Amusement Route Location Calculator — Is Each Location Worth the Drive?

Is each location on your arcade, pool table or claw machine route worth the drive?

Type each location's take, commission, visits and miles. The tool takes out commission, prizes, card fees, repairs, licences, machine wear and driving, shows what each stop earns per route hour, the weekly take it needs, and the highest commission you can pay and still earn your target.

1. You and your machines

Hourly you want to take home ($)

Vehicle cost per mile ($: fuel, tyres, wear)

Prizes and product (% of takings)

Share of takings paid by card (%)

Card fee (%)

Repairs and parts per machine per month ($)

Licence per machine per year ($)

Machine price ($, average)

Years a machine lasts

2. Your locations

Up to twelve. Weekly take is per machine. Minutes per visit include the drive both ways.

Location	Machines	Take / machine / week ($)	Commission (%)	Visits / month	Round-trip miles	Minutes / visit

Fill in the numbers, then click Check my route.

How it is built

Gross: weekly take per machine times machines times 52 over 12. Commission is a percentage of that gross. Prizes are a percentage of takings. Card fees are the card share of takings times the fee. Repairs, licence and machine wear (price over life) are charged per machine; driving is visits times round-trip miles times your cost per mile.

Hours are visits per month times minutes per visit. Profit is before paying yourself or your tax; profit per hour is compared with your target. Take needed and highest commission are exact: the test suite recomputes the location at each and checks it earns your target to the cent.

Common questions

How much commission should I pay a location for arcade or pool table machines?

As much as still leaves you your target hourly after prizes, card fees, repairs, licences, machine wear and driving. That ceiling differs by location because it depends on the take, the visits and the miles. This calculator solves for it location by location.

How do I know if a route location is worth keeping?

Compare profit per route hour with the hourly you want to take home. Profit here is the take less commission, prizes, card fees, repairs, licences, machine wear and driving; hours are the visits times the minutes each one takes, driving included. A location below your target is either a commission to renegotiate or a stop to drop.

What weekly take does a machine need to be worth placing?

The calculator shows the break-even weekly take per machine for each location: the take at which the location earns exactly your target hourly at its current commission, visits and miles. Compare it with what the machines really collect.

Does driving time count against a route location?

Yes. A distant stop with a small take can lose money in fuel and spend hours on the road. Enter the round-trip miles and the minutes per visit including the drive, and the tool charges both.

Is my route data uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser, there are no accounts, and nothing is sent to a server. Use Save to download a scenario file.

Is this business or tax advice?

No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type. Licensing, location agreements and tax depend on where you operate; check with an accountant or your state or local licensing office.