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Pinball Hire

Jsyjamie

Jsyjamie

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Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
1,232
Location
Jersey, CI
Alias
Jamie
I lent the Jersey Museum two of my pins for their 80's gaming week and besides a couple of stuck balls which the staff sorted out they have worked flawlessly.

A few people have been in contact asking if they could hire games for a weekend or a week and I was wondering what people think a reasonable amount of money would be to charge?

I have seen the prices Phil charges but hiring out a WOZ is very different to say a Getaway or Whirlwind.

https://www.pinball.co.uk/shop/pinb...w-classic-machines/wizard-of-oz-pinball-hire/

I'm not looking to get rich but also don't want to sell myself short.

Cheers :)
 
Think about the time and effort of packing the machine up, loading it in your car, delivering it, unloading it, setting it up, etc etc and then doing the whole thing in reverse a day or so later when you choose your price.
 
Adding to the valid points by @Mfresh

What about damage whilst hired out?
Consider a deposit scheme?

Jsyjay said:
I have seen the prices Phil charges but hiring out a WOZ is very different to say a Getaway or Whirlwind.

I'm not looking to get rich but also don't want to sell myself short.
Click to expand...

I disagree here. They're classic irreplaceable games (opinions may vary) - whereas a WOZ can be bought NIB still. If someone really screwed your Getaway up then what's your cost to replace it? WOZ is easy as there's a list price. Classics seem to be increasing in value and becoming harder to find, let alone buy.

It's not about greed or wealth, it's more about balancing the financial and personal risks so you're not potentially vastly out of pocket.

I guess some of this depends who you rent to.

I'm 1 game over my allowance and considering approaching a few small local businesses to see if they fancy a joint venture instead of me selling (i HATE selling!), so it's also been on my mind a little bit too recently :) I'm sure a few of us with middle-condition games and some space issues could create a Cooperative to do something like this.
 
I imagine the availability of pins on Jersey is even worse than on the mainland so you should be able to name your price!
 
All good points, cheers chaps. :)

I suppose the upside of being over here is that the max delivery is going to be half and hour each way. Add half an hour each way for set up and take down so three hours work roughly.

I was thinking £175-200 for a weekend, set up Friday evening or Saturday morning and take down Sunday afternoon.... Sound reasonable?
 
I took my funhouse to a village fete last year. Outside under a marquee. Long trek across big garden. It was a huge amount of work for what it raised for the church and given the risk to back, game, house, car, folk killing themselves on it etc. It really was not worth it. I would have rather put 20 quid in the tin myself.

If you are renting out a whirly or getaway, these are 1400 to 1800 games. If they are mid condition games, a bit of additional cosmetic damage is unlikely to alter their value

I would guess about 100 a day too. BUT only if the logistics are easy - no stairs, no long runs on the sack barrow, Flat terrain etc etc.

Let us know how you get on.
 
IMHO the value of the game doesn't dictate the hire price, that's more the insurance to replace it. I'd be tempted to go for the same price that Phil is going with as you know it will have been thought out in terms of wear and tear, damage etc. If they balk at it then you've got room to come down and look like you're doing them a favour :thumbs:
 
When I lived in Sweden the company I worked for used to permanently hire pinball machines on rotation. I did look up the cost of it at the time and I seem to recall it was around £300 per month. Those machines were usually top titles e.g. Monster Bash, Theatre of Magic, Addams etc
 
So the £50 per month I got for charity for hiring to a local business was quite a bit under the mark?
 
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