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Renting out my pinball

Pie Man

Pie Man

Site Supporter
Joined
Apr 16, 2016
Messages
278
Location
Blackburn
Iv been asked if I would be interested in renting one of my pinballs out for period of 12 months to my local pub. Any ideas of a fair monthly rental charge I should be asking. It either a Fish tales or a Star Wars.
 
The usual way would be for you to operate it in the pub and you share the takings with the landlord/owner rather than you renting them the game. Who would be responsible for maintenance and assuming it's not you, do you know the person/company who it would be and are you happy with them messing with your pin?
 
What's the rules with this would the machine need to be pat tested ? Would you need operator insurance? A local pub of mind asked a similar questions awhile back. What do you need to be an casual operator ?
 
PAT test for sure!

Possible liability insurance, encase it falls on someone or glass breaks and cuts someone etc!

Don't need a gsmbling licence like a fruit machine as it doesn't payout any money
 
Ok a few good points for me to consider, I do know them quite well and it's one of those little micro bewery pubs owned privately. So it's not a massive establishment. My thoughts would have been £100.00 a month and I take on the maintenance as it's on my doorstep.
 
I was going to do this with a friend who owned a bar. We agreed on a 50/50 split of takings. I would cover any repairs and he would be liable for any damage.
 
The 100 pound was just a figure I came up with, yes there will be weeks when no maintenance is required then there's gonna be weeks when I could get called out more than once. Probably best with the 50/50 split deal. Thanks for your input everyone.
 
What I do typically, a 50/50 split but with a minimum to you per month... so the sky's the limit but you're not putting it out for £5 a month.

So £100 minimum per month "rental" which should be covered by the machines takings, or in other words, you get the first £100 out of the machine and if less than that the landlord coughs up to make up the difference.
 
Anyone willing to share their 'contract' that they agree with the landlord or whoever is in charge of the building where the pin(s) would be sited ?

I've been talking to a few interested parties about this sort of potential setup over here In Northern Ireland but would like to have a contract to protect both parties (myself and landlord) I'm assuming for example any pin sited for public use would need to be insured for public liability by the landlord, takings to be 50/50 after a set amount or possibly just 50/50 of takings..

So basically any other tips etc gladly accepted especially sample contracts and legal requirements

What happens is machine is out of Action for extended time etc etc
 
If I was a pub landlord I'd expect all those things to be covered by the machine owner tbh, they get space in my bar (and make noise) for which I get some money plus hopefully punters who come for the game but stay to drink my beer. If they break your game, that's not my problem. But if your game electrocutes them, that's also your problem. Those would be my terms and if you didn't like them then I could just get more fruities or pool tables in, way less risk and more takings.

Ask opinions from Eric Ridley, Barry Parsons, Matt Vince etc. as I'm sure there's a bit of give and take in any handshake deal.
 
So, without annoying operators that are already up and running could anyone opening pins in the wild give a definitive list of what you need to site pinball machines? - funny story time- My mate was/is a bit of a del boy and afew years ago decided to get a mobile kitchen, he ws going to sell hot dogs burgers ect anyways he went out got the gear big trailer and all the tickets and even did couple of local events, all cash probably declaring about half of the takings. He was down the pub telling us he was raking it in. As cash strapped teens 20 somethings we were all very jelous of this fantastic revenue stream. He was tickled pink with himself, well until one night when he was sitting at home and there was a knock on the door.... The local "geordie burger mafia types" - not exactly italian but you get the jist of it we not very happy that he was operating in "their area" and that he should stop trading and get rid of the van or els. He never said exactly what was said but his tail was firmly between his legs and the van was sold within days. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if i were operator reading the thread i might be abit annoyed others are trying to get in on the game and i can understand why, BUT it could actually benefit their business to. The more pins on location in the wild the better for everyone as it raises the profile of the game. more intrest more second hand sales demand and more traffic at other locations. But if you are operation you need to be fully covered of every eventuality hence why a list from an operator of things you need to cover would be very helpful. - but i can also understand if the information was withheld.
 
Surely it also depends on the game? I'd be very happy with getting £100 a month from sticking an old LW3 in a pub. If it was MMR then the wear / damage to it is probably more than that.

I also suspect there's a very good reason that most pubs don't still have pins in them. In my pub going days I'd always play a few games on pins / fruit machines while waiting for friends. Nowadays I think people just sit on their phones:( Even pool tables are getting to be rare in London pubs. On a similar line I don't think I've seen a bar billiards table for 20 years or so.
 
Never heard of bar billiards. Just Googled it. Looks like it could be interesting after a beer or three.
 
Sounduser said:
Never heard of bar billiards. Just Googled it. Looks like it could be interesting after a beer or three.
Click to expand...
There used to be one in a pub in Leeds. I never played on it but really wish I had done.
I'm guessing one would essentially take up the same space as one pin.
 
Sounduser said:
Never heard of bar billiards. Just Googled it. Looks like it could be interesting after a beer or three.
Click to expand...
Bar Billiards is a great pub game. Takes up less space than a pool table as you only cue from one end.

There were several pubs in Brighton Hove area that had them until fairly recently. Our local real ale place even had a local league. Gone now though. Sadly as the pub scene changes they do seem to be disappearing :-(
 
I tend to spell out everything agreed in an email but its never a formal contract for a 1 off machine in a pub.

I am not a worrier so I don't worry about scratches, damage, breakages etc because I wouldn't do it if I was that way out.

The more pinball machines on site the better I say...

Phil
 
if you are worried about the machine getting scratched/worn then don't rent it out, as its guaranteed its going to get some wear. PAT testing yes, anything more than this I'd try to get covered under the existing third party insurance the pub already has, also worth making a log of visits and issues showing how you tackle them so if the worst comes to the worst you can say you didn't just dump it and never visit it again.

Neil.
 
Bar billiards is a great game :D There's one pub in Nottingham that has a table that was near my old workplace so we used to play it all the time (proper old school pub that was the lounge one side and the bar on the other, had a good dart board as well) :thumbs:
 
My village pub was recently refurbished. In the 90s it had a jukebox, pool table, dart board, fruity

It now has sky TV, jukebox, fruity. They tried a bar billiards last year as there is some dead space that it fitted in. It only lasted about three months

Times have changed unfortunately. Folk like watching sport (predominantly footy) and using smart phones these days. Food is far more important than it used to be too, and diners might be put off by Pinball machines.
 
DRD said:
My village pub was recently refurbished. In the 90s it had a jukebox, pool table, dart board, fruity

It now has sky TV, jukebox, fruity. They tried a bar billiards last year as there is some dead space that it fitted in. It only lasted about three months

Times have changed unfortunately. Folk like watching sport (predominantly footy) and using smart phones these days. Food is far more important than it used to be too, and diners might be put off by Pinball machines.
Click to expand...
Food has always been important to me. That is why I put my belt on with a boomerang.
 
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