The legality of buying a used slot machine in the United States varies from state to state. Many online merchants only allow the sale of antique slot machines—actual coin-operated slot machine games that aren’t antiques are generally unavailable for purchase. This is intended to curtail the potential for unlicensed casinos from popping up in various towns across the country.
6 reviews of Slot Solutions 'I can't say I was completely satisfied with Rick's service. He charged me for 2 house calls, and we got nowhere really, other than getting the machine open. He told me he had to take my machine to finish it, and tells.
This page takes a look at the various options available in various states.
Which States Make It Illegal to Own a Used Slot Machine?
The following states have made it illegal to own slot machines privately. This includes any kind of slot machine game, including antiques:
The best advice we can offer to residents of those states is to not buy or try to own a slot machine. Dealers in used and antique slot machines won’t even ship to people living in these states.
- Alabama
- New Mexico
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
Which States Allow You To Own Antique Machines?
The following states allow ownership of antique slot machines only. Their definitions of “antique” vary. In most of these states, a game that’s 25 years old or older is an antique, but some of these states have stricter or looser guidelines. We’ve included notes after the states which have a different rule than the 25 years standard:
- Colorado – Any machine before 1984
- D.C – Any machine before 1952
- Florida – Only requires 20 years+
- Georgia – Any machine before 1950
- Idaho – Any machine before 1950
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas – Any machine before 1950
- Massachussets – Requires 30 years+
- Michigan
- Missouri – Requires 30 years+
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey – Any machine before 1941
- New York – Requires 30 years+
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Vermont – Any machine before 1954
Which States Don’t Have Any Restrictions?
The following states don’t have restrictions on the ownership of used slot machines:
Keep in mind that laws change all the time, so if you’re unsure about whether or not it’s legal to own a particular type of used or antique slot machine in your jurisdiction, get professional legal advice. We can’t be held responsible for out of date or inaccurate legal information—this site’s purpose is to provide information for educational and entertainment purposes, and it’s not intended to replace the advice of a legal professional.
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Utah
Buying a Used Slot Machine on eBay
Most people buying something used check eBay first. You should be aware that their site has specific guidelines regarding the sale of slot machines. For example, coin-operated machines that aren’t antiques aren’t allowed to be sold there. They also don’t allow the sale of machines which can be converted to accept coins. Replicas that work are NOT considered antiques.
Slot machines that don’t accept currency and don’t pay out money are allowed to be sold on eBay.
Other Dealers
Antique slot machine dealers often have their own sites and even their own brick and mortar locations where you can do business. For the most part, they’ll follow similar to business practices as the eBay guidelines. In other words, if you live in a state where slot machine ownership is illegal, they probably won’t sell to you.
Prices for used slot machines vary widely based on condition and rarity. Slot Machines and Coin-Op Games: A Collector’s Guide to One-Armed Bandits and Amusement Machines was published in 1994, so much of the information contained within is out of date, but the information about condition and collecting in general is still useful. The book includes lots of photographs and information about other types of coin-operated games, too, including penny arcade games, pinballs, and other novelty games.
Classified Ads
One option for aspiring used slot machine collectors and buyers is to advertise in the classifieds section of the local newspaper. Posting a “want-to-buy” ad might result in finding private owners who are willing to sell used or antique slot machine games for considerably less than a professional dealer would. Don’t bother trying to use the free ads on Craigslist for this purpose though—they have a strict policy related to gambling items, and they don’t allow ads for the purpose of buying, selling, or trading slot machines of any kind.
How Much Does a Used Slot Machine Cost?
We’ve seen some antique slot machines for sale for as little as a $500, but most of them are at least $1000, and the really rare, high-quality slots sell for $3000 or more. Shipping costs are also expensive because of the size and weight of the machines. You can expect to pay at least $250 to ship any reasonable sized slot machine game.
Please see below for information on the slot machine limited warranty and the refurbishment process we use. All of our machines are used and come from real casinos. We sell authentic used slot machines that you would see in today’s casinos. Although the machines are used, as a company we take pride in our refurbishment process. We are not going to send you a machine that we would not put into our home. Our goal is customer satisfaction and retention.
Warranty information
Slot Machines Unlimited stands behind the products we sell. All slot machines sold through our website for home use, apart from the Bally 6000 machines which are sold “as is”, include a limited warranty. Details of the warranty are outlined below.
IGT slot machines come with a 1-year warranty on parts. We offer a 90 day warranty on our CRT Monitors. For IGT machines, we highly suggest asking about the upgrade of a new LCD monitor for your machine. The LCD monitors cost $500 and it is worth the extra money. The new LCD monitor for IGT brand carries a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty.
Other brands of slot machine comes with a six-month warranty on parts. We offer a 90 day warranty on our CRT Monitors. LCD monitors have a six-month warranty. Please see below for exclusions to the limited warranty.
If you have a part that goes bad or needs replaced within that warranty time frame, then you are covered! If you have problems after the warranty ends, please contact us. We don’t want you to purchase a part that is not required to fix your casino gaming machine. We aim to make sure you get the correct part the first time. Most slot machine components can be easily changed out with our technical help. However, any warranty offered by Slot Machines Unlimited will become void if repairs are attempted without consulting our technical experts prior to attempting a repair or component replacement. It is imperative to use our 20+ years of technical experience.
Slot Machines Unlimited offers technical support by phone for each machine that we sell. Tech support hours are Monday and Friday from 8:00-4:30pm and Wednesday from 1:00-4:30pm. Technical support is available to all of our customers via telephone or e-mail for as long as you own the slot machine. Our warranties are non-transferable.
Limited Warranty Excludes the Following:
- Light Bulbs
- Fuses
- Starters
- Breakage of Glass or Monitor, aside from during initial shipping
- Intentional Abuse or Misuse of Any Game
- Damage Caused by Faulty Electrical Circuits or Electrical Surges or Lightening
- Not Following Proper Start-Up Guidance Included with Each Slot Machine Sold
- Physical Damage or Abuse to Controls, Monitors, Game Buttons or Any Component
- Damage Caused by Operating the Slot Machine in Extreme Heat (Greater Than 90 degrees) and/or Extreme Cold (Less Than 60 degrees)
- Damage Caused by Water, Excess Humidity or Any Liquid
- Damage Caused by Moving, Tipping Over or Dropping Any Slot Machine
- Damage Caused by Unauthorized Repair or Adding of Any Component
- Damage Caused by Acts of God Including But Not Limited to: Flooding, Tornados, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Thunder & Lightning, Dust Storms
- Damage Caused by Attempting to Change, Upgrade or Alter Any Slot Machine
- Maintenance and/or Cleaning of Any Slot Machine
- Dotmation Screen Replacements on Williams Slot Machines After Six Months
- Stuck or Jammed Coin Mechanisms or Bill Validators Caused by Misuse
- On-Site Labor or Travel Expenses Related to Warranty Coverage
- Any Change or Alteration to the Physical Appearance of the Slot Machine Including Damage or Changes to the Cabinet
- Non-Home Commercial/Public Use is Excluded from this Limited Warranty
Slot Machine Service And Repair
No other warranties expressed or implied, verbal or otherwise or representations from Slot Machines Unlimited Inc, its representatives, agents or affiliates constitute a modification to our Limited Warranty unless agreed upon in writing.
Refurbishment process
Keep in mind these machines often are not in working order when we receive them. When refurbishing our used slot machines, our technicians will grab the slot machines from our large warehouse. Then, the technician will bring them into our “warm-up” room to be work on. Then, our refurbishing process is as follows:
– We update each bill acceptor to take all current bills
– Each machine is cleaned properly of dust and debris
– We check for burnt light bulbs and replace them
– A new battery is placed on the main CPU board
– We ramclear each machine and set it back up
– We install a key & lock on each machine
– Machines are setup coinless which means they will take bills and print out a ticket like in the casino. Machines will not come with coin trays. In fact, many of the machines we receive do not have trays. Therefore, do not expect your machine to come with a tray.
After 30 days of initial purchase, the buyer is responsible for shipping the parts back to us and the return shipping. Bally LCD’s are warrantied for 90 days
UNDER ANY AND ALL CIRCUMSTANCES IF THE CUSTOMER DECIDES TO RETURN AN ITEM THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR A 25% RESTOCKING FEE. THE CUSTOMER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COST OF THE SHIPPING FOR THE ORIGINAL SHIPMENT AND THE RETURN SHIPPING.
Old Slot Machine Repair
Please allow up to 7-14 business days until you receive your product. We have to refurbish each and every machine before it is shipped out.
Comments are closed.