Hello again;

One of the biggest problems I have with my business is the continuing misconception that the midway marketplace only sells rides. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, and I hope today’s post will go a long way towards clearing this up.

Lets start with the happy news that I have sold the Extreme Engineering Zip Line in Maryland. I’ve learned my lesson, so I won’t mention the selling price, who bought it, or where it is headed to. 🙂 I will say that the owners were happy enough with my work that they wrote me an amazing recommendation for my linked in profile.

They had the unit listed on other sites for over a year before I started working on it. They found my site while googling used amusement equipment. And they told me after the sale that I was one of only a couple sites that would list their equipment without requiring an exclusive arrangement or cash up front.

This is pretty common with me. People will try selling an item on their own for a long time. They will try craigs list, ebay, the local newspapers along with other free online classified sites. And after all else has failed, or when they are desperate to sell; then they come to me. Sometimes they find me on face book or google, and other times I reach out to them. But the point is too many people are trying hard to sell equipment in the wrong places or with the wrong people.

What you can list and why you should

Now, I’m not going to go into a long detailed post about why you should list your equipment with me. The point of this post is to let people know just how varied the listings are and can be on my site. But you should know that I can offer a site with few enough listings that your equipment will actually get seen; one of the largest international mailing lists going; an active and varied group of social media networks; text and video blogs media permitting; the ability to include multiple full sized photos and videos along with detailed descriptions in listings; etc.

Basically whatever I can do to help sell an item within the bounds of the law and my personal code of ethics will be done to find your items a new home.

As for what is acceptable on my site its anything that can be used in the amusement and entertainment industries. That includes but is not limited to the following list.

• amusement park and carnival rides
• game booths, trailers, stock, and supplies
• food trailers and concessions machines
• generators, wire, and electrical boxes
• fence and fence feet
• ticket boxes or trailers
• stages, lighting and sound systems
• circus tents and rigging
• bunkhouses, motorhomes, and recreational vehicles
• inflatable rides and games
• interactive attractions
• miniature golf courses
• coin operated rides
• arcade and redemption games
• vending machines and prize cabinets
• ride parts
• trackless trains
• go karts and bumper boats
• cranes, fork lifts, and hand trucks
• generators and power transformers
• anything related to the items mentioned above

I also list products, supplies, and services. And I now accept banner ads in addition to straight commission based listings. Of course, any items advertised would have to relate to the focus of my site.

Examples of the variety of items listed

Now, just to show how flexible I can be here on the midway I’d like to mention a few of the items I currently have for sale.

First up, is a 2012 Spectrum Sports zip line in New Zealand for 35,000 new zealand dollars.

I mention it first because the recent sale of a zip line and having had one for sale on my site probably lead to the owner believing I was a good fit for this item.

He is selling because many of the events in his country just don’t have enough room for the zip line. Its 55 meters, or about 180 feet; by 7.5 meters, or about 25 feet; and riders are 8.5 meters, or right at 30 feet in the air at their highest point.

It comes with the harnesses and everything you need to operate it. Its in like new condition having been used less than ten times. It is mounted on a trailer, but will fit in a 40 ft. container making shipping costs much less than if it had to be a roll on roll off load.

Here is a beautiful hot dog cart made by Willy Dog for $7, 500. The owner says he paid over $11, 000 plus shipping for it when new.

The owner tells me it has everything listed in the standard equipment on the Willy Dog web site and then some including a hot water heater, fresh water tank, grey water tank, sink, two hot dog warmers, loads of storage, and a top sneeze guard that goes all the way around.

The cart itself is 7 and 1/2 feet long by 3 feet deep. And when loaded on the trailer, the dimensions are 10 feet long by 5 feet wide by 4 feet in height. The only thing it doesn’t include is the roof and the large sign seen in the photos.

Next up is a very beautiful Rio Grand train made by Zamperla for $25,000 or best reasonable offer.

This one is at an indoor family fun center in Colorado. The owner believes in regularly updating their equipment. They have purchased a brand new train with a more efficient seating design. The hope is to have a buyer by the time the new train comes sometime this month.

Naturally, this ride is in great shape because its never been outdoors. But they go one step farther requiring riders to remove their shoes. So even the insides of the cars are in like new condition.

Its not often that an owner will get in contact with me before a ride, game, inflatable, or other item needs to be sold; but its something that I wish would happen more often. It makes a sale so much more likely.

Then there is this amazing 40 foot long professionally built performance stage for $35,000 or make an offer.

It belongs to a couple in Florida who had it custom designed for their traveling magic show. Sadly, an injury to his wife has forced them to retire, and they are hoping this awesome trailer could help fund their retirement.

It has so much that I don’t want to list it all here. But there is very little you couldn’t do with the stage. It could be part of a rental fleet, you could use it start a new business, or a carnival or fun fair owner might use it as a booking tool to get better events signed. Its amazing and I really want to help its owners.

I also have this indoor attraction called the redneck revenge shooting gallery for $35,000.

Customers fire rubber balls at stationary and moving targets. The guns are operated by compressed air and pack quite a wallop. And the noise they make attracts a lot of attention.

The guns have the capability of one $5 or $6 bucket of balls every five minutes which translates to $30 per gun which adds up to $900 per hour for thirty guns.

This item is currently installed in a 40 ft. by 80 ft. arena building near the New Jersey Boardwalk. I’m told that these are high profit attractions. The owners are only selling because their location isn’t near enough to the crowds to generate the kinds of profits it is capable of.

This is a unique Water Jumping Flume ride built by the Fabbri Group in 2001 for $100, 000.

The ride is in excellent condition having been recently refurbished. The cars were re-fiberglassed and painted. All the steel columns and braces were painted. All the electric motors were replaced or rebuilt and the water pump motor was replaced.

This ride has passed all engineering tests. It is currently operating in Perth and is the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere! It must be seen to be believed, but you can get a good idea about this rare attraction by Watching the video the car actually leaps off the track into the water tank!

It is a great ride for photo opportunities. This ride is currently being operated as a traveling amusement ride, but it would work equally well in an amusement park, water park, or larger family entertainment center.

This is a trailer mounted texas corn roasting unit for $10,000. I don’t have a lot of information on it other than the fact that it is in like new condition.

The people who own it bought it planning on having a side business that for one reason or another fell through. They used it a couple of times, but since it has just been sitting in their garage taking up space.

They did pay about $12,000 for it new and are hoping to get most of their investment back. I’d like to be able to help them with that.

And finally I have this completely restored Malcolm Cummings park train in Prince Edward Island Canada for $175,000 or best offer.

The ride comes with the engine, two cars, the caboose, and about 1800 feet of track and ties. You can see it running in the video on my site.

This ride used to be part of the Fairyland Amusement park in that same city. The current owner restores classic cars for a living, and you won’t find a nicer train anywhere. And if you wanted to buy a new one, it would cost you over $350,000 and involve a substantial wait for delivery.

As you have probably figured out by now I love videos. A good friend of mine likes to say that if a photo is worth a thousand words a video is worth a thousand photos. And one of my better early sales was of a carousel that happened mainly because I pushed the owners to take and submit a video of it in operation. The more money that is involved, and the more distance there is between buyer and seller; the more crucial video is to making a sale.

If you aren’t sure just ask

Well I hope this post has cleared up the problem about what people can list on my site. If not, I hope it is at least a good start. I tried to include my most unusual items just to make the point. But I strongly urge you to just ask me if there is any doubt about whether or not I will take on the challenge of finding your items a new home. And if I don’t think we are a good fit, I will do my best to recommend you to someone who can help.

Sharing is caring

I’ve been doing this for nine years come September, but to a lot of people I’m still the new guy. So I would really appreciate it if you would share this post with your friends, family, coworkers, and social media networks. Also, any time someone leaves a comment; this tells google and the other search engines that my site is worth checking out. So a comment is almost as good as a share. Even better when you remember that its an opportunity for me and you to get to know each other.

I love meeting new people and making new friends, so don’t hesitate to get in contact. You can text me at 979-215-1770 or email me through the contact form. You don’t have to have a good reason to get in touch. Whether you have an item to sell, want to buy something you have seen on the site, want to ask questions about the industry, want to know more about being a blind business owner; or just want to say hi; I’m here for you.

Until next time thanks and take care out there Max