Hi,

Looking for a little veteran advise. I am looking to buy a route in the SF Bay Area. I have one picked out and it looks good. Revenues are down but so is the economy. They supply the bulk vending machines (toy cranes, stickers and capsule toys) and split with the client 40% product, 30% client, 30% them.

While doing research I was told by a machine vendor that this is an outdated business model. Most vendors at moving to a model where the client buys the machine (at cost or close to it) and signs a service contract.

What is your take on this? Is this mostly for large operations (I am and will be a one man show)? Do many vendors retain the profit split model used by this route? I am very interested as I plan to keep this business 5-7 years, sell it and retire when my kids complete school. An operation that loses value due to industry changes now occuring is not desirable to me.

Also, how would you value a route? This guy is asking over 3 times his annual cash flow which seems high to me.

Lastly, how about the Bulk Vending Industry Outlook in general? Those of you who have been in this field for a while and know it, are you glad you got into it and glad you are still here?

Any idea how I can research that more effectively? I got a report from the Bulk Vending Association but it was more of a historical review of the last couple years. Seems to me that every industry has a "Bible" publication that the industry follows. What is that publication/magazine for Bulk Vending? Thanks.