No DramaBuyer guide · Vending & arcade
The hardest part of buying a claw machine is the control board: many boards let the operator set how often the claw grips hard enough to win, and in several European countries that setting can turn a skill game into a game of chance under a different licence.
01
Ask for every board mode in writing, with photos of the menu. Some boards hold the claw weak until a set number of plays, then grip hard once. Others keep one fixed strength, so the result depends on the player's aim.
The same cabinet ships with different boards. Ask who makes the board, whether the menu has English, and for a spare board with its firmware version. Without English menus, every setting change becomes a video call.
Default builds often carry a coin mech set for tokens. Name euro coins, the note acceptor and any card reader. A cashless reader with a modem adds radio equipment rules.
Meters count coins in and prizes out, so you can check staff and set payout honestly. Ask whether they survive a board reset and can be read without opening the prize area.
The claw is a coil-driven grab on an X-Y gantry. Two-finger and three-finger claws suit different prizes. Ask the claw span, the coil rating and whether the gantry rail is steel or aluminium.
Ask for tempered glass, a steel frame, a tilt sensor and a guard on the prize chute that stops a hand reaching inside. An unguarded chute is how a busy site loses stock.
02
Send these with the enquiry. Without them, any number a factory gives you is a guess dressed as a quotation.
03
| Require this | A pass looks like |
|---|---|
| Film the board menu page by page, then set fixed claw strength and play fifty rounds with your own prize. | Claw strength stays the same every round, the menu shows no hidden payout counter, and wins come from placement, not a play count. |
| Feed euro coins, notes and a test card, including a rejected coin and a cancelled card payment. | Each payment gives exactly the credit set, rejected coins return, a cancelled card charges nothing, and the meter counts only paid credits. |
| Cut the mains during a claw drop, then restore power. | The claw parks safely, credit already paid is kept or shown on the meter, and the gantry homes without grinding. |
| Tilt the cabinet and reach into the prize chute by hand. | The tilt alarm triggers and stops play, and a hand cannot reach the prize stock through the chute. |
04
05
Buy a prize vending machine or a capsule toy vending machine, where each payment releases one item and the result is never in question.
Buy a mini claw machine. A full-size cabinet is sized for plush and eats the space.
Choose a prize-free skill game such as a basketball arcade machine, or buy fixed-strength boards only and confirm with the licensing office first.
06
We name the kind of source, how many and when, and never the factory. Listed prices are asking prices, not landed cost. Where we do not hold a fact we say so: that is a GAP, not an estimate.
07
Every machine we source in this area is on the Vending & arcade page. How a project runs, stage by stage, is on how it works, and what it costs is on pricing.
Straight answers
A used European cabinet often arrives with euro coin mechs, a board local authorities know, and local parts. A Chinese build suits a fleet, where you fix board mode, payment and meters once. Compare landed cost, freight included.
Board modes filmed and set to what your licence allows, steady claw strength, euro coin and note acceptance, meters that survive a reset, tilt alarm, chute guard, tempered glass, rating plate with importer details, and a spare board packed.
A Declaration of Conformity citing the machinery law in force on the delivery date, low voltage and EMC or radio equipment rules, and RoHS, backed by a technical file and an EN IEC 60335-2-82 report. A CE line in a listing is only a claim.
Settle board mode, payment and voltage, check the conformity documents, then book freight. Crates are large, so volume drives freight. Add duty and VAT to the listed asking price, and register for WEEE where you sell.
The EU business that first places the machine on the market, usually you if you buy direct. You check the declaration and technical file exist, keep them for ten years, put your name and address on the machine or papers, and act if a unit proves unsafe.
Contact
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Sent
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