Hi folks! I'm new, but I thought this was the best place to ask this. I have a 1983 stand up Mario Bros arcade machine in excellent working order and I'm trying to sell it (not here). I'm wondering if any of you can give me an idea of what I should be asking for it. I inherited it and am not really a gamer so I really don't know what something like this would be worth. I appreciate any advice you can give. Thank you!
The arcade cabinet market is an interesting one, as there are a lot of factors that go into how a particular cabinet may be valued including condition (of both the cabinet in general as well as the marquee and artwork and how clean it is inside), style of cabinet (many classic cabinets had different designs during their release), what type of board is in the machine (again, many games had different board-sets/chip-sets released, and many games are "swapable", meaning people could swap in a different game board and the machine will still run it) rarity, and of course overall desirability of the game itself.
All that being said, for a working, excellent condition Mario Bros., you could be looking at anywhere from probably around $300 to $800, perhaps more, perhaps less. If the game needs any restoration or work done to truly get it pristine, the lower end of that range is more reasonable. The market for cabinets is of course not as large, so a price is also going to be highly dependent on the actual demand. if you are going to be listing it for sale somewhere, i'd start at a "negotiable" asking price of $500 or so, and work from there if you really want it to sell.
Arcade cabinets could easily be worth over a thousand or so, and some day, if I can move into my own house and set up an arcade in my house as I've always wanted, I'd like to have at least one or two arcade cabinets in addition to any consoles that I have on hand at that point. Considering the simplicity of a game like Mario Bros., I wouldn't be interested, though there may be hardcore fans or collectors that would appreciate something like this. I'd prefer an arcade-exclusive game with a unique mechanic that cannot easily be replicated with a conventional gaming console.
It's difficult to determine a sensible dollar amount for arcade cabinets as they aren't commercially available, and it depends on how much it is worth to the person interested in buying. At a sensible price it can be an impulse buy that can attract a surprisingly large sum. I'd suggest auctioning it off on eBay as you can wind up with a surprisingly high sum for it.
"Gee, that's really persuasive. Do you have any actual points to make other than to essentially say 'me Tarzan, physical bad, digital good'?"
My suggestion: If you're in an area that hosts occasional retro-gaming festivals (eg. California Extreme in the San Francisco Bay Area, the NW Pinball and Arcade Show in the Seattle area, etc.), add your machine to the set of cabinets on display at the show. Lots of people make sales at shows like these, and the buyers are generally better equipped to haul your machine away, especially if they're collectors.
Selling a machine like that online can be more difficult because you'll either need to tell potential buyers that they must come pick up the machine, making it unattractive to people who are more than about 50 miles away from you, or you'd have to include crating and shipping costs, which can sometimes be more than the machine itself is worth. (Or you have to be willing to drive it out to the buyer.)
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Topic: Question about 1983 stand up Mario Bros arcade game
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