18 replies to this topic

[dloiselle]

Bought a route yesterday with machines on location. I did get a bit taken however. For the most part, the machines seem to be in good shape, a couple accounts i expect will do well, some of the others will be losing the machines. There is quite a bit of variation in the machines however, but for the most part Antares, a ROWE 5900 and a ployvend that I haven;t gotten the model of yet.

I understand completely why the guy wanted out, he would stop and take the money, but not fill the machines, don;t understand that idea, no product = no money. My son and I were removing product yesterday, some of it dated back to 2008. He tried a twix we pulled, cookie had actually collapsed. He played alot of smoke and mirror games wiht the machines, supposedly just filled them, the ones he did put some product in, he put in two or three items per row, no more. We have a large amount of stock we have to get in tomorrow, then finishing checking the remainder of the machines and do the same for them. I actually have a total of 8 on location, and he gave me an extra table top that I have to reassemble - more than enough parts to do that, and a couple amusements, that truly I could care less about.

I am actually considering picking up some bulk heads as 4 of the locations have bulks on them, figure why not see if I can ascertain a bit more there.

I am not at all looking at the get rich quick idea, it was actually unanticipated money from a very active snow season this year, so instead of sitting in the bank or being spent, I invested it to make it reproduce so to speak, those who are a fan of "Its a wonderful life" will recall that scene. I plan to reinvest any and all profits to continue to expand. Unexpected investment, unexpected profit, so figure I really can't lose.

So any how, thought I would just relay that info so it didn;t seem lie I was trolling anymore.

I will add as I have read several times though, when buying a route, DO NOT expect the revenue to be what the seller claims. No way this route will produce what I was told, but I am not going to be hurt by that. It will take longer for the ROI, but I now actually have something to show for that money, and will be on the learning curve train.

[dogcow]

Bought a route yesterday with machines on location. I did get a bit taken however. For the most part, the machines seem to be in good shape, a couple accounts i expect will do well, some of the others will be losing the machines. There is quite a bit of variation in the machines however, but for the most part Antares, a ROWE 5900 and a ployvend that I haven;t gotten the model of yet.

I understand completely why the guy wanted out, he would stop and take the money, but not fill the machines, don;t understand that idea, no product = no money. My son and I were removing product yesterday, some of it dated back to 2008. He tried a twix we pulled, cookie had actually collapsed. He played alot of smoke and mirror games wiht the machines, supposedly just filled them, the ones he did put some product in, he put in two or three items per row, no more. We have a large amount of stock we have to get in tomorrow, then finishing checking the remainder of the machines and do the same for them. I actually have a total of 8 on location, and he gave me an extra table top that I have to reassemble - more than enough parts to do that, and a couple amusements, that truly I could care less about.

I am actually considering picking up some bulk heads as 4 of the locations have bulks on them, figure why not see if I can ascertain a bit more there.

I am not at all looking at the get rich quick idea, it was actually unanticipated money from a very active snow season this year, so instead of sitting in the bank or being spent, I invested it to make it reproduce so to speak, those who are a fan of "Its a wonderful life" will recall that scene. I plan to reinvest any and all profits to continue to expand. Unexpected investment, unexpected profit, so figure I really can't lose.

So any how, thought I would just relay that info so it didn;t seem lie I was trolling anymore.

I will add as I have read several times though, when buying a route, DO NOT expect the revenue to be what the seller claims. No way this route will produce what I was told, but I am not going to be hurt by that. It will take longer for the ROI, but I now actually have something to show for that money, and will be on the learning curve train.

what kind of locations?

theres no "smoke and mirrors" about putting only a few products in a selection. if you have 35 or 40 selections some are going to be slower sellers, no need to fill the machines to capacity you will end up tossing out tons of product.

if the guy had product from 2008 odds are the location is REALLY bad ... not sure how much you paid the 5900 might be worth a few hundred bucks..

[dogcow]

Bought a route yesterday with machines on location. I did get a bit taken however. For the most part, the machines seem to be in good shape, a couple accounts i expect will do well, some of the others will be losing the machines. There is quite a bit of variation in the machines however, but for the most part Antares, a ROWE 5900 and a ployvend that I haven;t gotten the model of yet.

I understand completely why the guy wanted out, he would stop and take the money, but not fill the machines, don;t understand that idea, no product = no money. My son and I were removing product yesterday, some of it dated back to 2008. He tried a twix we pulled, cookie had actually collapsed. He played alot of smoke and mirror games wiht the machines, supposedly just filled them, the ones he did put some product in, he put in two or three items per row, no more. We have a large amount of stock we have to get in tomorrow, then finishing checking the remainder of the machines and do the same for them. I actually have a total of 8 on location, and he gave me an extra table top that I have to reassemble - more than enough parts to do that, and a couple amusements, that truly I could care less about.

I am actually considering picking up some bulk heads as 4 of the locations have bulks on them, figure why not see if I can ascertain a bit more there.

I am not at all looking at the get rich quick idea, it was actually unanticipated money from a very active snow season this year, so instead of sitting in the bank or being spent, I invested it to make it reproduce so to speak, those who are a fan of "Its a wonderful life" will recall that scene. I plan to reinvest any and all profits to continue to expand. Unexpected investment, unexpected profit, so figure I really can't lose.

So any how, thought I would just relay that info so it didn;t seem lie I was trolling anymore.

I will add as I have read several times though, when buying a route, DO NOT expect the revenue to be what the seller claims. No way this route will produce what I was told, but I am not going to be hurt by that. It will take longer for the ROI, but I now actually have something to show for that money, and will be on the learning curve train.

what kind of locations?

theres no "smoke and mirrors" about putting only a few products in a selection. if you have 35 or 40 selections some are going to be slower sellers, no need to fill the machines to capacity you will end up tossing out tons of product.

if the guy had product from 2008 odds are the location is REALLY bad ... not sure how much you paid the 5900 might be worth a few hundred bucks..

[dloiselle]

what kind of locations?

theres no "smoke and mirrors" about putting only a few products in a selection. if you have 35 or 40 selections some are going to be slower sellers, no need to fill the machines to capacity you will end up tossing out tons of product.

if the guy had product from 2008 odds are the location is REALLY bad ... not sure how much you paid the 5900 might be worth a few hundred bucks..

Every row had strictly 2 or 3 items, most of which we removed as they were significantly out of date, 3-6 months minimum, from what I anticipate, these are the two best locations. Both managers told me the machine was empty for months. These two were supposedly stocked within the last week, yes, both are large snack, the 5900 and a poly vend. As I would guess the experienced guys will know, these are glass fronts as well.

I paid to much, to sum it up, however, pricing machines with shipping via ebay, and given the fact that there are non here local available, I calculated the cost of shipping and machine and going that route, I ended up ahead of the game about 1500. There is no way it generates 15K annual profits though, just do not see it.

Locations

1 - Small bank
1 - retail store break room,
2 - industrial facilities that have potential - these are the two I had to do some fast talking to stay in
1 - industrial./ retail location - pulled alot out of there, but lady told me they are moving to a new building in the next couple months, want to add a soda machine then also,
she told me a much higher foot traffic situation when they move, so thinking I will ride this one out a bit and see what comes.
1- Firestone tire store break room
1 - Midas exhaust shop break room
1 - parts location that I am going to pull the machine from as soon as I can get a location for it

Right now, I figure something is better than having them sit in my shop. I really do not see the parts store selling anything, there is a bulkhead in there, covered in dust, one of the guys told me it has not been service in about 18 months, he said same for the machine of mine that is there.

Learning curve as I see it is huge, but at least I am in a situation where it isn't causing me a payment issue. I am going to try to locate myself for a little bit, if no luck with that, I will hire one to get them out into better areas. One plus I have to say, the locations are within a mile of each other, so that is a huge plus.

He did also give me a few other machines with it, a 3 in 1 amusement, a crane amusement that needs a new rope for the crane and an additional table top snack, and a lot of parts.

[dogcow]

how are ur prices set?

how many employees at the industrial facilities?

just curious...

15k NET,, no chance...i would be surprised at 2k GROSS depending on the size of the industrial shops

most of those accounts are honor box accounts. i have all those type break room accts on my honor box route. i can put a $2 cardboard box there and make more money than a combo machine on the average because my markup is very high. i'm not trying to be rude, i am just stating a fact.

i made the same mistake as you in buying a route, luckily for me, the route had quality industry standard equipment (full size machines, dixie narco, usi, and rowe) even if the accts were not great at least the equipment is solid and reliable and can be moved to better accts.

if i was to start over again i would start with honor boxes,i have full-size break room snack boxes. they are easy to place and service, the mark up is very high and you get an idea for the important aspects of vending (service, sales, accounting,etc..) without much investment you can get 10 snack boxes for 20 bucks and fill them for around $4 each....these work in any location with a break room, shop floor, etc.. you just have them for the employees not the customers (though in some cases ive had them placed out for the customers with very little theft, if the clerk keeps an eye on it for you)

as far as the route, to be honest i'd pull out all that break-room equipment except the glassfronts and sell it for whatever u can get especially if its anatares stuff. you cant use that equipment in quality vending accounts and you prob end up at a loss servicing it anyway after time, gas, taxes and spoiled product.

also i would not use a locator, either. because a locator is not a sales person. they are simply going to try the low hanging fruit...smaller businesses they know will not have vending (like the accounts u have already) they are going to pitch them once and if they dont commit, move on. this is something you can easily do yourself with a phone book. just dial through a phone book some afternoon calling mechanic shops, large barber shops , and so on and ask if they have vending. you can most likely find an account a day with that process. (or drive around you will prob have better luck in-person). but these will be low performing accts like what you have.

the vending sales process on good quality accounts is very long and involved you probably wont get a yes on the first visit..these accounts already have vending, so you have to sell them, not just sk if they want a machine.

now RJT on here will probably disagree with me but i will say something for the low volume accts. in my opinion some can be very good. I have one account at a quick lube. it is my favorite account. why? because it just has a single drink machine there..on the shop floor and is very reliable for about $40-50 a week. Every 2 weeks i fill up the machine to capacity, when i come back its almost empty, i take out $100 or so fill the machine back up and leave. now and then it requires a repair..but overall total time to service is less than 15mins. That is $50 profit for 15mins of filling the machine every 2 wks. that account probably nets just over a grand a year. now a real full time vendor might not like that account, its not worth it for them. but i think a part time person who only wants a very simple passive income stream without much hassle can probably build up a route of accts like that and make a very nice 2nd income with 10 or 15 accts.

if i were going to do that...

- i would only deal with can drinks ONLY no snacks
- i would own all my own equipment (no 3rd party) and be very picky about what i bought and how much i paid for it, because the accts are easy to get i would only expand based on finding good deals on equipment
- i would price the drinks at .70-75 cents
- i would not pay commissions

now at this location i have a snack honor box but thats because i already deal with snacks...if i didnt i would say maybe put a penny candy honor box or something you want but generally the honor box will require more frequent service than the soda machine so i would avoid it, i only do it to increase my profit per location.

[RJT]

@ dogcow,

All good points and pretty much on target. You are probably pretty close on revenue for the accounts he has. This is the type person that I wish would have contacted me prior to buying but with some effort I hope he can get on the right track to make it work. You know, make lemonade out of lemons thing.

Actually I dont disagree with you about the smaller stand alone drink machine accounts. It is all relivant to the size of a vending company and overhead. The larger the accounts and the larger the vending company you become it starts to get harder to service these smaller accounts. They can become a distraction to you when trying to perform high level service to large type accounts. However, in the start I think they are fine to do as long as your cost of machines are very low which you made that point in your post. Would I do these small type accounts with a drink and snack machine? No, unless I could find small three and four wide snack machines very cheap.

[dloiselle]

Actually I did email you prior, explained the situation, also sent my contact info. Never got a reply, would have rather discussed it with you for a few hundred than spend what I did, but it is what it is, and now I move forward.

Overall, with today's experience, I think 3 of them will do well, I expect that it will do a total of somewhere around 8-9k gross a year. One really busy shop that the manager told me today will need service weekly as long as it has product in it, he has a crew of 5 there 6 days a week and then would rather the machine than go out for a burger. Example, he told me if I were to commit three rows to Big Texas Danish, they would be empty each week. That doesn't seem to bad at all.

Pricing wise, I actually took the case price, figured per unit price, and doubled it. I have a couple polyvend that I am having an issue trying to change the price on, not sure it if it me or the machine, more research on that one. I do not particularly like the Antares machines, but for what they are, in a secure location where people aren;t going to try to force it, I think they will do OK until I generate the cash to replace them. They seem solid and functional. bill changers work, but I do not like all the cheap appearing plastic. I am hesitant to purchase any other machines and am going to leave them where they are until I find some place better, I have a boatload of the coin mechs, so until they cost money or I generate enough, got no real choice in the matter there. I was just looking through ebay again, I don;t know how some people afford to get into this with the cost of the machines, shipping is double the prices of the machines, and I see alot of them at 650 and up.

I have been looking over and over through information on the honor boxes as I see where the markup can be extraordinary. It sems they would be more of a professional office set up so to speak. I have actually thought of placing them in a couple of these accounts and pulling the machines for someplace else. The more I think about it, one of the locations I mentioned the table top - think it is a snack mate or snack king, forget which one it said on it, I think I am going to pull that all together. That is the one with the bulk head I mentioned completely covered in dust.

Fantastically large learning curve in progress, but not gonna beat myself up, learn from it and keep going, else wise I will give up and walk away

. Would you guys have any books in particular you would recommend. Looks like the warm weather is gonna start up here, and it is still a fair amount of time before I climb back into the dump truck. Lots of time on my hands to gain more knowledge.

I really like the idea of the honor boxes, if you could toss me some more info I would be more than grateful. I have also been looking for used bulk machines, but that isn't going well. I can not seem to justify in my head 80 dollars for a machine that may average 7 a month. Though I believe that with utilizing a charity, they would be exemplary in being easy to place.

Have a great weekend guys, more pennies form heaven coming tonight, so off to bed for me.

Thanks again for your feedback!!!!!

[dogcow]

Overall, with today's experience, I think 3 of them will do well, I expect that it will do a total of somewhere around 8-9k gross a year. One really busy shop that the manager told me today will need service weekly as long as it has product in it, he has a crew of 5 there 6 days a week and then would rather the machine than go out for a burger. Example, he told me if I were to commit three rows to Big Texas Danish, they would be empty each week. That doesn't seem to bad at all.

50 a week gross per machine is decent ..5 ppl in a shop is really low for a glassfront machine i would not expect big #s from it, more like 30 or less is likely. who knows every situation is different my guess tho if the old owner could be making that much he would not have neglected the service. when you say row i assume you mean column... i would only put 1 selection of big texas and check it in a week and see how it does before putting a whole case in the machine you could end up throwing a ton out, they arent a real high profit item. i try to put small # of those pastries and put more pop tarts instead cause they last a long time and i sell them for a better margin at $1 price point.

also i like the pecan rolls because they last a little longer than honey buns and big texas and they sell a little better because people think they are getting a good value since theres 3 rolls in a pack even tho the cost is less for you.

I do not particularly like the Antares machines, but for what they are, in a secure location where people aren;t going to try to force it, I think they will do OK until I generate the cash to replace them. They seem solid and functional. bill changers work, but I do not like all the cheap appearing plastic. I am hesitant to purchase any other machines and am going to leave them where they are until I find some place better, I have a boatload of the coin mechs, so until they cost money or I generate enough, got no real choice in the matter there.

the fact is you probably should just pull them and sell for scrap or to someone who wants them. unless ur pulling $100 a month min. out of them its not likely worth your time to serivce them. after loss of stales, to pull $10 or $15 a week out of a machine its just not worth it. maybe if they were drink-only or you put in snacks that have very long dates (candy, nuts, lance, granola,etc..) so you can service really infrequently. im not really sure what they hold to be honet.

I was just looking through ebay again, I don;t know how some people afford to get into this with the cost of the machines, shipping is double the prices of the machines, and I see alot of them at 650 and up.

get them off craigslist . patience is the key dont be afraid to offer much less than the asking price. also make sure u know a reliable person to move them machines if you cant move them yourself and always factor it into the price. figure out what you want your ROI to be and work that way. for example if you need a drink machine and want to see a return in 3 mo and you are pricing cans at 75 cents and you think the location does maybe $50 a week (you will have to just guess) then you probably dont want to spend much over $250 for a machine including moving. The more handy you are the better prices you can get.

I have been looking over and over through information on the honor boxes as I see where the markup can be extraordinary. It sems they would be more of a professional office set up so to speak.

offices dont do that great actually. in years past they probably did really well but i dont do well in office locations. i believe that most professionals and office workers simply dont carry cash any more. so you end up with very low volume. where i find are good locations are anywhere with a cash register or cash box and especially where people get tips. barber shops and nail salons do really well, retail and auto shops do well, banks are good. i had a urgent care that did great but i got kicked out due to corporate policy. i have heard urgent care places and vet offices do great tho.

. Would you guys have any books in particular you would recommend. Looks like the warm weather is gonna start up here, and it is still a fair amount of time before I climb back into the dump truck. Lots of time on my hands to gain more knowledge.

vending machine fundamentals by steven woodbine is a good place to start. RJT has a book coming out soon that ive read the proof copy which is also very very good.

I really like the idea of the honor boxes, if you could toss me some more info I would be more than grateful.

as far as i know there isn't really anything..i bought an e-book but the info was outdated and to be honest i didnt agree at all with their philosophy of how to set up the boxes and price things. I found it would make a huge accounting headache. basically the info i got was from figuring it out myself and talking to a guy who did placements of the boxes for 30yrs up north.

basically i buy my boxes at cameronpackaging.com and i make a custom sign that goes on the back of them with instructions and an arrow to the coin slot. i price all items at $1 and i put a selection of chips, candy, pastries and crackers. ive heard many people say to do 2 or 3 different price points but ive tried that and ive found people only eat the cheaper items. if you put the price all the same people dont seem to discriminate on what they eat. also the same price per item makes accounting much easier. i suggested an even amount like $1 or 0.50 or something not $0.55 or something because you will increase your odds of getting theft just based on someone not having an extra few cents and thinking they will make it up the next day.

I have also been looking for used bulk machines, but that isn't going well. I can not seem to justify in my head 80 dollars for a machine that may average 7 a month. Though I believe that with utilizing a charity, they would be exemplary in being easy to place.

i dont do bulk vending not to knock them but its not worth it for me. unless you are doing those big racks at buffet places or malls with the skill cranes, bulk machines and everything i would not find it worth my time. even then im not really sure what those make per month.

u can do charity for honor boxes but not the snack kind, if u get the lollipop or penny candy boxes from sheridansystems.com you can put a charity sticker on there.. they are a couple of bucks maybe $5 each. i heard of a charity that will do honor boxes if u want the name let me know ill find the link

[dloiselle]

That was my thought on the Big Texas, we actually looked at them in at Sam's yesterday, but my exact thought and comment to my son, "let's hold off, I have no idea how they will sell," and saw immediately that there is not a big profit on them. We have taken a fair of them out that the previous guy put in. I plan to check the machines about the same time this week , try to get a feel for what they are doing, stock necessities so I can go a little bit over average on the supply so if I get tied up and am a couple days late getting to them that they are still OK. Thanks for the Pecan roll idea, I never really looked at the machines for more than a quick fix (22 yrs as a paramedic, they use to be my life line.)

I don't even know if the Antares have enough metal in them for scrap, lol. I stocked them with exactly that yesterday, candy, some pb crackers, cookies etc. There are chips in them, still in date to my surprise. The soda hasn't produced anything in it worth talking about, so I didn't add any. There was about 4 dollars there, tough to tell what it will do, the manager said the guy I bought from stopped last week but didn't fill it, and the dollar bill changer hasn't been working, #1 unplugged, #2 not enough quarters in the sold out column for it to process. I am not planning on this machine staying there, but have to ride it out a little bit to see, she said her customers do use it, but he wasn't keeping it supplied, multiple types of product per selection - cheese puffs and crunchy cheese doodles in the same selection viewable through the window, and there is only so much change she could let people make out of her register. It is a Midas shop. I figure I have to give it a few weeks, just to make sure, and in the mean time will have a chance to talk with other location possibilities. They are definitely not a high volume location machine, hold probably 18 or so item per selection, but less than 12 selections.

Been continuously monitoring Craigslist, actually that is how this whole situation came about, I am sort of addicted to it. Moving them is a definite ability for us, three pickups, two strong sons as well, lol. I would like to get some "real machines" to replaces there Antares with eventually, but for right now, long as they can generate $, they will do. It also offers me a few opportunities to get used to this business a bit, and generate some cash back. I actually intend to use the profit to reinvest in machines. The $250 machine does not seem to exist here. really not to many listed however, there is some guy popping up here and there wanting to invest $10k and $20K in a vending route. Actually the closest place as far as a seller for machines I have found is about 2.5 hours away from here towards NYC. I have to glass front ploy-vends that I am struggling with right now, trying to figure out how to change prices. I saw a post on here last night where a gentleman is deal with the identical situation, follow the directions on the control board and no luck yet. I would be nice to get the prices coordinated on them for the selections. that way people aren't forced to bounce their eyes all over. When we were stocking the one yesterday (Big Texas location) I actually got a bunch of applause from the mechanics when I was coming in with product, we added granola, bugles, potato skins - HUGE MARGIN ON THESE and they acted like I was Santa, LOL. Truthfully, I have to figure out more selections for the machine as there are still 10 selections empty, plus the 4 gum/mint selections. Without getting a handle on the price changing, it is going to be tough though, I have a diagram of the selections and their current prices so I can figure out what to add. Also gave some consideration to adding more candy particularly MM's but hesitated as current he has candy in 80 cent slots, and then there are 70 cent slots open, I don't want to create a major inconsistency
.
I am fortunate enough that as I mentioned it was unexpected revenue, so it does not and will not "hurt me" so to speak, and truthfully I needed the tax right off as a lot of my equipment has hit its final depreciation year. And of course, cash is king, I loved the firewood business for that aspect as well as the holiday lighting business. Amazing what you can do there. No worries about receivables. I save that for the corporate accounts we deal with.

I really like the honor box idea for exactly what you mentioned, great margin. My concern is weither there is much honor in society any more. The values I was raised with for the most part seem to have disappeared. I am planning to order a few of them, want to give it a shot. I am trying to figure out the honor beverage set up, I swear I saw a couple posts on here about it, but again brings me back to the values of society. I understand the cash idea, I try not to carry much myself, I had thought that the locations I am planning to pull the machines from would do OK, simple enough to swing in, take one and place another. I think I may have to consider a bill changer though, not to sure about that yet. I thought of the Vet offices actually, was mulling over the idea of medical buildings, especially given my background, I know how much chocolate they will eat. lol

I just searched the Vending machine fundamentals, will be checking on line at one of the BN stores here to see if it is in stock or just order on line. I saw RJT had one, and with his background and current status as not only consultant but also an owner figured it would be a really good one. I have to go to his website again and get the title to search and see if it is available yet/ I have read just about every one of his posts, and truthfully yours as well as it appears you are the go to guy with honor box routes. Not only with what I have read in your posts, but also reference that have been made by others.

I did find a website that seemed to have a nice presentation on honor boxes as far as merchandising. I know there is a local place I can eventually get into, one of my step sons works there, but they had humongous issues with the last guy there, again, not taking care of the machine, all product expired. I think the honor boxes would be a nice foo tin the door, minimal room required, nice presentation. I have looked at cameron packing for them (one of your previous posts mentioned them) and I like the idea I don't have to buy a large quantity right off the bat.

The bulk idea, I was looking at as sort of a filler. I just have a really hard time justifying $80.00 for example on something that is generating $0.25 each time. I margin is gigantic, BUT to reach it, seems like i will be old enough to collect Social Security before it would be paid for, LOL. OK a bit extreme, but I am sure you understand what I mean. I don;t want to get into the kiosks and racks, a lot of room required and not a lot of options here anymore as far as I can tell, WalMart is getting huge here, and there was a post in the bulk forum that they only want the nationwide companies in there so there is a consistent footprint. From what I have read, the national average is $7.00 per month. Granted, I have read the gum in bulk has a 300% margin, but how long to reach the point it is worth the $80 for the machine and then the added product. Then when you think about it, will I end up throwing product out prior to merchandising it all. So with that in mind, I think the only ones I could begin to justify them would be where I am already at so there is no added windshield time. Since I am already there, OK, but then it gets into the idea of the so-called toys, I remember looking at them when I was a kid and thinking "it''s junk." I would take the 50 cents and head for the candy instead. Instant gratification. I actually acquired one of the crane amusements with the stuffed toys in this whole deal and truthfully, do not even want to consider dealing with it. I am going to at some point with the rain season coming up quickly see if there is anything other than the rope on the claw that is necessary, if not fix it and Craigslist it. I have absolutely 0 interest in amusement. The old arcade days are gone. Then if it doesn't go on craigslist, I will part it out and if that doesn't work, into the dumpster. I also ended up with a 3 in 1 amusement game, no interest in that either. I am going to verify function on that as well, and then follow the same course as the crane machine. I like the vending idea because it is not a tremendous amount of time, I have days in the weeks that I am not committed to working the dump truck or landscaping, so it makes a nice filler. Then of course there are times like this winter has been here, when I would have to consciously make an effort to make time to get things serviced. I just love the idea of working and having something else going on that is generating money also.

If you happen to come across the web address that would be great, I like the idea, and from what I have read it would make placement easier. I am not a huge fan of commission setup, and would rather see it go for a "worthy cause" so to speak, instead of a corporate pocket.

Thank you for all your commentary so far, truthfully it is awesome to be able to learn form people that have been in the business. When I was working as a medic I always got a kick out of listening to the "war stories" of senior medics. There is and always will be something to learn from others experience.

Have a fantastic day!!!

[RJT]

Are you sure it was me you tried contacting?? I dont see a PM, email, or a phone call. If you did I am not sure why I didnt get anything.....

I can a sell you a copy of my book if you like. I am going to edit a couple of chapters but after I do that I can forward you the changes at no charge. I have another guy that is wanting to do that so he can get started reading it and I will do the same for you. Just let me know...

[dloiselle]

Yup. February 23 at 0900 I sent the email. It is what it is though. I had a fair amount of trouble with my account shortly after I established it, couldn't post or reply to anything, then suddenly it worked again. The way I see it, I am in now, so swim to the top. As I mentioned in previous posts, though I fell I got taken a bit, I am fortunate enough, it will not cripple me or my family as it was unexpected revenue. I have learned alot in the past week or so alone, I think out of the 9, three of them for a newbie will be good, don;t think it is something you guys who are established would consider good, but we'll see. They are in areas that have no access to convenience stores, and offer what I think is a good amount of traffic to start off with. I spent most of the time this week at locations smoothing issues over, the machines have been a burden to the businesses. With the business background I have, that is a huge problem, now I have put it on the table that it is a different show so to speak, simple enough to back it up. I do have some locations that aren't even busy enough to classify as dog's. I like the honor box system for these, maybe not even that much, but one is a bank that I am interested in seeing how it goes, not sure it requires a combo though. Maybe and honor box system for snack and soda. I have to figure out the soda part though.

I am most definitely interested in your book. I do have 9 on location now, but I need to understand the ability to obtain locations, not really keen on paying some Joe who is gonna sit at a phone and cost me money. I also am not totally keen on the Antares units, would like to understand how to obtain "classier machines" for less than what I am seeing them for on Craigslist here very few of them here and high priced as to what I see people talking about on this forum, and ebay, shipping is a fantastic eye opener.

Honestly, the first post I read on here was where a newbie such as myself asked a broad range of questions, you tried to offer help with just some basic business questions, and the person got all worked up.

I am very enthused in the information you have offered, read all your posts and Dogcow's so far, at least dating back to, I think the last page I read was dated 2007, lol.

I do the same you guys are with the holiday lighting business, try to help whenever and wherever I can. I spend a lot of time on that forum in the lighting season trying to help newbie's in that field out.

Have an awesome day and thanks for chiming in.

Dennis

[dogcow]

what is the holiday lighting business, exactly?

[RJT]

Is you name Ken??

[H4UV]

I sell full size, glass front, refurbished machines, and soda machines. They are very nice, affordable, and most are Mars VN validated. I offer free shipping on some of the machines. They are all on my website, www.healthy4uvending.com Give me a call if you want too talk. 970-283-5634.

[dloiselle]

Holiday lighting is actual "professional" holiday decorating - www.celebrationlighting.com is my website, http://www.facebook....ng/207381019111
the latter is our face book page, it will probably give you a better idea. Essentially, I flew to Omaha, got trained and certified in design, installation, repair of commercial holiday decorating.

It is a huge industry though out a large portion of the country, except here of course so I have without doubt invested a tremendous amount of money in advertising to get things going. This year has been a real bear with all the snow, still have several projects that have to come down, sound like the snow will disappear this week for the most part so maybe that can finally get accomplished.

RJT, nope; my name is Dennis Loiselle

H4UV thank you. Got your site book marked. I am going to be looking for full size soda at some point in the near future.

[dogcow]

Holiday lighting is actual "professional" holiday decorating - www.celebrationlighting.com is my website, http://www.facebook....ng/207381019111
the latter is our face book page, it will probably give you a better idea. Essentially, I flew to Omaha, got trained and certified in design, installation, repair of commercial holiday decorating.

It is a huge industry though out a large portion of the country, except here of course so I have without doubt invested a tremendous amount of money in advertising to get things going. This year has been a real bear with all the snow, still have several projects that have to come down, sound like the snow will disappear this week for the most part so maybe that can finally get accomplished.

RJT, nope; my name is Dennis Loiselle

H4UV thank you. Got your site book marked. I am going to be looking for full size soda at some point in the near future.

thats very interesting my first thought was "who the hell would pay to have christmas lights put up" but then i saw the pictures and the fact you are in NY. I live in a warm climate where most houses are only 1 story...so i can understand if i had a bigger housing not wanting to mess with it.

[RJT]

Nope, no email.

Send me a email about the book.

Thanks

[dogcow]

The soda hasn't produced anything in it worth talking about, so I didn't add any.

soda is probably much more seasonal there than it is here...

The $250 machine does not seem to exist here. really not to many listed

here's a trick always try "snack machine" and "soda machine" also "coke machine " and "pepsi machine"

a lot of people dont have the sense to put the words "vending machine" in the description. especially true with drink machines i just bought a $200 dixie 368 machine listed as "pepsi machine" and im going to look at two "coke machines" for $100 each this week. usually people who use those terms also dont know what they have or what its actually worth.

Actually the closest place as far as a seller for machines I have found is about 2.5 hours away from here towards NYC.

you might have to be willing to drive it...f.ex someone about 4hrs away from me is selling an ice cream machine for $600 ..if i needed an ice cream machine id probably buy that one and deal with the drive over spending a grand or more to get one from a dealer.

I have to glass front ploy-vends that I am struggling with right now, trying to figure out how to change prices. I saw a post on here last night where a gentleman is deal with the identical situation, follow the directions on the control board and no luck yet. I would be nice to get the prices coordinated on them for the selections. that way people aren't forced to bounce their eyes all over. When we were stocking the one yesterday (Big Texas location) I actually got a bunch of applause from the mechanics when I was coming in with product, we added granola, bugles, potato skins - HUGE MARGIN ON THESE and they acted like I was Santa, LOL. Truthfully, I have to figure out more selections for the machine as there are still 10 selections empty, plus the 4 gum/mint selections. Without getting a handle on the price changing, it is going to be tough though, I have a diagram of the selections and their current prices so I can figure out what to add. Also gave some consideration to adding more candy particularly MM's but hesitated as current he has candy in 80 cent slots, and then there are 70 cent slots open, I don't want to create a major inconsistency

dont be afraid to put different prices on similar items..especially if your costs are different or one is a slow seller / fast seller. f.ex i sell planters cashews really cheap, basically at cost just to get rid of them. also thats good in honor boxes i take the stuff out of the variety packs that nobody eats ( snickers almonds f.ex) and put them in the honor box or give them away to my contacts at the locations.

I really like the honor box idea for exactly what you mentioned, great margin. My concern is weither there is much honor in society any more. The values I was raised with for the most part seem to have disappeared. I am planning to order a few of them, want to give it a shot. I am trying to figure out the honor beverage set up, I swear I saw a couple posts on here about it, but again brings me back to the values of society.

you would be surprised my avg shrinkage (loss) is only about 27% ...that is actually way up for a while it was under 20% due to this i recently pulled out of a ton of accounts, so that should start going back down. and there are ways to manage it too to turn around accts.putting a note on the box helps a lot if the theft goes beyond an acceptable point (40% loss is my cut off, even then im still making money, just not as much as i'd like).

i post my books regularly on another forum. i will PM you my ph# if you can feel free to call and ask any questions you want about honor boxes,,i'm not an expert but i can tell you what i know and whats worked for me.

I understand the cash idea, I try not to carry much myself, I had thought that the locations I am planning to pull the machines from would do OK, simple enough to swing in, take one and place another. I think I may have to consider a bill changer though, not to sure about that yet. I thought of the Vet offices actually, was mulling over the idea of medical buildings, especially given my background, I know how much chocolate they will eat. lol

just this week i punched holes in my boxes and put zip ties thru the cash area. i hated to do it but one location was very very good payers and then the box came up empty...with no money in it. they said a customer must have grabbed the cash when no one was looking. but i went for quite a while just leaving the cash area open so really people are more honest than you think, and again i only had a problem at ONE location i just did it to all of them for convenience on my own part.

I did find a website that seemed to have a nice presentation on honor boxes as far as merchandising.

whats the website?

The bulk idea, I was looking at as sort of a filler. I just have a really hard time justifying $80.00 for example on something that is generating $0.25 each time. I margin is gigantic, BUT to reach it, seems like i will be old enough to collect Social Security before it would be paid for, LOL. OK a bit extreme, but I am sure you understand what I mean. I don;t want to get into the kiosks and racks, a lot of room required and not a lot of options here anymore as far as I can tell, WalMart is getting huge here, and there was a post in the bulk forum that they only want the nationwide companies in there so there is a consistent footprint. From what I have read, the national average is $7.00 per month. Granted, I have read the gum in bulk has a 300% margin, but how long to reach the point it is worth the $80 for the machine and then the added product. Then when you think about it, will I end up throwing product out prior to merchandising it all. So with that in mind, I think the only ones I could begin to justify them would be where I am already at so there is no added windshield time. Since I am already there, OK, but then it gets into the idea of the so-called toys, I remember looking at them when I was a kid and thinking "it''s junk." I would take the 50 cents and head for the candy instead. Instant gratification.

my old landlord did bulk vending, he had a few thousand machines over 3 states ...to me thats insanity but he made a living doing it tho he was on the road all the time. also he made a lot of money finding rare coins in the machines LOL. I think the only real profitable routes are the racks of toys, i imagine because there is no spoilage and prob a much higher margin. also the sticker vending too

I actually acquired one of the crane amusements with the stuffed toys in this whole deal and truthfully, do not even want to consider dealing with it. I am going to at some point with the rain season coming up quickly see if there is anything other than the rope on the claw that is necessary, if not fix it and Craigslist it. I have absolutely 0 interest in amusement.

what kind of crane is it? i would put it out. i have a 25 cent candy crane...they are not hard to place and can be decent money makers but you will have to pay 35-50% commission. problem is parts are EXPENSIVE. i happened to get one for a hundred bucks from Smart Industries which is still in business. if they werent i would not have bought it. also its something u dont have to check very often.

If you happen to come across the web address that would be great, I like the idea, and from what I have read it would make placement easier. I am not a huge fan of commission setup, and would rather see it go for a "worthy cause" so to speak, instead of a corporate pocket.

sent you a pm about it

[dloiselle]

Believe it or not, the holiday lighting is big down there, but I imagine it is according to location. The certification class I was in, there were a few companies from FL in attendance. It is huge out West. particularly Omaha, there are two manufacturers right there in the city. Of course, it all comes from China, just gets resold once it gets there. When I did it here, the only one that didn't look at me like I had three heads as the guy who built my website, when I questioned him, he told me "I'm from Manhattan of course I know what you are talking about. I am just amazed no one has done it here yet." Lol. This year was a real bear, December was cold, more than usual the past few years, but the wind, just wicked. I have one project that we put 4 wreaths up on a strip mall, the rehang on it shouldn't be more than three-4 hours, it took 8. Go up in the bucket and set part then back down to warm up, fingers were feeling like they were gonna explode. that was the entire install season

The different searches, why I didn't think of that worked, found a Rowe about an hour or so away, emailed the guy just got a response to make an offer. So believe I will be taking a trip tomorrow. LOL Thanks for that pointer. I don;t mind the drive, I just coul;dn;y find any searching for "vending machines" that were any where near a price that was being discussed, but looking outside the box a little bit yielded some pretty good results.

I wouldn't hesitate to get product moving, I am just looking at the cost factor. My wife actually sent me some pics of a machine last night when she was working from one of the hospitals, they charge $1.00 for everything, including poptarts. WOW. There is some thought, even a pack of gum, 5 sticks they get $1.00

I am going to order some boxes this afternoon when I get back. Where my one son works, they had a really bad experience with the last guy, ended up moving his machine out - constantly breaking down, out of date etc. Then they dropped it off at his location for him. So they have a really bad taste in their mouths so to speak. I figure honor box would be a good way to try to get in the door, then if they wanted soda, I pull the machine I mentioned earlier that wasn't selling any soda and had the dollar bill changer issue and move it there. Would be a good start. I also have another place to stop and talk to, I actually work there alot with my dump truck in the season, from what I understand, they are not happy with the guy the have/had. Got that from one of my current locations, thinking they are getting an honor box instead of the table top as well, this is the place with the bulk head covered in dust

I am surprised at your low shrinkage percentage. I would expect much more. I think the zip tie idea is fantastic, a little added security, and they are cheap enough, harbor freight is where I get them during the lighting season, I have been known to buy every pack on display of the 8" ones at times. I got your PM also, thanks will take you up on that at some point soon.

I agree, traveling three different states would seem crazy to me also, though, I was looking at Craigslist last night and there is a route in Hartford Ct that caught my eye, looks like it would be a really long day, but he says it can be done in a 10 hour day, that turns it to 14 for me. thinking that is a bit far, but it is a thought.

Can you send me the address of the other forum, I read and rad trying to gain more info. I will have the check my book marks for the other website address, I had to actually create a additional folder yesterday for bookmarks, three columns was a bit out of hand. But if I want to reread it or see something else that may be of some importance I bookmarked it. Apparently there is a lot of information I want to revisit or expand on lol

As for the crane, I really have no idea. It has some small stuffed animals in it right now. He actually has a couple more that he said one good machine can be built out of the two. With the blast of warmth we have coming, I will have to see what sort of melting we get (still have over 42" on the ground) and see if I can get one of my trailers out. That may have to occur any how if the machine in Pittsfield Mass. works out. I just don;t have any interest in the amusement line, I see where the cranes offer more variety as opposed to games, I actually own one of those now too. The toys would definitely seem to be a better avenue to travel for exactly the reason you mentioned, no spoilage.

My whole thought of this was just to build something that did not require a lot of time, and the passive income situation. Come Spring, Summer and Fall, things really pick up with my dump truck, so I truthfully only have one or two days to deal with the machines. My son will be able to drive and deal with a lot of it if things really get going good. I am more interested in creating a retirement fund than anything else with it at this time, of course that may change. As I was explaining to my wife, the ROI is unbeatable. I used simple equations for her, to prove my point. Even if I only make $650 a month between all of them, of course that is profit, it is a significantly larger return than I would see in any bank.