Claw Crane Machine Operating Tips and Secrets For Success

These claw crane machine operating tips and secrets will explain how to operate skill crane machines successfully. It will show you how to achieve the greatest profit. These tips will help anyone to succeed in this highly profitable business of toy claw machine operation.

Claw machines are vendors.

The first idea to understand in crane claw machine operating is that these games must be thought of as vendors. Your customer must perceive that they are getting an item of value when playing your toy crane machines. All of this begins with the quality of the plush animals or other prizes you use in your crane machines.

Attracting customers

Attracting new customers is easy but keeping repeat customers is harder. To keep your regular customers playing you must change up the merchandise on a consistent basis. Plush toys need to be of sufficient size and quality to attract customers and encourage them to play.

We have long found that larger toys that are rotated often encourage repeat play much better than small economy-priced toys.

Most of your customers will be adults, so your toys must appeal to them. Cute and different plush toys that you don’t normally find in Walmart and other stores are what you are after. Those toys that make everyone say “ahhhhhhhh” really make the customer want to play games.

Be sure to take advantage of current events by theming your prizes to those events. Popular sports teams, Nascar, licensed merchandise and current holidays are themes you need to use.

Take advantage of all the holidays and use holiday plush. It really gets everyone excited about playing. Keep thinking about what you will be using one and two months ahead. This requires ordering well in advance to be able to take advantage of the holidays.

We place holiday plush out at least one and as much as two months ahead of the holiday. In long stretches between holidays try to find quality and different plush to place in your game.

You can also change the look of the mix by rotating out of the bottom and using previously unseen merchandise. You want a variety of colors and styles to draw people and this means constantly changing the plush. Don’t keep putting the same type of plush in your equipment.

Let customers perceive value and let them win.

Next, make your customers perceive that they are getting value by setting it up so they win often enough. You can have the best merchandise in your machines, but if customers do not win enough, you won’t be profitable. Winners make players. The best advertisement for any claw machine is seeing people win.

A win ratio of 30 to 35%, cost of toys dispensed to total revenue, is perfect. This will give you the highest returns and profit. This can be figured by starting with the cost of toys dispensed (average cost x number of toys replaced). Divided that by the total revenue.

When customers see others winning, they can not resist playing it themselves. If you tighten your game up too much and no one wins enough, games sales will suffer.

Keep your machine full

On this same note, if you don’t service and fill the game often enough, the plush level drops down.  If the customers can’t reach or win, they will quit playing.

Our experience

We have several games that we service every day or every other day to keep profits at their maximum. Keep them filled all the time with quality plush and allow the customer to win between 30 and 35%. As a result, you will reap maximum profits.

Setting win ratio

This setting of the win ratio is done differently on different manufacturers of games. But, most accomplish this by controlling the strength of the claw. Consult your owner’s manual on this procedure. Just remember that you want to control winnings by this method.  Stuffing and compacting the plush into the bottom of the game doesn’t work.

Setting up your Claw Machine

Keep plush toys fluffed up, loose and as playable as possible. Remember, your game is a storefront or vendor and must be attractive. Arrange your toys in stair-step style. That is, arrange the back row with the highest point of merchandise.

Gradually reduce each additional level or step as they come closer to the front of the machine. This provides maximum visibility and customers will get a good look at all the merchandise in the crane machine.

Keep your plush mixes facing toward the front. If you have side glasses, face those next to the sides facing toward the sides. Try to keep the eyes of the animals facing toward the customer and arranged in an orderly fashion. Distribute colors all around the game. Avoid placing same-color toys together.

Keep it clean

Keeping your equipment clean and in good working order is also important. Clean the outside of the glass every time you service your equipment and don’t forget the inside occasionally. Keep coin entryways and bill acceptors clear and working. If the bill acceptor quits working on a highly used game, revenues can suffer considerably.

Keep spare parts ready

Keep spare claw crane machines parts available so that you can easily change out bad components when necessary. You should have extra coils and string handy. Place extra merchandise inside the bottom of the crane to make refilling easier.

Follow these suggestions and you will reap huge profits in the claw machine operating business.