It sounds like a good idea until you start looking at all of the risk involved:

1) Damage to the machine during transport.
2) Damage to the client or their location during transport/set up.
3) Damage to the machine while it is at the location.
4) Machine breakdowns that cost you time/money.
5) Complete loss (theft, fire, water, etc.) of the machine.

The way I see it, there is just as much if not more risk than operating a machine at a commercial location, not to mention more potential headaches.

Sure it could be profitable with a bit of luck and a good system, but it a few bad deals could put you at a loss very quickly. Holding a credit card on file and trying to work out insurance details isn't enough to prevent those major losses, IMO. Never mind the infectious issues right now.

But hey, I suppose if the pinball market tanks like I keep reading about here and I can't stand looking at my games anymore, maybe I'll give it another thought.

I believe the types of risk are similar but to a greater extent when renting to a home user. A commercial location has more to lose if they try to screw you. Plus you are more likely to have more machines at a commercial location and for a longer period of time.

I could easily picture a situation where you rent to a home user and one week later you get a call saying "Hey, the ball keeps getting stuck on this pinball machine, my wife was right I never should have done this, please come pick it up. Sorry, I'll give you $100 but not the originally agreed upon amount." Then after you remove the machine, you get a call later saying "Hey, my wife says your dolly left marks on the hardwood floors. We're going to need you to pay for that."

Perhaps I'm biased after years of selling and personally delivering games to homes (I typically no longer offer the latter), but I personally just don't see enough reasonable profit for the potential headaches.