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Where do you have luck buying used machines?


vendingnewbie5

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I was running one of my long distance routes last week and spotted what I thought was a rack of machines siting by a fence in front of a yard.  I went to my next stop which was only a few miles down the road, and completed my business there.  I went straight to an ATM and withdrew some cash $200.  I went back to where I had seen them and there was a guy standing outside.  I pulled up, got out of the van and started talking to the guy about the machines.  He want $175 for a Toy & Joy rack with 7 machines.  We talked for 30 minutes or so and after explaining to him that I was in the business and the parts for the machines were unavailable, I offered him $50 for all of them and he took it.   Had to drill all the locks.  They were all full of glue or something. Had almost $6 in change and a 100 or so small caps with jewelry mix.

 

Now these machines are old and you can't get parts other than whats on Ebay.  But out of 6 1" vendors, I'll be able to make 3 or 4 gumball machines.  A fresh coat of paint and they will be fine.  The 2" was a Victor 77 with a .50 mech so I can use it.

 

Always keep your eyes open.   The machines can be where you least expect to find them.  I've picked up a bunch at antique shops. I usually pay about $50 for one in an antique shop and it will sometimes have a stand with it.

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Respectfully , you have all the bases covered . What more are you looking for ? I also would like to mention , used is not the answer. I learned fast the hard way. I bought 6 - 7 way Northwestern racks last spring . Looked real nice on ebay. When I got them , the 60's were pitted under the paint to the point the paint was coming off , the globes were faded bad , and they used shipping tape to hold the display holders in place on the 80's . So much tape it took me a gallon of WD-40 to get all the glue off . There were some panels scratched bad also . If I was offered 6 more of the racks free, I'd refuse them.  My time is of value so I'd have been better off buying new. Not to mention the personal pride you feel after you assemble and fill that new rack and place it on location. Used just Isnt worth the hassle.

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Best deals for me are CL and other local operators.  More specifically, the REALLY good deals I've found on craigslist have been from taking the time to call and talk to the seller and learning about other equipment and locations they're willing to sell but just haven't advertised yet.  Poor CL ads are sometimes a goldmine if you take the time to dig a little.  

 

*Called about a candy route that was too far for me and he had already sold the route, but had a smaller route halfway between our locations he hadn't advertised and picked up 11 candy locations for 300 bucks.  

*Called about a lot of 8 Northwestern Triple Plays after the ad had been posted several weeks for $1500.  What he failed to mention in the ad was that it included 6 placed northwesterns, four of them in one location doing $300+ a month.  He took $700 for that because nobody was calling.

 

*Another guy advertised "Bubble Gum Machines $75".  After a couple of months I called and turns out he had over 180 Southern Beaver heads with 45 single, double, and quad stands and was selling them 3/$75.  I was the first person to call him about that ad after over two months and took the entire lot from him for $1500.  He was so fed up he just wanted them gone, the money was irrelevant.  

 

You never know, take the time to call and chat.  If you wait for great deals to fall in your lap you'll be waiting a long time.  Generally speaking you only find them because the seller didn't know how to properly list the item or haven't listed it at all.  

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another suggestion for CL is when you search check different spellings and try different keywords.

you would be surprised how many people misspell and dont call a machine by its name or even what it really is.

i use the following general terms and you get very different results:

 

vending

candy machine

candy machines

gumball

route

bulk

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another suggestion for CL is when you search check different spellings and try different keywords.

you would be surprised how many people misspell and dont call a machine by its name or even what it really is.

i use the following general terms and you get very different results:

 

vending

candy machine

candy machines

gumball

route

bulk

 

I also search,

 

Candy vending

bulk vending 

toy vending

 

You will get different results with each search.

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I also search,

Candy vending

bulk vending

toy vending

You will get different results with each search.

That's not true. If you search "vending" that will capture all three of those searches.

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Sometimes something will show up that didn't show up just searching vending. I have almost missed a good deal just doing a search of vending.

Not to belabor the point, but if it didn't show up you just didn't see it. It's basic algorithm. Everything that appears for "bulk vending" will appear for "vending". Unless the seller misspelled vending, then it would...and that's plausible.

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