SunShine Vending Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hello, I'm new to this whole vending machine thing and I'm not sure whether to start off with a snack machine, soda machine, or a combination machine!! I'm leaning more towards the combination machine, since I would like to place it in an office building where they currently have no vending machine, but I would like input from people that have more insight on this than me! Snack machine? Soda machine? Combination machine? Why? PLEASE HELP! -Nathlye (I currently have a 5' gumball machine that was given to me for free. I was considering selling it to help pay for whatever machine I decide to get. I have no children, I'm unmarried, I'm 25 and live at home, so there isn't much standing in the way of me getting whatever machine would end up being most profitable in the end. Also, I would like to use healthier snack/drink options, whichever kind of machine I invest in.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 1st off, welcome to the forums 2nd, you'll find that combo capacities suck ,and that until you have 5, snack machine wlll have a lot of stales. thus, i recommend a soda only machine also, you will find that traditional will usually be better than healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Whatever you decide on, let the people that are going to be using it decide on what you are going to put in. They may not be into healthy snacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 If the machine(s) will be in the common area of the building and visible to all visitors, AND there are lots of tenants with lots of employees, then you would be best served by using dedicated machines for soda and snacks. As Allen said, you may find it tough to actually sell healthy products though a few healthy items in the snack and a drink or two will probably be used. Just don't go overboard and believe all the hype about healthy vending. Regardless of all the schools and public locations moving to healthy vending and all of the news reports not to mention the lies told on the internet, there isn't any sales advantage to healthy vending - regular junk food will always outsell the healthy food. Since this is your first vending location try to stick to 12 oz cans as they have a longer shelf life and they won't jam as often as plastic bottles will. You can also use a cheaper single price soda machine if all your drinks are 12 oz and can be sold at the same price. As orsd said, only one snack machine will be difficult to fill with enough selections that you don't have tons of stales. A 4 wide snack or even a 3 wide will be easier to merchandise and cut down on some stales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunShine Vending Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 You guys are so awesome! Thank you for all of your advice. The two locations I'm looking at are: 1) the office building where I work. A new company just moved in and they have about 80 employees and customers that come in and out daily (M-F) 2) a year-round indoor swap meet. (F-Su) Maybe I will go and speak to the office workers and ask what they would like to have, and I'll figure out something for the swap meet. I'm really excited to finally be doing this! Also, healthy food is out. I think I will provide s couple of healthy options and then stick to the norm. People most likely won't buy things they aren't familiar with anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrammell Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 best advice I can give is to stay away from combo machines and use only full size equipment. If the account requires just a combo machine due to small employee count, it's not worth having. Full size machines are often just as inexpensive as combo machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feral Vending Mechanic Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 best advice I can give is to stay away from combo machines and use only full size equipment. If the account requires just a combo machine due to small employee count, it's not worth having. Full size machines are often just as inexpensive as combo machines. Not worth having, unless having it helps secure you another, larger location. Or, you're often in the neighborhood anyway for another account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Once the combo is paid off its easier to put it in a slow location. But you have to think about whether or not that was a good location to begin with. For examplek, today I was at a slow location with just a drink machine. The manager asked if I had a small machine that vended both snacks an drinks. Of course I do. But the soda machine only had 20 bucks in it after 2 weeks. So you have to ask yourself, how much more would you have made with a combo. With my experience, a snack does about half what a drink does. So todays take would have been closer to $30 bucks. That is $15 bucks a week or about $5.00 profit. Now do I start planning on putting a combo there? Hell no. I actually start thinking of finding a better location for this soda machine because it is slower than crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Once the combo is paid off its easier to put it in a slow location. But you have to think about whether or not that was a good location to begin with. For examplek, today I was at a slow location with just a drink machine. The manager asked if I had a small machine that vended both snacks an drinks. Of course I do. But the soda machine only had 20 bucks in it after 2 weeks. So you have to ask yourself, how much more would you have made with a combo. With my experience, a snack does about half what a drink does. So todays take would have been closer to $30 bucks. That is $15 bucks a week or about $5.00 profit. Now do I start planning on putting a combo there? Hell no. I actually start thinking of finding a better location for this soda machine because it is slower than crap. Heck Allen - you could make a nice sand dune with that machine and the best part is - you wouldn't have to service it twice a month. A soda machine that won't do a hundred a month is in the wrong location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 You guys are so awesome! Thank you for all of your advice. The two locations I'm looking at are: 1) the office building where I work. A new company just moved in and they have about 80 employees and customers that come in and out daily (M-F) 2) a year-round indoor swap meet. (F-Su) Maybe I will go and speak to the office workers and ask what they would like to have, and I'll figure out something for the swap meet. I'm really excited to finally be doing this! Also, healthy food is out. I think I will provide s couple of healthy options and then stick to the norm. People most likely won't buy things they aren't familiar with anyway! I'd be careful about getting your hopes up with the office location. Office workers don't use vending machines too much and if they do a combo won't be big enough. The swap meet might do great with just a soda machine - get the biggest one you can find so you don't have to fill it so often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 That wouldn't even be worth moving machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Heck Allen - you could make a nice sand dune with that machine and the best part is - you wouldn't have to service it twice a month. A soda machine that won't do a hundred a month is in the wrong location. Dang contract. Three locations in a mall, one good, one okay, one so bad I consider it a free place to store a soda machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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