Sad, but true. I'd go 1/2 redemption and 1/2 pins, then use the money from the redemption to buy new pins with descent themes. Wait until you have some regulars then try out the older stuff.

Good luck.

I put mine under the main venues liability insurance, you just need to be written on. I also got separate insurance for fire, figured out of everything a fire would be the most devastating. Flood would be smart as well at least here where I live, but thats a seperate insurance policy all together covered through FEMA.

Same other then stickers, people on occasion vandalize restrooms, and very seldomly the pool table area. I've talked to some of the regulars and they are very protective of their spot. They actually get after people if they are to rough with the machines or put drinks on them. There are still spills and machines get a normal beating, but I've never had someone do something on purpose in the 4 years I've had pins on location... at least that I know of. I'm very appreciative of those people, because its not easy doing this to begin with. If it were a thing, I would of stopped long ago.

If your machines aren't broken or aren't stealing peoples money, you have even less of a chance of getting vandalized. If your location is manned, and people see you actually care about your stuff, then I wouldn't worry about it.

The only thing with a card system is the upfront cost is.... costly. Think I was quoted a little over 30k, and then its like 10 bucks a month for each device up to 30 devices. Anything over that it's free maxing the "subscription" fee at $3600 a year. (there might be other card systems out there, I only got a quote from one). My quote covered 2 kiosks (which you have to have), 40 card swipe thingies, software, shipping, etc...
I was informed that they have a cheaper system, but you have to have under 30 card swipe thingies.

Payrange - the initial startup cost is a lot lower, you pay roughly 4% of every penny earned through the device and .50 cents per machine per week. (things might of gone up since they last wanted me to sign a new contract). The happy hour pricing isn't the easiest to set up if your doing it on random days each month. They were $70 or 80, but I'm pretty sure they went up to $120 or higher per device... I could be wrong though.

While pinball has the ability to make money, I wouldn't use either of these items unless your sure you can cover the overhead first.

The third option is tokens, cheap and easy. You can also give away a bunch at parties. Upfront cost is maybe 500-2k depending on if you get custom tokens. Plus you need either the dual token/coin mechs or just plain token mechs. Other then getting new tokens, you keep all the revenue.

The biggest plus to all three of these is there is no cash. The biggest plus to the first two is there is no collections. The only thing I never understood is access control on pricing. How do you know one member won't lend another his/her card, if they have "gold status".

there is a place about 45 minutes from me with maybe 7 pins. one is a WOZ, I have no idea how they keep that thing running... or if it's even running. Mine broke down weekly at pay-per-play, granted it was mainly the light boards but it still brought the game down since most of the lights went out.

Freeplay is great for casuals, but I'd kiss any free time you thought you had good bye. Takes a lot more traffic and parties to offset the cost of techs and parts you'd need to buy for it to work.