Charlotte, NC
Quoted from the_pin_family:I buy and sell about two machines a month. I buy beat up DMD machines with good artwork mostly. I put a lot of time into them. Full top, bottom and cab teardowns. My machines are beautiful and play perfectly when I'm done. I play them heavy for a week and work out all the bugs. I sell them a high market value. $2800 for FT, $3000 for tommy, $2250 for R&B. Most of you would say that's on the high side of fair. I find though, there are a couple types of pinball buyers. The kind who don't want to pay you for your work. They can and would rather do the work themselves. Nothing wrong with that. Im that way. Then there's the guys that can't, don't want to or don't have time but want a game in that condition. The have no problem playing it. It's different getting a pin in great condition that was shopped out two years ago(and who knows how well) and plays well or getting a pin that's rock solid and dialed in. That happens to be white glove clean with a slew of new parts.
Aside from the "two pins a month" part, (where do you find 2 decent DMD candidates a month in this market?) I totally agree with the above post. I'm in the exact same boat. I currently spend roughly on average 35 to 40 hours on game refurbishment, and that doesn't include the playtime to work out the bugs. Games play perfectly when Im done, and look as good as they can WITHOUT the extra and exhorbitant cost of actual cosmetic restoration like playfield color-matched touchup and clearcoating. There is a diminishing return versus the cost associated with that, and most of my customers aren't looking for that kind of work, due to the cost involved. It's not something I can't do, but for the "bang for the buck" they get 95% or more of the high end restoration "look" and 100% the playability of a restoration, with only a fraction of the cost.
I can't see that's unreasonable to charge for this kind of work and quality. And by the time I'm done, it usually works to about 10 bucks an hour. How is that highway robery when you pay your auto mechanic 90 bucks an hour, your appliance repair guys 80 bucks an hours plus a service call, or your laywer, 200 bucks an hour! They're all specialized fields, with specific knowledge and education requirements, and most people do NOT have these skills. I think we're the most UNDERPAID specialists when you look at it like that. The problem is finding work when you charge a rate that might be more inline with the specialty of the work done. Who could afford to pay several grand to refurb a game that's worth a couple grand in the first place. THAT"S how it's a labor of love.
Vinny
