Arqangel13 Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Hello all: I heard on one of my other threads that the national monthly gross income average is only $7 per machine per location. If that is correct, it will take a very long time to make any profit or a living with vending machines. How can you make a decent living with bulk vending machines? I was thinking of tripples, with one head dispensing gum, another dispensing m&m's or skittles, and the last one dispensing toys, stickers or tattoos. But still, at $7 per head (if that is correct thinking), that is still only $21 per location. How many machines should I have in a location to make enough to make vending profitable? Also, if bulk machines have the highest profit, which machines are the most profitable? I have heard about Chicken and "All American Chickens", but I am not sure if those are bulk vending. i also think that they are very expensive, especially if I am just starting out. I know this is a totally newbie type question, and to some may be dumb, but I really want to start off on the right foot and get into vending without regret. That is why I joined this forum. Any suggestions on machines or strategy would be very much appreciated. Thanks. Take care. Mario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 That 7 dollar number being thrown around is a figure from a survey that is I'm thinking about 6 years old. To be a success you will need to do much more than 7 a month. That being said there is really two types of bulk. Charity candy is one. Mostly this is sticking a machine anywhere you can get it and hope for the best. Then there is the more profitable comm vending this type will focus on more stable income locations. Using racks. Sticker machines, spiral and many others. You will focus on accounts that will bring much better revenue doing this. You asked about the new chicken. This machine would be used on comm. I use it as do others here on the forum. They report very good sales of two something and 3 something a month. I have seen the same type of sales. I even have one mall spot that sold 1800 eggs last month. This machine is very easy to place as it is newer and locations really like it. You also only carry one product for it and that helps keep inventory cost down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagesVending Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 You can't really expect to go from no machines to making a living at vending, just like that! Many of the guys that make their living solely on vending took awhile before they got to that stage. It's always a work in progress. First start out with 10-20 machines to figure out if you even want to do this business before you get too invested in it. It will take time to place them too. Most locations will require follow-up, so you need to have the time as well. One of my most profitable locations is a triple with Runts, Skittles and 1" toys. Those candies are cheap (and sell). By the way, you can't vend flat stickers or tattoos out of a triple candy machine. They have the mini ones rolled up in capsules, but they don't sell well at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 $7 per head sounds about right for average. It's a bit more than that for racks, but for doubles and triples that about normal. That's why it's important to buy your doubles and triples used as cheap as possible so you can make your money back quickly. I'm starting to see my doubles and triples as door openers for racks. If a double or triple does well somewhere, I try to get a rack in there. A 4 way rack takes up about as much room as a double and makes a lot more money. A six way rack can squeeze into a lot of places a triple can, and makes a lot more money. The list goes on. As an example, I have 2 places that I recently replaced triples with 4 way racks. I bought each 4 way rack for $150. The triples were making about $20 per month. The 4 way racks are doing about $45 per month. Pretty soon I'm going to get some 50 cent coin mechs and swap 1 head on each to toys (currently selling all candy at each location). Toys at 50 cents should bump that figure up to at least $55 per month in my estimation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 The most profitable vending machine is the one that delivers the greatest return on investment. The return you get on a machine is dependent on the location it is in. So the question you ask will have a tendency to give you well meaning but wrong answers. The people I know that make the most money in bulk vending are people that are strictly single head gum or "full line bulk". Both require a lot of work dedication and money. This is why I always recommend newbies to start out at the lowest cost possible, single head gum. No matter what you think you may find out that you really dont like locating, spending your weekends working, investing lots of $ in what is basically a job etc, and it is better to find out on the cheap than spend a lot of money going with expensive machines only to hate what you are doing and fail. If you do find out that you like this biz and the work, THEN go all in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 There's more to running a business than just ROI. Single head machines will generate great ROI in terms of percentage returned compared to dollars spent, but you can't forget the cashflow of multihead setups. The ROI on a big rack will likely be lower than on a single head, but once it pays for itself you'll have a lot more dollars in your pocket every service cycle than you will with a single head and you'll spend a lot less time servicing an 8 or 10 head rack than you will running around to 10 different locations servicing 10 single head machines to maybe make as much money as the rack does. Something to consider when planning your business. You can spend a lot of money making money by running around all over the world servicing single head machines. Fuel and maintenance costs on your vehicle add up, and if you start putting a dollar value on your time, the single head machines begin to look less and less attractive. I recommend starting with single, double, or triple machines just to get your foot in the market, and then upgrading as soon as possible to larger equipment and shifting your original fleet of small machines out into new terrritory and repeating the cycle as many times as possible until you have a lot of racks that can bring you $100-$200 per hour of labor you spend servicing them. You're not likely to see that kind of return on your time with single head machines. As your route grows bigger and consumes more of your time, you'll definitely begin to think about dollars per hour more than ROI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arqangel13 Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Thank you all very much. These posts were very encouraging. My plan is to start out with doubles an tripples. I guess these are the hooks get you into a location. It seems, from what I am reading, that once I find a productive location, it would be a smart move to bring in racks (4 to 6 heads) and move the double/tripple to a new location. This at least gives me a plan to start with. BTW, I was thinking about starting out with 10 to 20 machines to get my feet wet. This seems like something I could manage. Also, as I understand it, Tattoos/stickers are sold from flat machines and if the rolled up ones don't sell well, what toy do you recommend I sell along with the candy? I know it takes time and a lot of work to get a vending route to be profitable. I have no problem putting in the time. I just want to make sure that, in the long run, I could make a decent profit. Right now, I don't plan on making this my primary source of income. I just wanted to have a second income. I would like to build it to the point where it could become my primary source of income, but that won't be for many years yet. I was just thinking that I wanted something that would be fun and profitable and vending seemed to be it. Besides, my kids could help me with the vending route. I think they will get a kick out of that and, at the same time, I could teach them about business and success...something that isn't really taught in our schools. Thanks for all of your help. I am a lot happier now and will take all of your advise to heart. Take care. Mario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20g8tr Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Arqangel13: you said, "My plan is to start out with doubles an tripples. I guess these are the hooks get you into a location." IMO, and it is just my opinion and experience, the hook to getting into any location or at least the best hook and the fastest is affiliate yourself with a charity. Most restaurant owners/retail owners could care less about vending machines and in reality, would rather not want them in their location unless it was their own or a family/friend's machine. They have a business to run and a product/service to sell and the last thing they want to deal with is a vending machine. That is the main reason you run into a lot of turn downs and also the issue of space, or past negative experience with a previous vendor. However, if the location owner has space, your best hook to get into the location is to become affiliated with a recognized charity like Children's Cancer or Missing Children or even a local charity (Habitat 4 Humanity, etc...). The main reason they would let a machine in their is to help the charity unless you are offering a great commission. But who wants to split the commission when you can make more money affiliating with a charity and get your machines out their faster. Just food for thought. When you start splitting the commission, as the location owner, I would begin to think to myself, "Self? Why am I splitting a commission with this outside vendor who I am letting him/her use my space, when I can put my own machine in here in my own space and keep all the money?" They will think this especially if they see the machine cranking out quarters. Affiliating yourself with a charity decreases the likelihood of this happening even though it will still happen but just not as much as well as awesome customer service on your part and building a relationship with the location owner and get him/her to like you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Vending Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Who wants to give a commission you ask? People who target this kind of thing and say to the owner that they are only give $1 per month. Then say ok I will give you __% and you can donate the money or keep it or do what ever with it. My favorite is to say " how about this I give you __% and after the first service you will get more money than this guy donates in a year!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Who wants to give a commission you ask? People who target this kind of thing and say to the owner that they are only give $1 per month. Then say ok I will give you __% and you can donate the money or keep it or do what ever with it. My favorite is to say " how about this I give you __% and after the first service you will get more money than this guy donates in a year!" I love to educate location owners on the small amount that goes to charity. I would like to see a law that makes charity operators report and make their books public record just as any other charity has to operate. If your using the charity angle to operate then you should have to follow the charity rules and laws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 If your using the charity angle to operate then you should have to follow the charity rules and laws But you're not a charity so why would you have to follow charity rules and laws? I think commission vendors should service their machines with cucumbers shoved down their pants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makes Cents Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 ; Arqangel13: you said, "My plan is to start out with doubles an tripples. I guess these are the hooks get you into a location." IMO, and it is just my opinion and experience, the hook to getting into any location or at least the best hook and the fastest is affiliate yourself with a charity. Most restaurant owners/retail owners could care less about vending machines and in reality, would rather not want them in their location unless it was their own or a family/friend's machine. They have a business to run and a product/service to sell and the last thing they want to deal with is a vending machine. That is the main reason you run into a lot of turn downs and also the issue of space, or past negative experience with a previous vendor. However, if the location owner has space, your best hook to get into the location is to become affiliated with a recognized charity like Children's Cancer or Missing Children or even a local charity (Habitat 4 Humanity, etc...). The main reason they would let a machine in their is to help the charity unless you are offering a great commission. But who wants to split the commission when you can make more money affiliating with a charity and get your machines out their faster. Just food for thought. When you start splitting the commission, as the location owner, I would begin to think to myself, "Self? Why am I splitting a commission with this outside vendor who I am letting him/her use my space, when I can put my own machine in here in my own space and keep all the money?" They will think this especially if they see the machine cranking out quarters. Affiliating yourself with a charity decreases the likelihood of this happening even though it will still happen but just not as much as well as awesome customer service on your part and building a relationship with the location owner and get him/her to like you. Since you are a phone locator I can understand that you would think affiliating with a charity would be the best way to get in to a business. Your business model relies on that. The fact is though there are different reasons why owners/managers will let vendors in. Some owners care about how much money they can make from vending machines placed in what would otherwise be unused space. Other owners/manager dont care about making money from vending, they are more interested in showing that they support the community and providing candy machines for their customers. Sometimes the owner/manager cares about both and will have both a commission and charity vendor. As to profit, it depends how you measure it. Percent wise I think a charity gumball machine will make more % profit but dollar wise, the commission vendor is pulling a higher gross & net amount of money from the location. Where the gumball vendor may pull $15 the commission vendor may pull $150 so even with commission payment, cogs he/she is make more dollars per location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makes Cents Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 ; I love to educate location owners on the small amount that goes to charity. I would like to see a law that makes charity operators report and make their books public record just as any other charity has to operate. If your using the charity angle to operate then you should have to follow the charity rules and laws A vendor who affiliates with a charity is not a charity, they are a vending operator running a small business. Their business model calls for a set donation to a charity on a monthly bases. It is a donation agreement between the vendor and the charity. As to state laws, reporting and books, thats the responsibility of the charity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Comparing a charity vendor to an actual charity and subsequently suggesting said vendors be subject to the same financial rules as a non-profit is one of the most absurd things I've ever seen posted on this forum. I have nothing against either charity or commission. My route consists of both and I hope it always remains so because I like the flexibility. But, the bias some vendors have against charity is downright ridiculous. Saying a charity bulk vendor should have to open their books just like a charity does...WOW! That's like saying the President of my Neighborhood Association should have to make his tax filings public just like the President of the United States....I mean...they're both "presidents" right? Jeez.....it's hard to keep from cussing on these threads sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Comparing a charity vendor to an actual charity and subsequently suggesting said vendors be subject to the same financial rules as a non-profit is one of the most absurd things I've ever seen posted on this forum. Obviously you didn't see my cucumber comment. That was pretty absurd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Obviously you didn't see my cucumber comment. That was pretty absurd. Actually I did...the comment about charity vendors and the need for an open-book policy was still a whole other level of absurdity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 OK. Just checking. That was the point of my comment. I tried to respond to an absurd comment with one of my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 A charity vendor is taking donations for a charity right. So don't the people donating have a right to know how they money is spent. The charity vendor whole business is based on the charity and raising money for the charity. I'm not bashing charity I'm just saying it should be open and transparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 When the charity operator puts out his hand and collects donations on behalf of the charity he becomes an agent of the charity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 A charity vendor is taking donations for a charity right. No. A charity vendor is making a donation to the charity himself. He is not soliciting donations, he is selling a product for profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Hi my name is Anthony I want to place this quarter sized vending machine in your store and a % of the sales will be donated to XYZ charity. Did I not just solicit for this charity. Charity operators do not go in and say. Hi I'm Anthony I run a for profit company and I will send a dollar a month to XYZ charity if I can put this machine here for free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makes Cents Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 ; Hi my name is Anthony I want to place this quarter sized vending machine in your store and a % of the sales will be donated to XYZ charity. Did I not just solicit for this charity. Charity operators do not go in and say. Hi I'm Anthony I run a for profit company and I will send a dollar a month to XYZ charity if I can put this machine here for free Hi my name is Anthony I want to place this quarter sized vending machine in your store and a set portion of the money collected is donated to XYZ charity. You did not just solicit for a charity. You just stated a fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 ;Hi my name is Anthony I want to place this quarter sized vending machine in your store and a set portion of the money collected is donated to XYZ charity. You did not just solicit for a charity. You just stated a fact. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 ;Hi my name is Anthony I want to place this quarter sized vending machine in your store and a set portion of the money collected is donated to XYZ charity. You did not just solicit for a charity. You just stated a fact. So where does a portion of the money go? If I didn't solicit for a charity. You can just clam the charity when it suits you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 No. A charity vendor is making a donation to the charity himself. He is not soliciting donations, he is selling a product for profit. BINGO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.