Opinion Poll: Price of consolized 2-slots

I get the question all the time about how much would a consolized 2-slot be. And you get one of two responses generally:

1. Holy shit, that's way too much!!
or
2. When do you want the cash?

So I ask all of you here, what do you think is a fair price to pay for a consolized 2-slot with roughly the following features, which obviously vary between different folks making them:

- painted cover
- composite and S-Video (ignoring component video for now)
- baseplate of some form
- priority shipping (insured, etc)
- no controllers
- power supply

Roughly, and I think I speak for most consolizers out there, it takes 4-6 hours to make one, with most of the effort in the drilling and finishing of the cover.

Please please don't start giving me all the debate about superguns vs. consolized boards, I know the arguments about that. The question and topic is quite narrow as posed for a reason. Separate discussion of supergun vs consolized has come up before and can be another thread.

I was supposed to buy one off of you D-Lite. I got sleepy and spent my money on illegal substances.

if you dont sell any - too high
if you get 100PMs in a minute - too low...

why put a price you yourself is not satisfied with?

I don't think a lot of people understand the costs that go into doing one of these:

Jeff

I don't know shit about the costs that go into making one, but around 300-400 sounds fair if it's a great custom job. I mean you can buy a supergun with 2 sticks from mas for 299, you'll have to buy a 1 slot of course, but that's like 75 bucks.

I don't know how long it takes for me to do one...

But I charge for parts plus 10 hours. I charge $10 hours per hour.

Some are done in a few but some take a while depending on alot of factors.

Only you place a value on your custom work...each creation is unique so whatever you feel is fine.
I rate your work waaay above MAS. The MAS stuff is poorly constructed and waaay too big imo.
-BB

Knowing personally what the actual cost of building one of these things from years of experience, it's the TOP end at $350.

Anything above that is how much you think your work is worth and/or how much profit you want to make.

I've always looked at multi slot superguns outside of 6-slotters as purely worthless, especially 2 slots. If it's a home console and it's MVS carts what's the point?

Anyways, the price of a 2 slotter is pretty cheap these days especially with the format dying out and the amount of hardware out there. I can pick them up consistently from an op for under $100 if I wanted to. I know others can't get that deal, but if you buy a lot from ops and search out the deals, it's very possible.

Depending on the video type, the price varies widely... especially how good you want the quality. If you go with stock parts there's a premium for that. You could do what JHendrix did and get yourself the wafer board and a few hours and build yourself one for a fraction of the cost.

The paint is negligible it's the cost of a can of Krylon. If you're doing powder coating, you're doing overkill.

The baseplate is also negligible.. about 5-10 bucks. You could do KPJ's "cutting board" solution or simply mount it on a piece of non-conductive material.

The power supply shouldn't cost too much. I use old PC power supplys that I get for free, but they can cost you anywhere from .99 to 50 bucks depending on the quality you're going for. Old AT supplies which can be bought in bulk on the cheap are great for this.

That brings you to about 200 for materials. Since it takes about 1-3 hours to put one together from a trained hand, that comes out to about $33 - 100 an hour. I'll be liberal on this and say most of the modders here aren't FULL TIME modders and say that 1-3 is spread over a weekend, so it's closer to 4-6 hours of interrupted time. Add another $50 for that.

$150 / 4 = 37.50 an hour which is more than fair for electronics work.

~$350 overall. If you're paying more than that you could do it yourself for much less and you're ripping yourself off. Besides, the great part about DIY is that you learn how to do it, customize it for yourself, can do as many as you want and can pass the service/knowledge to others and make a few dollars to feed your habit.

Drilling all the holes can be pain in the ass. I will not underestimate the labor hours needed for consolization. Not to mention the effort you put to gather all the parts and tools needed. I would say somewhere between 350 to 400 is a fair price.

Well since I've never built one, and I'm not tech savvy enough to even know how to get mine to stop wanting to perform a "Cross Hatch Test" in the lower slot 7 times out of 10, I can't really say... but I will be putting up my CMVS 2-Slot up for sale shortly for the low price of $180 Shipped (that's within the domestic USA) since I'm sick of dicking around with stuff like that. I've got a 2-Slot MVS Cab that works fine, and if someone wants a 2-Slot CMVS system + AOF 2, knowing full well that it wants the person to perform a "Cross Hatch Test" or whatever, and buy it "AS IS" (I mainly use only one slot currently) then I'm selling the mutha' fucka' real soon. Just haven't gotten around to putting it up in the Neo Selling section is all. **Also has a Universal Bios Chip by Razoola in it, but I used the function like ONCE.

I guess a CMVS set up is worth either what the person intially built it for and factors in time and labor, or someone like me who just needs some swag money to put into other areas of game collecting and/or other interests. I paid $380 for it, I'm asking $180 for it. But when I know something might give someone a problem I figure if they're willing to chance it, knowing that it works Most of the time on one slot, then might as well sell it to someone with more patience than me or with the technical know how to fix it and have themselves a damn good deal. I once sold a PC-ENGINE DUO sometime back (as MD20XX) that wouldn't give out sound once but once in awhile no matter what I did to the cable, thus I stated why I was selling it and sold it off for $55.00 Shipped "as is". I'm guessing the buyer was able to fix it and got themselves a steal.

Everything is subjective, it just depends on what it is and why the person want whatever it is they're asking for it.

MERCENARY X99

OK, after some debate on this here, I'm taking the next step in the thread and going through the costs, the real costs of materials.

JMKurtz said:

I don't think a lot of people understand the costs that go into doing one of these:

Jeff

Click to expand...

Ding!

VT, you are right about the low end and what a consolized board can cost. Here's a list of the parts and the prices someone off the street can expect to pay for them:

$170 2-slot with a decent cover
$ 30 Jameco/Ault SC200 power supply and cable
$ 70 A good deal on a JROK 3.1 (normal = $80 shipped)
$ 5 Gold plated RCA mounts
$ 4 Gold plated S-Video mount
$ 4 DPDT power switch
$ 3 nice 5-pin DIN for power
$ 16 acrylic baseplate (yes, $16. I have them cut at a plastics store)
$ 5 Antistatic foam
$ 5 can of paint (I don't know about the rest, but I use a whole can doing about 6-9 coats)
$ 25 priority shipping, insured

$337 total right there. Yes, you may find something cheaper or you could cut a few corners, but the normal prices are shown here. A 2-slot may be found cheaper, sure, but you risk getting a faulty board or none at all. In the past year, I've bought 12 or so multislot boards and about 10-12 1-slot boards. Of those purchases, I got screwed out of 2 of them (scammed) and a few have *unadvertised issues* due to clever language in auctions. So the consolizer assumes the risk on these. And that's not free.

Not only that, but there is the other, non-standard equipment. To do a decent job of drilling holes in the metal case, it will cost you $20-40 for a Unibit. You'll need files. Soldering equipment. Not to mention all the assorted other bits, like wire, standoffs, a good drill, etc.

To build one yourself and to do a decent job would easily top $400. No question. Yes, you could be patient and get a great deal on all the goods. You might get lucky and have an uncle that owns a good Unibit.

But you have one shot on the cover mods.

I think $400-450 is a VERY fair price for a 2-slot. I quoted someone $500 the other day for a 2-slot with all the cables too, an MVS cart, and a Pro controller. I think that was a good deal. And realize that all of the modders out there will guarantee their work too.

If anyone is consolizing an MVS, I would go with a R2N or a NeoBitz....

Jrok is great for arade boards, but R2N/Neobitz is best for MVS.

dunno, dun care. mas is good enough for what i use it for, and it came with 2 stick (p360s and comp buttons) that was around 400.

D-Lite said:

OK, after some debate on this here, I'm taking the next step in the thread and going through the costs, the real costs of materials.


Ding!

VT, you are right about the low end and what a consolized board can cost. Here's a list of the parts and the prices someone off the street can expect to pay for them:

$170 2-slot with a decent cover
$ 30 Jameco/Ault SC200 power supply and cable
$ 70 A good deal on a JROK 3.1 (normal = $80 shipped)
$ 5 Gold plated RCA mounts
$ 4 Gold plated S-Video mount
$ 4 DPDT power switch
$ 3 nice 5-pin DIN for power
$ 16 acrylic baseplate (yes, $16. I have them cut at a plastics store)
$ 5 Antistatic foam
$ 5 can of paint (I don't know about the rest, but I use a whole can doing about 6-9 coats)
$ 25 priority shipping, insured

$337 total right there. Yes, you may find something cheaper or you could cut a few corners, but the normal prices are shown here. A 2-slot may be found cheaper, sure, but you risk getting a faulty board or none at all. In the past year, I've bought 12 or so multislot boards and about 10-12 1-slot boards. Of those purchases, I got screwed out of 2 of them (scammed) and a few have *unadvertised issues* due to clever language in auctions. So the consolizer assumes the risk on these. And that's not free.

Not only that, but there is the other, non-standard equipment. To do a decent job of drilling holes in the metal case, it will cost you $20-40 for a Unibit. You'll need files. Soldering equipment. Not to mention all the assorted other bits, like wire, standoffs, a good drill, etc.

To build one yourself and to do a decent job would easily top $400. No question. Yes, you could be patient and get a great deal on all the goods. You might get lucky and have an uncle that owns a good Unibit.

But you have one shot on the cover mods.

I think $400-450 is a VERY fair price for a 2-slot. I quoted someone $500 the other day for a 2-slot with all the cables too, an MVS cart, and a Pro controller. I think that was a good deal. And realize that all of the modders out there will guarantee their work too.

Click to expand...

Fair enough, if you're doing it professionally and you want to get the A++++ quality out of it.

I've never been a big fan of gold plated connectors and the like basically because I see it as a wasted cost. For the in most cases, nominal quality gain, you're paying so much more.

I look at building solid rigs at a reasonable cost. I don't care to pay out the nose for things that look frivolous or only give minor improvements.

IF you want high end, I guess you're right.

If you're looking for reasonably priced and good quality, my solution is right.

P.S. I don't know why you pay that much for 2 slotters, we need to talk.

i would never pay more than $400 and thats if i fell in love with it instantly. $300 - $350 for a good job.

VanillaThunder said:

Fair enough, if you're doing it professionally and you want to get the A++++ quality out of it.

I've never been a big fan of gold plated connectors and the like basically because I see it as a wasted cost. For the in most cases, nominal quality gain, you're paying so much more.

Click to expand...

You'd be surprised how little difference there is in price between gold and regular silver (nickel or tin) connector.

VanillaThunder said:

I look at building solid rigs at a reasonable cost. I don't care to pay out the nose for things that look frivolous or only give minor improvements.

IF you want high end, I guess you're right.

If you're looking for reasonably priced and good quality, my solution is right.

Click to expand...

Sure, but you'd be building that yourself at the lower end since very few people that make them with spare components they happen to find. What I mean is if you do these things regularly, you have to stock components so you can build these and that's more difficult than just randomly finding parts. Or scouring the electronics refuge stores for PSUs.

One thing that is an option is to supply someone with all the parts and just pay for labor.

VanillaThunder said:

P.S. I don't know why you pay that much for 2 slotters, we need to talk.

Click to expand...

That's roughly what you pay to get them from either eBay or Cosmicco. Other sources are unreliable at best and many folks don't have access to arcade ops.

FeelGood said:

i would never pay more than $400 and thats if i fell in love with it instantly. $300 - $350 for a good job.

Click to expand...

You'd find one used in that range somewhat frequently.


My point with this thread is to take the shroud off of consolization costs. Too many people don't fully understand what goes into the process and think that prices are insane for what they are getting. I'd really like some of the people that make these to contribute to the discussion. Jeff and Scott have made appearances, but I'd like to get supergoose and GiLL/broken in here. Kenny too and definitely Robert Wallace.

I'd say around $450-500. I'm talking about a nice one though.

D-Lite said:

I'd really like some of the people that make these to contribute to the discussion. Jeff and Scott have made appearances, but I'd like to get supergoose and GiLL/broken in here. Kenny too and definitely Robert Wallace.

Click to expand...

I have no problem entering this thread, but it will then be headed for the war room

Kenny Boy said:

I have no problem entering this thread, but it will then be headed for the war room

Click to expand...

Nope, it won't. I'd like civil discussion on this topic and will keep in on track.

So throw your hat in the ring.

All I would want is regular old composite video or maybe s-vid and I dont need the base board or painting done...I could do that myself. So I would say a fair price is about $225.00 tops.

crujones4life said:

All I would want is regular old composite video or maybe s-vid and I dont need the base board or painting done...I could do that myself. So I would say a fair price is about $225.00 tops.

Click to expand...

You get composite and S-Video in one. There is no either/or. So that price stays the same, but you could remove a few bucks for one of the connectors. But that ain't $225. You still need to plug it in and turn it on.

Whatever Jmkurtz would sell them for -$100.

Consider that the "made by a queer" penalty, also wash it thoroughly before you go to play it.

I voted $401-450

True, you can add up the costs of the products that go into the machine and such...

But this person is doing a fine job of constructing you your own personal gaming console.

Time is not the issue here.

Its the quality of work.

Say "Some Guy" just slapped this thing together, messy solder but working, nicks in the paint and such...

A rush job for profit.

Now say Jeff or Dean build you one...

I know from personal experience with Jeff that he treats you like HIS client...

The amount of care he uses when creating a conversion or a simple mod is a blueprint of which modders should follow... and I see Dean took the right path.

These things get better with practice... and I wouldn't mind flipping the extra $75-100 to the person who took the time to do it right.... not just for the money.

Thats his work you are playing, and he should be proud he designed it for you.

Fancy paint and LED's don't equal quality work... and I'm not scared to admit that Kenny's work has shown up at Jeffs door for repairs...

With Kenny, its all about the money.

But its a buyers market, you know? He doesn't dictate what you should spend...

And when Kenny started modding, he wrote this:

" This is where Jeff's services are priceless! He has no shortage of business. But limiting what others know is just plain stupid, shoot, if it wasn't for competition, prices would be sky high. When I find out how to do these mods (which I WILL, trust me), I WILL CHARGE MUCH LESS FOR THE SAME SERVICE!!! "

Remember that when you defend the scumbag.

Ok, Ok , now that that's out of the way, carry on ....

TonK said:

I voted $401-450

True, you can add up the costs of the products that go into the machine and such...

But this person is doing a fine job of constructing you your own personal gaming console.

Time is not the issue here.

Its the quality of work.

Say "Some Guy" just slapped this thing together, messy solder but working, nicks in the paint and such...

A rush job for profit.

Now say Jeff or Dean build you one...

I know from personal experience with Jeff that he treats you like HIS client...

The amount of care he uses when creating a conversion or a simple mod is a blueprint of which modders should follow... and I see Dean took the right path.

These things get better with practice... and I wouldn't mind flipping the extra $75-100 to the person who took the time to do it right.... not just for the money.

Thats his work you are playing, and he should be proud he designed it for you.

Fancy paint and LED's don't equal quality work... and I'm not scared to admit that Kenny's work has shown up at Jeffs door for repairs...

With Kenny, its all about the money.

But its a buyers market, you know? He doesn't dictate what you should spend...

And when Kenny started modding, he wrote this:

" This is where Jeff's services are priceless! He has no shortage of business. But limiting what others know is just plain stupid, shoot, if it wasn't for competition, prices would be sky high. When I find out how to do these mods (which I WILL, trust me), I WILL CHARGE MUCH LESS FOR THE SAME SERVICE!!! "

Remember that when you defend the scumbag.

Click to expand...

You finished?

More lies coming out of your mouth.