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So I started my bulk vending business........


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So I have started my bulk vending business which so far I really like doing but I have made very little money. I bought triples to start with because they were cheap craigslist finds. I have 6 machines on location and so far they've all been a disappointment to my thinking. The location's are as follows:

    

     Location       Vending                                         

1. Junkyard -     Gumball's, Skittles, P. M & M's. After 2 weeks I pulled $2.00. A month later I pulled $5.75.

2. Detailing place - Gumball's, Skittles, P. M & M's. After 2 weeks I pulled $4.00

3. Hair Salon 1 - Tab gum, rascal's, pacifiers. After 1 month i pulled $2.50

4. Hair Salon 2 - Tab gum, rascal's, pacifiers. After 1 month I pulled $4.75

5. Small Grocery Store - Tab gum, rascals, pacifiers. After 2 weeks I pulled $1.75

6. Christian gift store - tab gum, rascals, pacifiers. I haven't checked back yet.

 

Are these normal returns? Or have i just obtained a bunch of crappy locations? Or do I need to just give it time and make a few tweaks?

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Those numbers are horrible no matter how you look at it.  2 weeks is too early in between servicing.  4-8 weeks is standard depending on sales volume.  I will be the first to tell you that going the cheap route of buying a bunch of triple heads was not the way to go.  Many of us started this way (myself included) and would not have done it again.  Also, you need to start selling toys asap.  Your grocery store will do well with a small 4-head rack selling 1" toys and gumballs.  Hair salons are hit or miss, but a single head selling gumballs is a safe bet.  As for the junkyard and detailing shop all I can move in those types of places is Peanut M&Ms which run a higher COGS.  It's not necessarily that these are all terrible locations, but you need to adjust your equipment and product to fit the location.  Yes, it's going to cost money, but it will make money in the long run.  Good luck!

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I agree with gagesvending, we all started with triple head candy and that is not the way to go anymore with the rising cost of goods and the limited ability to only charge a quarter on most of those machines.  Change your product offerings, those rascals and pacifiers and not going to be great in any location in my opinion.

 

You are your best locator, don't ever doubt that.  Your skills might not be stellar, but you know better than anyone what a good location is, or you will learn soon enough since you are new to the biz.

Best of luck.

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I would run them every 4 weeks for a couple or few months. See what's selling the most. Then change your equipment to match the location needs. You will be surprised at how you can change a product out with something different, and make money where you weren't before. Keep the triples on location until you get the new equipment and at same time have new location for triple. You will find locations where a triple will make money. And hopefully not only make money but lots of it. I have triples in locations that need to be serviced every 2 weeks. Hope I helped a little. Good luck vending.

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Thanks for the input everyone! As for the 2 week service time I was only doing that because they were new location's and wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly. That is the only reason I checked them after 2 weeks. I have read on here that other's have done the same. I can now see the disadvantage of having triples. I recently acquired some single head machines and a 5 way rack but they do need a little work. I did acquire the location's myself. They were first one's that said yes so I thought I would give it a go probably not the best idea but I acutally thought a few of them would do better. The grocery store is directly across from a school. Guess I'll learn even if it's the hard way!

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Experience is priceless! The hair salons might do better with a product change to what you have at the junk yard.

I used to check all of my new locations in 2 weeks also. Not a bad idea.

Doubles and singles do make it better though. Your on the right track.

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I'll echo what others are saying- if you put them on longer cycles, you'll make more in the long run. Rotating some of those around isn't a bad idea either- as others have said, you'll be surprised what sells best, but you'll have to experiment a bit to get each one right. Good luck!

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  • 4 months later...

I'm actually glad that I made this post to see the progress I've made. There's been times when I've wanted to just quit because the results have been discouraging but things seem to be looking up. I still don't have many location's but my numbers have improved. I only have 2 triples on location now and have pulled 2 of my previous locations. Here's an update on my current route:

 

 Location

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So I have started my bulk vending business which so far I really like doing but I have made very little money. I bought triples to start with because they were cheap craigslist finds. I have 6 machines on location and so far they've all been a disappointment to my thinking. The location's are as follows:

    

     Location       Vending                                         

1. Junkyard -     Gumball's, Skittles, P. M & M's. After 2 weeks I pulled $2.00. A month later I pulled $5.75.

2. Detailing place - Gumball's, Skittles, P. M & M's. After 2 weeks I pulled $4.00

3. Hair Salon 1 - Tab gum, rascal's, pacifiers. After 1 month i pulled $2.50

4. Hair Salon 2 - Tab gum, rascal's, pacifiers. After 1 month I pulled $4.75

5. Small Grocery Store - Tab gum, rascals, pacifiers. After 2 weeks I pulled $1.75

6. Christian gift store - tab gum, rascals, pacifiers. I haven't checked back yet.

 

Are these normal returns? Or have i just obtained a bunch of crappy locations? Or do I need to just give it time and make a few tweaks?

    Location       Vending                                         

1. Junkyard -     Gumball's, Skittles, P. M & M's. Last pull for 2 months was 23.00

2. Detailing place - CLOSED

3. Hair Salon 1 - P. M & M's, tab gum, rascals Last pull was 29.00 for 2 months (Now also a tattoo parlor)

4. Hair Salon 2 - Tab gum, rascal's, pacifiers. 7.00 for 2 months

5. Small Grocery Store -Gumballs, Bouncy Balls 31.75 for 2 months

6. Christian gift store - CLOSED

7. Resale store - kicked out after 20 days

8. Restaurant 1 - Gumballs, Bouncy Balls 58.75 for 6 weeks

9. Liquidation Store - Gumballs 51.75 after 6 weeks

10. Restaurant 2 - Gumballs. Just acquired.

 

Not anywheres near where I want to be but progress. I still plan on making some changes and already have. Been selling some of the junk Vendstars and making a little extra coin that way.

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What kind of liquidation site is that? Those are good numbers there.

Its a store that sell's store return's at like half of regular price!

 

Get rack as soon as you can and stuff it in that restaurant.

Yes. Just as soon as I have time I have one I am going to put together. I would also like to put one at the liquidation store.

 

Pull Hair Salon number 2 or change the candy. That's horrible with all those selections. 

Totally agree. I actually just changed it to a single head gumball machine but I think I'll have to pull it.

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The guy that owns the liquidation store owns 2 others. I would like to approach him about putting gumball machines at his other stores but not quite sure how as he's letting me putting it there free of charge. Eventually I would like to upgrade to racks at them.

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I would ask him ASAP. If he let you put one there, chances are good he'd allow you at the others. I'd try to get at least singles in the other stores for a feeler. No 2 locations are the same. I'm certain once you mention racks and commissions he'd go for those as well, in due time of course.

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Why do you guys pull locations? I have never pulled a location, they have to kick me out :) . All it takes in a new hire that likes gum and has a lot of spare change :) Just put the location on a once every 6 months check ...

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Why do you guys pull locations? I have never pulled a location, they have to kick me out :) . All it takes in a new hire that likes gum and has a lot of spare change :) Just put the location on a once every 6 months check ...

I don't have any locations I do every six months, besides what if it picked up after a month, you could have an empty machine for 5 months
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Why do you guys pull locations? I have never pulled a location, they have to kick me out :) . All it takes in a new hire that likes gum and has a lot of spare change :) Just put the location on a once every 6 months check ...

The reason I pulled two of my locations is this. First I understand your reasoning and I agree with what your saying. I've tried to be patient. At the Christian Book Store there employees or some one broke my first machine. The sales sucked and then they decided to start selling there own candy so I didn't feel it was 2 promising for the future. And I like to see a good return on my investment so I decided to pull it.

 

The detailing place was cool. I really liked the owner but I think he soured on the candy machine and my sales went down. I don't think he would have went for a single gumball machine as he was partial to the peanut m & m's. I had a triple in there and it wasn't justified by the sales.

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I have minimums and when I have a machine that's doing 2-3 bucks a month, I'll change out the product then if it doesn't change it's gone. I'd rather have the machine at my house then waste my time going to service it. 

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How much goes to the store owners if you don't mind me asking?

I'm new to the business but only have a claw machine right now

How much goes to the store owners if you don't mind me asking?

I'm new to the business but only have a claw machine right now

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How much goes to the store owners if you don't mind me asking?

I'm new to the business but only have a claw machine right now

 

 

Depends on the machine, your operating setup, volume, etc. A lot of variables go into that decision.

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  • 1 month later...

    Location       Vending                                         

1. Junkyard -     Gumball's, Skittles, P. M & M's. Last pull for 2 months was 23.00

2. Detailing place - CLOSED

3. Hair Salon 1 - P. M & M's, tab gum, rascals Last pull was 29.00 for 2 months (Now also a tattoo parlor)

4. Hair Salon 2 - Tab gum, rascal's, pacifiers. 7.00 for 2 months

5. Small Grocery Store -Gumballs, Bouncy Balls 31.75 for 2 months

6. Christian gift store - CLOSED

7. Resale store - kicked out after 20 days

8. Restaurant 1 - Gumballs, Bouncy Balls 58.75 for 6 weeks

9. Liquidation Store - Gumballs 51.75 after 6 weeks

10. Restaurant 2 - Gumballs. Just acquired.

 

Not anywheres near where I want to be but progress. I still plan on making some changes and already have. Been selling some of the junk Vendstars and making a little extra coin that way.

Location     Vending

 

1. Junkyard- pmm, skittles, gumballs. $28.00/month

2. Hair Salon 1- pmm, skittles, gumballs $17.75/month

3. Hair Salon 2-gumballs. 14.75/2 months

4. Sm. Grocery Store-  gumballs, bb 16.31/month

5. Restaurant 1- gumballs, bouncy balls 47.30/2 months

6. Liquidation Store- 5-way rack 65.00/month

7. Restaurant 2 - gumballs 9.50/6 weeks

8. Resale store- gumballs 30.25/month

9. Antique Store- gumballs .51/month

10. Car dealership- gumballs, no data

 

I find the most interesting post are the ones where they show how much they made. Anyone else care to do so?

At the moment I have enough machines in my garage to double my route. I have a couple racks I'm waiting to place as soon as the stores open. I need to change out a couple product selections to get my sales where I want them. I also am going to try to stuff some more machines in a couple of my locations where I can. It's been slow progress for  me but I enjoy the challenge of building a route. I've pulled 2 locations, lost one. I've learned alot.

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