Making cash with vending machines?

[CaptainObvious]

Anybody here ever owned any vending machines?

How many? What kind (soda, candy bars, handful of candy)?

What were your experiences, is it worth investing in?

Thanks in advance

[MetaMan]

you should just advertise small classified ads in newspapers across the country, makes WAY more bank.

[GTS Mark]

Originally Posted by MetaMan

you should just advertise small classified ads in newspapers across the country, makes WAY more bank.

Bling! Bling! Mofo!

DH

[MacDaddyPlaya]

Its all about the 3 key points to success:

1. Location
2. Location
3. Location

If you have good locations, they can be extremely profitable. The vending buisness and most of the great locations are usually "family" owned and operated.

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by MetaMan

you should just advertise small classified ads in newspapers across the country, makes WAY more bank.

What do you mean? advertise what?

[Babagirls]

Originally Posted by DrinkingHARDER

Bling! Bling! Mofo!

DH

[Atticus]

Originally Posted by MetaMan

you should just advertise small classified ads in newspapers across the country, makes WAY more bank.

Its not rocket science, its a 900 number. Its that easy!!!!

[media]

I was going to get into vending machines for a while... I'd still like to.. there IS money in it.. but only if you do it right... I was taught a little by a guy who makes a fucking killing off them.. He has 4 delivery vans, and 100's of machines.. built up in a matter of a couple years...

[BlackCrayon]

its something i always wanted to get into as well, and now that im in a big city, i just might give it a shot when i learn more about it.

[eroswebmaster]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyPlaya

If you have good locations, they can be extremely profitable. The vending buisness and most of the great locations are usually "family" owned and operated.

LOL yeah "family" being the operative word.

I was dealing with some guy out of Jersey a few years back trying to buy something for my flea market / ebay biz...he got so pissed at me..sounded like some fat mobster telling me fawk yew!

I'm glad I never game him my addy

[Kristian]

My daughter is a bit of an entrepreneur like her dad. Last birthday she wanted vending machines. I got her 2 six foot high gumball machines. They do well because most people in town have not been exposed to them before.

My best advice would be to ask yourself where you would put your machines. Do you have friends who own businesses? Getting a friend to agree is a lot easier than having to cold call. Best places to locate are, obviously, where people have a lot of change : pubs/bars, restaurants, super markets, amusement arcades.

[born]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyPlaya

Its all about the 3 key points to success:

1. Location
2. Location
3. Location

If you have good locations, they can be extremely profitable. The vending buisness and most of the great locations are usually "family" owned and operated.

Very good point...


My family ran a vending company for over 20 years... It was very very profitable and a cash business... Today, it is a lot harder to make good $$$...

The good locations are generally already taken or you have to pay the owner of the location a huge "gift" to get your machines in....

Good luck!

[jukeboxfrank]

I was also in the Vending Biz for over 30 yrs. you will need about 150 machines to make a living. It is hard work long hrs and it is like a pyramid you always have to reinvest. Good luck. also if you can not repair them yourself you are doomed. People fuc* with them all the time.

[abadfish]

I did bulk vending when I was in high school. It was fun actually. First I placed machines in all of my families works and friends business and ran those. Made quite a bit of money and it was all cash. The bank started to get angry with all of the quarters after awhile though...

The hardest part was changing out the machines and keeping candy fresh. Luckily all of my machines were in office locations so they rarely got messed with but a lot of kids put smaller money in them and tried to scam me but the machines just ate it.

It's hard to find good locations. Most of them are taken either by big vending companies or local stores that have placed their own machines.

[Drake]

It's not easy. First you have to get your vending machine into places. Most places will already have them. To make any real money you need lots of traffic to your machines which is unlikely since the best spots will be taken. Instead you'll end up with 50 vending machines scattered around town. And remember you have to physically go to all locations to collect and to replenish your vending content (candy, soda, whatever you're selling). It's just not worth the hassle

[Dan]

I have been in the vending business for 19 years. It has been very good for my family and very profitable. We currently have over 900 machines in 13 states. With gross revenue nearing seven figures. All still run by two people mostly my son.

Mostly sticker, gumball (spiral) , chicklet, stress , and super ball machines cheaper to buy, reliable, and you do not need to baby-sit them. You can collect them every couple of months and still have a little product in the machines.

It is about locations though. we only do chains now however when I was first starting in the business I would put them anywhere.

Good luck with it.

[Dan]

soda is very hard to get into and very expensive they are controlled by the producers coke and Pepsi now they go in and set up routes and buy the locations no way to compete.

Video games is a pain everyone wants the new machines and they are very pricey. they also break down a lot.


candy machines I do not know much about but seem like a big item hassle to me.

[Nismo]

How do you setup in stores? Do you share a profit with the owner of the store or do you pay rent for the spot of the machine(s)?

[CaptainObvious]

Thanks for all the replies.

For the people who have done vending on a small scale, what were the best places that you found to put your vending machines where they made a good profit and there was not already a competitors vending machine?

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Nismo

How do you setup in stores? Do you share a profit with the owner of the store or do you pay rent for the spot of the machine(s)?

I did it small time, and when I did it the store owner shared profit. Maybe in malls or for larger operations they simply rent a spot at a set fee.

[Lycanthrope]

Washers and dryers. Not laundromats, apartments. A 4 family unit here, a 4 family unit there... then larger complexes. Once you have a couple hundred machines out there and a couple of guys servicing them, it won't be long till a couple of Italian businessmen contact you about selling. And they'll pay top dollar because clean money is good money.

[Dan]

for the type of machines I was doing we would go to truck stops off the freeway. mom and pop style restaurants, tourist traps, anywhere there is traffic.

early on I landed a theater chain in So cal, and a Denny?s operator in San Fran,

That was a long time ago. Usually those places are beat to death.

We finally moved to the Midwest where there was not one company doing what we did on any kind of scale.

[Dan]

sorry all of our stuff is revenue split from 35 to 50 depending on if there is product

[jrap]

Anyone tried Porn vending machines? I bet they'd do alright at Strip Clubs?

[abadfish]

Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

Thanks for all the replies.

For the people who have done vending on a small scale, what were the best places that you found to put your vending machines where they made a good profit and there was not already a competitors vending machine?

I think offices are good. Especially places where people bring small kids with them. Like banks, insurance offices, etc. Usually pretty secure and safe and you have bored kids with nothing to do. I had one at an insurance office and commercial fuel office and it seems the employees were my biggest customers at times.

[Quotealex]

Originally Posted by CamZ_Dan

candy machines I do not know much about but seem like a big item hassle to me.

To the contrary, candy machines are the least hassle of all vending machines. They are very easy to fix when they break (it doesn't take a rocket scientist to fix them) and you only need to service each machine once every 4 to 8 weeks.

[Iron Fist]

Now how cool is that?

[Dvae]

Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

What do you mean? advertise what?

[kmanrox]

Originally Posted by MetaMan

you should just advertise small classified ads in newspapers across the country, makes WAY more bank.

...it's complex.

[Bama]

I worked for Pepsi for 8 years, the last 2 of those years was filling their vending machines. My route (one of 6) serviced an entire county and I would, on average, fill 60 machines per day, averaging roughly 300-500 cases per day.

On my daily route I would run into the local "ma & pa" operations and talked to their drivers and I can tell you that if a location is worth being in, Pepsi &/or Coke were most likely already there. The few that we weren't in is because we only carried soda and the business would want snack options too.

The money is phenomenal. That is why you see so many of the larger grocery chains producing their "private label" brands as well as their own vending machines outside of their stores along with the Pepsi and Coke machines. Getting your machine next to theirs is where the phrase "snowball's chance in hell" was coined.

You'll spend in the neighborhood of 1500 per machine unless you buy used.

What I'm trying to get at is.... that ain't the way to go. It takes too many years to recoup your investment for the machines - especially if you're giving a cut of the profits to the business.


What you want to do is this...... Direct office business sales.

That's where you deliver cases of soda to the offices and they either give the pop away to their employees or for a small per can cost. In this instance, they either keep the soda in the refrigerator they already own or you supply them one with a x year contract. You can pick up a small fridge at Costco or Sears for around 100 bucks or pick up a slightly larger one that can hold snacks too. That's a shitload cheaper than a vending machine and they come with a warranty for service.

You hire a salesman to get locations for you (min office of 10 employees) and pay him X per location. You hire someone to man the phones and service your accounts each month to get their orders and you hire a delivery driver. Service repairs? They'll be some sure but you just drop off a new refrigerator and take the busted one back to the shop and have it fixed there and if out of warranty - toss it and write off the loss.

[Sarah_Jayne]

My sister has some machines she runs. They are mostly gumballs and she has had some success with them but her biggest problem has been location. The second has been vandals.

[Quotealex]

Originally Posted by Sarah_MaxCash

They are mostly gumballs and she has had some success with them but her biggest problem has been location. The second has been vandals.

There are locators that will find locations for these machines for about $50 per location and gumballs machines are very easy to fix (you can buy used ones for parts fir next to nothing).

[Quotealex]

Originally Posted by Bama

...You'll spend in the neighborhood of 1500 per machine unless you buy used.

What I'm trying to get at is.... that ain't the way to go. It takes too many years to recoup your investment for the machines - especially if you're giving a cut of the profits to the business..

IMO it shouldn't take more than 2 years on average to recover your initial investment, and those machine are good for 10-15 years....

[Si]

Selling doors, door to door is also a very good business venture

[MetrixApps - Sean]

i did this in jr high n sr high school and made a killing

[Dan]

I operated vending machines for 20 years. Had 900 machines in 13 states.

Mostly candy, gum, sticker, small amusement stuff.

[cashcows]

Yes I owned two Wowi Zowis cost me about $6K Found decent locations and made my money back in a year. Over the next couple of years it would have been mostly profit but I sold them and moved out of state.

If i had to do it over I would have bought a bunch of smaller cheaper machines.

[EscortBiz]

Originally Posted by MetaMan

you should just advertise small classified ads in newspapers across the country, makes WAY more bank.

from a tiny one bedroom apt

[Quoth the Raven]

Originally Posted by CamZ_Dan

I operated vending machines for 20 years. Had 900 machines in 13 states.

Mostly candy, gum, sticker, small amusement stuff.

Dont most bulk vendors avoid putting candies in their machines?

[Vendzilla]

I worked on them when I worked for Coca Cola
I wouldn't want to do that again

[Dodododa]

Tubes killed the vending industry!

[ShellyCrash]

When I saw this thread I thought of Dan ;)

[Jakez]

Threads like this are why I love GFY. Of everything I know about the internet and where to get info from, this is the best place I can think of to ask questions about something non-adult related.

Sorry to interrupt the informative thread. Continue

[BFT3K]

Maybe ties, belts, socks, gloves, hats, shoe laces, etc..



Good for commuter locations.

Unique!

[martinsc]

Originally Posted by Bama

I worked for Pepsi for 8 years, the last 2 of those years was filling their vending machines. My route (one of 6) serviced an entire county and I would, on average, fill 60 machines per day, averaging roughly 300-500 cases per day.

On my daily route I would run into the local "ma & pa" operations and talked to their drivers and I can tell you that if a location is worth being in, Pepsi &/or Coke were most likely already there. The few that we weren't in is because we only carried soda and the business would want snack options too.

The money is phenomenal. That is why you see so many of the larger grocery chains producing their "private label" brands as well as their own vending machines outside of their stores along with the Pepsi and Coke machines. Getting your machine next to theirs is where the phrase "snowball's chance in hell" was coined.

You'll spend in the neighborhood of 1500 per machine unless you buy used.

What I'm trying to get at is.... that ain't the way to go. It takes too many years to recoup your investment for the machines - especially if you're giving a cut of the profits to the business.


What you want to do is this...... Direct office business sales.

That's where you deliver cases of soda to the offices and they either give the pop away to their employees or for a small per can cost. In this instance, they either keep the soda in the refrigerator they already own or you supply them one with a x year contract. You can pick up a small fridge at Costco or Sears for around 100 bucks or pick up a slightly larger one that can hold snacks too. That's a shitload cheaper than a vending machine and they come with a warranty for service.

You hire a salesman to get locations for you (min office of 10 employees) and pay him X per location. You hire someone to man the phones and service your accounts each month to get their orders and you hire a delivery driver. Service repairs? They'll be some sure but you just drop off a new refrigerator and take the busted one back to the shop and have it fixed there and if out of warranty - toss it and write off the loss.

[DBS.US]

http://www.costco.com/Common/Search....rch&lang=en-US

[seeandsee]

i will make one to sell cock belts

[CaptainHowdy]

Mug people before they put the money on the vending machine??

[candyflip]

Take that idea and do something along the lines of your own Redbox.

http://www.dvdnowkiosks.com/

[Wilbo]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Take that idea and do something along the lines of your own Redbox.

http://www.dvdnowkiosks.com/

I thought that DVDs were going the way of the typewriter now with everybody downloading all their movies? Doesn"t look like much growth potential to me.