10 replies to this topic

[Benjamin2501]

I was wondering if anyone had experience vending breathalyzers? If you do, can you explain if they have been worth it. I was wondering how customers warm up to the machines, or if they are just a novelty that goes away.

Thanks,

Benjamin

[chuchimunga]

Im actually looking to buy and place a few of these myself and the bars that I have been talking to say that they used to have them and that they loved them. The only problem with them was that people would rip them off the wall, Im guessing a heavy drunk person could do that by using it to hold themselves up. The bar tenders all said that they were used a lot on the weekends by people having "drink you under the table" games. One bar did tell me though that they did not like them a whole lot because they said that they created a bit of a fire hazard by their door. Have you picked out the brand you are interested in yet?

[Benjamin2501]

I have located the alco-buddy with LCD looked pretty sweet. There is another company on the west coast, alco-checkpoint which also looked reasonable. I just wanted to get a feel on how people use the device and how they handled the traffic. Thanks for the response! Do you know if the bars found them to be helpful? The fire issue is odd, because they only push 12v of electricity. Were some going up in flames due to bad design? Oh, nevermind you meant the location created a fire issue because of the crowd? Lol I think that is where you were going.

[chuchimunga]

yeah the hazard was the people, which would probably move if there was fire anyways. The bars thought they were helpful with the people they thought were too drunk to get another drink. One bar said they might be able to get a lower insurance rate by having one, but Im not sure if they were that serious about that or not. One thing to get past while talking to managers and such about it is the legal issue of being responsible, most people dont know that the test would have to be given by a police officer to be legal in court.

[Benjamin2501]

I thought that was a great selling point, that the machine allows bartenders to check patrons. If they wanted a drink and you wouldn't serve, this could be a tool in assisting someone. The legal is always for entertainment. Mounting the box securely sounds like a must.

[chuchimunga]

I think mounted to a wall with a modified stand under it would be the best way to have it.

[Benjamin2501]

The units are all distributed through Spain for about $400 a piece. Alco-buddy and Alco-checkpoint buy the units. They add a bill acceptor( which you can find on eBay for about $100). The markup seems pretty extreme which makes it hard to hit roi within a year. Location, and traffic seem to be key to the units success. You may be able to buy them direct from Alcomatic in Spain. If they are willing to sell the units in a lower bulk than fifty machines. You would still have to add a bill acceptor but $550 a machine sounds better than $2000.
If you run across any other companies making these, let me know.

[chuchimunga]

I did see the ones from Spain but im not sure what it costs to get one over to the US even if i could buy only a few at a time. From what I can tell there may be shipping fees and import fees to go with it. I also think I would end up using a different type of bill validator and possibly look into putting a coin mech in there, there seems to be plenty of space in these boxes.

[DanielMiller]

It is a good advice, I think this machine should have all the owners of bar, hotels etc that they will benefite. should it be necessary if Govermnt apply the rule.

breathalyzer vending machine business

[ronsidney]

I have located the alco-buddy with LCD looked pretty sweet. There is another company on the west coast, alco-checkpoint which also looked reasonable. I just wanted to get a feel on how people use the device and how they handled the traffic. Thanks for the response! Do you know if the bars found them to be helpful? The fire issue is odd, because they only push 12v of electricity. Were some going up in flames due to bad design? Oh, nevermind you meant the location created a fire issue because of the crowd? Lol I think that is where you were going.

I wonder how alcobuddy got all those ads on craigslist without getting flagged off??? you can go to any craigslist in just about any city and see their ad for their machine and also some hair curler vending machine.(((now thats funny..hair curler...lol))

I have some bar locations and they have put those machines in ,,and the bar owners tell me nobody uses them..I don't know but i would go to a location and watch it on a fri-sat night and see if you see anybody use it in like 1 hour,, do the average on hours open but only use that number for the peak hours,,use probably a zero for all the other hours open..would probably give you a true average..

seems like a gimmick fad to me,,sorta like a uturn or other biz op..

ron

[Steve Pixley]

I have my own Alco-Buddy vending machine route and is great worth for me as it allows me to set my own hours and work at my own pace. It had helped me to enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. Though, initially it takes commitment, dedication and perseverance to place the machines and start making an income, but once the route s established, you can sit back and watch your profits grow.