Lbfrozen

Just when I was getting ready to jump into this one... Am I too late? Never stopped me before... tl;dr There is no course, even if you found one. I could be wrong, but I am not wrong. (I started typing before I saw AngryChris' post, so maybe some restating things.) As stated from time to time here, some people are in vending (or similar businesses) and do not know how much they are making. Some do not care, as long as the bills are paid (living lean, as AZ said). Sounds weird, but it is true for a few smaller vendors. Some of us do not net much (and we know it), so, why would we choose to "live lean"? A few reasons: flexibility to make a little bit of extra income around life (e.g. full-time job, family, et cetera); semi-retirees trying to keep busy or stay married (funny saying, but retirees have a high rate of divorce b/c two people are not used to being around each other all day and all night); or, slowly build up assets by reinvesting as much as possible (a common theme on these forums - AngryChris, same with me, many others). The numbers are different for most of us b/c of several factors: size of vendor business; location of vendor business; vending location variables (large mall w/huge rent/commission vs. rural welding shop breakroom); type of vending (cost of goods for snack ~50% vs. ice cream ~150%). I love and am educated in numbers, analysis, and analysis-based decision-making. My spreadsheets could conquer nations. I was like Junior with Foghorn Leghorn ("Little Boy Boo"). Number analysis can be powerful in the right situations. However, I learned in life (and vending) to not let numbers analysis dictate decisions where there are a lot of soft variables. I could spend a lot of time on assigning values to the soft variables, but, to what end? The paralysis of analysis is real - pencil-whipping forms all day long results in a lot of data and little work (Work = Force x Distance). At some point, someone has to shovel the ____. Anyway, rehash, rehash. Vending is right for some, but not most. We are not saying we are awesome - we just worked hard, and avoided enough pitfalls along the way. You may be the next one who jumps right in, as tblake05 said, and gets it right. If so, great people on here will answer questions, if you have some along the way - I, myself, am still learning. -LB

Also, please do not suggest a “Longest Post” badge - even as a joke. I occasionally over-achieve, and I do not want to get banned from the forums.

Hi k, AZ is right on ADA. Do not bring it up, unless you are selling to a hospital or some other potential account you should avoid. Lowballing a potential account may cause problems, for more reasons than I will state here. There are past threads on pricing. Also, are the prices high b/c of a commission paid by the current vendor? Also, do not bring up commissions, especially if you are new to vending and vending sales. Also, nvm. I am sure there are exceptions, but the videos are mostly bs. I mean that in the best possible way. I mean it like the way cute girls (with filters) in videos are mostly bs. Same with the CNBC stories of clean, well-rested, young go-getters who are making a killing in their spare time with vending. (Stop being poor, they tell you. Sheesh, why did I not think to stop being poor when I was young? It could have been so simple.) The actual numbers do not work in any of those stories I have researched, and the same goes for most of the videos. They want clicks and views, not necessarily thankful and successful readers and watchers. The exception may be videos from manufacturers, their endorsed resellers, or some service provider (who actually found time to make a video). I start every conversation or phone call with a potential machine buyer of my machines (or someone who was referred to me by a friend b/c they already bought or signed a purchase contract, and now they realize they have $20,000 of unplaced machines at a local warehouse with monthly storage costs) by telling them that it is my intention to talk them out of vending (and that is not b/c I am worried about them becoming a competitor). Forget that dude featured in a CNBC.com, Entrepreneur magazine, or Startup magazine article. Clean and well-rested? I cannot think of a two day lucky streak of having both of those simultaneously in many years. Things have only gotten worse with the supply chain and inflation issues of the past few years. Also, if a location (or government) decides to try one of those Covid lockdowns again (already happening with some school systems and corporations), you will lose half of your inventory in machines and on your storage shelves within two weeks. In 2020, that put several small and medium-sized vendors out of business almost immediately, especially those who came to depend on office coffee sales to supplement location revenue. Our group was very fortunate to actually grow during that time, but I do not know other companies that had that scenario. Most vendors suffered when the offices closed, the malls were empty, and the schools went to remote. I think nearly every small to medium-large company member on this forum will agree that new machines, or even professionally refurbished machines, are purchases that we make when we are forced to do so (adding to an existing big account, or a major time crunch). That said, I do like the people I know at two local machine suppliers. I have bought several new and refurbished machines over the years. If you are buying quality refurbished machines, you can expect that some of them will have parts fail under warranty, maybe up to half of the time. That is how you got the discount from $7,000 new to $5,200 refurbished. The same machine, used, might cost $1,500 - $3,000, maybe less, if you are buying several. Once you know the basic operation and service of your machines, you can deal with basic stuff that happens to them. If you are trying to avoid the hassles of service calls by buying a machine under warranty, please allow me to introduce the concepts of a bent quarter, trashed dollar bill, electrical surge or outage, vandalism, prank service call (public machines), perceived problem (nervous Nellie who has you on speed dial), or several other service call categories. Btw, good place to remind you to have liability insurance in place, for a lot of reasons. You should also probably consider commercial vehicle insurance. (I apologize in advance for how harsh this next part sounds.) The TikTok and YT video watchers who have contacted me about buying machines, or who were referred to me by a friend, have a vibe similar to the biz opp victims from years ago (before they were victims). There are always exceptions and success stories, but I do not know of anyone who bought a $10,000 mechanical vending machine (plus, business advice included!) and made money. I do know several who lost money - on multiple machines. Some lost everything they had - not just money. Want to know why I am not worried one of those people will eventually see my comments here and feel I violated their trust? Easy - it is b/c I have had those conversations so many times that I have multiple versions of each one. Many of us here have similar experiences with those stories and conversations. Vending is a slow-growth business, and some people become mildly successful doing it in their spare time (we all hope you are one of them, if you decide to do it). However, when they made the jump to full-time, they were watching every expense, and they knew a new machine would need 10,000 to 20,000 items sold through it to pay it off (which may be the right fit for you). That is a lot of items to pick up and place, one by one, from a climate-controlled storage space, to a climate-controlled vehicle, maybe up or down stairs (backwards, if on a hand truck), always worrying about exp dates, ants, moisture, temperature changes, jerks, traffic, jerks, price changes, supply chain, other jerks. I can give you my number, if you want me to try to talk you out of vending sometime. I assure you that the old-timers on here are not just waiting for the next “city-slicker” to show up to “their ranch” with “brand new boots” and some “cockamamie shenanigans” in their “soft heads”, even though it reads that way sometimes (either through your, or, their “judgmental, squinty”, eyes). They just want to tell you what they have seen work - or fail - over many years. Btw, I do not necessarily consider myself to have reached the level of old-timer around here. Also, I apologize to anyone who actually read this far - I have a keyboard, and I cannot go anywhere while puppy-sitting (if the kid moves away, how do you end up watching their dog while they travel??). Also, much of my sentence formation and word choice is intentionally chosen to create slight tension in the reader - hopefully, not enough to anger them. Like a long Norm Macdonald joke - except my shtick is not funny. -LB

Wait, you guys get someone to come out for service calls? I cannot get on site service at all since February 2020 - not even joking. As upsetting as typing those sentences gets me, I will save my thoughts on runaway inflation and its demoralizing effects. Same on fast food/QSR. Also, more congratulations to tblake05. Keep going. The repair cost helps you learn repairs quickly, as does a location that tells you to pull it, if it is not working. Same for metal work on a broken-into/robbed machine. -LB

I was too harsh on the Vue earlier - apologies to Mike for taking the shot at it. Other than that, I love Vendo. Vendo's T-handle design is one of my favorite machine features of all time - no twisting. I love them on my M&M/Mars refrigerated candy machines (both MicroMech and mdb Millenniums). Our only other Vendo is older drink, and some market fixtures. The world is changing on us, though; I miss the rectangle selection buttons. Their vintage stuff is cool, too. (That guy with the pinups is still selling vintage Vendo and Cavalier on eBay.) For that time period of glassfronts, DN 5800 was the best - easy to move with a narrow pallet jack, somewhat less likely to have product stolen, held a lot of product for the footprint it used. It could have been better with a different delivery port. All of the stackers were/are good - Vendo 721, DN 501E, Royal 650 and 660. Having no door kickstand is crap. The pallet jack is supposed to be for holding the cooling deck when you slide it out, but I also have had to use it for doors. Cooling decks can make a fool out of a grown man. Did 448 have plastic lift levers? I hate plastic lift levers. Rowe was neat, but the only 548 and 648 we have left is mostly for leasing or selling to TV/movie set decorators. I am not sure what to do with the 10 or more Rowe change machines we have left. From a Vendo Vue identification to Rowe 448 and nostalgia posts. I warn that I will continue to occasionally help derail threads with mildly interesting tidbits until enough of my excess inventory is sold to enable me to repurpose some of our warehouse space. (Apologies to vp as well!) I am not the only one to blame this time, though. Also, I promise I edited out several rabbit hole terms and searchable words, unlike AZ, who is to blame for several of us trying to figure out what is a Vendo cable snack machine. -LB

Hi vp, I hope you have more information on this machine and seller, because it seems sketchy otherwise. Even if the seller is not savvy with vending machines, he should have accidentally found a manufacturer serial number or multiple Coke asset tags. The only time I have seen fewer than two Coke tags is on machines over 30 years old. In that vein, unless the 'seller' also has a bill of sale to hand over with the machine (detailing the make, model, and serial number), you are risking Coke coming by to pick up their machine from you (because Coke owns it, unless you have a bill of sale). It is not uncommon for Coke and Pepsi (and Snapple, ice cream wholesalers, energy drink wholesalers, and many others) to come by to pick up their assets when they find out about them, even including pallets (like when those fancy plastic ones gets hoarded). Some of them keep up with CL, FB, and govdeals.com listings, looking for their lost sheep. You can never win the gamble on a branded asset - no bill of sale means the bottler or wholesaler is the rightful owner. Btw, it is mdb. Others here will know more, but it may require surface mounting or the more expensive bezels to install a reader. (We do not have any Vendo Vues - reminds me too much of a Royal Vision 500, perhaps my most hoted machine.) Also btw, if you do locate the Coke tag (maybe even the Vendo serial number), your local Coke bottler will be able to tell you if that machine is still owned by them. Bottlers usually put their phone number on their machines, although I do not see one on the front of your pictured machine. -LB

You said ‘working’, so I was not going to say anything bad about it. 😀 I guess when they are working, a Genesis might be decent - I know there are operators here that use them. We do not have any of them, although I do still have some Antares!! in a warehouse (not in service for a long time, but we did make money with the ones we bought to get locations years ago). I still see Antares parts being sold on eBay - I should do that myself. -LB

I will add to what Gizmo says above by stating that, if a seller can guarantee a timeframe for setting up service on the readers, that may be worth whatever price is given to you. We are currently waiting on a call back for getting some existing Nayax readers set up on a new account, and, between their automated phone system/leaving a voicemail and the general atmosphere in this forum on the subject, it seems like a longer wait is ahead. Also to add to what Gizmo said is that, in addition to (5% - 6%) swipe fees on every transaction, there are often two monthly costs - service/VMS, as well as a cellular/SIM data fee (unless you have feasible Ethernet access, or the two costs are bundled). If I ever get a call back from Nayax, I would be able to know if the $9.99 is a bundled cellular data and VMS fee. -LB

I have four or five that will be sold. Most decent combos go for $5,000 or more new, so used is almost certainly your only choice. You may already know the following part, but it should be said from time to time on here that combos are a difficult proposition for most vendors. They often seem like a good idea (obviously, they are manufactured and sold, and many of us have used them successfully), but, they are not as easy or as profitable as most people want them to be. If I were to give advice to readers here, I would say to make sure you read negative discussion in past threads. If, after that, you believe your situation is one of the few positive opportunities, I wish you Godspeed and good luck. Also, I have machines I would sell to you. Location may be a determining factor for your purchase. I am near Atlanta; tblake05 ⬆️is in Minnesota, so you may do well with price and shipping, if you are anywhere near him. -LB

Thanks, AZ. Business is decent - just changing. We were strong and growing through the first half of the pandemic, and now it is time to sell off and consolidate. Years of stuff piling up - I even have cigarette machine parts. However, as these things go, we may want to move on to be a former vending company, as we become a more of a vending service company. Future plans to be more public in the, well, future. LB

Thanks, tblake05. I sent you a private message. LB

Hi all, I have been away from the forums for a good long while - very uninteresting reasons why. Anyway, we are selling a large portion of our assets in NW Atlanta metro: up to 100 machines (from Rowe 548’s to a USI Combo still on shipping skids); a big assortment of parts; micro market fixtures, coolers (Imbera G319, one brand new), and kiosks; warehouse assets, including walk-in cooler and freezer, straddle stacker, and hand trucks; office equipment, including Cummins coin sorter and bill counter; and OCS (including Azkoyen Vitro S5’s with stands). Send a DM if you are interested in getting a list of items available, or if you are interested in visiting our storage warehouse. I would rather deal locally - I definitely do not want to get in the way of knowledgeable people on here who spend their valuable time answering questions as part of their parts and service businesses. I have not been much of a contributor for a few years, so I am not presently trying to make big bank from the community. I would rather try to deal with some of you guys, rather than sell to someone on CL or FB who got excited watching TikTok videos on vending. You can sometimes sell machines to those guys for a great price, but I feel bad if I do not spend most of my time with them trying to first talk them out of vending. If they are still interested after that, I gladly take their money. Btw, is there any interest in jump-starting the Classifieds section? It would take some time to write up and post some of the hundreds of items we intend to sell, but I would be happy to start posting stuff there, if it would help. LB