C.O.C.A. Times

EBAY and the Slot Machine
by Don Creekmore
How many times have you gone to eBay hoping
to find a completed or current auction for a partic-
ular slot machine? While searching you could
swear you looked at an auction for that same model
just a few weeks ago, but it is gone, lost in the
oblivion of internet commerce. The reason results
cannot be found is that eBay only archives auction
listings for 30 days. Once that time is up, the infor-
mation is no longer available to the public.
For collectibles like baseball cards or comics,
this is no big deal. There are so many examples of
the very same thing that there is constantly an auc-
tion running or closed out within 30 days of each
other. With antique slot machines, this is not the
case. As eBay continues to grow, so does the sale
of vintage slot machines on their site. For this rea-
son the results of these auctions are becoming an
important factor in the overall market of this
hobby.
Late in 2003 , I decided one of my New Year's
resolutions would be to record the sales results of
every eBay auction for antique slot machines. I
thought this would give me an accurate view of
what antique slot machines are selling for on the
internet. So rather than waiting for January 1st, I
started on November 1st, 2003.
Like many resolutions, they seem noble and
exciting at first, but the interest wanes and they do
not turn out to be any fun, like dieting. This project
was different. As I started recording auction results
on a daily basis, I found it to be enjoyable and
noticed some very interesting trends.
I quickly realized there needed to be some way
to organize and compare all the machines without
recording the entire auction. I decided to start a
spreadsheet in Excel by grouping the machines into
columns by manufacturer, model and denomina-
tion, condition and price.
I used a condition scale of 1 to 5 being a mint
condition example and 5 being a non working
machine with major parts missing. With my
columns set I started recording. I quickly decided
that I would only record results for auctions that
actually got a bid and note if the reserve, if any,
was met. I also only recorded real antique slot
machines (not the repo War Eagles & Golden
Nuggets) and no console models. Why no con-
soles? First, I do not like them. Second, they are
too big to send using conventional shipping, which
then skews what people are willing to bid.
Fast forward to December 31st, 2004 and low
and behold I did it! So instead of keeping all this
information to myself I decided to share some of it
with my fellow COCA members in this and future
issues.
So, how many slot machines did sell in that 14
month span? I must first say that I could have
missed a few or double counted a couple due to a
re-listing but my official count is 1,294 machines.
That's a little over 92 machines per month and a lit-
tle over 1100 machines for 2004 alone! Below I
have listed out a few of the highlights for the last
14 months.
• Number of Mills: 753
Most expensive Mills:
Dewey Upright with Jackpot 5¢ - $15,050.00
• Number of Jennings: 243
Most expensive Jennings :
Golf-A -Rola 25¢ - $12,000.00
• Number of Watling: 90
Most expensive Watling:
Roi-A-Top with front venders, gold award, skill stops
5¢ - $6,000.00
• Number of Pace: 110
Most expensive Pace:
Races - $7, 200.00
• Number of Buckley: 22
Most expensive Buckley:
Bones with Jackpot - $14,950.00
• Number of Caille: 24
Most expensive Caille:
Century Upright with Music Box - $15,000.00
• Number of Groetchen: 33
Most expensive Groetchen:
Columbia with Gold Plating - $1,000.00
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