The Wittern machines are the only machines I will buy. The machines are of excellent quality, and I seldom have had to do anything to them. They really stand by their warranties and are extremely helpful. Another reason I won't switch to another manufacturer is because I have 26 of their machines right now, which is significant enough that down the road when I have a lot more of them out there, eventually, I may pull some out of the field to use as "parts" machines. If I don't have 2 or 3 brands out there, it will be easy for me to provide my own parts when I need to, and as with anything mechanical, the day will come when I will need parts 10 or 15 years down the road.

Yes years ago, when we first started, we own about 30 USI, candy and drink machines, we have since have gone to crane machines(GPL's).The machines(USI's) are not bad, we just felt that the GPL were more user friendly, and offered more options for the money.

I've been working in the vending business for over 17 years and there have always been customers that request healthy snacks for their employees and some even want a snack machine full of just healthy items. The thing is, people that want to eat healthy really don't eat that many snacks anyway. We do what we can to make the customer happy but the stuff doesn't sell that great.

Hey Csims,

You and I are in the in same boat. I plan on buying one machine and very slowly enter the world of bulk vending soon. I think the advice that people have provided on here is great...begin very slowly! Every experienced vendor that I have communicated with has told me the same thing.

I don't know if you have looked at this before, but there is this guy Rob that just started his bulk vending business about a month ago in Florida: Click here to check it out. I like his blog a lot because it demonstrates the day-to-day tasks involved in setting up your own bulk vending business from the very beginning. Rob is really starting off fast with a lot of machines, something you and I won't do, but his blog is a great read nonetheless.

Good luck!
Ryan

3 to 4 is a good start. My point was that it is more difficult than people first think to locate a machine. Most new operators fail because they thought it would be no problem to locate a machine. Once they invest in 10 or 20 machines and are only able to successfully place 3 or 4 they become dissappointed rather quickly. It just makes the bite that much worse when someone realizes this and they still have multiple machines waiting to be placed. Its quite daunting. My philosophy is to only buy the machines you need to place, plus an extra or two that you always have lying about in case of an emergency or breakdown. I primarily use Seaga machines and I get them in about 3 days after I order them. Amerivend is about as quick so there is never a need to have more than a couple unplaced machines cluttering your garage/basement/office.

Let your business grow at its own pace. Like westlake said, roll your profits back into the business and you will be surprised at how quickly you will reach your goals.

Good luck to you!