Most ops are left with little choice n have to upgrade to the latest machine regardless of the small amount n takings they make from an actual sited machine.
This is cause most Sterns tend to revolve around a flavour of the month TV show or whatever is about to be released as a movie n the following 6 months and as such will tend to be forgotten about after the hype train has left the station. Nyone for Sopranos?
N that case the machine will make next to nothing n site due to lack of recognition so the ops best bet after writing the machine off the depeciation schedule is to flip it for a fraction of what they paid for it n put that towards the next fly by night machine from Stern. At least that way a current machine might make a bit of coin n the initial days of siting from piggybacking off secondary hype alone after which it drops off to virtually nothing.
It's a life cycle that Stern has mastered due to producing largely forgettable and generally mediocre titles based on flash n the pan themes.
Ops n general mostly pull in less than $50 per week per machine. Split that with the site owner, add n labour maintenance costs n upkeep (most don't bother given the small returns) and it would take years for even a Stern Pro machine to pay for itself n that fact alone.
That's why they get written down through depreciation n sold off. Or they are kept virtually abandoned onsite n basically left to fall apart from lack of maintenance - which in Stern's case won't take all that long.
If the machines actually made profits on their own merits they wouldn't be sold off for second hand to partially recoup the purchase loss n the first place.
Retropin is spot n - these machines should be selling themselves as they cn get a free ride on the hype train from companies who have budgets that far outstrip Sterns, yet the hit/miss ratio just keeps getting wider and not for the better.
