I’m never happy when the fingers of government start tinkering with the economy, believing the law of supply and demand does the job very nicely all by itself. My feeling goes back to the Great Depression when the government bought up apples and then threw them away to keep the price up for the apple sellers who sold them on the corners of our cities. This went on when millions of Americans were scratching to put food on the table.
Those fingers have been busy again, playing on-again, off-again with the import duties commonly called tariffs. I’m writing this a couple, three weeks before subscribers read it, so forgive me if I’m behind the news on this very fluid situation whose focus for coin-op is a place called China. That’s our biggest offshore supplier where most of the plush and prizes and many of the games (in whole or in parts) are produced. (Korea and some other coin-op suppliers are also affected.)
In addition to the expectant price increases, a genuine national recession could follow that can seriously affect the patronage of the players at the FECs and the street stops where the desire to play games might be tempered by inflated costs of living. So, in a great sense, coin-op might possibly be facing a decrease in game play as well as a boost in the game’s price. Unless, of course, our government sees fit to change its mind.
Gary Balaban of Pipeline Games is one of coin-op’s truly savvy experts on sourcing prize merchandise as well as building machines in China. His view on the situation mirrors his memories on Covid-19: “Just like during the pandemic, we’ve entered another crisis mode. But like then, we and others are going to keep moving ahead and do the best we can for our customers, however we can.”
Most of the people in today’s industry have weathered the recession of 2008 and the Covid pandemic and are still in business. While it’s hard to adjust play prices, there are some other lessons you may have learned from those two crises you might employ once again, like shopping right, looking for deals and sprucing-up the machines you already own. Chins up, out there, and good luck to all.