4 replies to this topic

[gwhite93105]

I'm considering trying my hand at maintaining some honor boxes but have never done so before. I've done enough reading to have an idea of where to put them, but am wondering how current operators are doing in this economic climate?

[Steve Fischer]

This would be a better question for the bulk vending section of the forum.

[dogcow]

I'm considering trying my hand at maintaining some honor boxes but have never done so before. I've done enough reading to have an idea of where to put them, but am wondering how current operators are doing in this economic climate?

my theft averages about 10%, however my cogs is about 14% , typical vending your cogs is 50% so its still enormously profitable compared to regular vending, also the box only cost about $4 so i always amortize the cost of the box in the first pull. Its very unlikely your theft will be 100% though it has happened on the 2nd and 3rd service.

I have about 32 items in the box and collect on average about $28 per box every 2 weeks ( some product will remain uneaten and can possibly be recycled). I put in all the items that you would see in a snack machine. All items are priced at $1 and I tend to put mostly cheaper items (chips,crackers, granola bars) mixed about 80/20 with premium items (pastry and candy). In some locations I will put all pastry or more pastry if requested. Some larger locations may even want a sidecar with just pastry items, make sure they are good payers though and pull quickly if not.

I highly recommend at least giving it a shot . works best in smaller accounts like tire or auto mechanic shops, daycare, barber/beauty shop, banks , doctors office/urgent care (GREAT locations) , and pretty much anywhere else with 5-20 employees.

Tracking the #s is key to honor boxes, if you dont track you will not know when to pull out of a location. I pull out above 15% loss, i have heard people will stick it out to as much as 40% loss.

Like any vending its key to have a good relationship with the owners/managers they are going to be the ones keeping everyone honest. I think the bad economy is better for honor boxes because people are less likely to risk losing their jobs, and employers tend to hire better quality employees .. this was also the observation in the new york times article on honor boxes ( http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all )

[gwhite93105]

This would be a better question for the bulk vending section of the forum.

Thanks - if I would have stopped and thought about it I would have come to the same realization but I just signed up here and all my posts thus far have (correctly) been in the Soda Area.

[RJT]

Full snack honor box I think works ok in this section. If it were the candy style honor boxes then bulk would work better probably.