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Started in on the dark side


HotOiler3

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Well, I went into a hair salon owned by my fiance's friend, to ask if she'd allow me to set up a candy machine inside, as soon as we stepped in the door I seen a vendstar 3,000 already there and thought "dang, already a machine here"   well, when she came from the back and we started talking to her, she said she is going out of business, and we said "we were here to see if you would let us park a vending machine here, but if you're closing there's not much sense in that is there?"  and she said "nope, but I'll sell you this one and I have another in the back"  I asked her how much and she said she didn't know how much they were worth and to make her an offer, I said "I think they're about $120 online brand new, I'll give you $60 for both of them" and she agreed.  So I went to the atm, ran home to get the other pickup and came back and handed her the cash and loaded them up.  

 

I really don't see why everyone is so down on these machines, aside from the doors (and yes, all 6 of mine are ripped off, but I sourced a place online where I can get six aftemarket stainless steel doors for like $20) and I need to replace one lock on one of the lids, these seem like fairly nice machines if you can get over the fact that they're plastic, and quite honestly, I could break into a steel machine as fast as I could one of these plastic machines, so I'm sure thieves could too, so I don't see much sense in worrying about them being plastic as far as that aspect, instead, you have the benefit of no possibility rust or corrosion and a lighter weight machine, and I imagine cheaper replacement parts as well, but, that said, you guys have more experience with them than I do quite obviously, and I'm sure you have your reasons for disliking them.   

 

At any rate I'm happy to have finally picked up my first machines, despite them being dirty, evil vendstars. now just to figure out what I want to stock them with and figure out where to put them, one will probably go over in the laundromat where my sticker machine is going when it arrives.  

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dark side being they are probably stolen machines?:huh: meaning the salon owner just sold you some operators machine that hadn't picked them up cause they didn't know she was going out of business maybe?

 

a clear way to tell if its a stolen machine is when they don't provide you with keys or they are busted open already cause they already took money out  or that familiar business card in front or sticker in back with number that says "for service call xxxx"

 

just speculating here not trying to ruffle any feathers as you didn't mention the total details of purchase. And of course me being someone that has happened to have my machines disappear when stores close i always look for those details of a post saying " i bought these and she provided me with keys etc because i wouldn't buy them if she didn't ,because i would have known they where stolen"..

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The owner not knowing how much they're worth and the buyer having to replace a lock are red flags.

Maybe these were not the shop owner's machines to sell.

 

Since this shop owner is a personal acquaintance HotOiler3, have your fiance verify with her just how these machines ended up in her shop since she didn't know their value.

 

If they weren't the shop owners to sell, then just get your money back and return the equipment.

Sure you may be out $$ because of the covers and lock, but you can remove them before returning.

 

No big loss if you have to return, by the way....$80 ($60 for machines + $20 for shoot covers) comes to $40 per Vendstar...not including the cost of the lock.

Regardless, $40 is too much for a Vendstar no matter how much people pay for them new.

You can find them on the used market at less than $40 on a regular basis.

 

 

 

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The salon owner provided me with THREE top door keys and TWO back door keys,  pretty sure they were hers to sell......  

 

And as far as on the used market $40 being too much, I have been obsessed with vending for about the past week since deciding to get into it, vendstars are nowhere to be had at $40 that I can find, especially after factoring in shipping costs.   

 

I don't know what kind of idiots you've had on this forum before, but please don't lump me into that again, I may not know much about the vending business, but I'm not an idiot..... stolen machines, give me a break.

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We're not accusing you of theft, but many new folks accidentally buy stolen property

Even more experienced operators have to be on their toes to avoid that

I apologize, I'd just woken up and was waiting for coffee, checked my email and seen the posts, it got a little under my skin but I'm over it now.   One lock is broken because the insides are split, not because it was tampered with (no signs of a screwdriver inside of it, nor from damage from drilling)  just wore out I guess, a new lock is $10 shipped.   All in all, I think I made a good decision for just starting out, I realize these machines probably won't last forever, but they'll get me started and I paid less for them than I'll pay to fill them the first time.   I read online after putting the original post up on this thread, seems the biggest concern with the machine is theft, which is a viable concern, but I plan on putting these particular two machines in a business where they'll be watched anytime the store is open.    I'll keep this thread updated with my experience with the vendstars, even if I end up swallowing my words. 

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The salon owner provided me with THREE top door keys and TWO back door keys,  pretty sure they were hers to sell......  

 

And as far as on the used market $40 being too much, I have been obsessed with vending for about the past week since deciding to get into it, vendstars are nowhere to be had at $40 that I can find, especially after factoring in shipping costs.   

 

I don't know what kind of idiots you've had on this forum before, but please don't lump me into that again, I may not know much about the vending business, but I'm not an idiot..... stolen machines, give me a break.

Whoa, hold on there pardner.  Just take a deep breath and relax.  No one accused YOU of anything, they were just looking out for you so that you didn't end up in a bad situation.  Isn't that why you joined this forum?  To get sage advice from professionals or others who have gone before you?  Learn from their mistakes and move on.  Luckily you got the keys for the machines and now there's no questions about ownership.

 

As to the price of Vendstars, and I'm not in bulk vending, looking at CL and Fleabay listing for one week won't tell you what the market is on anything.  Keep looking for a few months and you'll begin to see the trends in prices.  There will always be some people who think their products are worth too much, but when they don't regularly sell at those higher prices then they are either sold for less or relisted later for a lower price.  The used market is always in flux, nothing is set in stone.

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Whoa, hold on there pardner.  Just take a deep breath and relax.  No one accused YOU of anything, they were just looking out for you so that you didn't end up in a bad situation.  Isn't that why you joined this forum?  To get sage advice from professionals or others who have gone before you?  Learn from their mistakes and move on.  Luckily you got the keys for the machines and now there's no questions about ownership.

 

As to the price of Vendstars, and I'm not in bulk vending, looking at CL and Fleabay listing for one week won't tell you what the market is on anything.  Keep looking for a few months and you'll begin to see the trends in prices.  There will always be some people who think their products are worth too much, but when they don't regularly sell at those higher prices then they are either sold for less or relisted later for a lower price.  The used market is always in flux, nothing is set in stone.

Please see my apology above, that probably posted while you were typing this out.

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Wow, so just went to see about placing one of the machines in a nerd store ( it's new in town, I walked in and it was empty, and dude had MAGIC cards scattered in front of him, I'm really not sure what exactly they do)  and my sales pitch was HORRIBLE, although he said he is going to talk to the other 2 partners tonight about having a candy machine in the store, and he'll call me and let me know.... But I'm seriously disappointed in my sales pitch, I told my fiance she gets to do the next one to see if she does any better hahaha

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And as far as on the used market $40 being too much, I have been obsessed with vending for about the past week since deciding to get into it, vendstars are nowhere to be had at $40 that I can find, especially after factoring in shipping costs.  

 

They may not be advertised for sale at less than $40.

But, sellers from all over the country accept less than $40 all the time.

Though you may not have found these deals in the time you have been obsessed with vending, there have been many posts on this forum over the years proving you can find them for less than $40.

 

I know everyone's region is different, but keep an eye out and make offers.

No matter what a seller paid for new Vendstars to get into this business, when they want to get out, they will often take whatever they can get.

 

Remember: When it comes to used Vendstars, it's almost always a buyers-market.

Sellers have a hard time unloading them because most experienced vendors don't want them.

 

Good luck.

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They may not be advertised for sale at less than $40.

But, sellers from all over the country accept less than $40 all the time.

Though you may not have found these deals in the time you have been obsessed with vending, there have been many posts on this forum over the years proving you can find them for less than $40.

 

I know everyone's region is different, but keep an eye out and make offers.

No matter what a seller paid for new Vendstars to get into this business, when they want to get out, they will often take whatever they can get.

 

Remember: When it comes to used Vendstars, it's almost always a buyers-market.

Sellers have a hard time unloading them because most experienced vendors don't want them.

 

Good luck.

I see your point.  my problem is that there are very few machines I can find for sale in my entire state, between usedvending.com, craigslist, and even the popular classifieds site in Utah that makes craigslist almost obsolete around here, with the exception of huge routes for sale and the asking price is well into six figures.    But I'm sure as it was said earlier, I haven't had the time to see the "waves" come and go,  maybe I'm just getting too excited.

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Just got back from placing my machine in the nerd store, ended up having to agree to 10% commission,  but it wasn't on the floor for 30 seconds before kids were swarming it and throwing quarters in it :D   I'm gonna go back in the morning to check and see how it did tonight, then I'll check on it the first of next week since the place is open 7 days a week. Stocked it with skittles, peanut butter m&m's and peanut m&m's

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This is a comic book game type store right? If so, since they guy is open to commission, you might want to think about pitching a rack. You could fit a 3 column flat machine and two 1" cap heads in the same footprint as that vendstar. You could 'sell it' by telling the guy you'll give him 25% plus you can run some licensed product, that way it would promote his brands he's selling plus he gets money off the top - win-win!

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This is a comic book game type store right? If so, since they guy is open to commission, you might want to think about pitching a rack. You could fit a 3 column flat machine and two 1" cap heads in the same footprint as that vendstar. You could 'sell it' by telling the guy you'll give him 25% plus you can run some licensed product, that way it would promote his brands he's selling plus he gets money off the top - win-win!

Honestly I'm not sure what kind of "store" it is, but it's BRAND NEW in town, and so far its just some tables where kids get together and play Magic and yugio cards and dungeons and dragons and such, I actually think its really cool what these guys are doing for the kids, getting them out of the house and actually playing card games and such face to face.... I dunno, I think it's admirable in a small town like this, our area was on the news a while back interviewing teenagers asking what they did around here for fun, and they all pretty much said "there ain't nothing to do around here except have sex and get drunk and high".... ANYWAYS, keeps the nerdy kids out of trouble and I think that's cool.    I don't know if it's just going to be some kind of "club" or something where each kid has to pay some kind of membership so that they can keep the lights on or if it's going to evolve into a store of some kind, I meant to inquire about that when I took my machine down, but he was interviewing or initiating some kid, so I didn't really get a chance to say much besides I'll be back tomorrow and I'm leaving for the rest of the week and I'll be back to check on it sunday or monday, one REALLY big plus is this store is only like two tenths of a mile from my house, I could easily walk down to collect the change or check on the machine, but would take the pickup to re-stock.   I already told the owners that if my vendstar does well, I'll consider bringing in a rack when my funds allow (I did talk to them a little about my background and why I'm even doing the vending thing, it can be read on my profile too if you're interested)  and they were excited about that possibility as well, and the three of us talked about what the kids will WANT in the machines, so I won't have to "guess" as to what products are going to sell well, I think I've really found a good honey hole IF this place stays in business, but main-street businesses in this town very rarely last very long unless they're a franchise of some sort.   I'm considering seeing how an honor box would fare in there since they did say the kids are always talking about snacks, they asked if I had one of the big vending machines that vend chips and cookies and stuff, and I had to painstakingly tell them that I didn't have much.    But I honestly think with these guys I can keep commissions to 10%, I more or less implied that that's all the commission I'm willing to pay and they seemed very excited about that, when I first started talking to them they actually sounded like they half-expected that they'd have to pay ME to leave my machine there, I should have followed their lead on that one hahaha

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So I went down to check on it this morning, and it looked like the skittles and peanut butter M&M's were down about 10% each!   In four hours!   The store owner says he figures it will do even better friday and saturday night!   I think my first location is a winner!   The peanut M&M's didn't look touched however, so I might have to switch them out with mike and ikes or something.   I made an honor box last night as well, and he said I can drop it off as soon as I get it stocked.    I'm also still leaning towards trying dog treats at the vets office with the other machine, after all, it is a low down dirty vendstar that is hardly fit for a dog :P      Just giving you venstar haters a hard time haha, one day I might join your ranks, but today isn't that day

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This is a comic book game type store right? If so, since they guy is open to commission, you might want to think about pitching a rack. You could fit a 3 column flat machine and two 1" cap heads in the same footprint as that vendstar. You could 'sell it' by telling the guy you'll give him 25% plus you can run some licensed product, that way it would promote his brands he's selling plus he gets money off the top - win-win!

Oh, I forgot to mention in my above post, I did talk to them this morning about how they make their revenue, and they sell magic cards and yugio cards, and games like that, they don't charge for kids to come and play on their tables, except for tournaments, they charge $5.00, they also sell little dragon and fantasy creature figurines as well.

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Congrats on the location.

Be prepared for the inevitable drop in sales once the novelty of the candy machine wears off with the regular customers.

Sounds like this place would have plenty of regular customers given that you say it's a small town and not much else around the area for young ones to do.

Still, keeping product fresh and machines clean will go a long way to minimizing that sales drop.

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Congrats on the location.

Be prepared for the inevitable drop in sales once the novelty of the candy machine wears off with the regular customers.

Sounds like this place would have plenty of regular customers given that you say it's a small town and not much else around the area for young ones to do.

Still, keeping product fresh and machines clean will go a long way to minimizing that sales drop.

Thanks :D   And yeah, I'm actually thinking that once I get a nice steel rack, it will be traded at this place, if it's going to be my top producer, I'll put my nicer equipment there, so long that it keeps paying.   And yeah, it's the only store of its kind in at least 100 mile radius in any direction that I know of, so it should keep the kids coming in.  

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So I went down and placed my honor box (cost $24.39 to stock, and will generate $51 if you don't factor shrinkage, but the honor box is behind the cash register so there shouldn't be any shrinkage, keyword being SHOULDN'T)  And checked on my vendstar (placed it 5 days ago) and I didn't pull the change and count it but I did take the three change drawers out and transfer it to one drawer, and a quick glance shows me there is about $10 in there, in 5 days!!!  From what I've read, that is pretty stellar numbers for a candy machine,   I'm going to check it tuesday which marks 1 week that it's been down there and I'll take the quarters, count it and pay the guy his percentage, I'll let you guys know the official income number on tuesday.

 

As far as my honor box for those of you who are interested, I stocked it with the little peanut butter and cracker type sandwiches, full-size milk chocolate hershey bars (I wouldn't even consider these in my honor box because of their small profit margin if the store owner didn't put the box behind the cash register beings that selling them for $1.00 only nets $0.44 profit per piece) , nutter butters, oreo's, cream cheese danish's, and chips (one of the variety packs, nacho cheese and cool ranch doritos, fritos, cheetos etc.)   I told the owner to sell the cheese and cracker type sandwiches for $0.50 even though it says everything is $1 on the honor box, I just can't in good conscience ask $1.00 for those.   

 

My stickers and tattoos are already here and now I'm just waiting for my machine to arrive, still haven't completely secured a place, but with my fiance knowing EVERYONE around here, we're pretty confident of a few places that will let us set it up in their building,  so far we're thinking we'll go with the laundromat 10 miles away,  but we're hoping the gas station she works at will let us put it there because of its very high foot traffic and it's only three tenths of a mile away.    I'll share my experience with you guys when the machine arrives and we get it placed.

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I should also mention that the $24.39 is a touch inflated because not all the bags of chips fit in the honor box and a few were left over, about 6 of them I believe and I ate one bag and I felt like I was breaking a rule (Anybody ever watch Scarface?  "rule number one, don't get high on your own supply"?)

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