If you still want to do it, here are some tips (and at this point, the thread might need to go to IMHO):
If you have true classics-- the well-known titles like Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, etc.-- you will have an easier time in placing your machine than if it’s Championship Baseball or Black Tiger. A PlayChoice cabinet loaded with classic titles would also probably do okay. In fact, if you have a Galaga or Ms. Pac-Man, you can still pull a small profit.
Retro and hipster themed places-- think dive bars that serve PBR, or local record shops, or funky consignment shops-- are more likely to be interested in hosting a game, because an old classic could provide ambiance. In fact, you could probably even site old black and white machines that no one in their right mind would take-- those crummy Pong knockoffs or Space Invaders bootlegs-- in retro places. I know one local guy who has a Defender, Rally-X, and Jr. Pac-Man at a record store a block away from my place, the kind of record store that reeks of incense and has posters of Jim Morrison staring at you.
Businesses which are primarily coin operated, like laundromats or vending machine rooms, are still good spots to siphon off the occasional spare quarter. Most sites will have a machine or two already, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, especially if you have a cabaret cabinet which can get jammed into a spot that isn’t being used, or if you have a cocktail cabinet that patrons could use as a table. Apartment laundry rooms are IMO an untapped potential; I jokingly suggested sticking my Satan’s Hollow upright in at my apartment’s laundry room and site management actually thought it was a great idea… I didn’t do it because I don’t my machine to be damaged.
Internet cafes and game rooms can also show some interest; I’ve been approached by friends who have opened gaming cafes to see if they could have my machines on location. They provide ambiance, the gamers are more likely to show respect to your machines, and they can be more accepting of the B-level games… they don’t necessarily need Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga.
Accept this fact: your machines will be abused and damaged in a street location. Water damage and scratches from carts on the cabinet at laundries, spilled drinks in the controls at bars (and cigarette burns everywhere on the controls and bezel if your locale allows smoking), spilled soda at internet/gaming cafes. The bottom parts will be kicked and marked up. Your controls, if they haven’t been refurbished and replaced by now, will not suffer abuse as gladly as they did in the 1980s. You will clear a paltry amount of money. As a collector, you probably are going to not like what happens to your machines.
I’ve seen two ways that collectors make money by putting their machines on site. One is to use the games as an advertisement for private sales/service/trade. Those machines I mentioned at the local record store? They don’t earn much, but the owner sticks his business card in the marquee and around the bezel, offering to buy/sell/trade/repair games. He gets almost nothing from the coinbox, but he has been able to unload some of his unwanted cabinets at decent prices to people who’ve picked up his card.
The other way is to open your own storefront retro-themed arcade, bar/dance club, or gaming cafe. You need a lot of machines, and you need to have true classics in the mix to pull it off, but I’ve seen it work, especially when it’s marketed to the right customers.
