Let's discuss

[Determined]

I currently have 32 locations. Went to service 5 locations this week and the results were dreadfully poor. All were single head setups . 4 gumball and 1 pmm. 2 were on the second service and the other 3 were new locations. Didn't even pull $5 from the lot. Locations were hair salon ,  motorcycle repair place ,  bail bonds office, small factory break room, and a bar. I wasn't expecting much but definitely didn't expect that . Hair salon did $26 the previous service cycle for a month. 7 weeks later almost nothing . Somehow the motorcycle shop figured how to cheat the coin mech. It was half empty and only . 75 in it. How long do you keep non producing locations ? 

On another note I've noticed that in my area tab gum and small hard pressed candy outsells gumball's by a long shot. At least my competitors are selling more than me and I have the cleaner machines . They don't even have labels of what there vending.  Anyone else find this to be true? 

I put a single head gumball at a auto repair shop and wasn't optimistic. I pulled  $25 out of it a month later. Never dreamed it would do that. Will it continue ?  Nobody knows . 

Upside is I have 5 more locations to deliver machines to this week .  A collision center, transmission shop, 2 tattoo parlors , and a inside sports center.

The problem I see with trying to run a single head gumball route is competition. There's no reason for a location not to accept more charity machines if your only offering gumball's. I will be adding more selections to my good locations to keep other vendors out. The other is some simply don't want gum.

I'm going to be working on developing my good accounts and pulling some poor performers. 

[AMD Snacks]

I love the IDEA of gumballs. Easy to track, robust, cheap COG, long shelf life, easy to store ...But where I live, they are almost always my worst seller if i have a triple. On my racks, my gumballs sell like crazy, and really are the only reason I have to service the machines when I do, because they sell out. But my racks have no other candy on them right now, just toys. 

Now I did say, "almost" my worst seller, but sometimes, at some locations they sell the same. Even similar types of business don't really matter. I have two oil change places that perform way different. 

However I have very little competition where I am for charity. Most places here that already have a machine, is just some person who knows someone there. But that's why my single head gumballs venture hasn't taken off, I don't have the faith in it alone to bring in income.

My last thought is, that I did on a whim locate a double in a barbershop with GB and 1inch toys. Really didn't have high hopes for it. But a few days ago the guy called me and said it's almost empty. It's been months. Probably 4 months to empty, but that's sort of the beauty of the business to me. That you can put something somewhere, and let it sit and still make money. I don't have that confidence with other candy. I let PMM sit for more than 8 weeks and somehow they get moved to a sunny area and I come to a machine with cracked PMMs that aren't selling. 

All said and done, I have no solution to your issue lol. Just thought i'd throw in my experience so far. 

[Determined]

Of any one thing I've made the most on is gumball's. I love pulling  $50-75 out of a single gumball machine . I've tried toys but I haven't had alot of luck selling them. 

One other issue I have is gumball's fading. Any light and they fade.

AMD are you doing mint boxes? If so how are they doing?

[Flyboy718]

Are you doing just the standard gumball flavors like DB?  What about trying different gumballs like nerd filled or sour?  The cost is a few cents more per gumball but maybe that might do the trick?  

[Determined]

2 hours ago, Flyboy718 said:

Are you doing just the standard gumball flavors like DB?  What about trying different gumballs like nerd filled or sour?  The cost is a few cents more per gumball but maybe that might do the trick?  

Yes. I just do regular double bubble .  Don't get me wrong I have some places they sell great. I think I just have some dud locations. If I sell more expensive gum I may as well sell candy.

[Flyboy718]

Just as an example I used Sam's Club website for the 850 ct Cry Baby Sour Gumballs.  Shipped to my house they are $45.10 for a case.  That's $0.05 per gumball and $0.02 more per gumball than the plain ones.  Still cheaper than candy.  $167.40 net profit on the case is $23.28 less revenue per case than on regular gumballs.

[AMD Snacks]

That's twice what I pay for DB, but I don't pay shipping. Yea I do have some mint boxes but not out in the field yet. That's coming soon. I do have some snack boxes they do well actually despite the theft.

[TomG]

How do you vend cry baby gumballs? The wrapper gets stuck in my machines 

[zjtaylor]

What's your service cycle like? I am also up to about 30 locations now and I changed to doing once every 2-3 months instead of monthly. I think a longer service time seems to "smooth out" the slower months. Another thing to keep in mind is that business is going to slow down as the climate gets colder. That might be why you notice your numbers dropping compared to a few months ago. Also do you have any commission racks? I recommend trying one with toys and gumballs. Or toys and tab gum since you say that's a hot seller in your region. What I do is look in the news for new restaurants and bars opening and then get in there early and give them my pitch before anybody else can scoop me. 

[Flyboy718]

3 hours ago, AMD Snacks said:

That's twice what I pay for DB, but I don't pay shipping. Yea I do have some mint boxes but not out in the field yet. That's coming soon. I do have some snack boxes they do well actually despite the theft.

I buy the regular DB at Sam's too, I am just using an option you can order from Sam's as an alternative to the regular gumballs that might sell better in the locations that the regular gumballs don't sell well.

[AMD Snacks]

Yea no worries I'm just wondering if they're charging you $20 for shipping...or how much is the 850 ct?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[Flyboy718]

7 minutes ago, AMD Snacks said:

Yea no worries I'm just wondering if they're charging you $20 for shipping...or how much is the 850 ct?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 

$34.98 for the 850 box of cry baby sour GB $3.44 in tax and $6.68 for shipping.  Total of $45.10

[AMD Snacks]

1 minute ago, Flyboy718 said:

$34.98 for the 850 box of cry baby sour GB $3.44 in tax and $6.68 for shipping.  Total of $45.10

Not too bad. I noticed some of the national guys around here switch up their GB flavors, I've tried a couple different ones and didn't notice much a difference in sales. But that could just be those locations. What kind of increase are you getting, how often are you switch flavors?

 

22 minutes ago, zjtaylor said:

What's your service cycle like? I am also up to about 30 locations now and I changed to doing once every 2-3 months instead of monthly. I think a longer service time seems to "smooth out" the slower months. Another thing to keep in mind is that business is going to slow down as the climate gets colder. That might be why you notice your numbers dropping compared to a few months ago. Also do you have any commission racks? I recommend trying one with toys and gumballs. Or toys and tab gum since you say that's a hot seller in your region. What I do is look in the news for new restaurants and bars opening and then get in there early and give them my pitch before anybody else can scoop me. 

I did the same thing. Saves times and energy, plus you get to collect decent amounts every time you go to service. 

19 hours ago, Determined said:

 How long do you keep non producing locations ? 

 

I seem to read on here often that people agree keeping a slow earner is better than letting a machine sit in your garage. I have 2 locations that are my obvious bottom producers, but since I bought a lot of machines that I need to get out, I just let them sit and earn, and only service every other time im in the area. 

[QuikVend]

Up to now, I haven't sold too many gumballs myself. Somewhat due to the type of locations I have(about half my locations are breakrooms). I am in the process of getting 7 shooting hoops, 2 racks w/ toys and gbs, and a few other single head gumball machines. 

How long of a service cycle are the locations on? I typically give them a few months and make a few product changes before I pull a machine. 

Even though I'd love to sell only gumballs, they seem to have a somewhat limited market. Even though the margins aren't nearly as good with candy, I'll take the increased sales and make sure to keep my portion sizes controlled to maximize profits.

[Determined]

5 hours ago, zjtaylor said:

What's your service cycle like? I am also up to about 30 locations now and I changed to doing once every 2-3 months instead of monthly. I think a longer service time seems to "smooth out" the slower months. Another thing to keep in mind is that business is going to slow down as the climate gets colder. That might be why you notice your numbers dropping compared to a few months ago. Also do you have any commission racks? I recommend trying one with toys and gumballs. Or toys and tab gum since you say that's a hot seller in your region. What I do is look in the news for new restaurants and bars opening and then get in there early and give them my pitch before anybody else can scoop me. 

I service new locations after 1 month. Probably really don't need to but you never know. After that 1 1/2-3 months. One problem with long service cycles is its a good way to lose equipment. Yes i learned that it can get very slow in the winter from last year. I have found very few business owners interested in commission. I have 2 small racks on location. One does okay and I lost a account where I had a 5-way rack. I do the same thing I target new businesses. I guess great minds think a like.

5 hours ago, Flyboy718 said:

I buy the regular DB at Sam's too, I am just using an option you can order from Sam's as an alternative to the regular gumballs that might sell better in the locations that the regular gumballs don't sell well.

I've tried 1080ct tropical fruit I like it and it sells well but I have a lot of machines that don't have rocket wheels. I tried the 850ct tropical fruit, it's different than the 1080ct , it sucks , and don't sell well.

[Determined]

When it comes to slow earners for me so far it just comes down to wether or not I believe in the location. If it has good foot traffic or i like the location I'll keep it.

[Determined]

Don't get me wrong I've had single gumball machines outperform a rack. I would rather have 1 head over performing than several heads under performing.