Shipping complications and delays are causing the add-on costs for landing amusement games to rise.
UK distributor John Stergides at Electrocoin drew attention to the problem this week: “Operators need to understand that with some new games being imported there can be a huge delay in actually getting the equipment landed. The wait can be as long as three weeks before entering port.”
Stergides said the cost of landing a 20ft container can reach $12,000 and anything between $18,000 and $20,000 for a 40ft container. “The demand is so high that shippers can impose premiums on earlier collections for August availability. The current situation is crazy.”
He added: “An order for just six machines might have to carry $2,000 in landing costs, plus all the other costs. I can see that there is going to be a shortage of new equipment on the market and those that are getting through may carry as much as 50 per cent extra in shipping costs.
“In common with other importers, our stocks of machines with old prices will soon be sold out and everything new will have greatly increased prices. It is a situation that I don’t see ending until well into next year.”
