karwood Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 First of all, a total newbie here. I have been reading everything I can on Vendiscuss for the past few weeks, so any questions I'm asking means I haven't been able to find the answer to by searching the site. While I have a regular job (working for myself) that makes me decent money and leaves me lots of extra time, I have seen things trending downward the past year or so, therefore I'm looking for something part-time to take up the slack and eventually do full time when my current gig quits making me money. As some of you who also frequent the bulk forum know, I have the opportunity to purchase 15 Shootin' Hoops for about $135 each, so a little over $2000. Several of you have been kind enough to offer advice and everyone tells me to go for it, that it's a good deal. I've also been reading everything I can on the higher end redemption machines, like Barber Cut, Key Master, etc. I've got a lead on a Barber Cut in good working condition I can probably get for about the same price as the 15 Shootin' Hoops. On the surface, to a newbie,such as myself, it would seem that put in a good location, the BC would make 2 or 3 times more money a month than the 15 Shootin' Hoops combined. Also, I would also only have to make one service call for the BC, but travel to 15 different locations to service all the Shootin' Hoops. I've got to be missing something, because on the surface, the BC seems like a no brainer. Is the fly in the ointment that 1 Barber Cut would be more difficult to locate than all 15 Shootin' Hoops put together? I mean, better to have 15 machines located and making money rather that a high end machine sitting in the garage doing nothing. Just as a side bar, I live in a university town of about 30,000, 45 minutes from a large city. I stopped by my local theatre (10 Plex) to see what machines they had there. Sure enough, there was a Barber Cut (Damn!). It only had 3 prizes hanging in it and all the rest of the strings cut. I'm not sure if this means he doesn't service it very often or they have some expert Barber Cut players in my town or he only loads it with 3 prizes at a time (there were Beats headphones, a Kindle Fire and one other I can't remember). I'd really appreciate any advice any of you could offer. I just want to get the biggest bang for my time and investment dollars, which are pretty limited at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brmorr Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 I guess the biggest question is, where are you going to put the Barber Cut on location? Does it have a lot of foot traffic? Barbercut will do good in certain situations just like a Keymaster will, etc.. You might get a dud of a location for your Barbercut and only make $40 a week on it, all depends... Have you found a location where you might want to put a BC and have the OK to do so?? More then likely you are not going to get into a movie theatre unless you supply a TON more games then just a BC. Plus, look around, I think Barbercut's have been selling in the $1800 range lately... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 The Hoops would be the wiser choice, and if you have a problem locating all of them you could most likely sell them for more than you paid.Also don't think one barber cut will make more than 15 well placed hoops. You shouldn't have any trouble locating these in mom and pop restaurants because they are not the same old tired gumball machines you see everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanihotdog Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 I agree with bouncing balls. depending on where you live the barber cut may get you in trouble with the law! people know that barber cuts are rigged... andprobably don't play them as much as they used to. To my knowledge, Betson, a large distributor of amusement machine, does not sell them anymore. you will have to work harder to place the shooting hoops, but you will be glad you did in the long run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karwood Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 I guess the biggest question is, where are you going to put the Barber Cut on location? Does it have a lot of foot traffic? Barbercut will do good in certain situations just like a Keymaster will, etc.. You might get a dud of a location for your Barbercut and only make $40 a week on it, all depends... Have you found a location where you might want to put a BC and have the OK to do so?? More then likely you are not going to get into a movie theatre unless you supply a TON more games then just a BC. Plus, look around, I think Barbercut's have been selling in the $1800 range lately... Thanks a lot guys. One noob question I had asked in another thread regarding the shootin hoops was if most locations had exclusive contracts with their bulk vendors, preventing me from locating a single shooin hoops next to some other guy's racks, etc. The answer came back that it usually wouldn't be a problem, as there is rarely an exclusive contract. Is it different with amusement machines?. Just wondering why a movie theater wouldn't let me place a single machine unless they have an exclusive contract with their current vendor? (assuming they had room for it and it was something that would make them money) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brmorr Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 . To my knowledge, Betson, a large distributor of amusement machine, does not sell them anymore. you will have to work harder to place the shooting hoops, but you will be glad you did in the long run Don't know how true this statement is above. I just bought my Barbercut from them a few months back. Barbercut is no different then a Keymaster, Stacker, etc.. with its paying off after a certain time. I think Betson or any distributor will sell you anything as long as your credit goes through or your cash is green!!! One noob question I had asked in another thread regarding the shootin hoops was if most locations had exclusive contracts with their bulk vendors, preventing me from locating a single shooin hoops next to some other guy's racks, etc. The answer came back that it usually wouldn't be a problem, as there is rarely an exclusive contract. Is it different with amusement machines?. Just wondering why a movie theater wouldn't let me place a single machine unless they have an exclusive contract with their current vendor? (assuming they had room for it and it was something that would make them money) Don't know how it is by you or what movie chain you might be looking at, but I have a exclusive contract with my movie theatre locations. Yes, it has a out for them if they notify me, but someone can not just come along and put 1 game in the middle of my stuff without them having me remove all of my stuff. Don't know how anyone else has their stuff setup, but I just deal with cranes, and prize merchandisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanihotdog Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Brmorr.. I am Not saying that Betson did not sell you a barbercut lite. but I checked their website, and I cannot find where they sell them?? I may very well be wrong on this one, but after the poop hit the fan with merchandiser legality in CA and AZ. My sales rep said Betson quit carrying them? (he quit shortly after because merchandisers were all he was selling) Was yours used? maybe they got one in used and kept it on the "hush hush"?? Karwood, Bmorr is correct about exclusive contracts. Most vendors who drop big money ($20,000 +) on equipment for a movie theater will get an exclusive contract. that should not stop you from trying to put one of your hoop machines in a theatre.. A good idea may be to call the vendor and "piggy back" on their equipment. if they are not vending bulk, maybe you can sublease space for x amount a month.. or maybe you can keep 100% of revenue and write a monthly check for 50% of the revenue to the vendor (they make 25% and don't have to do anything) 50% is still a great return if you vend gum and bballs.. but good luck getting a movie theatre to allow you to sell gum, balls, and candy!! we have not had much luck in the past. Gum ends up under chairs, balls are a liability, and candy interferes with their major money maker.. concessions. the point of my post is to encourage you to think outside of the box. If you really want this business to work, you will need to find a way to overcome the hurdles.. ALMOST EVERY ACCOUNT WILL HAVE HURDLES!! rarely will you walk into a business and find a huge foyer with no vending, and an owner who wants to fill it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Betson does not sell them because they hold a gaming license. And they did not want to jeopardize losing their license due to operators putting high value items in the machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brmorr Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Betson does not sell them because they hold a gaming license. And they did not want to jeopardize losing their license due to operators putting high value items in the machines. So they don't sell any merchandisers anymore or just Barber Cut?? I would assume Key Master, Stacker, Axe Master, etc. etc.. all fall in the same thing as Barber Cut. Maybe they just don't sell them in certain States??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cointech Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 another factor of this is risk. Placing out the 15 shooting hoops might make less then 1 barber cut but if you have 15 hoops in 15 differnt places and you loose one account, you are not hurting and can place the 1 machine back out pretty easily. If you loose the one BC location, you are totaly out of income until you place that machine back out and that might be more difficult and take more time. The other factors are the BC is large and hard to move. You might have to pay help to move or rent truck or trailer and if parts break or you get vandelized you are spending big money on parts and maybe paying a service tech for help. The hoops games are easy to move in almost any vehicle and if it breaks, or gets damaged, parts will be cheaper and no special tools will be required to repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkochan Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Buy the Shooting Hoops machines because you should get a ROI in less than 6 months. I got lucky two years ago when I was able to buy 14 Shooting Hoops machines at $40 a unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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