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FS Game Saru cab imports - NO specialty requests until 2025 (updated 9/25/2023)

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Cereth

Cereth

Enlightened
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Location
Reno, NV USA
UPDATED 9/25/2023

I DO NOT SELL CRT CANDY CABS TO THE PUBLIC, PLEASE DO NOT ASK.

INQUIRIES THROUGH EMAIL WILL BE IGNORED. It is archaic and horribly suited to these type of sales. For more direct inquiries, please do so through the Facebook page.

For inquiries with regards to inquiries and ordering cabinets in Australia, please contact Blue Spring Express. My listed inventory is generally for import to the US. Other regions are serviced on an extreme case-by-case basis only.

Table of Contents:

1) Introduction / Order Status
2) Machines For Sale (Available Now)
3) Machines For Sale (Incoming Containers)
4) Machines For Sale (Future Containers)
5) Kits & Parts For Sale
6) Special Requests
7) Information, Rules, & Policies
8) Extended Reading

Introduction:

Hey everyone, I'm Cereth a.k.a. Kenchan a.k.a. David, founder and owner of Game Saru, the largest independent importer and distributor of Japanese arcade machines and related goods in the world. I have for a long time been an enthusiast in the hobby, and my goal with the company is to provide a more in-touch import service for these goods to my fellows in the community, and to provide rental services for Japanese arcade machines to various events. This thread serves to fulfill the former of the two.

Over the last five years, I've built up everything I feel necessary to provide a better overall service in importing these goods to North America. I want to make sure all games purchased meet the requirements of a buyer. I generally try to get photos of the cabinets to show the cosmetic and monitor condition, as well as information about specifics where necessary, and will work one-on-one with you to answer any questions or concerns you may have.

If you would like to ask for anything that is not listed, please refer to "Special Requests". For any information on payment policies, rules, about the process, please refer to "Information, Rules, & Policies".

Order Status:

Container costs are back to normal and the exchange rate is good, but very volatile, so any price drops may be on a case-by-case basis. It is incredibly difficult to estimate future pricing in this volatile market. There is a lot of volume moving still and I am pretty overloaded, but generally any time estimates I give are accurate within a one month variance.

I AM CLOSED TO ALL NON-STANDARD REQUESTS. Anything not listed or not common for import is not being handled right now. The mental strain of what I've built has finally crushed my spirit, and I need time to heal my mind. I am not ordering B1/B2 frames, TAITO benches, or stools, and currently not taking waitlist. I am tired. I will not hold cabs for people unless there are extenuating circumstances that lead to it being beneficial; all cabs are sold first-come first-served. I probably won't open up until 2024. Most likely I'll be coming back with a better quality of service overall in 2025. I want to still be here a year from now, so life needs to be a priority over all other things. I am sorry.

Up until now I've been able to provide accurate general, if not somewhat broad arrival estimates and keep them consistently. Right now every single step of the process is experiencing delays. Some background: currently the US is exporting less, but importing more from Asian countries. As a result, there are a lot of empty containers in the US and not enough in Asia to fill goods with. As a result, empty containers are being shipped out of the US so that enough empties are in Asia to load. With lots of empties here in the US, yards are getting overfull from it, causing incoming containers to be delayed for unloading while stuff is getting cleared out. Additionally, since so much is getting imported, it's harder for trucking companies to book a time to get into the yard to clear out incoming stuff, just making the yards even busier. Adding to all that, there's a shortage of truckers right now. All of this leads to ships being stuck in the harbor unable to even dock to unload because yards are too busy/full. That leads to delays unloading, delays getting stuff out of the yard. Those ships are now only getting back to Asia a week or two late, setting everything even farther back. The whole mess leads to major increases in shipping cost, difficulty getting empty containers, difficulty booking a slot, etc. It started getting bad at the end of 2020, and has only continued to compound on itself since. Expect fluctuations of up to 1 month on all timing estimates.
 
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Machines For Sale (Available Now):

Battle Conductor - $1,250 - Very limited support at the moment, still in progress
beatmaniaIIDX - $2,000 - One or two left from the clearance sale
CardConnect - $3,000 - There is no support or card stock for these, not really recommended but putting it here in case anyone's interested in discussing
CHUNITHM - $3,500 - Paradise Lost cab
Nostalgia - $1,250
PASELI Charge Station - $600 - Can come with or without stand, shipping with stand will be much more expensive, while without can be sent FedEx, 2 available
PRas 3 - $1,500 - Includes ALLS
Vewlix F - $1,000 - Currently unchecked, but iirc FAN STOP error
Vewlix FC - $1,250 - Ask for info, I'll be looking over these individually with you
Vewlix Diamond Orange - $1,750-$2,250 - I have a few of these with original monitor, few with older model monitors (F/FC/L AMI/VS)
 
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Cabinets For Sale (Incoming Containers):

These all have an expected arrival date in October 2023.

CHUNITHM (Paradise Lost) - $3,500 - Prices are rising
Dance Evolution - $2,250
Grigio - $2,000 - NAMCO's current HD cab
Groove Coaster - $1,500 - All Groove Coasters have significant monitor burn now, expect monitor to die in 5 minutes or 5 years (very common problem)
GITADORA (White) - $7,000/pair - Will NOT sell DrumMania separately, if you insist on asking, Ill take $6,000 for JUST the drum side, these come as a pair and I'm really tired of 90% of requests being "sell me DM only"
jubeat - $1,750 - Availability currently EXTREMELY limited, cabs currently come with NO POPs/festo art, only new generic marquee
Lindbergh (Junk Cabinet) - $650 - LCD was checked/working, but the condition is poor
Noir HD - $1,100 - Either originally Tekken 7 or Gundam EXVS 2 cabinets, no PCB, please inquire if wanting any PCB with these
Nostalgia - $1,250
PRas 3 - $1,500 - Includes ALLS
Project DIVA: Future Tone - $1,250 - Clearance pricing, 10 available, robust network support
Sound Voltex - $1,750 - Priced AS-IS, they all work, but I'm not picking over condition for people
Synchronica - $3,500 - There is network support for this now
Vewlix Diamond Blue - $1,750
Vewlix Diamond Black - $2,500
Vewlix Diamond Orange - $2,250
Vewlix F/FC - $1,250 - ask for info, I'll be looking over these individually with you
WACCA - $2,750 - Price back up, most likely will continue to climb.. There is currently near full private network support. Cabs may or may not come with keychip, but it is not necessary to operate on private network. ~20 available
 
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Cabinets For Sale (Future Containers)

Flexible to load into containers starting October if fully paid for. These probably wouldn't come until November/December.

Battle Conductor - $1,250 - Very limited support at the moment, still in progress
beatmaniaIIDX - $3,000 - There will probably be a few lined up, price is for a working current hardware cab, some example photos
BishiBashi Channel - $1,500 - This was long overdue for a pricing restructure, price with no top/side cardboard POPs, please ask for complete
Blanc - $800 - These all used to be Dragonball Zenkai Battle Royale, no PCB included, cab does not have a JVSIO, currently working in collaboration with exA to design a drop-in kit
DISSIDIA: Final Fantasy - $1,000 - No network support, tutorial only, but working on an adapter to run console on the cabinet
Fate/Grand Order Arcade - $2,000 - Very basic support (boot ONLY), NO card stock available (project in progress)
GITADORA (Black SD) - $6,000/pair - Will NOT sell DrumMania separately, if you insist on asking, Ill take $6,000 for JUST the drum side, these come as a pair and I'm really tired of 90% of requests being "sell me DM only"
GITADORA (White) - $7,000/pair - Will NOT sell DrumMania separately, if you insist on asking, Ill take $6,000 for JUST the drum side, these come as a pair and I'm really tired of 90% of requests being "sell me DM only"
Grigio - $2,000 - NAMCO's current HD cab
Gundam EXVS 2 XBoost - $11,000/8,000 - Price for a set of 4+1 satellite/terminal, either Grigio or Noir sets. No online network support at the moment, needs an RPi offline server to boot, completely playable but no profile
Kancolle Arcade - $2,000 - Very basic support (boot/guest play ONLY), NO card stock available (project in progress)
Initial D8 - $5,000 - Two seats and server, no network support, NO CARDS
Initial D: The Arcade - $9,000 - Becoming more available, price is for a pair
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 - $8,000/pair
Noir HD - $1,100 - Either originally Tekken 7 or Gundam EXVS 2 cabinets, no PCB, please inquire if wanting any PCB with these
PRas 3 - $1,500 - Includes ALLS
SCOTTO - $4,500 - May not be available
Sound Voltex - $1,750 - Priced AS-IS, they all work, but I'm not picking over condition for people
Thrill Drive 3 - ASK - Undecided on selling this, does not have header
Toy's March - $2,500 - Very rare old BEMANI title
Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 6RR - $8,000 - Price includes 2 seats and 1 terminal, which is REQUIRED for operation, network support for up to 6R available
Wani Wani Panic - $2,000 - Two Wani 1, one Wani 2

Ask/Waitlist

These sell fast, are hard to get, or some combination of factors, thus I have to keep a waitlist for them.

jubeat - $2,000 - Availability currently EXTREMELY limited, cabs currently come with NO POPs/festo art, only new generic marquee
ONGEKI - I am only ordering these at request for now, but they should be available, price is around $4,500 - $6,000
Taiko no Tatsujin HD - $7,000 - Running Green offline software, none left, not expecting more
 
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Kits & Parts For Sale:

NAMCO System 357C $350 Shipped - These are Gundam EXVS or Tekken Tag 2, let me know if you are looking for any particular games
NAMCO System ES3 $300 Shipped - These are Tekken 7 FR, let me know if you are looking for any particular games HOLDING SALE PENDING RELIABILITY CHECK
NAMCO BNA1 $400 Shipped - If you have a use for these, I WILL NOT HELP WITH GUNDAM EXVS 2 HOME SETUPS CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK
TAITO Type X3 $300 Shipped
SEGA RingEdge ASK - There is a build of the multi for this, just 2 or so games not supported (Blade Arcus and DOA iirc), also useful to replace bad RingEdges in dedicated games
SEGA RingEdge 2 $250 Shipped - Can help prepare in advance for APM2 or Niko Multi PENDING CHECK OF STOCK

Aime Card $6 up to 9, $5 10-49, $4 50+ - Limited supply available, max order 50
BanaPass Card $6 up to 9, $5 10-49, $4 50+ - Limited supply available, max order 50
eAmuse Card $6 up to 9, $5 10-49, $4 50+ - Limited supply available, max order 50
NESiCA Card $6 up to 9, $5 10-49, $4 50+ - Limited supply available, max order 50

B1 Poster Frame*** $42 - Orders closed
B2 Poster Frame*** $42 - Orders closed

TAITO 43cm Stool* $105 - NOT TAKING ORDERS/WAITLIST, INDEFINITE
TAITO 48cm Stool* $105 - NOT TAKING ORDERS/WAITLIST, INDEFINITE
TAITO Bench** $400 - orders permanently closed due to cost/poor FedEx handling

exA Arcadia Store Sign $750 - Price shipped in the US

* These are recommended in batches of 3-5, there's little to no difference in shipping cost ordering fewer. These can be stacked on a cabinet to save shipping cost.
** I only order these at special request. If you are buying a cabinet, it will only cost around $25 to add it to the freight shipment. Otherwise, I will only personally deliver these on my normal delivery routes (see 7th post) or ship FedEx (got the rates lower, but still around $140). In the case of FedEx, be prepared to lose all insurance claims, they have proven themselves tenaciously against accepting ANY fault.
*** Recommend ordering these in quantities of 6-10. Any less is a very large cost per frame, I have no way to lower this cost to you. I will also pack with delivery routes (see 7th post) and on cabs when possible.
 
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Special Requests:
If you have interest in ANY large items, be it parts, cabinets, etc., don't hesitate to ask. However, I have restrictions on Yahoo! Japan auctions and candy cabinets (see below). otherwise, I am happy to give you information on pricing and availability of everything, as well as find what you are looking for. I love to talk, maybe too much. Feel free to reach out! I'm most easily reached on Facebook Messenger (David Rocovits or Game Saru) and Discord (PM ME ELSEWHERE FIRST), or send me a PM on one of the forums.

About Yahoo! Japan:
I offer the service of bidding/buying on Yahoo! Japan for large items not easily sent through the mail (e.g. arcade cabinets, large parts). I have a limited number of such orders I can do per container, and as such, this service is ONLY offered to close friends/colleagues and regular customers. If you do not know me or have not worked with/spoken with me before, I will deny any request you make. For those who qualify, there will be a premium of $300 or 20% (whichever is higher) on top of all finishing costs, domestic and international shipping. Additionally, auctions will be accepted at my personal discretion for any number of reasons. In rare cases I cannot meet the above policy in extenuating circumstances. Please understand that there are some items I can't help with!

About Candy Cabinets:
Same as above, this is ONLY for close friends/colleagues and regular customers. If you are not one of the above, I WILL IMMEDIATELY BAN YOU FROM ALL FUTURE BUSINESS. DO NOT trifle with me about this. The vast majority of requests are people asking for candy cabs, and 99% of those go unfulfilled. It takes up an excessive amount of time to process, has a pitiful profit margin, and there aren't even enough cabinets to service the MOST basic of needs, much less picky condition requests and high failure rates due to age and CRTs. I can't even meet the demands of my closest colleagues, much less the general public.

General Rare Cabinet Notes:
Please understand that some games are simply unreasonable to find. I may say as much if you ask me. Some I will refuse all requests firmly, some I will suggest wait times up to a few years. I mean it when I say this, please don't push it if I warn you not to. Listed here is regularly asked for cabinets that have near zero chance of turning up.

DO NOT ASK AT ALL
Egret 29"
Egret II
Really, any non-SEGA candy cab, which most people shouldn't be asking me for anyway
Egret II
All other candy cabinets
Egret II
Egret II
maimai DX - DON'T ASK. DO NOT. SERIOUSLY. HARD CLOSE ON SALES/WAITLIST, INDEFINITE, NO EXCEPTIONS

VERY hard to buy
ANY older Initial D
beatmaniaIIDX Lightning Model
Sound Voltex Valkyrie Model
Gold DDR
Most DDR
ANY Pump It Up
MUSECA
maimai Finale
 
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Information, Rules, & Policies

About Payments:
I generally accept all payments Venmo Friends & Family, Zelle, and wire transfer for larger transactions. Due to exhaustion dealing with PayPal/buyers, I do not accept PayPal for ANY reason. I also do not accept credit or crypto. I'm not here for you to get credit card points, and GTFO with the crypto bullshit. Take advantage of someone else. I take payments IN FULL, IN ADVANCE. I do not do payment plans, deposits, financing, etc.

About Shipment/Delivery:
All items unless mentioned ship from my warehouse in Reno, NV. I ship via STI, through Michelle Bianchi. It is safe to assume a normal sized cabinet ranging from a Vewlix to a roughly 3' x 3' cabinet will cost around $450-$500, two such cabinets to add around $25-$50, and something larger like a beatmaniaIIDX to cost around $650-$900. My estimates are usually pretty accurate.

I will also do semi-frequent delivery trips to SoCal, Bay Area, and VERY infrequently, up to Seattle or out towards Salt Lake/Denver. You can expect prices for that around $300-350, or something reasonable for 2+ cabs. I used to deliver free if something coincides with a con, but this courtesy has been abused and only caused people to expect things for free, so I am no longer doing it free, for any reason. I will deliver smaller items like poster frames and stools on these trips. This is good if you only want one or two of them, as I won't have the hard restrictions that FedEx does.

Please note that for these personal deliveries, DO NOT expect a to-the-hour arrival time a week in advance. That is ludicrous. Areas like LA are HUGE, with 15 different ways a truck could be severely delayed. There is a disturbingly common expectation that arranging such deliveries with 15+ stops and enormous variance in stock coming in, loading time, departure time, freeway problems, longer stops, etc, that someone will be provided with specific delivery times, much less even an accurate day. This has become an ever-increasing expectation, and I want to cut off that expectation for good. We offer these deliveries as a service beyond normal operation. We understand that people's schedules need to be worked around, but that's just not how all this works. Please respect the effort that goes into making them viable at all in the first place.

About Cancellations/Problems
Depending on circumstances, I can handle order cancellations. Refunds will only be paid when I find a new buyer for the goods cancelled. In case of problems with an order, I will back the purchase to the best of my ability, including but not limited to repairs, replacements, and involvement on insurance claims. Please understand however that there is only so much I can do.
 
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Extended Reading

Why I do not sell candy cabinets
Over the last 10 years, candy cabinets went from a dime a dozen to impossible to find. This has made selling them extremely complicated. Old-timers and newcomers to the hobby frequently don't understand this; the demand never went down, but supply ran out. These things haven't been made in nearly 25 years; any supply, no matter how large, will eventually run out in those conditions. I'd estimate there to be something like a 1:50 supply to demand ratio, even for the most common of them. With that kind of demand, I can't even keep a waitlist; it's impossible to fulfill, stressful, and sets a bad expectation for buyers who will NEVER get anything.

Additionally, many candy cab buyers are extremely snobby or picky. Not to say all are, but the few ruin it for the many. For a commodity so difficult to get, fulfilling people's requests was an inordinately large time investment, for a low margin of return. People expected the 5 years ago price, and balked at anything higher, so not only were candies more difficult to work with people for, they were inherently less profitable. Due to the age and those expectations, they are also far more prone to have unexpected problems, even failures just from transporting them from my warehouse to a buyer. That added liability only cost more time, money, and resources on my end. Even if I put all the work in to answer every question, provide every photo in advance, inadvertently more often than not, people complained, or they wouldn't buy, not seeing something up to their standard. Again, we are near the end of the existing stock in Japan. What is left is NOT going to be a showroom cab. It's going to be increasingly overall lower condition cabinets coming out of closing arcades.

I decided to just not sell candies anymore, only allocating what little I could get to friends and colleagues. People continuously and incessantly kept asking anyway. Frequently it does not matter if I tell people nicely or brusquely that I do not sell them, people get upset and call me an asshole either way. This highlights some of my other reasons for just not dealing with candy cabs. Some people refuse to be told no, no matter the reason, and I'm not wasting my energy sweet-talking you to go elsewhere. The truth is, there's maybe 1-2 places left to go for anything, you can't just walk in and buy what you want, and it's not going to be in amazing shape unless you shell out and buy from a collector selling. You don't have to like the state of things, but that's just how things are right now. I am not the one to go to for candy cabs, and never will be. I am happy to advise you, but the moment you give me lip, I'm taking my energy elsewhere. I can only put this kind of message out in so many places, as plainly as I can, before I've done all I can.

Social media posts are not sales posts
Seriously. Social media is for me to share with the world all that we do; a look into the container operation, events, repair work, daily life, and showcase of fun and interesting things. Much like candy cabs, frequently people are so self-oriented as to disregard any tact and barrel head-first into what they want, and no matter how nicely/brusquely I tell people to please respect that social media is not just stuff for sale, and no matter how many places I try to leave notice of it, people show no respect for it and call me an asshole.

I've had people go so far as to take a picture overlooking the entire warehouse; 100-200 cabinets, picking out a tiny blue hood, and asking to buy my SC-19. I've had people message me to buy something in a social media post, be pointed to an explanation asking people not to do that, and been told "I'm here to buy, not to read an essay". Have some respect for this request, and don't take it poorly when you are informed of it. This is a constantly occurring event. It's incredibly disrespectful, and people are very commonly rude and toxic when they don't like what they hear. Please understand this. I am trying to share our love for the hobby as much as anything, this kind of activity only hurts us all. When asked, I usually attempt once to let people know that social media is not sales posts, refer them to this, and that's it. DO NOT push the subject. I have zero patience for those who show blatant disrespect just because they don't get what they want.

I do not take more money to jump the line or cherry-pick
I don't believe in allowing money to solve all your problems. I'm not here to cater with preference to the wealthy. While this hobby is not cheap, I want everyone to have a fair chance. If someone has a long waitlist, asking to pay more to jump it is a real fast way to turn me off to helping you at all. If I'm doing something in large bulk, I'm not really looking to invest a huge amount of time to pick over things just because someone has more money. Money does not solve all problems, and I aim to be fair to everyone. I'm not the person to come to for cherry-picking and strong-arming your way into getting things you'd normally have to wait for. Nobody likes finding out they got skipped on something just because someone else had more money to throw, it's just bad business.

Why I do not use PayPal
PayPal is something we all use because it's the most convenient; not because it's good, not because we like it. Friends & Family is commonly used for trusted transactions, Goods & Services for normal sales, and comes with protection from PayPal. This is where the first problem stems from. Normally, I could ask the buyer to pay the transaction fees, no problem. However, PayPal is notoriously bad with support; everything you do that requires support is automated. That makes the system extremely abusable, both by a buyer and a seller. I have seen it both ways, and there is almost nothing one can do to contest it. I have seen sellers lose entire cabinets, and buyers lose all their money, and have nary a single human being from PayPal be involved in the dispute process. I sought to eliminate this worry by being an exemplary seller. There is no need to rely on PayPal support if your seller is universally trusted. I worked very hard to keep that reputation and avoid the chance of the system being abused. I also found that an inordinately large percentage of people who refused to pay by anything but Goods & Services were also extremely inclined to be problematic to deal with, and thus I would not want to do business with them anyway. That is why for a long time, I had a very strong leaning towards refusing Goods & Services payments as a whole.

The second problem I had was in 2021/2022 iirc. PayPal made fees non-refundable. This means, if a refund was issued to a buyer, the seller would lose out the entire amount of the fee. With large cabinet transactions, this can work out to be a LOT of money. It does not matter if I as a seller initiated a refund because it was the right thing to do, or if it went through the dispute system. That further pushes me away from wanting to accept Goods & Services, because I would essentially be on the line to pay for a buyer being enabled to fuck me over on a transaction if they wanted to, when I already have a 100% guarantee on my transactions. Remember also, that the process is automated; it is almost impossible without weeks/months of fighting to get a real person on the line. Also, what works for sales of normal items does not apply to arcade machines. You simply cannot provide "tracking number/proof of shipment" on an arcade shipment, nor "just return the item". PayPal's automated system just defaults decisions based on the lack of the above, and again, no real person actually looks at any of it. Keep in mind, again, this is all AT MY EXPENSE.

Third problem, PayPal wants Goods & Services. Even if I decided fuck all the above, I'll take it and have a written contract with buyers for terms, 1) they can still fuck me over on PayPal because of the automation in the system, and 2) PayPal can at any time just lock your account, make your funds unavailable, and demand "tracking number/proof of shipment" whenever they want. Again, you can't just satisfy their automated system. They hold anything over $10,000/month for an ENTIRE month. You can increase this limit, but again, it is impossible to get a hold of a real person for support. I handle over $200,000/month. Accepting PayPal effectively cripples my entire business. That's IF they don't lock my account/hold funds for up to 6 months or more, a story I have heard all too many times.

The system does not work. Therefore, I do not accept PayPal. There are plenty of conditions I could work under, but the combination of them leaves me no choice.

Price does NOT include shipping
EVER. There's a few different reasons for this. In sales of stuff like this, it is best for there to be as few, if any, surprises for the buyer. Shipping is the most likely thing to change, therefore I will NEVER, EVER include shipping in the price of the cab. The cost difference is HUNDREDS of dollars depending on location, delivery method, fuel rates, etc., and something originally scheduled for delivery/freight could suddenly change last-minute, someone could decide to pick up instead of have delivery, the list goes on. 100 things could change at any point. Shipping quotes from STI change all the time as fuel rates change. Including shipping means that either something changes and has to be adjusted later, or I just eat potentially hundreds of dollars in changes potentially on a sale.

Shipping not included is ironclad, and it will not change. Do not ask for it. Do not ask for EXACT shipping rates. This stuff changes constantly.

I do not take deposits or payment plans
Much like some issues with PayPal users insisting on Goods & Services, there is an enormous correlation between people who want to purchase on a payment plan, send a small amount or half up front and pay the rest on arrival, etc. and people who back out of a sale, or are excessively problematic to deal with. That isn't the only reason, but it's a huge one. This doesn't cover everyone; I'm sure some of you are just fine and just need financing, but I have had a consistent negative correlation between this request and my experience with that customer. Additionally, as much as I've grown, I still need money to keep this volume moving, offer the prices that I do, and make sure the whole thing still works as smooth as it does. For a lot of games, there are people lining up to pay in full, in advance. I'm sorry if this excludes some people, but I gotta do business this way.

Restrictions on picking up orders yourself
Due to the difficulties/complications around people picking up their orders themselves, I am placing some restrictions on it, and allowing it on a case-by-case basis. It may not seem like it should be a big deal, there's a few things, some of which that a lot of people might not realize, that make this difficult for our operation.

First, frequently people are not familiar with moving cabs. Some may not understand what goes into safely transporting cabs with ease, may not understand the value of having things delivered by someone who knows what they are doing, with proper straps, blankets, and a large box truck with a lift gate. It can be a hassle in many ways to load some cabs into the back of a pickup or even a trailer, as well as leaving cabinets exposed to the elements. Cabs may need to be broken down, there may be insufficient padding/strapping, and it can be difficult to load in. We have a dock-height and car ramp door, but the drop off the dock could be bad, and frequently the car ramp is blocked off. This all comes up more often than not, as usually people are trying to save a little money. What you save in money you pay HEAVILY in time and risk. Granted some of you know what you are doing, this is a case-by-case basis thing. The delivery costs we offer are very fair for what we provide.

Second, many times, we are EXTREMELY busy, like unconscionably busy. As mentioned above, sometimes it takes a lot of time to accommodate someone picking up, not just being there at a scheduled time, which we do NOT have regular warehouse hours, but it can take several hours to get someone loaded up if they aren't prepared for it, or are trying too hard to save money as to make the required steps time-consuming. When we have time, I'm happy to help, and I enjoy meeting with people, but sometimes it just overcomplicates a busy period. Please understand if we cannot accommodate for a pickup if we are in such a period.

Lastly unless I think of anything else, usually anyone picking up is within range of a delivery run. Sometimes this means your cabinet might come in and not go on a delivery run for a month or two because we are waiting on enough cabs to come in, and that is understandable. However, sometimes people want to pick up when there's a delivery run happening within a few days or weeks. If that delivery run isn't full, it hurts the delivery run. We only run deliveries when there's enough cabinets to make it financially worthwhile. Both I need to price to our customers accordingly, and it needs to make enough of a return to send a driver. Taking 1 or more cabs off that delivery increases the cost to everyone else, and decreases the worth of doing a run at all. It additionally costs us more, due to the previous two reasons, largely in time.

Depending on circumstances, I'd like to ask, just pay the delivery fee. We know what we are doing, and as this operation grows larger, we need to do some things a certain way sometimes. We ask around $300-$400 per cab depending on size/distance, and try to reduce that when delivering multiple cabs to the same destination. Again, it isn't a perfect science, I just need to treat pickups as a case-by-case basis thing.

Restrictions on during-con deliveries
I used to offer free delivery if we loaded your cab on a truck for a convention, and we could use it there. I've decided not to do that anymore. It set an expectation from some people that "cab delivery is free", and has caused more understanding problems than it is worth. Additionally, it makes logistics more difficult for my crew at an already stressful period during/after loadout for a con.

I will still offer the convention delivery method on a case-by-case basis at a reduced-cost rate, but only with some explicit understanding of those difficulties, and if other circumstances line up. For example, if there isn't going to be a delivery to the area for 2 months, I wouldn't want to keep someone waiting. This section is mainly to set people's expectations in advance, so that the wrong expectation isn't made. We do everything we can to ease costs/difficulties of buying cabs, but can't do everything. I think the important part is just making sure people know what to expect in advance, rather than have things changed on them later.
 
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Placeholder for any final notes
 
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Cereth said:
Just bumping up for now. A container arrived yesterday, I've been pretty under pressure as of late. I got some more cab photos, have been sending them out to people as needed. I'm still here, I'm still operating, just taking care of immediate needs first.
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Lol just saw your video. I get a kick out of you climbing all over those cabs haha.

I may be interested in one of the Nostalgias if they aren’t spoken for. How does the online/card saving functionality work?
 
bodine1231 said:
Lol just saw your video. I get a kick out of you climbing all over those cabs haha.

I may be interested in one of the Nostalgias if they aren’t spoken for. How does the online/card saving functionality work?
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I think all taken atm, I haven't been able to update the sales listings here very well since there's always something else taking up my time. I can put you on the list.

There's offline hacks and some private networks that will support the game up to the end of Op. 2. Op. 3 is a mess on the network side, so nobody is really dealing with it.
 
I added a few things, but most stuff I'm getting offered is going straight to people with reqeusts. Sorry I haven't kept this up, it's been too busy with other parts of the business to do much
 
Since my investment I've been waiting on for 1-2 months hasn't confirmed coming in, I'm going to presell 4 or so BeatStream. They will be $3,000, complete minus header. They are all in unknown operable status, I'll be shopping them out and piecing together working units when they arrive. There are 18, I don't want to list more than 4 to start out just in case every single one needs extensive work. Hoping to get them on a container end of this month. Anyone interested in BST, whether to buy now or down the line, please get in contact with me so I can put you on the reserve list.

I may also presell DanceManiaX. There are only 7, so at most I'll presell 2. Same as above, I'm taking an interest list, I'm otherwise not selling them until they arrive and have been looked over. They are $2,000 complete/working, can work something out for incomplete cabs to run MAME or Cata's PC build.
 
Gonna throw this out there for now, I've been busy enough to turn people away for the last two weeks and the workload hasn't gotten any less, if anything it's gotten more. Please understand if I have turnaround times up to 2 weeks on things, including shipping items, customer support, responses with information requested about things. I'm about to receive 7 containers in the next few months, and there's ridiculous amounts of work and planning to be done by just one person. Despite it all, everything is moving exactly to the schedule I laid out. Everyone will still get taken care of. Just please, understand that I am taking care of priorities on an hourly basis, not even a day or week ahead. If you need something, message me, and let me know if it is a priority. I will take care of it if it is, but will probably have to put it off if it is not. I've had 25+ cabs I haven't even bothered listing for over a month because listing cabs hasn't been an immediate priority, if that gives you guys an idea how pressing everything has been.
 
Update, container that was supposed to arrive next week was pushed back 2 weeks. This is probably a direct result of how backed up shipping lines have been the last few months. From what I've heard, ships are sitting outside port and can't even dock. Please expect these delays on top of delays trying to book transit in the first place. Everything is still within tolerance ranges I estimated from the beginning.
 
Updated the list to be as current as possible, I've needed to make an update for weeks/months. If something is listed as PENDING, you can still ask about it. Just means that I'm planning on batching it with one of the bigger outgoing shipments, they may not fit and will go back up for sale.

Notable stuff. There is a WACCA available coming in April/May. There are only 5 or so Mini-Cute repro slots left, 1 pink, 4 yellow. One PRas 3 might be available in April. Big stock of RingEdge 2 and Type X3 coming in April. May or later will see 1-2 CHUNITHM, can expect to start seeing more Sound Voltex V. Vewlix DIA Blue/Black/Orange start coming around May or later. Initial D Zero pairs will be available starting May or later. I'll start having some spare ES3 and 357C PCBs, you can run whatever you happen to have or can ask if you need them running anything in particular. There's at least one Dance Rush available. Densha De GO!! HD is available for sale, BeatStreams are coming.

I'm working on fulfilling a LOT of requests; jubeat and reflecbeat are pretty backed up, Theatrhythm demand outstripped supply again, any DDR that isn't a 1st gen cab has about a year waitlist, having severe trouble getting any Pokken, Ongekis are almost fulfilled, cheaper model Vewlixes are in short supply, lot of IIDX cabs but a steady request list keeping up with them. As usual, ask me for ANYTHING, whether it is listed for sale or not. It's actual impossible to list everything available to import, I really more so need to know what people want so I can ask for it.

And really, I'm extremely backed up right now, both in allocating cabs to ship and work at home. Bear with me and if asked to send me reminders when you contact me, please do it or I likely won't get back to you. I've got at least 100 people on my client list right now, I can't remember everything. Expect processing times to be a few days or weeks, including shipping packages. That said, everything IS getting done and everyone IS getting fulfilled as promised. I just need to budget time carefully!
 
Going forward I need to start putting my foot down on some things. There are a LOT of very large orders all going on at the same time. Generally everyone asks what the payment deadlines are and while I do have payment deadlines of "before the container ships", I also note that the sooner the better, as that will help make all containers move smoothly. I greatly appreciate all of you who make payments immediately, you may not realize just how much that has helped keep the monstrous machine behind the scenes running.

That said, it's a really big machine, and I am out of oil to keep it running without things showing. I will be in touch with EVERY person who has even small items on order to figure out payment deadlines, as I need to be more firm on them for the next 2 months or so. I've already got over $100,000 of my own personal funds invested solely to give people more leniency on payment timing, so anyone who is actually able to make advance payments, it will help to ease the burden. Naturally, this is my business and therefor it is not the consumer's problem to deal with. I understand that. However, it is good to note that there will be an effect on the timetable if everyone waits until the latest possible on deadlines, and everything counts.

Anyone who has worked with me knows that I put my heart and soul into this operation, go out of my way to give the best possible service I can, and seldom really ask hard for help. I'm asking it now. Get in touch with me if you're after anything, I'm probably in a position that I can work some things out with you. Everything will be back to a more normal pace in a few months after this container rush is sorted out.

Work pressure is continuing to increase, so once again another reminder to bear with me, I'm doing the best I can for everyone right now :)

EDIT: Side note, people like to keep telling me I need to take breaks. Please stop. I balance myself as needed. People don't realize that taking a day off can potentially cripple my operation. I appreciate the sentiment, but nobody gets it, just how much is invested into making this all happen. It is my entire life. ALL of it. I don't drink, I don't socialize, I don't get to play anything, just work. Again thank you for the feelings, but I will not rest at the expense of other people's orders.
 
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Dave...youre the man! If anyone on here has bought something from Dave before I'm sure you've noticed that this just isn't his job...he really is passionate about arcades and he is super helpful and cool...even to those that have zero knowledge.

Buy with confidence!

Thanks for all of your help man...very much appreciated!
 
Since we've gotten a lot more pictures of what we're getting as well as the container loading tomorrow, I'm now open to regular orders for BeatStream. The price has been dropped due to the knowledge of increased availability of headers. There are also parts, but not selling anything until I know for sure the state of the first 15 cabs. This is most likely the last chance to ever get an original BeatStream, don't miss it!
 
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