sound cheesy or dumb, but I honestly do it for the love of the hobby. Just my way to share pinball. I’m sure I’ll have to bump up the price to $1.00 a game soon. I’m just afraid it will scare away my casual players??

16
#18 2 years ago

I think 5 quarters or tokens for Godzilla pro is a must. It stopped making sense to put pins on location after they went over $4K and now they are $7K. It's a shame Stern doesn't do anything for the legitimate ops who buy and operate every new title and fuel the demand for home sales. We are Sterns best advertising and we are ignored by them.

#19 2 years ago

The extra .50 is a hassle by itself - do you have a change machine easily accessible at the location? Seems like you might lose some casual players who just want to use a spare single bill to play a game. Do the experiment and see how your take compares to your current average, might lose some plays.

Seems to me like a game of pinball at $1 and 3 for $2 is is still about right. Godzilla will be worth more when paid off or paid down and sold to recoup costs, so it's a bit of a wash imo.

#20 2 years ago

Keep loving the hobby, and charge the factory settings. .50 For a modern Stern is a crazy deal.

Quoted from Coz:

No, I usually do 80/20. I know this will sound cheesy or dumb, but I honestly do it for the love of the hobby. Just my way to share pinball. I’m sure I’ll have to bump up the price to $1.00 a game soon. I’m just afraid it will scare away my casual players??

#21 2 years ago

I think inflation has to hit location play too. Everything is getting more expensive. EVERYTHING

#22 2 years ago
Quoted from Coz:

No, I usually do 80/20. I know this will sound cheesy or dumb, but I honestly do it for the love of the hobby. Just my way to share pinball. I’m sure I’ll have to bump up the price to $1.00 a game soon. I’m just afraid it will scare away my casual players??

I do the same. I have all my pins from EMs to the newest Avengers pro at 50 cents on location. I do minimize free balls and do put up harder replays though

#23 2 years ago

Even if you believed inflation was at 10% across the board across all products (which it's not), we'd be talking a dime, not 2 quarters.

Let's not get greedy.

#24 2 years ago
Quoted from Coz:

I’m a small time operator. No way would I ever change that much. All the locations near me have stern and JJP LEs at $1.00 a game 3/$2.00. I keep all my pros at 50cents a game. I think $1.50 a game will scare away casual players

Coz is awesome. Great pinsider. Hope all is well buddy.

That is all.

#25 2 years ago

My games are:
.25 for EM
.50 for SS up to System 11
.75 for WPC/DMD
$1/1, $3/4 for my Iron Maiden Pro

Any other LCD game would be the same as Maiden, unless it’s above a certain price, then would do away with the $3/4.

My modern games are set to extra ball instead of replay.

I have an Ultraman BSE coming, and I’m not even sure I want to put that out since the ROI is probably several years more than even a DMD/Spike 2 game.

14
#26 2 years ago

Pinball’s one of those weird things where not everyone gets the same value for their money at pay to play locations. If you’re a good player you might not mind paying more than $1 a game because that game lasts you a while. If you’re not a good player even $1 can seem to get spent too fast.

12
#27 2 years ago

How about $1.50 and I get a 5-ball game? I would pay that for all the recent Sterns, I need to get a little further in these damn things...

#28 2 years ago
Quoted from NoSkills:

Pinball’s one of those weird things where not everyone gets the same value for their money at pay to play locations. If you’re a good player you might not mind paying more than $1 a game because that game lasts you a while. If you’re not a good player even $1 can seem to get spent too fast.

Seems timers are the way to balance that out, but those games have never been too popular.

#29 2 years ago
Quoted from Pinballmike217:

We are Sterns best advertising and we are ignored by them.

LOL I wouldn't call getting new games literally before anyone else, sometimes by months being ignored. Can you imagine how well your pins would do if all the home buyers had already played the hell out of new games before they ever showed up on location?

#30 2 years ago

Agree if you're going to charge fractions of a dollar, you have to have a change machine.

Sometimes this is about the price of A game. For people who hang out and play, it's about the price of SEVERAL games or more. As a regular player who understands the up front costs, $1.50 for a premium or LE is probably reasonable. But why a 50% price increase instead of 25% (you're forcing quarter use on me either way) A casual player will probably balk at $1.50 because the game may last 2 minutes and because WTF is a premium/LE?

#31 2 years ago

If you aren’t charging $2 a game you are leaving money on the table. At least try it for a few weeks and see how your numbers are. You will be surprised.

#32 2 years ago
Quoted from djreddog:

If you aren’t charging $2 a game you are leaving money on the table. At least try it for a few weeks and see how your numbers are. You will be surprised.

If you're the only game in town, maybe. If you have competition nearby and players identify your business, good luck.

15
#33 2 years ago
Quoted from djreddog:

If you aren’t charging $2 a game you are leaving money on the table. At least try it for a few weeks and see how your numbers are. You will be surprised.

Yep!

It’s just amazing to me that some people are too mean to pay more than $1 to play a $8,000 to $10,000 machine.

Yet they have no problem paying $10 for a craft beer that they’ll piss against a wall in 30 minutes.

Somethings broken with the model … or people’s thinking.

And maths says - at $2 a play, you only have to get 50% of the $1 plays to get the same revenue.

Less plays = less wear and tear on the machine too.

My guess is that if you up the price to $2 a play you’d still get 80% of the previous game plays. And if people don’t want to pay $2 to play a $8-10k machine, well, stuff them.

rd

#34 2 years ago
Quoted from UNCgump:

If you're the only game in town, maybe. If you have competition nearby and players identify your business, good luck.

That’s true. But maybe if one guy ups the price, the others will follow. Or talk to the other guys and sort it out between you.

The whole “pinball on site” model will collapse if people don’t get a ROI on it. People won’t keep buying new games if they ain’t making a return.

In fact I’d say the only thing that probably keeps pinballs on location is the high resale value. Operators know they’ll get almost their purchase price back when they go to sell the game in a year or two, no matter what it’s earned on site.

rd

#35 2 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Yep!
It’s just amazing to me that some people are too mean to pay more than $1 to play a $8,000 to $10,000 machine.
Yet they have no problem paying $10 for a craft beer that they’ll piss against a wall in 30 minutes.
Somethings broken with the model … or people’s thinking.

David… I love you man and respect you as much as anyone here, but (you knew there’d be a bit after that suck up)… but, most of the casual players at our local bar will piss the game up against the wall in less than 3 minutes. By that logic, the $1 game is equal to the $10 beer. And the beer equates to way more happiness to most of the patrons, while the game equates to frustration.

12
#36 2 years ago

I would not pay 2 bucks a play, just because Stern upped the price, and knowing that owner will take a 20k play game and turn around and sell it for nib price. Cry me a river on that but I'll take the beer and play my games at home.

#37 2 years ago

$2/game for a new premium seems like a much, much, much, much better deal than the $1/game my daughter spends on redemption games.

She easily outspends me 4 to 1 when we go to places that have both.

I wouldn’t think twice at $1.50/game or $4 for 5. The only annoyance is dealing with quarters

#38 2 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Less plays = less wear and tear on the machine too.

Reminds me of when I had a person not happy all my pins were on 50¢ a game play. He said I should lower them to 25¢ a game.

This is when my business was going down hill at a rapid pace.

I told him I'd have to double my play to be in the same hell I'm in now. And double maintenance costs. If I could double my play I wouldn't have any problems.

Bless him. He was no more than out the door when I started raising the price per play.

Stopped the slide into hell.

LTG : )

11
#39 2 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Yep!
It’s just amazing to me that some people are too mean to pay more than $1 to play a $8,000 to $10,000 machine.
Yet they have no problem paying $10 for a craft beer that they’ll piss against a wall in 30 minutes.
Somethings broken with the model … or people’s thinking.
And maths says - at $2 a play, you only have to get 50% of the $1 plays to get the same revenue.
Less plays = less wear and tear on the machine too.
My guess is that if you up the price to $2 a play you’d still get 80% of the previous game plays. And if people don’t want to pay $2 to play a $8-10k machine, well, stuff them.
rd

The problem with that argument is that hardly any casual players know and/or care what a pinball machine costs brand new and people can't equate value like that if they don't know the numbers. Hell, my wife thinks my JJP POTC was only $1,000. If she had any idea what it was really worth, she'd be on me constantly to sell it. Most casual people are surprised someone is still making pins and think games cost a thousand bucks or so to buy new. When I tell people what the Halo Fireteam Raven environmental cabinet arcade game right across the room from the pins cost their jaws hit the floor. People just have no perspective on operator costs.

Around here from my first hand route experience, it is the casual players that make an operator money. You don't want to cater to a player like me coming into your establishment as you'll only make a fraction of the money you would off casual players. You raise the price on casual players to $1.50-$2.00...those same ones who generate the real dollars for your location AND already don't last more than a minute or two on a pin...and you drive your bread and butter away and destroy your pin earnings. They'll either play something else (arcade games, pool, darts, etc) which would be cheaper, last longer and give them more satisfaction, or in this area they will take their money and go elsewhere. To maximize earnings, a location here has to have some combination of things like; the cheapest prices, the newest games, great ambiance and/or well maintained games since we have several options for gaming locations that fits this bill within a fairly close proximity.

#40 2 years ago
Quoted from MMP:

knowing that owner will take a 20k play game and turn around and sell it for nib price.

Routed games usually don't get anywhere near NIB price.

LTG : )

#41 2 years ago

If the game costs increase the per play cost has to increase. It’s not very hard to grasp. Inflation touches everything.

#42 2 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Routed games usually don't get anywhere near NIB price.
LTG : )

I wish we still lived in usual times. Here is a game with 15k plays, cost 200 less than my most recent nib.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-jurassic-park-pro-71

By all means, increase your price to $2 and see what happens. I honestly doubt the casual player will drop that... just my opinion.

#43 2 years ago

A buck is easy to put in a game. At $1.50, it's a buck and now I need quarters too. PITA. It would be different if they gave change back. ( Not saying they should ). Better would be to have a debit card reader. Super easy for the player, and people tend to spend more when they're not spending cash. Best case is a tap your phone to pay.

#44 2 years ago

Every business owner with the current labor market, supply shortage and inflationary pressures should look really hard at price increases. I adjusted my different business units 2-10%.

Not making adjustments now will force bigger adjustments down the line.

My only concern would be the logistics as 1.50 is kind of a pain.

#45 2 years ago

$2 a game wouldn’t fly in Portland imo.

#46 2 years ago
Quoted from delt31:

Coz is awesome. Great pinsider. Hope all is well buddy.
That is all.

Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated! Doing great!

#47 2 years ago

Coz has rosey cheeks

#48 2 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Routed games usually don't get anywhere near NIB price.
LTG : )

Love and respect ya Lloyd, but that's not the case anymore. There are now way more buyers than supply for all the recent good Stern and CGC titles. Because of this, buyers are happy to find a Jurassic Park or Deadpoo or AFMr for sale, routed or not.

Most people are now coming to the realization that condition is king. And as long as the condition is good, then you will find a full-priced buyer for your routed game no problem. And plays are plays, whether at home or on location.

Quoted from rotordave:

That’s true. But maybe if one guy ups the price, the others will follow. Or talk to the other guys and sort it out between you.
The whole “pinball on site” model will collapse if people don’t get a ROI on it. People won’t keep buying new games if they ain’t making a return.
In fact I’d say the only thing that probably keeps pinballs on location is the high resale value. Operators know they’ll get almost their purchase price back when they go to sell the game in a year or two, no matter what it’s earned on site.
rd

Agree on the resale thing. But honesty, I think its been a long time since most operators held onto a game long enough for it to pay for itself.

Also, I'm a hobbyst OP myself, so I have some skin in this game.

#49 2 years ago
Quoted from MMP:

I wish we still lived in usual times. Here is a game with 15k plays, cost 200 less than my most recent nib.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-jurassic-park-pro-71

Hasn't sold for that yet.

LTG : )

#50 2 years ago

I feel for ops. These newer games should be $2 or 2/$3 or 4/$5 at least. I would pay that because I like to support location pinball.

But I don’t think pinball is enough of a draw to the casual player to support $2 play, at least now.

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