22 replies to this topic

[coinvestor]

I like to use the fridge packs when they are on sale because they are much more profitable, but the flats are much easier to use (stock and transport). What do you use?


Thanks

Jeremiah

[tedk]

I like to use the fridge packs when they are on sale because they are much more profitable, but the flats are much easier to use (stock and transport). What do you use?
Thanks

Jeremiah

I use whatever is on sale. I prefer 18 or 20 packs but I use 12,18,20,24,& 30. Whatever I can find a special on. The only problem I have with flats is they are a pain if you open them but don't use the whole thing.

TedK

[Eman]

I have been using a 32 - pack for coke based products which works out perfectly since my machine have a 36 can capacity. for pepsi use the 36 packs. must of machines eiter sell out or close to it weekly so 1 pack per rack per machine

[BVI]

At one point, I switched from using flats to using fridge packs because I thought they stacked better in my box truck (I later discovered I was not utilizing flats properly and was shooting myself in the foot).

Fridge packs left me with so much clutter and garbage in my truck that it became very difficult to move around in the box of my truck for having to step on and around so much trash. Some of my accounts don't have dumpsters near the dock, so I would have to move on to the next account with an accumulation of trash.

Plus, they take way too much time to open up and dump them into a carrying case. I don't have time to handle inventory twice - on the truck and then into the machine. It's bad enough having to do that with snacks and cold food.

Unfortunately, there are some CSDs I can ony get in fridge packs, like Vault, Fanta Grape, Barq's, and Diet Dr. Pepper.

[jblvending]

At one point, I switched from using flats to using fridge packs because I thought they stacked better in my box truck (I later discovered I was not utilizing flats properly and was shooting myself in the foot).

Fridge packs left me with so much clutter and garbage in my truck that it became very difficult to move around in the box of my truck for having to step on and around so much trash. Some of my accounts don't have dumpsters near the dock, so I would have to move on to the next account with an accumulation of trash.

Plus, they take way too much time to open up and dump them into a carrying case. I don't have time to handle inventory twice - on the truck and then into the machine. It's bad enough having to do that with snacks and cold food.

Unfortunately, there are some CSDs I can ony get in fridge packs, like Vault, Fanta Grape, Barq's, and Diet Dr. Pepper.

BVI, pretty soon I'll be seeking advice from you, you nailed it again, flats are the only way to go, not only for time saving reason, but image as well, it's not very professional looking, going in there with fridge packs, if you have to go in with the fridge, be sure to use a flat case cartoon, and cut the tops off the fridge packs and give the appearance of a flat.

[coinvestor]

BVI, pretty soon I'll be seeking advice from you, you nailed it again, flats are the only way to go, not only for time saving reason, but image as well, it's not very professional looking, going in there with fridge packs, if you have to go in with the fridge, be sure to use a flat case cartoon, and cut the tops off the fridge packs and give the appearance of a flat.

This is good stuff guys, thanks for the replys. I am thinking about going to flats for ease of use and image (like you guys pointed out). I just hesitate to take the hit on the profit margin.

Jeremiah

[BVI]

Coinvester, if you have a Sam's Club, buy your flats there. Or Costco. Only buy from Coke and Pepsi what you have to to meet their minimums.

As for buying whatever is on sale, my hunch is it will cost you more in time and gas than it is worth to not buy everything from one place (like Sam's). If you buy from Sam's, make sure you do Click & Pull (not Fax & Pull). You can put together a shopping list you can use each time you go online, and if you do it this way, they will get your order right (I did a Fax & Pull a few months back and it was a disaster).

[coinvestor]

Coinvester, if you have a Sam's Club, buy your flats there. Or Costco. Only buy from Coke and Pepsi what you have to to meet their minimums.

As for buying whatever is on sale, my hunch is it will cost you more in time and gas than it is worth to not buy everything from one place (like Sam's). If you buy from Sam's, make sure you do Click & Pull (not Fax & Pull). You can put together a shopping list you can use each time you go online, and if you do it this way, they will get your order right (I did a Fax & Pull a few months back and it was a disaster).

I use sams club for most of my stuff. I have not bought a think from Coke or Pepsi yet (and will try not to). Some products just aren't carried by sams in my area. I went to walmart today to buy some ginger ale (not carried at my sams) and saw the coke product for 4 12's for $10. I couldn't resist and started loading up. For me this is about $2.50 savings per case of 24. Maybe I'm just too greedy

Jeremiah

[clvending]

I use sams club for most of my stuff. I have not bought a think from Coke or Pepsi yet (and will try not to). Some products just aren't carried by sams in my area. I went to walmart today to buy some ginger ale (not carried at my sams) and saw the coke product for 4 12's for $10. I couldn't resist and started loading up. For me this is about $2.50 savings per case of 24. Maybe I'm just too greedy

Jeremiah

No......Just smart business!!!!!

Lee

[coinvestor]

Well with the summer sales over I picked up my first load of flats today from sams club. I found that the other sams in my area carries the ginger ale that I couldn't find before. They are easier to load in my van, but not sure if they will be easier on the handtruck.

Jeremiah

[clvending]

Well with the summer sales over I picked up my first load of flats today from sams club. I found that the other sams in my area carries the ginger ale that I couldn't find before. They are easier to load in my van, but not sure if they will be easier on the handtruck.

Jeremiah

I guess I should ask my local Sams to carry ginger ale...Let me know if it is a big seller for you!!!

Lee

[BVI]

Well with the summer sales over I picked up my first load of flats today from sams club. I found that the other sams in my area carries the ginger ale that I couldn't find before. They are easier to load in my van, but not sure if they will be easier on the handtruck.

Jeremiah

I always grab the six-packs out of the flats and put them into the plastic cases I get from Pepsi. I don't trust the cardboard that flats are made of to keep everything together on my hand truck. Plus, I don't need a full case of everything I take in, so the plastic trays are handy for mixing it up and load very securely.

[coinvestor]

I always grab the six-packs out of the flats and put them into the plastic cases I get from Pepsi. I don't trust the cardboard that flats are made of to keep everything together on my hand truck. Plus, I don't need a full case of everything I take in, so the plastic trays are handy for mixing it up and load very securely.

Good idea.

Question: How can I tell what plastic trays are made for cans? I have a half dozen or so and none of them seem to fit cans properly.

Jeremiah

[the_avender]

I like to use the fridge packs when they are on sale because they are much more profitable, but the flats are much easier to use (stock and transport). What do you use?
Thanks

Jeremiah

Forgive me but being a newbie I'm not exactly sure what a flat or fridge pack is. I think a fridge pack is a box of twelve 12oz cans that can be slid into the shelf of a refridgerator lengthwise with one end of the box designed to open for easy dispensing. And I think a flat is a box of four 6-packs of 12oz cans that is open at the top for easy access. At Costco, Cokes come in 32 can packs and Pepsis come in 36 can boxes. Are they fridge packs or flats?

Anyway, when I started vending a couple of months ago, I used to open up all my soda packs and placed all the cans into milk crates that I get for free at some of my local suppliers. I found that I could fit 40 cans in each crate. I did it that way because the crates are stackable and I could stack them 3 crates high and they won't shift around while I'm driving. And because my van is just barely big enough for everything I have to carry on my route, the stacking helps to save space for my snack boxes. Another side benefit to this method is that I can get rid of all the empty boxes at home before I make my route run and that makes for less clutter as I make my run. The only problem with this is that it takes time to transfer the cans into the crates.

I think what I'll do is to make shelves for my van that will make it possible to hold everything I need and still be organized. I have a full-size cargo van with double doors at the rear and on the passenger side of the van. I was thinking that if I made shelves for the soda cases at the rear of the van, I could put all my sodas there. That way when I arrive at a location, I can pull out only the cases I need out of the back of the van without having to get into the van and without having to move other cases out of the way to get to what I need. All my snack boxes will go into the middle of the van and I can get to them from the side doors. Because they aren't heavy, it's not a big deal to have to go into the van to get the snack box I need. Does anyone have an idea on how to improve on this design?

[coinvestor]

Forgive me but being a newbie I'm not exactly sure what a flat or fridge pack is. I think a fridge pack is a box of twelve 12oz cans that can be slid into the shelf of a refridgerator lengthwise with one end of the box designed to open for easy dispensing. And I think a flat is a box of four 6-packs of 12oz cans that is open at the top for easy access. At Costco, Cokes come in 32 can packs and Pepsis come in 36 can boxes. Are they fridge packs or flats?

No need to apologize for being a newbie. I'm no oldie myself. Yes, a Fridge pack is the 12/12oz box that fits into the fridge. A flat is a 24/12oz cans that are six packed with the plastic rings. The 32 count and 36 count are cubes. From what I've seen cubes are the cheapest way to buy drinks, but I believe they were specifically designed to be hard to handle and store so vendors don't use them. They come in counts of 24, 32 and 36 and there is almost no way to pull a six pack out and still carry them, or stack them in a van. I have no idea if these are standard names I just know that Coke and Pepsi have called them this themselves.


Jeremiah

[BVI]

Sam's offers shrink wrapped 32-can flats. Instead of 6 packs, they are 8-packs. For me, it doesn't matter. It's still a flat, and I don't care if I pull an 8 pack or a 6 pack.

[coinvestor]

Sam's offers shrink wrapped 32-can flats. Instead of 6 packs, they are 8-packs. For me, it doesn't matter. It's still a flat, and I don't care if I pull an 8 pack or a 6 pack.

The Sams here dosen't offer them. I like having all the same size, whatever size, just for stacking purposes.

I have been using flats for a couple of weeks now. Much better. I can stock quicker and its easier. The tray on the BC10 is nice. I won't be going back to fridge packs!

I still have some products that I can't get at sams. What do Coke and Pepsi's prices look like on cans?

JD

[BVI]

The Sams here dosen't offer them. I like having all the same size, whatever size, just for stacking purposes.

I have been using flats for a couple of weeks now. Much better. I can stock quicker and its easier. The tray on the BC10 is nice. I won't be going back to fridge packs!

I still have some products that I can't get at sams. What do Coke and Pepsi's prices look like on cans?

Jeremiah

In my neck of the woods, they are $7.25 / case of 24 (Coke), and $7.25 / case of 24 (Pepsi). I only buy cans direct if I need some cheaper cases to hit my minimums for the number of 3rd party machines that I have. Better than spending $15.60 (Coke) and $16.50 (Pepsi) for 20-oz bottles!

[kevin]

In my neck of the woods, they are $7.25 / case of 24 (Coke), and $7.25 / case of 24 (Pepsi). I only buy cans direct if I need some cheaper cases to hit my minimums for the number of 3rd party machines that I have. Better than spending $15.60 (Coke) and $16.50 (Pepsi) for 20-oz bottles!

The coke here has discounts if you go so far past your minimum. I get a 15% discount almost everyweek and the rep told me taht you can get 5% pretty easy. I would call and ask if they have a program like this in your area.

[BVI]

My Coke rep says I should qualify in January for the 13% discount they offer. I'm not aware of any other available discounts, but I need to ask. They might have a different discount structure here... 15% is better than 13% any day.

There is a lot that I am not buying through Coke, or Pepsi for that matter, since their prices are so much higher than Sam's. I buy just as much as I possibly can from Sam's to get every bit of profit I can get.

[kevin]

My Coke rep says I should qualify in January for the 13% discount they offer. I'm not aware of any other available discounts, but I need to ask. They might have a different discount structure here... 15% is better than 13% any day.

There is a lot that I am not buying through Coke, or Pepsi for that matter, since their prices are so much higher than Sam's. I buy just as much as I possibly can from Sam's to get every bit of profit I can get.

With my discount its usually about the same or a little less. Including gas and the amount I buy it works for me. I use to get 1500-3000 rebates every 6 months because of the amount I buy. Its funny that 6-8 pallets a week is nothing to them and they think we are small because each route only run 80-125 cases a day.

[jblvending]

With my discount its usually about the same or a little less. Including gas and the amount I buy it works for me. I use to get 1500-3000 rebates every 6 months because of the amount I buy. Its funny that 6-8 pallets a week is nothing to them and they think we are small because each route only run 80-125 cases a day.

Kevin how many vending routes does your company have? Also I'd like to get your web site name and look you up, what is it? Thanks Tim

[kevin]

Kevin how many vending routes does your company have? Also I'd like to get your web site name and look you up, what is it? Thanks Tim

We have 2 routes, but its really more then that since Ive added accounts and I lost a driver me and my wife run for about 6-8 hours a day M-F and about 4-5 hours on saturday. I usually build a route by selling and filling the accounts myself until I cant handle it anymore, then I hire someone to run taht route. The problem now is that there is no one to hire in this area right now. I did have a young kid come in this afternoon that seemed promising but I will not know for sure tomorrow when I try him out on a few stops.

As for my site, I took a big portion of it down to redo alot of it this weekend, if I have time, but I will PM it to you when I get it all worked out.

Also my quantities that I buy don't really match my vending because I do alot of deliveries and we also supply a very large account with about 30-50 cases a week in their storage closets, this takes about twice as long to fill then a snack machine because of all the hassles. I also buy a pallet of water from sams once every 2 weeks and sometimes more during the hot months. If I can get another driver in there I have 3 or 4 snacks I can set and a few more drinks to get my sales up so that I can buy more equipment before the year is up. I have had 3 places ask me to set them up and 1 is very large and the other is a hospital taht I just cant handle right now. The large one I can get later because I have taken very good care of their sister companies, but the hospital will be snached up quick. All I can handle right now is 2 machine locations because I dont even really ahve the time to set the machines right now.

Coffee, Vending, Deliveries, and being short handed and really the only one with the know how to work on the equipment can be very rough.