adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Hey guys. So as I have been getting slightly involved in this forum, I feel like I want to give vending a shot. I just have a few questions. 1) What is a good, "cheapish", vending machine. You know the good old starting machine. I have had a few suggestions of the AP 113 and the AP 7600, but those are $1500. Is that going to be the price I need to pay to get into the business? 2) Wholesale/distributor. Where do you go to get the pop at a better price? I live near Brush, CO where there is a Pepsi distributor, is that a good place to start. 3) Pop or snack? What is the best way to start in the vending game? Do you go for a snack machine and a soda machine? What did some of you guys do when you started as I see there are people in here who started in the 80's. Mission's cost to service topic gave some great detail on the cost of operations, but I was just wondering if there are "pointers" for new people getting into the business. 4) Contracts/Stations Those are the right words, but how does one go about getting places to put there machines at? I saw commission so I guess that you offer the owner of the place a set commission on how well the machine does. I look forward to hearing from everyone. Thank You. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 1 get started with a single price dixie narco , 400 bucks on craigslist 2 costco or grocers on sale, you will pay out of your golpher from pepsi 3 pop, less inventory variety and longer dates on product 4 large accounts with many custom new machines, yes contract, tire shop or blue collar, no commission try to keep under 5% gross, dont even bring it up unless requested or to be competitive to boot a competitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Now with a Dixie Narco, most of them I am finding are that of a Can Machine. Is that the way to go? Also, if it says Pepsi on it, is that a bad thing, like copy right, or is that good for business and you just keep that there to tell the customer what you are stocking the machine with? I appreciate the fast response orsd. This might be a dumb question, but, here you go. Most machines have the ability to tell you when they are out of pop, I assume the Dixie Narco are not different. Now does it do that by a little actuator that when it isnt hit by another can, it just tells the main board that that selection is out? Is that close to how it works, or am I out in left field? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Unless you lease or "borrow" machines from a bottler, you will find that any machine you buy on the used market, whether with a bottler logo or not, can be stocked with any flavor. There are no restrictions on used machines on the used market. If you use bottler owned machines then you are restricted to their flavors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Now with a Dixie Narco, most of them I am finding are that of a Can Machine. Is that the way to go? Also, if it says Pepsi on it, is that a bad thing, like copy right, or is that good for business and you just keep that there to tell the customer what you are stocking the machine with? I appreciate the fast response orsd. This might be a dumb question, but, here you go. Most machines have the ability to tell you when they are out of pop, I assume the Dixie Narco are not different. Now does it do that by a little actuator that when it isnt hit by another can, it just tells the main board that that selection is out? Is that close to how it works, or am I out in left field? graphics are good, dont have to stock with whats on the front either cans are the best, longer shelf life and higher capacity, unless there are special circumstances that require bottle (eg travel places etc) The old dixies actually dont have boards, just cion mech bill val and a relay they tell the selection is out by a little light in the button Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Well, how does the machine know when to turn the light on? So a dixie narco, with the sounds of it, should be a very easy, cost effective machine to do maintenance on as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 sold out paddle yes, very easy maint, probably 10s of k of these old dixies out there, parts are not a big issue, also the cool thing is that i believe you can pull the decks from these and place in newer Dixies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Single price machines have sold out paddles that trigger the sold out light column by column as columns sell out. You will still have 2 to 4 products left in a column when sold out so after refilling it the customer can get a cold drink. The DN machines are bullet proof with easy parts availability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Awesome, that makes it a easier decision. What about placement. Do they need to be inside, as we are in colorado and some winters it is below 0 for almost a month. Will that hurt a machine and contents of the machine, or do they stay say 36 degrees inside all year round? Is it harder on the machine if they are an outside machine all year round? Is that extra wear and tear? So for all the questions, just trying to put a list together or pros and cons for the wife to see that maybe this as a side business will really help us out. What type of truck does everyone use? Do you have a different truck to deliver machines, than you do to deliver/stock products? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Most drink machines from DN, Vendo and Royal are outdoor rated, but if you're in a real cold environment you will need a heater inside an outdoor machine. Newer machines have that as an option. You will want to do some searching within this forum for all the posts that have been made regarding how to move machines or what people use to service their routes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growliebusters Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 My truck is none other than an Impala right now. As for soda/snack, unless you have 5 or more snack machines placed, expect the stale product to eat ALL of your profit. Do a search on stales and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about. Just my 2cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Growlibusters, I think I am going to try and go down the road of soda for that exact reason. From talking with orsd, I think cans are a safer bet to start out with. I belive that the machine to start would cost more than a small candy/snack machine, but the fact that the Narco Dixie 368 is roughly $700 for the most part and filling that machine at the cost of a walmart 24 pack right now is $108. Your looking at roughly $800 dollar start up with a product shelf life of 6-9 months, so the product going bad is pretty unlikely, unless it is in a very slow area. I am a complete novice at this, but that seems to be the best deal for the money. And everytime you fill that machine up, at that price you will double your money, as it is .30 per can and most of these machines are .60, well at least the ones that I have seen. I would like to get into snacks at one point, but I need a for sure turn around that I wont be left eating stale honey buns at the end of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 What is a good expectation from a soda machine per month? If you have the Narco Dixie 368, will it sell all 368 cans, or will it only sell 200? What is the average sale for soda out of most peoples machines? I know that is a generalized question, but I think it should be able to be guesstimated right?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 There is no good rule of thumb to predict sales. Like with all retail businesses, the key is location, location, location. The more employees or other foot traffic the better your sales will be. 10 employees is not a good account but couple that with customer traffic and it might be a better than average account (your average not someone else's). A captive audience can be good, but not a guarantee. Blue collar accounts will usually do better than white collar accounts, per capita. Lower priced cans will usually outsell higher priced bottles. You'll sell more in hot weather than in the winter. It's all trial and error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Growlibusters, I think I am going to try and go down the road of soda for that exact reason. From talking with orsd, I think cans are a safer bet to start out with. I belive that the machine to start would cost more than a small candy/snack machine, but the fact that the Narco Dixie 368 is roughly $700 for the most part and filling that machine at the cost of a walmart 24 pack right now is $108. Your looking at roughly $800 dollar start up with a product shelf life of 6-9 months, so the product going bad is pretty unlikely, unless it is in a very slow area. I am a complete novice at this, but that seems to be the best deal for the money. And everytime you fill that machine up, at that price you will double your money, as it is .30 per can and most of these machines are .60, well at least the ones that I have seen. I would like to get into snacks at one point, but I need a for sure turn around that I wont be left eating stale honey buns at the end of the day. can you fing non refurbs on craigslist also you can change the prices, jack that scuker up to 75 if not 100, and always use quarter increments, as people dont caryy dines or nickles and youll run out of change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Is finding a non refurb good? Does it just save some money if they havent been refurbed? I could see .75 for sure. What about a drop sensor? Are those worth it, some of the machines I have seen stated that they installed a drop sensor on them. I see why you would, but is it worth the added cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Is finding a non refurb good? Does it just save some money if they havent been refurbed? I could see .75 for sure. What about a drop sensor? Are those worth it, some of the machines I have seen stated that they installed a drop sensor on them. I see why you would, but is it worth the added cost? the ones with sensor are newer, a refurb has new grapics and paint and will be more expensive, try to find one that is at least mostly working has good cooling and has good looking and relatively modern graphics if the mech or val or a motor doesnt work thats ok, simple fixes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Realistically you could always just refurbish them yourself then by putting new graphics in it and painting it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Does anyone know the power consumption Kw/Hr of a Dixie Narco 368? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Realistically you could always just refurbish them yourself then by putting new graphics in it and painting it?They fix mechanicals too but graphics and paint is part if it and will go a long way towards the overall image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Does anyone know the power consumption Kw/Hr of a Dixie Narco 368? They use about the same energy as a freezer uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamtheboss Posted December 4, 2014 Author Share Posted December 4, 2014 Ok, Has anyone ever had a customer complain about the energy cost going up? Just wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjh914 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 You've received some excellent advice so far. Delivery vehicle requirements depend on how much product you move and how big your business gets. I've got an old Mazda truck (no cap) - great for buying large quantities of soda when I hit a sale. Good gas mileage too. When I stock machines, I pull a 4 X 6 trailer with shelves to store product. It was the most efficient solution for me as its the only vehicle I have and I can just leave the product in the trailer when done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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