CABINET VALUE PREP BENCH
Make the cabinet easier to value before anybody argues price.
Arcade cabinet value starts with proof. The same machine can read as a collector piece, a repair project, a clean conversion, or a moving liability depending on the photos, video, labels, faults, and pickup path.
NO PRICE MAGIC
This is a value-prep checklist, not an appraisal.
Until comparable sales are sourced, RetroArcade should not invent cabinet prices. The honest first move is to turn the machine into a clean evidence packet.
A good packet lets a seller ask smarter, a buyer negotiate cleaner, and a repair tech or mover spot risk before the cabinet is half-loaded.
THE PACKET
FOUR VALUE LANES
Working original cabinet
The strongest story is boring proof: current play video, original identifiers, clean inside photos, and a pickup plan that will not crack the game before it leaves.
Proof to collect
- • Current video from power-on through attract mode, coin/start, controls, sound, and one short play sequence.
- • Manufacturer plate, serial tag, PCB label, monitor/chassis label, and coin-door/key photos where present.
- • Front, both sides, marquee, bezel, control panel, rear door, inside bottom, and power-area photos.
- • Cabinet dimensions, weight estimate if known, stairs/doorway/liftgate notes, and who is responsible for loading.
Value help
- + Original board and harness visible
- + CRT working with acceptable burn-in
- + Uncut cabinet body
- + Clear side art/control panel
- + Keys and back door present
Value drag
- − No inside photos
- − Vague “fully working” claim
- − Unknown monitor
- − Hacked power wiring
- − Hard pickup path with no measurements
Build a condition packet before naming a premium price. Serious buyers pay more when they do not have to guess what they are loading.
Project or partially working cabinet
A project cabinet can still sell well if the seller separates known faults from unknowns. Hiding problems usually lowers trust faster than the problems lower value.
Proof to collect
- • One-sentence fault summary: dead, plays blind, control fault, monitor fault, board fault, water damage, or unknown.
- • Photos of the affected system: power supply, PCB, monitor/chassis, control underside, harness, cabinet base, or damage area.
- • What was already tried: fuses, boards, cap kit, controls, power supply, adjustments, or prior-owner repairs.
- • Parts included, loose parts, missing parts, manuals, locks/keys, glass, marquee, bezel, and back door status.
Value help
- + Rare/desirable title
- + Complete cabinet even if non-working
- + Documented original parts
- + Clean cabinet body
- + Honest fault notes
Value drag
- − Repeated fuse blowing
- − Water-swollen base
- − Missing monitor/PCB
- − Cut harness
- − Seller cannot explain what was removed
Price the cabinet as a documented project, not a mystery box. The brief should help a repair tech or buyer scope the first hour.
Restored or upgraded cabinet
Restored claims need receipts, dates, parts, and boundaries. “Restored” without a work log reads like a repaint with a higher asking price.
Proof to collect
- • Restoration work log: monitor, power, controls, art, paint/body, PCB, wiring, locks, coin mech, and cabinet structure.
- • Receipts or parts list for cap kit, power supply, controls, art, T-molding, glass, marquee, boards, or converter hardware.
- • Before/after photos if available, especially cabinet base, control panel, side art, and monitor behavior.
- • What remains imperfect: burn-in, reproduction art, LCD conversion, multicade board, missing coin mech, non-original controls.
Value help
- + Receipts and dated work
- + Clean reversible upgrades
- + Original parts retained
- + Reliable play test
- + Repairable/documented monitor work
Value drag
- − No receipts
- − Permanent conversion on a collectible cabinet
- − Fresh paint hiding damage
- − Unknown LCD/multiboard install
- − Overbroad “museum quality” language
Replace hype with the restoration ledger. A buyer can decide what the work is worth when the parts and compromises are visible.
Converted or multicade cabinet
Converted cabinets sell on usability, cabinet condition, control quality, and disclosure. They should not be priced like untouched dedicated originals.
Proof to collect
- • Original cabinet identity if known and what was changed: board, monitor, controls, art, wiring, coin door, or LCD.
- • Current game/menu video and proof that controls match the games offered.
- • Interior photos showing conversion hardware, wiring quality, power setup, and whether original parts remain.
- • Any original boards, panels, marquees, manuals, harnesses, or art included with the sale.
Value help
- + Clean wiring
- + Responsive controls
- + Good cabinet body
- + Original parts included
- + Transparent conversion story
Value drag
- − Rare cabinet permanently altered
- − Sloppy JAMMA/encoder wiring
- − Controls do not fit game list
- − No legal/software disclosure
- − Inflated “thousands of games” pitch
Sell it as a clean playable conversion, not as a collector-grade original. The buyer brief should make that distinction obvious.
Do not poison the deal packet
- • Do not promise an exact market value without sourced comparable sales.
- • Do not call a cabinet original if the board, monitor, art, controls, or harness are unknown.
- • Do not hide water damage, fuse failures, CRT faults, or missing parts; serious buyers will find them fast.
- • Do not use emulator/ROM claims as a sales hook without legal and software clarity.
- • Do not accept a deposit or freight payment plan that outruns identity, proof, and pickup verification.
Turn value prep into a cabinet brief
Use the Cabinet Command Center after collecting proof. It turns cabinet type, condition, price pressure, pickup risk, and next questions into copyable buyer/seller language.