What you hear and what you actually take in could be two huge different things.

Not to mention operate where ? If there are already games there, the op in there won't allow it.

This leaves you usually with poor locations. Seasonal, laundromats, etc.

Then look into zoning issues, licenses, and insurance so you are covered if someone gets hurt by your game.

And most people won't post actual earnings. That is kind of a personal question.

Do your homework and learn all you can. Best wishes and every success if you do this.

LTG : )

Is earning $900 a month on a route pin possible in 2013? Any title?

What type of location are you considering? Fitting a theme to a location will probably help your chances. If this is a trial run it might be better to test a good used machine to gauge interest rather than plunking down big bucks on a new game and taking a shot in the dark.

Get mad and pull his equipment out.

If he has Golden Tee's, pool tables, video games, etc. etc. Could really make a mess.

He has the right to not allow someone to take money/income from his games/his pocket.

Some people might take offense to that.

LTG : )

LTG : )

From everything I have seen if you make a couple hundred a month off a machine on location you are doing great. I have never had machines on location but most guys that do have lots of them on location (100's or more) don't look like they are getting rich.

There have been a couple post in the past few weeks comparing WOZ to other machines on location and money taken in. Look for those and you might be able to get a better idea.

There is only so much money in a room.

When you have 4 machines in a bar and you add a 5th, you don't make 20% more money because you added another game.

After a few weeks, the take settles back to the same amount you used to make on 4 games.

This happens 99% of the time.

So, you adding more games to a room means that the existing OP will get a smaller take.

Don't be surprised if you find the cord cut off your games, or the coin door filled with Great Stuff expanding foam.

Don't forget that there are guys that will damage your equipment or if you are lucky only jam coin slots and so on.

Such a great line of work! If I felt I had to resort to that kind of crap to earn a living I'd do something else with my life.

*back in the day* it was the most cash you could ever imagine earning.

Insane amounts of cash, pure cash.

That would be the least of my worries.

Some people in this industry aren't nice like me.

LTG : )

Yes, if you have the only pinball machine in a maximum security prison.

Not really 100% on topic but i half agree with the there's only so much money in a room. Quality of the games is a big one. You can make 5x more profit with new machines than old ones if not more. I also do have locations with people who don't have a ton of cash, ill put a new redemption game in there, that machine may make 250-400 a week for the first 4-6 weeks and bump the total profit but after a few weeks the money will tailor off to maybe 20% more than what was normal. That being said that is based on what type of establishment it is. If its the same crowd at these places then yes over the long run there is only so much money to be made. It makes no sense to buy anything brand new where its always the same people. Secondly videos and pinballs don't make anything on route anymore, not even golden tee live 2013s, big buck hunter pros, Etc. The only things making money now are Internet jukeboxes, cranes, new sit down drivers, once in a while a new jvl or mega touch, and most of all (80% or income) is from redemption machines. My best spots for pinball may make 40-60 a week in a lineup of maybe 8-15 machines and I split that with the business owner.

At a decent location making 40-50 bucks a week (assuming 50/50 split) it will take you four years to break even on the pinball pending no major repairs (hopefully) and the beating they take will probably take a pinball worth say 4k used to around 2500 unless somehow the machine stays immaculate. If you do this please wax the Playfield every say $150 as it will be needed!

Also if you do this AC/dc, Metallica, woz are the new ones that make the most, followed by tron. Though you may be happier using older pinballs that sometimes can be had cheaper, as you won't notice a ton of difference in money made. South Park is surprisingly a good bar pinball, sopranos, TSPP, ripleys, t2, t3. Heck even monopoly and stern playboy can do well in bars and other spots. Lot less invested, and if you by used you won't be mad if someone carves there name into the side of it while drunk.

Oh also LTG laundrymats are sometimes GREAT locations. Try key masters. Well worth the $5500, trust me!

He is talking about NJ . Everything operated that is not on the boardwalk or at a fair must be play and get a prize. . Prize must be perceived value of price per play ( meaning you can not give a gumball out everytime while playing for an ipod ). No cranes, no key masters. no barber cuts, ect, ect, ect.

Got ya. Never realized it was that strict. They do have winner every time key masters but like you said cant play for iPad and get a capsule I would assume. Strange too NJ is sorta like michigan with the gambling type stuff.

Yes, if you have the only pinball machine in a maximum security prison.

Is there a cigerette acceptor?

CIGS.jpg

IMO

Bar = AC/DC, Metallica, Iron Man - In my experience these earn well in bars. Not WOZ. Not Tron. Maybe X-men?

Parker

*back in the day* it was the most cash you could ever imagine earning.
Insane amounts of cash, pure cash.

35a90c.jpg

Imagine having so many quarters, no bank in town would accept them all.

Imagine having 4 KISS machines side by side in one location, and the line behind each was 5 players deep.

Imagine paying a safe company to come in and install a large floor safe at 10pm so your employees would not know you had it.

Imagine having a second floor safe installed latter because the first was so full that you could find no way to spend all that money.

Imagine finally having to open a bank account in Belize and have a private pilot fly you down to make deposits.

When people always say that the coin op biz made more money than the movie biz in those days, I believe it.

i had one op in my pool hall for a couple years and was ok. a different op came in offering all the newest games, at the time it was the san fransisco rush 4 of them linked up along with the latest fighting games and a few others.

i fired the original op and split all profits 50/50 with the new guy. he wanted 60/40 for the rush games but 50/50 is what we settled on.

for the first 2 months the rush machines were pulling in 1300-1500 weekly, slowly leveling off afterwards.

my point is that the amount of money in the room will increase with the proper games. i also recieved a free high speed at the time as a gift for allowing the new operating to have my location.

wouldn't want 2 operators at the same time as ltg alluded to.

X-Men earns well in a bar in my experience.

But then again, so did much older games like Doctor Who and BoP.

-Mark

That is very true.

A good OP will move games around to find the perfect mix to max out a given location.

There was a Stargate upright that I had in one location for almost 20 years. It never stopped earning. I probably put 5 monitors in it over the years.

When EBD came out, it did not earn at all in some places (I'd say some clients hated the Cowboy theme), but in others, the game would wear down to the wood.

Same with Golden Tee, some places it earns and some it just sits - an experienced OP will know what to do.

Now days they usually do.

Check with distributors, AMOA, even old posts on Rec Games Pinball, for some already drawn up.

LTG : )

It disappoints me when the same veteran operators here constantly discourage folks from operating games. I understand why they do it, but I wish they would talk about some of the good things about operating games while pointing out the down sides. Location pinball will never come back if all the answers are negative. My story, though not as long as theirs, is a little different.

In the location where I have pins, there has been as many as four different guys operating pins at the same time. In addition, there is also a video game guy, a pool table/air hockey guy, a jukebox guy and a candy machine guy. In the six plus years I've had games there, there has never been a hint of animosity between any of us. Ever.

I have a handshake agreement with the owner. No contract. I had been playing pinball at the business more than ten years prior to that. The business is open 364 days a year and the owner is there almost every day. He has the keys to all my games and has permission to remove quarters or ones if he needs them. If a ball gets stuck, he'll take the glass off and free the ball. If he can't fix it, he calls me and it's fixed within a day. Although I trust him 100%, I still check my earnings audits regularly. The owner knows how pinball audits work. Keeps everyone honest.

One of the biggest and baddest new locations in the bay area is Free Gold Watch, a print shop in the city with twenty plus pins and video games. I know for a fact there is more than one operator there. Wouldn't be surprised if there is half a dozen or more. No cut cords or jammed coin slots. Times are different than they used to be. Pinball doesn't earn enough now for guys to be at each other's throats. Not saying these things never happen any more, but I'm sure they don't happen as much as they used to.

Unless you have a prime location, earnings shouldn't be your major concern. I don't do it for the money. Many of the good operators out there now are also hobbyist. At least three of the current top 20 players in the world are operators and have been for years. All three post here. As mentioned above, with any location, you need to be able to rotate different games through. They don't all need to be brand new games, but you do need to change titles every few months to keep earnings up. Your earnings audits will tell you everything you need to know.

Another important thing to remember is don't just buy your personal favorite titles. I love LOTR, TSPP and Spidey, but won't operate them due to long ball times. All the games you've listed should do fine. In six months though, if you don't rotate, earnings will drop. Good luck.

I do apologize if anyone thinks I'm discouraging them. I'm trying to help them learn as much as they can so they have the best chance at success.

I'd like to see more people venture into the wonderful world of coin op, and be successful too !

LTG : )

Great incite guys, appreciate for being so open

I am indeed trying to discourage people from blindly putting their games out on route.

Their games could at some point be damaged, tax consequences, licensing for games(state, local), licensing for business (state, local), insurance (the bar's insurance does NOT cover you, no matter what they say), or the bar can go out of business and your games will simply be gone (even if you know the bar's owner, the landlord will lock him out and throw everything in the dumpster).

After wiping all the stars out of their eyes, if a potential OP can make it work on some lever, I highly encourage it.

Besides counting all the quarters, was there anything else you enjoyed about operating pins? Or was it strictly a job?

I very much enjoy watching others having fun while playing my games. Kids, a regular, league, some guy off the street, whatever. As long as they're having fun. That's the payoff. Making other people happy makes me happy. Go figure.

Dude... You are riding a very thin line of implying (along with the picture) that those who would play WOZ, and like the film, are homosexual. That is not cool, please stop.

Good on ya! That is exactly what I did 2.5 years ago. I operate the only public location pinball in a city of 260,000 +. Our league is growing by leaps and bounds. Search should bring up some of my early threads of when I started my 'hobby' operation.

You have to do it for the love of pinball, as earnings typically only cover your costs. I will be renegotiating the current split when the contract is finished to try and actually start paying for some of the machines.

Your newest machine will always be your best earner for a little while.

Have fun, and don't let the doubters dissuade you. Get insurance!

Yes, I believe so, it depends 90+% the location, 10% or so on the title.
I support ACDC pro Pinball at Latitude 30 in Jacksonville FL
and it does $500+ a month with ease.

My Doctor Who does relatively well (better than most) no matter where it is.
I'd like another haha.

No question. I could go somewhere and check out a massive arcade, but if it doesn't have a pinball machine, I'm not plugging in a coin, as nothing else interests me. I could go to a place that has nothing but one pinball machine. I will likely plug in a coin or two there. I can’t be the only one.

On average what Vid says is probably true, but having a good mix I think is key in the places I have seen pins. Pins are for the parents for the most part. They are too complicated for kids, and all they want to do is plug in $40 in coins as fast as possible, see some lights, and collect the zillion tickets to get their 50 cent toy. Again, a smart place puts a pinball machine or two in so that the adults are occupied enough to allow the kids time the drain their wallets. Works with me

I'm glad OP is getting daunting, yet sage advice from everyone, but it also is good to see guys like smokedog and phishrace. I'm no expert by any means, but breaking even is probably the most an operator can hope for. If you don't do it for the fun, then why do it? +1000 to both of you guys because you are demonstrating the passion for pinball to a newer generation and rekindling the fire in old timers!

Dude, you are riding a very fine line of ...... having no sense of humor.

I just think WoZ fans might dig dancing on a boar in jeans.... get your head out of the gutter

Note: Smiley indicated humorous (attempt)

Good post and really good story. I think location pinball can come back to some degree and be profitable but you have to have good operators. I get so frustrated when I go play location pinball in my city. If the flippers aren't sticking and the game will actually play the I'm happy, but that is rather rare.

I'm all for having a sense of humor. However, why post a picture with men wearing shirts saying "Flaming Saddles Saloon" (a gay bar) and then say WOZ would work at the "right" place? Sorry, that isn't funny.

Mine did "crazy money" for the first few weeks at a popular bar, priced at $0.75/play or 4 plays for $2. (Or the "secret" 5 plays for $2.25.) Adding a bill acceptor after a week definitely improved earnings. Then it leveled off, like the rest.

In my experience, I need to bring in a "new" pin there every 2-3 months, whether it is brand new, or 20 years old.

DW now resides in a comic book shop, where people seem to love to talk about it, take pix of it, and give it a thumbs up on the shop's f*book page, but it is only played lightly.

-Mark

This is also my agenda at the comic book shop, although it's not so secret.

Soon I'll hopefully have several pins in there, and our growing league desperately needs more places to play, in a city/state where legalized casino-grade video gam(bl)ing machines have replaced most pin locations.

The shop is in a good central location and has heavy foot and auto traffic. However, it's located in the bowels of a large building, and thus has zero visibility from the street and sidewalk, and little signage to top it off. The shop could use the publicity, and they have the space, so it's win-win.

I don't expect to earn much...I anticipate earnings across four machines to *maybe* be half of what my single machine does at the bar. The bar has space for several machines, and their clientele are asking for more, but the owners don't want it, for whatever reason. It's pretty frustrating for me, to say the least. In the end, I am grateful to have the opportunity at the new location.

-Mark

Calm down. It's well known even in the straight world that "friend of Dorothy" is a euphemism for a gay man and that Judy Garland is one of their icons. It was an overly obvious reference that should catch no one by surprise. In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't come up way sooner that this. Get over it.

Besides, from what we've seen in the other "WOZ on location" threads, WOZ is killing it! Besides, pinball machines on location know no gender, sexual orientation, or whatever else. They just want your money!

I'll take your word for it, let it be and move on. Thank you for explaining.

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