Posted by Jack Tripper on 12, 2001 at 12:15 PM:
In Reply to: Hmmm... (more) posted by Claw919 on 12, 2001 at 8:55 AM:
I was tempted to bid on a Shinobi cocktail cabinet that went for $220. It was working, but the coin mechs didn't work and it looked generally like it needed some TLC. As may be able to tell, I was looking for a cocktail cabinet. The auction was delayed for 45 minutes and it took two hours to get through the cocktail cabinets (about a dozen) and about 100 gambling machines. I stayed for about 10 of the upright cabinets to be auctioned. I left before they finshed with the upright and sit-down cabinets and the pinball machines.
I'd never been to an arcade auction before. At this auction, it looked like they were covering themselves by starting the bidding on each item at about 30 to 50% of what they figured the retail value of the machine in good condition (even if they needed a lot of work). I picked up on this because the auctioneer was announcing the retail values of many of the machines before bidding started. There is also 6% MI sale tax if you don't have a license that says you own an arcade business and a 13% surcharge for the auction company.