Tokens Help Let’s Play! Cafe Find Problem Machines
Cincinnati, OH – Let’s Play! Café , a new arcade, restaurant and gaming facility in Monroe, WA uses tokens to help them determine which machines require frequent service. The arcade, started by longtime industry veteran David Shoemaker, features more than 50 games from the latest pinballs (Wizard of Oz) to classics like Asteroids, plus a large selection of racing/driving games linked for head-to-head competition – each is token-operated. Shoemaker had 0.984” tokens minted in both brass and Nickle-plated brass, from TokensDirect.
“When we have a machine jam up, we fix the problem then give the customer a Nickle-plated brass token to refund their initial lost token. That way we’re able to track which machines are jamming and having problems when we do collections, because we note the silver tokens,” said Shoemaker.
Shoemaker opted to use tokens versus cash because he’s seen the problems that can arise from having cash lying around – even if it is hidden in a coin box.
“I chose tokens to avoid the theft and vandalism that occurs when people try to break into coin boxes” said Shoemaker. So far his strategy is working, because four months into his new venture he has not had a single incidence of vandalism or theft. As a bonus he’s seeing a higher than expected level of “walkaways” – tokens sold but not redeemed – which means that each token is promoting Let’s Play! Café each time they are seen in pocket change. The brass tokens sell for a quarter but have a landed cost less than that, so each walkaway is generating a small profit as well as the free advertising. Let’s Play! sells the tokens at face value, with a 20-token bonus for purchases of $20. Shoemaker estimates that it is close to a 50/50 split between token purchases of $5 and $20.
Tokens are more secure than cash because there is virtually no threat of employee theft.
With over 1.5 million tokens in over 250 designs, sizes and metals, TokensDirect is the largest token supplier in the Americas. They can ship standard stock tokens in 48-hours, reorders in 5 business days and new orders in 10-business days – all with free artwork, layout and typesetting.