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I started this as a separate thread so as not to hijack the thread in which I mentioned it. Here is how I was taught to calculate cost to service. I do this on a monthly basis and it does change from a little from month to month but with nothing else changing in your business it will remain pretty consistent. In short, its the total of all your costs to run your business except for COGS, sales taxes, commissions and debt service. This would include your vehicle expenses, insurance, phone, office expanses, warehouse, repairs, labor and payroll taxes. Then you take that total amount and divide by the number of stops you run for the month. As a generic example lets say your revenue for the month is $25,000.00. The sum of your expenses that fit into your cost to service calculation is $4,250.00 and you run 200 stops for the month. Your cost to service is $21.25 per stop. Your avg. revenue is $125.00 per stop. So for the month, on average, you make $125.00 every time you stop the truck and get out to fill a machine. Of that $125.00 $21.25 is your cost to service leaving you with $103.75. How I use this information: Lets say I am looking at a potential account and I think it will generate $200.00 per week. 52 weeks X $200.00 = $10,400.00 / 12 months = $866.66 per month avg. I anticipate servicing 2X per week = 104 service stops per year and avg of 8.66 service stops per month. 8.66 stops X $21.25 = $184.03 My COGS for my business is 52%, sales taxes are another 5% and 10% commission. That’s a total of 67% of revenue = $866.66 X 67% = $580.66 Adding Cost to service and the fixed expenses, $184.03 + $580.66 = $764.69 leaving a net profit of $101.76. If my equipment investment is $5,000.00 then it will take me 49.2 months to make my money back. If, instead, I service 1X per week 52 weeks / 12 months = 4.33 service stops per month. Take 4.33 stops X $21.25 cost to service = $92.02. Adding cost to service and fixed expenses of $580.66 + $92.02 = $672.68. Subtract that from the estimated monthly revenue of $866.66 - $672.68 = $193.98. So now my time to payoff the equipment is reduced to 25.78 months. So now I look at the potential location and get an idea of what I can do for them. If they want more service then I will reduce my commission offering to “recover” my additional cost. If they want the commission then I know I need to go in with prices that are higher than my average to keep my return on investment down. If I can’t get the higher prices then I will seek a longer term agreement to give me the best opportunity to at least make enough profit to get back the cost of the equipment. Hope this all makes sense. Let me know if it doesn’t I will try to clarify it.

Machines and Equipment What machines should I buy? Top machines manufactured Start-up guide for bulk vending machines Machines to avoid at all costs Bulk vending machine and equipment reviews 1800 Vending - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/382-1800-machines/ Vendstar - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1845-down-and-dirty-on-vendstar-3000/ http://vendiscuss.ne...c/260-vendstar/ http://vendiscuss.ne...0-ratings-poll/ U-turn - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/345-u-turn-48-select/ LYPC - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/816-lypc-review/ Vendesign - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2297-vendesign-machines/ Northwestern - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1825-northwestern-triple/ http://vendiscuss.ne...rn-60-machines/ http://vendiscuss.ne...31-nw-super-80/ http://vendiscuss.ne...stern-super-60/ A&A Global - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/320-aa-machine-review/ http://vendiscuss.ne...om-aaglobalind/ http://vendiscuss.ne...s-aa-po-89-450/ Amerivend - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/602-amerivend/ Seaga - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/915-seaga-millennia-gumball/ http://vendiscuss.ne...ple-vend-3000s/ XYZ - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/982-xyz-easy-pro/ Beaver - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/416-southern-beaver-rb16/ http://vendiscuss.ne...and-comparison/ Oak - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/343-oak-450-vista/ http://vendiscuss.ne...-oak-vista-300/ http://vendiscuss.ne...s-aa-po-89-450/ http://vendiscuss.ne...stern-super-60/ Eagle - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1504-eagle/ Acorn - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2174-acorn-machines/ Dentyne Ice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/493-dentyne-ice/ V-Line - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/6635-v-line-vending-machines/ Buzz Bites - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1307-buzz-bites-vending-machine/ Bulk Products Which products should I vend? Toys versus candy - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12262-toy-vending-vs-bulk-candy/ What bulk items sell well? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/488-good-selling-items-for-bulk-vending/ Does anyone vend toys only? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11888-does-anyone-sell-only-toys/ Which candies should I vend? Best selling candies - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/316-list-of-your-best-selling-items/ What is the best selling, low maintenance candy? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12194-best-sellinglow-maintenance-candy/ Runts - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8279-runts-candy/ Chiclet gum - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7845-chiclet-gum/ Which toys should I vend? Top selling toys - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1166-top-selling-toys/ Best 25 cent toys - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4902-best-25-cent-toys/ Best 50 cent 1 inch toys - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/6764-best-50-cent-one-inch-toys/ Best 2 inch toys - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1241-top-selling-toys/ Best toy products of the month - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8724-good-products-this-month/ Bouncy Balls - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/5174-bouncy-balls/ Which 1-inch toys rank the highest? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7517-1-inch-product-rankings/ Top selling caps - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8429-top-selling-caps/ Which stickers should I vend? Sticker recommendations - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9487-sticker-recommendations/ Sticker suggestions - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/5444-stickertattoo-suggestions-needed/ Inventory Control How should I preserve my inventory? Preserving inventory - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12343-question-about-preserving-inventory/ Freezing - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/306-keep-bugs-away/ Accounting and Finance How should I keep track of my expenses and revenues? Vendtrak software - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8012-vendtrak/ Counting quarters and keeping records - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2803-counting-quarters-keeping-records/ Counting and Banking - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7512-counting-and-banking-question/ Visit the Vendiscuss Downloads section for expense/revenue and other excel spreadsheets What coin counters/scales should I use? When do I need to buy a coin counter? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4089-at-what-point-do-you-buy-a-coin-counter/ In the market for a coin scale - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11730-coin-scale/ What's the best way to count coins? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2465-coin-counting/ What should I do to keep track of my machines? ID codes and serials - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11831-keep-track-of-your-machines/ What can I do to control my costs? Controlling costs tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8768-what-are-you-doing-to-control-cost/ Dealing with the rising costs of products - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12149-dealing-with-the-rising-costs-of-products/ Servicing Procedures and tips for servicing machines: Servicing your locations - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7722-servicing-locations/ Where do I put my coins? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11556-best-place-to-put-coins-during-collection/ What do I need to bring with me when servicing my machines? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/3101-what-do-you-bring-with-you-when-servicing-your-machines/ How do I become more efficient when servicing? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2319-being-efficient-servicing-locations/ How soon should I service my machines? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2014-how-soon-to-service/ How can I be safe and protect myself when servicing my machines? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1028-saftey-measures-tips-add-some/ What are your service intervals for candy? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11935-what-are-your-service-intervals-for-candy/ Servicing tips and practicalities - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/182-servicing-tips-and-practicalities/ Dealing with thieves - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9839-how-to-catch-a-thief/ How do I keep my machines running smoothly? Lubricating your coin mechs - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12410-what-do-you-use-for-lubrication-on-your-coin-mechs/ Help! I have bugs in my machines! - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/145-bay-leaves-ants/ Help! I have moths in my machines! - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/306-keep-bugs-away/ Commission and Charity Should I do charity or commission bulk vending? Charity versus commission - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/10499-the-charity-vs-commission-game/ Charity bulk vending A glimpse into the life of a charity vendor - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2250-a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-a-charity-vendor/ Commission bulk vending Commission percentage off of gross sales or profit - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/6233-do-you-base-your-commission-percentages-off-gross-sales-or-profit/ Commission percentage off of gross sales or profit - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9691-commissions-off-gross-or-net/ What commission percentage should I start with? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7894-commissions-to-start-off-with/ Locations What are the best locations? Best locations - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12189-best-performing-locations-for-bulk-vending/ List of popular bulk vending locations Pet stores Supermarkets Airports Hobby stores Truck stops Parks Drug stores Tanning salons Tattoo parlors Cell phone stores Skating rings Employee break rooms Family restaurants Sandwich shops Furniture stores Public city buildings Malls Hair salons Barber shops Gyms Eye care centers Arcades Electronic stores Banks Fire stations Smoke shops Antique stores Manufacturing companies TV repair shops Computer repair shops Auto Clubs Video game stores Car dealerships Boat stores Marinas Oil change shops Pawnshops Police stations Go-kart tracks E.R. waiting rooms Day cares Lawyer offices Ice cream shops Pizza parlors Recreational areas Laser tag entertainment areas Retirement homes Nail salons Clothing stores High-risk locations Vendors who operate in high risk areas - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2817-how-many-operate-in-high-risk-areas/ Locating Self-locating tips and advice Locating tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/59-locating-tips/ Locating scripts - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/62-introductions-scripts/ Locating scripts, objections, and rebuttals - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4440-locating-scripts-objections-rebuttals-success/ Why am I losing locations? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8550-what-is-the-reason-for-losing-locations/ How do you find time to locate? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7834-finding-time-to-locate-how-does-it-fit-into-your-daily-life/ Should I use a locator to place my bulk vending machines? Lets go locating - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9570-lets-go-locating/ Which bulk vending locators should I use? Locaters, a comparison - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11801-let-the-games-begin-a-race-of-the-top-4-for-my-business/ Visit the Vendiscuss Locating Discussions section for more information Part-time or Full-time Part-time and full-time bulk vending Tips for going full-time - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11837-any-advice-going-from-part-time-to-full-bulk/ Can I do this as a career? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12014-can-bulk-vending-be-done-as-a-career/ Full-time bulk vendors - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1857-full-time-bulk-venders/ How many machines do you own? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/47-how-many-machines-do-you-people-own/ Tips on how to go full-time - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8269-how-to-go-full-time-into-bulk-vending/ Bulk vending for full-time income - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/10160-bulk-vending-for-full-time-income/ Routes How do I value/buy/sell a route? How do I value a route? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12062-4-year-old-u-turn-eliminator-route/ How do I sell a route? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12296-when-selling-a-route-on-craigslist/ Route tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12029-existing-route-question/ Route tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12069-why-do-people-think-they-can-get-100-or-more-per-loc-for-routes/ Route tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/3583-need-expert-opinion-on-selling-my-route/ Route tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2025-pricing-route-part-38/ Route tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7487-need-advice-for-purchasing-route/ Route tips and advice - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9996-route-purchase/ General Route Purchasing Guide General guidelines for buying routes: Start by offering half of what the machines are bringing in in total sales per year and work upwards. In most situations, never offer more than what total sales are in one year. For every positive aspect of the route, increase your offering price; for every negative, decrease your offering price. In addition, evaluate the position of the seller and adjust your offering price accordingly. Why is he or she selling the route? Is it because of an emergency? Is he or she retiring? Is the person moving to another town? Is he or she tired of running a route? Positive and negative factors to consider when buying a route: +Newer machines -Older machines +Well functioning machines -Machines need work +Interactive machines (shootin' hoops) -Machines are difficult to service +High earning locations -Machines must be relocated +Location of machines -Machines are not in ideal locations for you +Seller has excellent relationships with business owners -Total sales are below national averages How to gauge the demand for the seller's route: In most cases, if the seller has received multiple offerings, he or she will tell you. Be careful, however, the seller may not be telling the truth. After the seller has stated that multiple offers have been made, ask him or her a follow up question such as: Are any of the other prospective buyers close to sealing the deal? If the seller seems overly excited, he or she may be trying to fluff up the price of the route. What to do if the seller is moving out of town: In this situation, try to get the seller to tell you when he or she is moving. If it sometime in the near future, start by offering a lower price. Expect to pay a higher price if the seller has plenty of time left before moving. What to do if the seller needs cash fast because of an emergency: Start by offering less than half of what total sales are in one year and work upwards. When to pay 100% or more of total sales in one year: -Machines are of highquality (Beaver, Northwestern, A&A Global, etc...) -Machines must be in excellent working condition -Total sales are well above national average figures When to pay below total sales in one year: -Machines are not of high quality -Machines are not in excellent working condition -Total sales are average or below national average figures What to do if you do not trust the financial figures provided by the seller: Ask the seller if he or she is willing to finance the deal over a 12 month period, stating that the revenues from the machines will be used to pay the deal off. The monetary figure offered to the seller is the average total sales in one year. If the seller is hesitant about accepting this proposal, it may indicate that the financial figures provided are not accurate. What to do if the seller is willing to show you his or her route: If you are willing to go around with the seller, keep your eyes peeled open and bring a pen and a pad. Be prepared to take notes on every machine and location. While examining each location, be as objective as possible. Examples of questions to ask yourself at each location: -What is being vended? -How clean are the machines? -Are the individuals that frequent this location primarily adults or kids or both? After visiting each location, you should be able to more accurately determine the dynamics of the route. Examples of questions to ask yourself while looking over your notes: -Are the products being vended at each location appropriate? -Should machines be relocated? Keep in mind that without detailed notes, you might pass on a route with tremendous hidden potential. With just a few tweaks, revenues may increase significantly. Growth and Building How do I grow my bulk vending route? Expanding quickly - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9376-how-does-one-expand-quickly/ The most important tip for bulk vending success - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4273-stop-locating-you-dont-need-any-more-stupid-accounts/ What should I do with my free time? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11517-downtime-boredom-any-suggestions/ Barriers to bulk vending wealth - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/3067-biggest-barrier-to-becoming-wealthy-through-bulk-vending/ Building a route - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/8313-building-a-route/ Labels, Graphics, Print, Web Bulk labels, graphics, and other print media I need quality labels, QUICK! - http://sweetstopvending.com/ Downloads section - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/forum/27-labels-and-graphics/ Websites Setting up a website - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11600-bitting-the-bullet-setting-up-a-website/ Example of bulk vending website - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12231-website-just-went-live/ What are the benefits of a bulk vending website? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/10966-benefits-from-a-website/ How should I get stickers off of my machines? Sticker removal - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11740-sticker-removal/ Other Bulk vending NO NO's Vending marbles - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12236-vending-marbles/ Gumball gimmicks - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12147-gumball-gimmicks/ Mixing gumballs and bouncy balls - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12303-why-oh-why-would-you-think-this-is-ok/ Bulk vending success and motivational stories Its official! I have 300 locations - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9996-route-purchase/ Best pulls ever - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2931-best-pull-ever/ My biggest single account collection ever - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4723-my-biggest-single-accout-collection-ever/ Taking the next step - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/10846-taking-the-next-step/ Nepa's vending success and financial reports - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2206-nepa-vending-financial-reports/ What got you started? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/11368-what-got-you-started/ What goals and plans do you have for the future? 2014 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/18632-goals-for-2014/ 2013 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/14772-goals-for-2013/ 2012 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/10416-what-plans-do-you-have-for-2012/ 2011 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7446-2011-business-plan/ 2010 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4857-2010-business-plans-goals/ 2009 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/2500-2009/ 2008 Goals and plans - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/662-building-your-empire/ What is your end goal with your bulk vending business? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7684-whats-your-end-goal-with-your-vending-business/ Additional interesting posts If you had to do it all over again - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/4568-if-you-had-to-do-it-over-again/ If you had to start from scratch - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7787-if-you-had-to-do-it-all-over/ If you had 20,000 dollars - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/9059-if-you-had-an-extra-20000-for-vending/ The big picture of bulk vending business ownership - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7651-in-the-big-picture-of-business-ownership/ Has anyone ever tried to convince you out of vending? - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/10767-has-anyone-ever-tried-to-convince-you-out-of-vending/ The vending millionaires - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/1681-the-vending-millionaires/ Most competitive bulk vending areas in the country - http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/12350-what-are-the-most-competitive-areas-in-the-country/ A special THANKS to PerformaVending. Quite a substantial number of the links listed above were provided by him. Please give him a thumbs up as well! This post has been promoted to an article

5 years ago, I noticed that I would say hi to the new members, but I found I kept writing the same thing over and over. With the full intent of being lazy, I decided to make a single post, and simply share the link with the new members. I didn’t expect what happened next. It was pinned, and stayed at the top of the forum all that time. (And mocking me with the misspellings.) I also didn’t have the slightest inkling that I was going to take over this forum 5 years later. So I’ve decided it was time to update this message. Welcome to VENDiscuss. This has been, and still is a great resource for learning about the Vending Industry. How to get started, how to be successful, and how to save money. There are plenty of experts here in many fields, not only are they willing to help, they have helped so much that practically any question you might have is probably already on this forum. They all have their own opinions, and ideas, and that is a good thing. There is more than one path to success, and you can choose what advice to take. I would say read the forums. Search them for the questions you have. They have been asked dozens if not hundreds of times. And interact, ask new questions. We all have to start somewhere, and if you are new to the business, this is my advice: Avoid Biz Ops. Maybe you never heard that term before, but it is short for Business Opportunity. Unfortunately I have yet to see any Biz-Op actually help anyone in the vending world. Maybe a good one will actually come around in the future, but I haven’t seen it yet. The problem is they are more interested in making that sale than helping anyone out. Their goal is to sell you, take your money, and they're gone. They tell you that you can make more than you actually can. Then they sell you too many machines for a person starting out, and at an inflated price. You’ve never seen these machines before, so really don’t know what they’re worth. But then they tell you they will place them into businesses for you. Unfortunately in the worst possible locations. And if they train you at all, what they will tell you is too often wrong. What you end up with is a load of debt to pay 3, 5, even 10 times the actual value of the machines you purchased, and an under-performing business to pay it off. I almost got suckered into one of these, but something didn’t seem right, so I didn’t take the “plunge”. Not too long after that I saw the same machines for sale, brand new, in an ad for less than half that price. I got lucky, and hopefully you are reading this before you got suckered in. If not, it might be possible to turn things around. I hope you are reading this before signing up with one of these companies. Start Small. For most of you, this is a brand new experience. As much as many of us enjoy the business, there are plenty of people who would hate it. It does not matter how successful you are if you dislike what you are doing. It’s also possible you could buy a hundred machines, and just let them sit in storage for years. This is an unfortunately common occurrence. It’s best to “test out the waters” first. See not only that it is something you might enjoy, but can do, and like to do. If you end up not following through with just a couple machines, than you are out so much less than if you bought a couple hundred bulk, or a couple dozen larger beverage and snack machines. I recommend buying just one machine, maybe 2 or 3 at most. You might want to buy a used one, and figure out how it works, as well as how to fix it. Then find a location for it. See what it’s like running a couple machines, and if you like it, buy some more. At this point you are buying machines with a little experience, and those located machines can help pay for your expansion. This is work. Some people get the idea that all you do is put a vending machine out, and the quarters just start rolling in. This is not exactly true. Sure the machines make money while you are not there, it is not really a passive income. (Partly, but that is another complex discussion.) You will need to get to the machines regularly, fill them with product, empty the money, fix them, clean them, and move them in and out. You are taking on the job of maintenance, sales, janitor, delivery and accounting. Maybe as you grow you can hire out some if not all these jobs, but most do it all themselves. Money will not magically appear in your bank. This can be fun. I am worried what I have posted can turn people off. And honestly there are some people who should be turned away, if they are not willing to commit to doing it right. But there are plenty of people who love this. You get to drive around, open up a machine, put stuff in it, and take money out. Spend a few minutes cleaning it, and it’s off to the next one. I enjoy driving. I like listening to pod-casts as go from location to location. I like talking to some of the people on my route, and I like opening up the machines, and pulling out the money. It can be frustrating to find your machine broke down, or getting that call to remove the machine(s). But this exists in any business, or job. If you are willing to put in the work, and effort, you can make decent money at it. It scales to what you make it. It can be a hobby, or a source of extra income. You could do it, and another part time job, or it can be a full time job in itself. You could grow to have employees, and manage them as they run the business. Choose the field that fits you. In my original post, I recommended that people start out in bulk first. (Gum ball types of machines.) I had sound reasons for it, the first being one of the cheaper ways to go, and second a little easier than say beverage, and snack machines. Takes up less space in storage, and a lot easier to move. But I now believe this was bad advice. While there are similarities in the different fields in vending, they are different animals. And we are all different, so I now believe it makes more sense to do what fits you. What I gave were my reasons for choosing bulk, but we all have different goals and desires. In the vending world, there are the bulk vendors, the full line (snack and beverage,) coffee, honor box, atm machines, amusement, and others. (Hey, the categories in our forum.) Bulk is a common starting place, but it doesn’t have to be if something else fits your interest. My advice. Again, start small. Why invest a lot of money into a business before you know it’s right for you, especially when you don’t need to. Plow all that income into the growth of the business. Now you are in cheaper, and the business is helping fund it’s own growth. Maintain a separate bank account with a growing minimum balance. You need an emergency fund, as well as the funds to grow your business. Refine your route. This isn’t just about placing machines, and taking care of them. You might find another machine works better at a location. You might be able to add machines at a location. Some locations may not be producing enough income, so you would pull that location. Decide how big you want to be. Every once in awhile check if your goals have changed. Maybe you want to be bigger. Maybe you’re too big. Maybe you want to sell your route, or buy somebody else’s. It’s good to evaluate your life and goals every now and then. This is a simple formula for making a success in this business. Low risk, time to learn, and as it grows, it is either partly, or even fully funded by itself. Take other people’s advice. I am one voice, one person, one group of ideas, so don’t just listen to me. I want to be as helpful as possible, but I am sure there are some on this forum who completely disagree with me, or just part of my advice. There are plenty of perspectives here, and if you listen to many, you will find the one that fits you. Here is the link to the old post: http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/7539-welcome-new-members/page-0

This is a collection of many of the accounting and liability related questions that have been asked here on the forum over the years. I’ve tried to combine the important stuff into this post, but if something is missing please let me know. First, a disclaimer – I am not an accountant . My advice to everyone is to call your Secretary of State, Department of Taxation, or the IRS to verify things. Also, when in doubt, Google Second, each state deals with taxes and businesses in a different way. The advice given here is general and your state may impose more regulations/requirements than stated herein. Hence my advice: call your Secretary of State or Department of Taxation to verify things. Last, I am going to gear this towards an LLC. If people have specific questions about S-Corps or more complicated things feel free to PM me. But to keep this somewhat clean, I’m going to pick a recommendation (LLC) and talk about that (mostly). Additionally, the terms I am using here are generic and chosen so everyone understands them. They are not, strictly speaking, accounting terms. OK, some definitions: Liability Protection – this basically means not losing your house if someone sues you. LLC – Limited Liability Company. This is a company, and not a corporation. It is the easiest business entity to create that provides liability protection. It is a pass thru entity (see below). Note, “Limited” means you can only lose the amount of money you invested in the company to get it started. For a vending business this will be very small. S-Corp – This is a normal corporation (i.e., C-Corp) that has filed for the S election. More complicated to form than an LLC, but there are some advantages. It provides liability protection. It is a pass thru entity (see below). C-Corp – Out of scope for our discussion purposes. There is no reason to have a C-Corp unless you are doing this full time and making more than $100K/yr. If that is the case then there are some potential tax advantages to a C-Corp, but that is it. This is the most complicated business entity and it is not a pass thru entity. Sole Proprietorship – This is just a guy who decided to start doing business. No forms to file, nothing to set up. There is no business entity. No liability protection. Pass Thru Entity – This means that the money your business makes is, for tax purposes, treated as your income. In other words, you record this income on your 1040 and pay taxes there, instead of your business entity paying taxes. Note, local taxes are almost never pass thru and most states impose some sort of business tax (e.g., in Ohio you pay $150/yr). And yes, the business income still passes thru to your state tax return. Technically this is double taxation, but really not in the sense that most people mean. So…what type of business entity should I form? Almost always LLC. Don’t do the sole prop because there is no liability protection. The C-Corp is too complicated. The S-Corp is an option only if you are making $50K or more a year. If so, you might get a slight tax advantage. The LLC is simple and provides protection. Note an LLC can be taxed in several different ways – Sole Prop, S-Corp or C-Corp. By default it will be taxed as a Sole Prop – this is what you want so there is nothing special you need to do. Everything is easy. One extra schedule to file (Sched C) with your 1040 and that is it. Also, be sure you keep your LLC and personal expenses separate. Get a separate bank account. If you don’t, and there is trouble, you may lose your liability protection. Lastly, when you form the LLC, you can do it yourself. Go to your Secretary of State’s website. There should be clear instructions on forming an LLC. You must simply fill out a form (mostly online), pay a fee, and you are done. You can use your own Soc Sec #, or call the IRS (or go online) and get a new one for your LLC – this is free. OK, I formed an LLC. Do I need insurance? It depends. The LLC protects your assets, but nothing protects the LLC’s assets. If you are sued then everything owned by the LLC can be taken. If you have a significant investment in machines then you’ll lose everything. The insurance will cost approximately $300/yr. Do the math to see if it makes sense. If you have $10,000 in machines, definitely get insurance. If you have $100, no need. Great. I’ve got the company and I got insurance too. Do I need an accountant? How do I do my taxes? Well, the LLC is a pass thru entity. This means you simply take the income of your LLC, subtract the expenses, and the balance is the profit (or loss). This is what you get for all of the hard work you’ve done all year You then file a Schedule C with your 1040 and put that number down there. You’ll pay income taxes (federal and state and, possibly, local) on that figure. You’ll also pay FICA taxes. FICA taxes are social security and Medicare. Unless you are making >$100K, just figure 7.65% of your income is what you pay. Normally, if you are salaried (i.e., get a paycheck), your employer withholds this automatically and there is nothing for you to do. But in the case of the LLC, the profit that flows thru to you hasn’t had FICA deducted from it. No problem – the IRS will let you pay when you file. However… You will probably have to pay quarterly estimated taxes from now on. This is because you haven’t had any income tax withheld either. And, if you don’t pay at least 90% of what you owe before the end of the year, or end up owing more than $1000, the IRS wants you to estimate your taxes. If the LLC is your main source of income, you’ll almost certainly fall into this category. Luckily, there is an easy way around this – just figure your taxes in December and make a tax withholding payment. It doesn’t have to be exact – it just needs to be close enough. But if you don’t want to do this, then you can always make the quarterly estimated tax payments – they aren’t hard to do. Another option is to pay yourself a salary. This is a little more complicated (you’ll need QuickBooks or something similar to handle the payroll), but you won’t have any estimated or FICA tax worries. Note, in general you don’t want to do this unless it is for retirement benefits purposes. This is because your company will also be paying FICA taxes, so 15.3% is taken instead of 7.65%. Note, I oversimplified some things above. For example, not all expenses are deductible – travel and entertainment are the common examples. But just about everything you are doing as a vendor will be a deductible expense. Also if your profit is actually a loss there are some limits to what you can deduct. All that being said, buy TaxCut or TurboTax and it will walk you through everything. To summarize about taxes, here are the types you’ll run into: - Sales Tax. Check your state to see if you need to pay. Many bulk operators are exempt, but not all. This will be based on your gross income. - Federal, State, Local Income. This is what we were discussing above. Based on your profit. - FICA. Based on your profit. - State/Fed Unemployment. Will not need to pay unless you have employees. - Worker’s Comp. Technically more of a premium than a tax. Will not need to pay unless you have employees. Company formed, insurance bought, taxes paid. Now, what are all of those tax advantages of LLCs I keep hearing about? Well, really, there aren’t any. At least not for the typical vendor. Running a sole prop will give you the same tax advantages as an LLC. The key is to keep good records and to know what can be deducted. Of course anything that is an expense can be deducted. Normal things like candy and machines are obviously expenses, but so is mileage. You can deduct $0.55 per mile you drive. Just record your mileage and write yourself a check (I do it monthly) for the mileage. It’s yours – tax free and is an expense to your business. Being creative you can find other things to treat as expenses – cleaning supplies (one for the machine and one for your house), cell phone (but just use it for “business”), etc. An LLC doesn’t give you anything special over a sole prop with respect to taxes. You form an LLC for the 2 L’s – Limited Liability. Lastly, some of you have employees. If you do, make sure you pay their FICA taxes. No business entity offers liability protection from the IRS coming after you for not paying these. And you’ll face stiff penalties and fines. Don’t try to treat them as “contractors” – you’ll just get into more trouble. Let me know if there are any other questions Kevin

I am amused by this thread. I have been in bulk vending for over 7 years and am making a lot of money off the machines that everyone says are useless junk. Every time my "useless junk" is stolen from a location I just smile and go on my way knowing that I only lost $30. I don't think too many of you guys feel that way when you lose a nice machine. I have a friend that has a route of 700 vendstars and when he collects his $7000 monthly do you think he cares what kind of machines he is using? My point is this, if you are going to be a commercial vendor fine, buy top of the line. But, if you are wanting to make money fast and want a return on investment in months and not years, then I suggest you take a look at these plastic peices of junk. You can make money and a lot of it with these disposable machines. They are in good supply and incredible deals are to be had, so get out there and start making some money!

An absolute must for the new vendor, and a good refresher for the rest of us on a lot of good stuff. Christmas came early this year it seems! Thank you Vendelicious, this is terrific!

Easy. MEI VN2511 with single price harness. A generous donation to this forum will set you up.

Stop Locating! You don't need any more stupid accounts! It may be a bit self-destructive given the fact that I own a nationwide locating service but, the truth is the truth, and it must be told. "I would like nothing more than to place another 250 accounts for you 'Olivia Operator' but I cannot in good conscience place any more equipment for you. You need to stop locating. You don't need any more stupid accounts!" Here's the story: Olivia Operator told me she wanted to make a sizable investment in to a new vending business. Her goal was to make profits from owning and operating bulk vending machines. It was only 7 months after we started the process of carefully buying a very significant quantity of low cost, plastic candy machines and placing them in high traffic businesses around her metropolitan home. She, her husband and two sons were restocking them on a monthly basis. We had already spent nearly 70% of her intended investment when she enthusiastically called and asked if we could go out and acquire another significant quantity of new accounts...she wanted to spend the whole wad! She was going to go the distance and really make money from her vending business when we told her some unexpected news..."You need to stop locating. You don't need any more stupid accounts!" As much as I wanted the business...and, Lord knows, I love to spend a whole "wad" of money any chance I get, but I had to remember...she wanted to earn profits by owning and operating bulk vending machines...not just candy...not just gum...not just toys..."bulk vending machines" (any kind of bulk vending machines). There starts the process. I was reminded of the second location I ever acquired for my vending route 19 years ago. My enthusiam was high. I was ready to go get the whole world and I managed to acquire a store called, "Check Out Video" in Northern California. It did $12 in the first day of operation...$18 in two days...$52 in the first week...$133 in two weeks!...and YES, I checked all those days! I was overwhelmed and knew I had something good. I quickly spent my rent money on another 2 Oak heads and a single pipe stand for a mere $650 (I was new!!!). I tried for the next 2 weeks to convince a store (any store) to accept that machine. NOBODY but nobody would agree to take it. Finally, not knowing what else to do with it I asked Check Out Video if I could put this one in the store as well. They agreed and the rest is history! Why? Well, from that day and for the next 2 years, Check Out Video paid the rent on my apartment. I wasn't aware that I had just learned one of the most valuable lessons in building a customer based business..."THERE IS NO BETTER CUSTOMER THAN THE ONE YOU ALREADY HAVE!" As I mentioned in a previous post, on occasion (wearing a different hat) I have opportunity to sit alongside major players in the business world. It has been surprising to learn that such significant portions of marketing budgets are allocated to influencing customers they already have. The reason is simple. Think about a ground-based hand water pump. For those of you who have never been out of the city, some people acquire their drinking water from ground acquifers using a large metal arm hand pump attached to pipes that help pull water up to the surface. It takes a lot of pumping to get the water to start flowing, but once it starts all you need to do is occasionally gently pump the handle once or twice and the water keeps flowing! Back to 'Olivia Operator'. We opted instead to help Olivia upgrade her machinery. First, we selected the highest producing locs to "run" with. We pulled 20% of her slowest producers and added them to the highest producing accounts (thus lowering her total number of locs) and amazingly, her gross sales and profits both increased! We then began spending money to acquire larger (more professional, higher quality) machinery to replace the plastic machines in the best accounts. After only a modest amount of work and 10% more investment, she had doubled her gross sales and nearly doubled her profits. Currently, 'Olivia' is one of the most profitable (per stop) bulk vending operators I have ever met. Certainly, there are many who can give suggestions about specific upgrades, but I just thought I would mention something quickly lest you forget that "THERE IS NO BETTER CUSTOMER THAN THE ONE YOU ALREADY HAVE!"

All good questions but very broad questions with no easy answers. How do you get started? The simplest way is to find a distributor. I have no idea where you are and so I likely have no idea which distributors work in your area, but many distributors do ship out. You can try reaching out to local vendors and seeing who they use too. That's just not something we can answer without knowing where you are. And, while we are on that question, it's usually better to buy used/refurbished when you are starting because new machines are very expensive. It takes a pretty suave person to be able to land big locations fresh out the gates with no vending experience. And those big locations are the only ones you want to purchase new equipment for. By big locations, I mean locations with hundreds of workers on-site in a blue-collar setting likely working multiple shifts. For smaller locations (under 100), you want used or refurbished equipment. Distributors can help with that and local vendors might even be willing to sell you some of their locations. Can it be a full time operation? Of course. Why would you question that? A vending business can be anything from a side business to a national company being operated across multiple states. Of course, it's going to start out as a side business and the toughest thing you would deal with is balancing your time between working a full-time job (because you need the income) and growing a side business that also needs your time. To expand your business means you need more time invested in it, which can potentially clash with your full-time work schedule. That's something you have to figure out when that happens. Personally, I had a flexible schedule with my employer and I kept growing until I felt I had enough business income to quit my FT job. Once I did that, I had plenty time to gain new locations but not really enough profit to pay my personal bills AND expand quickly. With a full-time income, I was able to reinvest all of my business profit. It was a tough transition but I did it. Now I do this completely full-time and I actually need my wife to help me because there's so much work to do. How much can you make per year? What is the ROI? That's impossible to answer. Vending is about volume. To make big bucks means you need as many vends as possible, generally. What sells more? 10 pizzerias that sell 100 pizzas per day or 1 pizzeria that sells 1,000 pizzas per day? The answer is that they sell exactly the same. That concept is also true for vending. Higher volume locations mean more sales, so you don't need as many high volume locations as you would need small locations. And, as you grow, you need a dedicated vehicle to handle the additional volume. You may need to hire someone to work part-time. You may hire a technician to do repairs. Your profit is based off of your expenses with the COGS (cost of goods sold) being the most significant. But that depends on various factors and no one can answer that. However, a simple percentage I would say is that you can expect about 50% gross profit after COGS assuming you double your costs with your pricing. If you work out of your car, profit will be higher initially. Once you buy a vehicle, get a warehouse, hire someone, profit drops significantly. And you don't see a big increase in profit margins until you expand with many routes. It's just impossible to give you ROI or profit at all. You'll make as much as you're willing to make but it will take time and a lot of money invested. How much time do you spend working on the machines and the business? Working on the machines IS your business. Not necessarily repairing, but restocking. I am infront of machines nearly every working day. I do try to spend one day each week just in the office, and I only do repairs maybe once or twice each week, but those repairs are done while I am already out working anyway. This is my full-time operation. I only use a repair tech when I don't have the time. Unless you have a lot of money to invest, running a vending business is NOT a matter of sitting in an office and making phone calls. It's a matter of getting out there and stocking machines, keeping them clean and making sure they work. Vending is a blue-collar occupation. If you dream of passive income, this is not the investment for you. What is the split (ie. commission) between me and the "retail" location? Firstly, "retail" locations usually refer to businesses such as clothing stores or other places where customers can simply walk on in and shop. Those locations usually aren't great. They can be decent at best. And they often DO require a commission because large "vending management" companies get the contracts and they subcontract that work out to vendors since the management company doesn't actually do anything beside hold the contract and send them some amount of commission (collected from you). That commssion is anywhere from 10-20%, but 10-15% is more common. However, beside a handful of locations, I do NOT pay commission to my locations. I don't want to. I am providing a service and I am trying to offer my products at the lowest prices I can to allow for the best experience to my customers. I pay to move the machines. I pay for all of the product. I pay for all of the repair costs. The location pays nothing expect a nominal amount of electricity. If they want commission, they need to be a very good location that is capable of getting commission elsewhere. Small locations will only get that from rookie vendors who are desperate to get new locations, even if it drives their business into the ground. Don't bring up commission unless they do first. And if they do, say you have to raise prices to adjust for commissoin so you strongly discourage it for reasons I already mentioned. You can usually find technicians through distributors but you really have to find local vendors and ask them too because we (people on this forum) are from all over the country and even all over the world. Only people local to you would know who you can find to work on machines. Unless you live around Dayton, Ohio, I have absolutely no idea who is in your area. I only buy american-made machines even if they are older. I never buy foreign made machines. American brands are AP (Automatic Products), AMS, USI (aka Wittern, Fawn, and others), Royal, Dixie Narco, Vendo, National, Crane, and some others I may have forgotten but those are the ones you want to see. And you want full-size machines any time you can. A lot of fly-by-night vendors start off with combo machines because they look nice and they seem to be easy to place at new locations, but you can quickly run yourself ragged trying to restock machines with low capacity. Again, vending is about volume so you want to stock as much items as you can and sell as much as you can without making the machines look too empty AND you want to avoid stale/expired product losses too. In other words, you want locations with enough volume that you can completely (or almost completely) stock machines and service them every couple weeks or so. Repairs are not too often on machines in good working order, especially if you have invested in good equipment and good components, but repairs become more and more common when you have more machines, simply because of the volume. It also depends on what kind of machines and what kind of locations. At an office, your machines will likely stay very clean and rarely ever be rocked or beat on, but your sales might not be great either. At a dirty factory with lots of temporary employees, you might see the machines beaten on daily with boot prints on the bottom, but sales may be good. Your unpaid job as the vending operator is to fix them as fast as possible and your reward is to profit off of the sales of the items in the machine. If this seems overwhelming to you, just settle on this-- you want to sell as many items as you can and keep the machines clean, stocked, and working. It requires you to be there. Small locations won't generate as much as big locations. You are providing a service to the customers and all you want in return is for them to buy your products. If they don't buy your products, move on and find better locations that will and your sales pitch is that you will provide a better service than the current vendor. Service, service, service. And if they have a problem with your pricing, remind them that you are providing a service and this is the price you need to make it worth your time.

I agree, you will be missed. In fact I ask that you do come back. Maybe take a little break, than come back, and just be a member, not as somebody who needs to, but just to enjoy yourself. Even if it is just to pop in and say hi. But thank you for everything you have created, and all the work you have done. There are a lot of successful members because of this site, and they have you to thank. You did ask that I demote you, but I created a new member category just for you. Founding Member will now appear under your name. Good luck, I wish you the best.

I very rarely give advance notice, perhaps in passing to a good customer contact. When was the last time you saw Wal-Mart or Home Depot post a note saying they were planning a price increase? Inflation is making prices jump and everyone already knows it. I do make sure the new prices are visible on the machine so that users know the correct amount.

In the past few years I have really made an effort to tighten up my routes geographically and it has made a noticeable impact to my bottom line. I sold off routes that were farther than 1 1/2 hours away and actually bought some routes that were within that tolerance. When I go out locating, I work in tightly predetermined areas and search every possible location in that area. I also go over my existing routes annually and make new locating runs through those geographic areas in an attempt to improve my density. I see so many competitors completely fill their machines in locations that just don't warrant it. Many vendors believe a machine that isn't full is a deterrent to stronger sales. I disagree. I tried this method years ago with some of my locations and anecdotally I found no gain in sales but instead a gain in stales. Throwing away stale product is obviously a profit killer so try to match your location's inventory to it's sales history. Use the right machine for the location. Many locations do not need more than two bulk selections. Having a triple (or larger) in a slow location is just a waste of product and money. Again, I see competitors who have too big of a machine in slow locations. I generally will never put anything larger than a double in a new location. If sales there warrant a bigger machine then so be it and I will bring in a different set up. Focus on gum whenever you can. I see a lot of competitors (usually small or new operators) out the streets who don't have gumballs or at least chicle gum in their machines. Gumballs are the highest profit item you can vend so I try to run it anywhere that it is allowed. People often think that gumballs won't sell in a location where there are no kids. Wrong. Some of my best gumball stops are businesses where there are no kids. Remember, it only takes one candy/gumball junkie to drive a location's sales. I'm not going to lie, the long term future of bulk vending is bleak. The number of people going cashless grows every year. Candy prices continue to climb and many manufacturers are opting to cease bulk candy offerings completely. The number of brick and mortar locations continue to decline in many areas as people opt to shop online and the list of challenges goes on and on. My advice to you if you are under 50 and in this business, come up with a career plan B because things will not get any easier in the coming years.

I put a couple Seaga combos on a location yesterday... I think it will be a good fit for them...

It has been an honor and a privilege to have been here during the good times Steve. You put your heart and soul into this place, and it really does show- there are a great many of us that owe you a tremendous debt for all this place has done for us and our respective businesses. Looking back, even the bad times were never as grim knowing you were at the helm of this great place- we always knew you'd come through for us, and I can't tell you how thankful we are for all the times you steered us through the storms so to speak. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the TVF is without a doubt the greatest resource the bulk vending industry has. Nowhere else can you find so much good, accurate information in a business that more and more seems to be brimming with empty biz-op promises. Though we are sorry to see you go sir, hold your head high, the site you founded is and always has been the best. It couldn't have been successful in the slightest if you hadn't been there keeping the lights on one way or another. Thank you again for everything you've done sir, we shall never forget it! Though you're stepping away, this place will always be "yours" in a sense. Please don't be a stranger, feel free to hang out with us anytime you like sir. The Mage and I are working on a plan to maintain the TVF long into the future- we won't let you down sir! Wherever life may take you from here, good luck Steve, and rock most awesomely on!

This just might be the most useful thread ever... Well done kandyking.

I've probably spoken to many of you on the phone when providing technical support, so thank you for allowing me to assist you all. I receive many calls daily related to our USI upgrade kits that I feel its best to share with this community some really helpful information regarding USI equipment. InOne has been supporting USI snack machines since 2010 with both F80 and Versatile replacement upgrades. In 2019 we redesigned our Versatile controller replacement kit to support additional model machines. Both USI snack machine upgrade kits support use of the original 24v factory dumbmech changer and 24v pulse validator while still allowing use of any credit card system or PayRange device or you can use MDB changers and validators if you choose. Additionally, if your machine already has factory iVend sensors, and they still work, you may reuse them with the InOne controller. Pre-kitting data can be retrieved using DEX or through MDB product codes which allow real time data. This writeup should add some clarity regarding use of InOne USI upgrade kits. InOne USI Kit Information: USI3100-1L OneBoard Kit (To Replace USI F80 Controller Based Machines) supports models: 3114, 3115, 3116, 3117, 3119, 3120, 3129, 3130, 3132, 3140, 3141. Part# 383016 and product description RVMC-USI3100-1L USISM36-1 OneBoard Kit (To Replace USI Versatile Controller Based Machines) supports models: 3013, 3014, 3015, 3020, 3021, 3022, 3023, 3024, 3025, 3026, 3039, 3045, 3046, 3053, 3054, 3076, 3077, 3084, 3085, 3091, 3141, 3142, 3143, 3149, 3157, 3158, 3159, 3160, 3184, 3185. Part# 383152 and product description RVMC-USISM36-1 Important USI Kit Info: * We cannot support snack machines with side/satellite cabinets * Power and keypad adaptor cables included in the USISM36 kit are only necessary for machines with 3-pin power and 11-pin keypad. Do not use the provided adaptor cables on machines with 10-pin power and 13-pin keypad. The biggest issue I support with this kit is incorrect use of USISM36 kit adaptor cables. The cables are used on certain model machines only. * Controller can be mounted any way you want, keypad up or down, whatever works best in your situation. * All 6 controller switches should be OFF unless your machine needs the keypad & power adaptor cables in which case switch 3 should be turned ON to set the keypad correctly. If using vend sensors, turn switch 4 ON as well, otherwise leave OFF. * 13-pin keypads use # enter/execute, * cancel or back out, F is up, G is down for service mode, controller switch number 3 OFF * 11-pin keypads use E enter/execute, D cancel or back out, F is up, G is down for service mode, controller switch number 3 ON * One payment device is sufficient to operate a machine with any InOne kit. Card readers can be supported as the only payment device without the need for a coinmech or validator. You can be 100% credit card only if you choose, many people don’t know this. * Some USI machines, 3039-3046 GF-19 snack machines will most likely need a 34" extra length display cable if reach is an issue, available on our website at inone.tech * USI machines use 24v payment devices, 110v payment devices are NOT supported. You can keep the original dumbmech or replace to MDB, same for the validator, most USI use Coinco validators, typically BA32SA. InOne controllers are flexible with payment devices to allow greater flexibility for field personnel servicing machines. You can use an MDB changer and pulse validator or MDB validator and dumbmech. Some kits are MDB only, for example, AP 4/5000, AP 120, AP Studio SL & ST all require MDB peripherals, all other kits can use legacy payment devices and MDB interchangeably. * Both USI kits include a guaranteed vend sensor harness so you can reuse or repurpose factory iVend sensors to work with the InOne controller. We do have a separate USI sensor kit available for 3000 series machines if needed, 10-0079-00 sensors, p/n: 383088. We don’t supply a separate sensor assembly for 3100 cabinets. New USISM36-1 kits have started shipping with a new iVend sensor harness, the USI 3100 kit already includes the sensor harness. Both harnesses are different, meaning kit specific and NOT interchangeable between F80 and Versatile style controllers. The 11-1700-15 iVend sensor harness is included in USI3100 kits while 11-1700-36 harness is included in the USISM36-1 kits. Machine Specific Info: Most older USI snack machines use a 10-pin power cable to supply the factory controller with 28vac and 13-pin keypad as used in 3014, 3015, 3039, etc... If your machine has this style, then just plug the keypad harness directly to J4 on the InOne board. Likewise, just plug the power cable into J1, no adaptor cables used. Newer USI machines, like 3053, 3054, 3185, etc.. use a 3-pin power cable to supply the factory controller with 28vac and an 11-pin keypad. For this style machine both adaptor cables are needed supplied in the kit. If the original power cable to the controller uses 3 pins respectively, solid orange, green, orange/white you must use the 11-1700-21 power adaptor cable. If your machine has the 11-pin keypad (count the missing pin) then you'll need the 11-1700-20 keypad adaptor. Plug the 11-pin side of the adaptor cable to the keypad harness and then the 13-pin side to controller at J4. Switch number 3 on the controller should be turned ON for 11-pin keypads, OFF for 13-pin keypads. Supporting factory iVend sensors: If you intend to reuse the USI factory iVend sensors with an InOne controller, you must use an MDB changer. For both USI kits we sell, one leg of the sensor adapter “Y” harness (green & brown wires) will plug into J6 micromech to power the factory sensors. The second (optical) connection (black & white wires) plug to J9, drop sensor. Ensure switch number 4 on the controller is turned ON to activate sensors, then go into “Options” menu and set “Motor Stop” for “Both” or “Drop”. If set for Both, the selection rotates one full revolution and stops at home and puts a message on the display to “please make another choice”. If set for “Drop” the selection rotates one full revolution, if product drop is not detected, the vend motor will turn at half speed, 2-3 turns to force the product to drop without requiring the customer to do anything else. The choice is yours to make what motor stop position you choose. Usually motor stop “Both” is best for public locations having various random individuals using the machine. For other accounts where the machine is used daily by the same people, maybe “Drop” is the better choice. ProTip: You can home all the motors in the machine on any InOne controller by pressing the Service Mode button followed by 5 on the keypad. Be aware that its possible all the motors home, so have a box handy to catch product. Most times, just the one or 2 motors that are not homed will be the only motors that home. Common Issues: Problem: No power or weak power to changer or validator, not taking coins or bills, board is powered up, heartbeat is flashing once per second, display reads insert money. Frequently this is caused by improper use of the power adaptor cable on machines that don’t require their use. Some people accidently plug into a 3-pin pigtail that’s not 24 volts using the power adaptor cable supplied in the kit, so there’s not enough power to make the changer and bill validator work and barely enough power to power the InOne board. One resolution is to plug in the 10-pin power cable directly to J1 to supply appropriate 24-28vac power to the controller. If this is already done correctly, then the problem is caused by a machine harness plugged in to the controller that shouldn’t be. If you intend to use MDB payment devices, do not plug in the pulse validator or micromech connection to the control board, J6 and J7, just leave them as is or remove harnessing from machine entirely. Having micromech and pulse plugged into the controller when trying to use MDB devices will confuse the controller and cause the machine to not accept any coins and/or bills. Problem: Not taking bills and/or giving credit briefly but then vanishes or returns the bill. Almost always caused by Coinco BA32SA validators. Check switch 3 on the control box for the Coinco validator and make sure it’s turned OFF for pulse mode. Follow the validator cable until you find the smoke-colored plastic box with switch bank, inside turn switch 3 OFF. Typically, the validator is set to serial to work with the factory controller. If installing the kit, just try a bill first before bothering to look at switch 3. It’s a 50-50 gamble, some are set ok, others not. Many times, the validator works just fine and nothing needs to be done, so try a bill first to make sure the machine vends, if it doesn’t, check switch 3 position.

We spend so much time talking about products, machines and locators. We all seem to agree locations/locating is the most important thing. But how often do we really help each other with how to locate and what to say? [move] Please do not hijack this thread or spend to much time debating someone elses script. Please include a new script with almost every post so this thread is a real resource.[/move] Telemarketing: Hello could I speak to the owner or manager please. I am calling on behalf of (vending co name). Would you be kind enough to allow us to place a small candy vendor at your business. A portion of the proceeds are sent to the (Charity). There is no cost to you, no fees, we fill and service the machine. Objection: No room, space. Rebuttal: Each machine is at most 2ft wide and about 4ft tall. Lots of places think they don't have the room. Would you like a rep to show you the machine on Wednesday or Saturday?

I wanted to come here in the New Year, and thank everyone for the help over the last 10 years. Unfortunately, James, known here as Elvin passed away in September, and I have decided to sell the business, as it isn't something I can do alone with 3 small kids, having MS, and 50 accounts. I have found a buyer, he's new to the business, but I have confidence that he will prosper in this endeavor. I have already told him to come here, set up an account, and read, read, and re read the information found in these here files. Krissy Elvin

About 10 years ago I had all my prices super low and people loved me. But then I went broke and had to file bankruptcy. While sitting in court I looked around and notice that not one of my loyal low price loving customers were there to support me. So now when someone asks for lower prices I think back to that time and just smile and tell them that ain’t ever going to happen. In fact, prices are going up. Also, vending machines are not a bargain, they are a convenience. Say it to yourself over and over until you believe it.

Just wanted to give an update on my snack box business. I am now up to 114 locations. I am now averaging locating 9 boxes a week. My theft is currently running about 13%. That's not too bad, considering it started out at 38% when I first started thls back in June. These are the Honor snack boxes, not the mint boxes

If you're scared stay home. If you're old stay home. If you're immunocompromised stay home. The rest of us will steer this ship. We are all not in "the same boat". We are in the same storm.. We dont need damn bureaucrats telling us how to protect ourselves.

Went out locating and found ,locations for 3 of my new spirals. 2 of them are in small but busy Mexican food places, and one is in my local Pizza Hut. Plus last wee i got a popular steakhouse and an Asian grocery store/cafe. 5 down, 13 to go.

I can't get into specifics, but our cashless sales passed 30% of total sales several months back. That's a lot of quarters not being counted.

I just wanted to share with people how much I appreciate being in this industry. Natural disasters, economic woes, and other mishaps can really hurt all kinds of businesses including vending businesses. This past Memorial day, the Miami Valley (in and around Dayton, Ohio) was struck with not one... not two.. but nine tornadoes. Tends of thousands of homes and businesses went without power, with maybe half of them still out, over 100 people were hurt, and MANY homes and businesses were either damaged or completely destroyed. Fortunately, my family and my home made it out completely unscathed. I already confirmed that I lost one snack machine so far but how many more are damaged out there remains unknown as so many businesses have no power and many communication towers have been damaged as well. On top of that, a massive amount of people have been without running for some time now. Things are difficult between power outages and road closures due to debris and downed power lines, but we went through a similar situation back in 2008 when the remnants of hurricane Ike managed to make its way all the way here, causing massive amounts of damage (mostly minor, but everywhere). Despite these troubling times, I am estimating that well over 80% of my locations are already up and running and have been since Tuesday as I have most of my accounts spread out over a range of about 30 square miles. So even though it hit us pretty hard, I am more worried about just getting around and servicing the accounts than anything. My top two accounts are 100% fine and, due to the vast amount of vacant buildings in Dayton, many businesses are simply moving or taking temporary leases in vacant buildings all around this area. If a vending operator can make it through a disastrous day that includes 9 tornadoes all in one night, then I think it would pretty much take a devastating economic collapse or a massive catastrophic event to actually destroy a vending business.

Here's the tool that Cajun uses to do a hard reset on his machines:

Machines should be Clean, Full and Working. Only take on accounts that make over $100 a week. Buy good equipment. There you are now mini Canteen without the overhead or franchise fees.

You can't be a Canteen franchise unless they come to you because they want to buy you out. They won't even consider that unless you have multiple routes that do millions in sales. They are a national company and don't care about small operations at all. You aren't even in anybody's sights as you are a miniscule business.

Established in 1963 as Machine-O-Matic, Beaver began as an aluminum and zinc casting manufacturer, producing replacement parts for bulk venders. Once established, the company quickly expanded, casting a variety of components for a wide range of customers. Today, Beaver Machine Corporation designs, fabricates and sells a wide variety of innovative mechanical bulk vending and flat line vending machines, while still maintaining our casting business. BMC's mechanical rotary coin mechanisms are known as the best in the industry and are offered in over 100 countries around the world. They are designed to measure the diameter and thickness of each coin, while rejecting slugs and foreign currency of similar size. The NG coin mechanism is used not only in Beaver’s own equipment, but is also presently sold to other equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of several types of vending equipment, worldwide. Beaver Machine Corporation continues to believe in constant improvement. We invest much of our time and energy on research and development for the creation of new products, as well as the maintenance of established lines. Today, with the help of Computer Assisted Design, or CAD models, we continue to research and refine our products to make them work for you. For more information about our products, please visit www.beavervending.com, or feel free to contact us here on The VENDiscuss Forum with any questions or suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you!

UPDATE: As I awoke this morning, I found another FIVE locations in my inbox from Locators R'Us. They are almost finished with the order of 10 that I gave them a couple of days ago. Ladies and Gentlemen, I must say without a shadow of a doubt, Locators R Us are the best locators currently working and will be awarded the lions share of my business from this point onward. I will continue the thread just in case they have a dip in service, which happens from time to time, and another locator takes the lead. This thread will become a real time report of who is the best choice for a locator on any given day so we never have any guess work as to if a company has dipped in quality or where a new company will rank should it emerge as a contender. At the end of the day, it is all about results.

Once upon a time, Paul F. dreamed big dreams. While studying agricultural economics at Cornell, he wanted to end world hunger. Instead, after doctoral work at M.I.T., he wound up taking a job with a research institute in Washington, analyzing the weapons expenditures of the United States Navy. This was in 1962. After four years came more of the same: analyst jobs with the Bureau of the Budget, the Institute for Defense Analyses, the President's Commission on Federal Statistics. Still, he dreamed. He had ''potent research ideas,'' as he recalls them now, which the Environmental Protection Agency failed to appreciate. He developed a statistical means of predicting cancer clusters, but because he was an economist and not a doctor, he couldn't make headway with the National Cancer Institute. He still loved the art of economics -- the data-gathering, the statistical manipulation, the problem-solving -- but it had led him to a high-level dead end. He was well paid and unfulfilled. ''I'd go to the office Christmas party, and people would introduce me to their wives or husbands as the guy who brings in the bagels,'' he says. '''Oh! You're the guy who brings in the bagels!' Nobody ever said, 'This is the guy in charge of the public research group.''' The bagels had begun as a casual gesture: a boss treating his employees whenever they won a new research contract. Then he made it a habit. Every Friday, he would bring half a dozen bagels, a serrated knife, some cream cheese. When employees from neighboring floors heard about the bagels, they wanted some, too. Eventually he was bringing in 15 dozen bagels a week. He set out a cash basket to recoup his costs. His collection rate was about 95 percent; he attributed the underpayment to oversight. In 1984, when his research institute fell under new management, he took a look at his career and grimaced. ''I was sick of every aspect of the whole thing,'' he says. ''I was discouraged. I was tired of chasing contracts. So I said to management: 'I'm getting out of this. I'm going to sell bagels.''' His economist friends thought he had lost his mind. They made oblique remarks (and some not so oblique) about ''a terrible waste of talent.'' But his wife supported his decision. They had retired their mortgage; the last of their three children was finishing college. Driving around the office parks that encircle Washington, he solicited customers with a simple pitch: early in the morning, he would deliver some bagels and a cash basket to a company's snack room; he would return before lunch to pick up the money and the leftovers. It was an honor-system commerce scheme, and it worked. Within a few years, he was delivering 700 dozen bagels a week to 140 companies and earning as much as he had ever made as a research analyst. He had thrown off the shackles of cubicle life and made himself happy. He had also -- quite without meaning to -- designed a beautiful economic experiment. By measuring the money collected against the bagels taken, he could tell, down to the penny, just how honest his customers were. Did they steal from him? If so, what were the characteristics of a company that stole versus a company that did not? Under what circumstances did people tend to steal more, or less? As it happens, his accidental study provides a window onto a subject that has long stymied academics: white-collar crime. (Yes, shorting the bagel man is white-collar crime, writ however small.) Despite all the attention paid to companies like Enron, academics know very little about the practicalities of white-collar crime. The reason? There aren't enough data. A key fact of white-collar crime is that we hear about only the very slim fraction of people who are caught. Most embezzlers lead quiet and theoretically happy lives; employees who steal company property are rarely detected. With street crime, meanwhile, that is not the case. A mugging or a burglary or a murder is usually counted whether or not the criminal is caught. A street crime has a victim, who typically reports the crime to the police, which generates data, which in turn generate thousands of academic papers by criminologists, sociologists and economists. But white-collar crime presents no obvious victim. Whom, exactly, did the masters of Enron steal from? And how can you measure something if you don't know to whom it happened, or with what frequency, or in what magnitude? Paul F.'s bagel business was different. It did present a victim. The victim was Paul F. It is 3:32 a.m., and Paul F. is barreling down a dark Maryland road when he jams on the brakes and swears. ''I forgot my hearing aids,'' he mutters. He throws the gearshift into reverse and proceeds to drive backward nearly as fast as he had been driving forward. He is 72, and his business is still thriving. (Thus his request to mask his full name and his customers' identities: he is wary of potential competitors poaching his clients.) His daughter, son-in-law and one other employee now make most of the deliveries. Today is a Friday, which is the only day Paul F. still drives. Semiretirement has left him more time to indulge his economist self and tally his data. He now knows, for instance, that in the past eight years he has delivered 1,375,103 bagels, of which 1,255,483 were eaten. (He has also delivered 648,341 doughnuts, of which 608,438 were eaten.) He knows a good deal about the payment rate, too. When he first went into business, he expected 95 percent payment, based on the experience at his own office. But just as crime tends to be low on a street where a police car is parked, the 95 percent rate was artificially high: Paul F.'s presence had deterred theft. Not only that, but those bagel eaters knew the provider and had feelings (presumably good ones) about him. A broad swath of psychological and economic research has argued that people will pay different amounts for the same item depending on who is providing it. The economist Richard Thaler, in his 1985 ''Beer on the Beach'' study, showed that a thirsty sunbather would pay $2.65 for a beer delivered from a resort hotel but only $1.50 for the same beer if it came from a shabby grocery store. In the real world, Paul F. learned to settle for less than 95 percent. Now he considers companies ''honest'' if the payment is 90 percent or more. ''Averages between 80 percent and 90 percent are annoying but tolerable,'' he says. ''Below 80 percent, we really have to grit our teeth to continue.'' In recent years, he has seen two remarkable trends in overall payment rates. The first was a long, slow decline that began in 1992. ''All my friends say: 'Aha! Clinton!''' Paul F. says. ''Although I must say that most of my friends are conservative and inclined to see such things where others might not.'' The second trend revealed in Paul F.'s data was even starker. Entering the summer of 2001, the overall payment rate had slipped to about 87 percent. Immediately after Sept. 11, the rate spiked a full 2 percent and hasn't slipped much since. (If a 2 percent gain in payment doesn't sound like much, think of it this way: the nonpayment rate fell from 13 percent to 11 percent, which amounts to a 15 percent decline in theft.) Because many of Paul F.'s customers are affiliated with national security, there may be a patriotic element to this 9/11 effect. Or it may represent a more general surge in empathy. Whatever the reason, Paul F. was grateful for the boost. He expends a great deal of energy hectoring his low-paying customers, often in the form of a typewritten note. ''The cost of bagels has gone up dramatically since the beginning of the year,'' reads one. ''Unfortunately, the number of bagels and doughnuts that disappear without being paid for has also gone up. Don't let that continue. I don't imagine that you would teach your children to cheat, so why do it yourselves?'' He is impatient and cantankerous but in sum agreeable. Dressed in jeans and sneakers, with busy eyes and a wavy fringe of gray hair, he awoke this Friday at 3 a.m. Working out of his garage, he first loaded 50 cardboard trays of doughnuts -- a local bakery delivered them overnight -- into the back of his van. He drives an unmarked white Ford E-150 rigged with a bagel-warming compartment. (The van was never stopped during the D.C. sniper attacks, but Paul F.'s tendency to park at the curb caused problems in the near aftermath of 9/11. One customer left a note saying: ''Please park in a parking space. You are freaking a lot of people out.'') After the doughnuts, Paul F. loaded two dozen money boxes, which he made himself out of plywood. A money slot is cut into the top. When he started out, he left behind an open basket for the cash, but too often the money vanished. Then he tried a coffee can with a slot in its plastic lid, which also proved too tempting. The wooden box has worked well. Each year he drops off about 7,000 boxes and loses, on average, just one to theft. This is an intriguing statistic: the same people who routinely steal more than 10 percent of his bagels almost never stoop to stealing his money box -- a tribute to the nuanced social calculus of theft. From Paul F.'s perspective, an office worker who eats a bagel without paying is committing a crime; the office worker apparently doesn't think so. This distinction probably has less to do with the admittedly small amount of money involved than with the context of the ''crime.'' (The same office worker who fails to pay for his bagel might also help himself to a long slurp of soda while he's filling a glass in a self-serve restaurant, but it is extremely unlikely that he will leave the restaurant without paying.) After retrieving his hearing aids, he heads for the bagel shop that provides him with roughly 50 dozen bagels, in six flavors, every day. He drives nearly 80 m.p.h. along empty highways and discusses what he has learned about honesty. He is leery of disparaging individual companies or even most industries, for fear it will hurt his business. But he will say that telecom companies have robbed him blind, and another bagel-delivery man found that law firms aren't worth the trouble. He also says he believes that employees further up the corporate ladder cheat more than those down below. He reached this conclusion in part after delivering for years to one company spread out over three floors -- an executive floor on top and two lower floors with sales, service and administrative employees. Maybe, he says, the executives stole bagels out of a sense of entitlement. (Or maybe cheating is how they got to be executives.) His biggest surprise? ''I had idly assumed that in places where security clearance was required for an individual to have a job, the employees would be more honest than elsewhere. That hasn't turned out to be true.'' Since he started delivering bagels, Paul F. has kept rigorous data -- which, when run through a computer and measured against external factors ranging from the local weather to the unemployment rate, can tell some interesting stories. Other conclusions, meanwhile, are purely intuitive, based on Paul F.'s 20-year exposure to bagel behavior. He has identified two great overriding predictors of a company's honesty: morale and size. Paul F. has noted a strong correlation between high payment rates and an office where people seem to like their boss and their work. (This is one of his intuitive conclusions.) He also gleans a higher payment rate from smaller offices. (This one is firmly supported by the data.) An office with a few dozen employees generally outpays by 3 percent to 5 percent an office with a few hundred employees. This may seem counterintuitive: in a bigger office, a bigger crowd is bound to convene around the bagel table -- providing more witnesses to make sure you drop your money in the box. (Paul F. currently charges $1 for a bagel and 50 cents for a doughnut.) But in the big-office/small-office comparison, bagel crime seems to mirror street crime. There is far less crime per capita in rural areas than in cities, in large part because a rural criminal is more likely to be known (and therefore caught). Also, a rural community tends to exert greater social incentives against crime, the main one being shame. The bagel data also show a correlation between payment rate and the local rate of unemployment. Intuition might have argued that these two factors would be negatively correlated -- that is, when unemployment is low (and the economy is good), people would tend to be freer with their cash. ''But I found that as the unemployment rate goes down, dishonesty goes up,'' Paul F. says. ''My guess is that a low rate of unemployment means that companies are having to hire a lower class of employee.'' The data also show that the payment rate does not change when he raises bagel prices, though volume may temporarily fall. If the payment tendencies that Paul F. has noted so far might be called macro trends, it is the micro trends -- those reflecting personal mood -- that are perhaps most compelling. Weather, for instance, has a major effect on the payment rate. Unseasonably pleasant weather inspires people to pay a significantly higher rate. Unseasonably cold weather, meanwhile, makes people cheat prolifically; so does heavy rain and wind. But worst are the holidays. The week of Christmas produces a 2 percent drop in payment rates -- again, a 15 percent increase in theft, an effect on the same order, in reverse, as 9/11. Thanksgiving is nearly as bad; the week of Valentine's Day is also lousy, as is the week straddling April 15. There are, however, a few good holidays: July 4, Labor Day and Columbus Day. The difference in the two sets of holidays? The low-cheating holidays represent little more than an extra day off from work. The high-cheating holidays are freighted with miscellaneous anxieties and the high expectations of loved ones. As considerable as these oscillations may be, the fact is that a poorly paying office rarely turns into a well-paying office, or vice versa. This has led Paul F. to believe in a sobering sort of equilibrium: honest people are honest, and cheaters will cheat regardless of the circumstance. ''One time when I was cleaning up leftovers,'' he recalls, ''a man came and took a doughnut while I was standing there, and started to walk away without putting any money in the box. I never challenge people about paying, but in that place, despite notes and appeals to management, the payment rate had been abysmal, and I was fed up. I said to the guy, 'Are you going to pay for that?' And he said, 'Oh, I left my wallet in my car,' and started to put the doughnut back. Now I knew, and he knew that I knew, that he hadn't left his wallet in the car, but he was too cheap to pay 50 cents for a doughnut and too brazen to say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I just wasn't thinking,' which is what anyone with half a conscience would say.'' Once the van is loaded with fresh bagels, sorted by the dozen into white paper bags that Paul F. had earlier labeled with customers' names, he begins his rounds. It is 5:02 a.m. The first stop is an office building in northern Virginia. His routine is nearly always the same. He grabs one of the magnetic ID cards dangling from his rearview mirror, hangs it from his neck, jumps around to the side of the van, loads up a cardboard box with bagels, doughnuts and a cash box and practically sprints inside. In the snack room, he dumps the bagels from their bag, folds back the top of the doughnut tray, plunks his money box on the table and hustles out. Then back into the van, which he drives maniacally even from one office-park cul-de-sac to the next. (When a woman in a Lexus tarries at the entrance to one parking lot, he calls her terrible names.) Another office building, another ID card, another delivery. You can tell the defense contractors by the art on the walls: achingly sensual black-and-white photographs of missiles and armored personnel carriers. Some of the break rooms have vending machines whose offerings -- ''Spicy Chicken Biscuit'' and ''Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich'' -- look so vile that the simple appeal of a warm, fresh bagel becomes all the more apparent. By 9 a.m., he has made all his deliveries. At 11, he will start picking up leftovers and the money boxes. Until then, it is time for his weekly Friday morning breakfast with a dozen of his old economist friends. They meet in the ground-floor cafeteria of the office building where one of them now works. They swap gossip, tax tips, Ziploc bags of pipe tobacco. These are some of the same friends who 20 years ago told Paul F. that his bagel business would never work. People cannot be trusted, they said. Their conversation this morning continues along those lines. One man cites a story he heard about a toll-collector strike in England. During the strike, drivers were asked simply to put their money into a box. As it turned out, the government collected more toll money during the strike -- which suggests that the drivers were at least fairly honest, but also that the toll collectors had been skimming like mad. Another economist at the table is now a tax preparer. He ticks off a long list of common tax evasions his clients try to use -- lying about the cost basis of stocks is perhaps the favorite -- and reminds the others that the United States tax code is, like Paul F.'s bagel business, largely built on an honor system. Amid all the talk of cheating, lying and scamming, Paul F. takes the floor to declare his faith in humankind. ''You guys know the story about the Ring of Gyges, right?'' he says. A man named Gyges, he explains, came upon a cave and, inside it, a skeleton wearing a ring. When Gyges put on the ring, he found that it made him invisible. Now he was faced with a choice: would he use his invisibility for good or evil? The story comes from Plato's ''Republic.'' It was told by a student named Glaucon, in challenge to a Socratic teaching about honesty and justice. ''Socrates was arguing against the idea that people will be dishonest if given the chance,'' Paul F. says. ''His point was that people are good, even without enforcement.'' But Paul F. doesn't tell his friends how Glaucon's story ends. Gyges actually did woeful things once he got the ring -- seduced the queen, murdered the king and so on. The story posed a moral question: could any man resist the temptation of evil if he knew his acts could not be witnessed? Glaucon seemed to think the answer was no. But Paul F. sides with Socrates -- for he knows that the answer, at least 89 percent of the time, is yes. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/magazine/what-the-bagel-man-saw.html?pagewanted=1

Face2Face: Hello, my name is Mike, with the Vendingco vending company. I am here to today locating small machines like this one in businesses in this area (picture of machine). This machine helps benefit the National Children's Cancer Society (NCCS Sticker). They help parents of children fighting cancer by providing financial and emotional support, paying for medications not covered by insurance and providing housing when treatments are far from home among many other things. The machine would have the sticker on the front and the percentage of the proceeds goes to benefit this charity. The machine is very small (give dimensions). The machine does not cost you any money. If you allow us to put the machine here, we will come out and clean, fill the machine, and maintain it once a month. If you need us before then, we will leave our number for you to call at anytime. Do you think we can try the machine? Goplher37 Face2Face: Hello my name is Andy, I'm working w/ The National Children's Cancer Society. We are placing gumball machines in local businesses and I was hoping you could help us out by letting me setup a machine here. (if they are thinking about it, assure them they will have not have to do anything) Of course I will take care of servicing the machine. I'll come by about once a month to refill it and clean it up. If there are any problems during the month just give me a call and I will come take care of it. Dperry Face2Face "Hi, I'm a local candy vendor and I'm working with the National Childrens Cancer Society (I say the words, not the initials) to help raise funds and bring awareness by placing machines like this in locations like the one you have here. I donate my machines, I donate my product, and I donate my time to service, clean and refill the machines. You don't have to do anything, and there's no obligation to you. Do you think you can donate a small square of floorspace to help such a needy cause?". That shows that I run my own separate business and am not associated with NCCS and that I am donating to this cause too. The part about my own donating and asking if they can donate by doing something so small helps to get them to "yes". Kelly Face2Face: Hi I am (name and handshake) would you like to have a gumball machine located here for your guests and employees"? G-man422 Face 2 Face Nice to meet you Mr./Mrs._______. I was wondering if you would be interested in placing a small vending machine in your business? It helps support the LOCAL homeless shelter. (when it's local it really helps.) Then whether they say yes or no, I leave them with a business card, and thank them for their time. Cosmic Candy Vending Face2Face: "Hi, Mr. Jones, my name is Daniel. I'm the owner of cosmic candy vending. My business works in conjunction with the national children's cancer society to help children and their parents fight cancer. The NCCS provides financial and emotional support to the parents of children with cancer. By placing a candy machine in your restaurant it will raise $3 a month for the NCCS, as well as provide a great service to your customers. Of course you would have no obligation to the machine, I will maintain, refill and clean the machine on a regular basis." G-Man422 Advice: 1) Locally owned places are a lot more willing to help out. 2) If you deal w/ a local charity, people are more responsive. 3) Look legit' when going out, because people are then forced to take you seriously. 4) the no's get old, but as soon as you get the "yes", you'll be hooked. Robert Patterson Advice: Carry a wad of $20 gift cards and at the end of your speech tell them about your promotion, if they allow the machine they get a free gift card. (Cheap when compared to locator fees) Blueplate Advice: I sometimes walk into a store and say "You must be the owner!". Even if the employee is obviously not the owner. Not "Are you the owner?" or "Can I speak with the owner?" Mississipizip Advice: 1. Rebutals When I did telemarketing in college, we were given a script for every no they could possibly imagine with a rebutal answer. When they gave me a particular objections, I read that answer. So I sugget writing a script a home. Write down all the rejections you are getting and formulate answers for them. This way you aren't scrambling for an answer you haven't thought about before that moment. I'm not quick on my feet usually so this will help me. (BTW, I was the top seller in the office, so this must work.)

I saw this on Craigs List in Southern California. I know the young man that lost money. Here is the post, I haven't heard of this company but mark your index with the name. VERY BAD VENDING LOCATOR ( SCAMMER ) (EVERYWHERE) Date: 2012-07-08, 7:13AM PDT Reply to: see below [Errors when replying to ads?] I AM ONLY POSTING THIS SO, YOU MAY THINK TWICE GETTING VENDING LOCATOR BE VERY CAREFUL, HE SCAM A LOT OF PEOPLE Advantage Vending Business Review in Los Angeles, CA www.la.bbb.org/Advantage-Vending-in-Los-Angeles-CA-100091672 (323) 459-3389 P.O. Box 462043, Los Angeles, CA 90046 ! There is an alert for this business ! BBB Rating is F. On a scale of A+ to F Reason for Rating BBB ... THST HOW HE SURVIVE EVRYDAY, STEALING PEOPLES HARD EARNED MONEY, 1 323 459 3389 TRAVIS Location: EVERYWHERE it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests PostingID: 3110671338

To follow up with drink machine support, I do have some preliminary info to share although my knowledge is limited with USI and Royal drink machines. I have more experience with Vendo and Dixie. InOne expects to have 2 soda machine upgrade kits available in Q123. One kit is being engineered to replace the factory controller in USI 3189/CB500 drink machines and the other kit is designed to upgrade Royal 650 drink machines that used the original Merlin controller, both 24vdc vend motors Both kits provide MDB, cashless capability and telemetry and include new controller, OLED display plus any cabling needed to facilitate the upgrade. As I understand it, both factory keypads will continue to be used with the upgrade. All InOne controllers can provide DEX or MDB codes to get pre-kitting info. MDB codes give "real time" data versus a scheduled DEX read which can have stale information by the time you get to the machine. I'm only familiar with Nayax card readers so I don't know what other companies offer, but Nayax has a MoMa app that enables you to view sales history in real time which some people really like. When I receive more detailed information about the drink upgrades I'll pass that on immediately.

With only one machine I would suggest starting out with cans-not bottles. They are easier to source, machine will hold more and the experation dates are 5 times as long.

Oh boy, now we get to hear from Harry to see if he can explain it or come up with an excuse.

First, read the install guide. https://www.cantaloupe.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ePort-G10-S_Quickstart-Install-guideVVXUD0101912-REV-I-singlepage-3.pdf If you have a spare validator cutout with the blanking plate it's a simple matter of taking an 11/32" deep socket, and removing the 4 nuts. Put the adapter plate on the reader and put it in where the blanking plate used to be. If not, you will have to drill. A couple considerations: 1. Not too high or low. I find somewhere just under 48" ideal. 2. I prefer to mount readers over POS windows, if at all possible. These are the little Plexiglas windows with a photo of some smiling dude eating chips or something, or that say "guranteed vend or your money back". This is because if the reader ever needs to come off, you can cover the holes easily with a new piece of Plexiglas and photo. 3. Keep in mind what I like to call "yeet syndrome". It's the phenomenon whereby some customers think that swiping a card involves some sort of drag race to see how fast they can swipe it. This results in the edge of the card dragging along the machine after it passes through the card reader, resulting in a bunch of scratches in whichever component is unlucky enough to be located under the card reader. As such, I try to avoid mounting readers above the display and keypad. 4. Wherever you choose to drill, make sure there is nothing behind it. If there is, make sure there is enough clearance between the door sheet metal and component for the mounting screws and for a cable to pass through. Of course, make sure you remove the component before drilling. 5. Before you connect or disconnect anything, make sure the machine is off. Also, do not power up the card reader without an antenna attached. 6. Before you drill, hook everything up, with antenna, and see if you can actually get a cell signal with the door closed and antenna in the proper spot. Patching holes sucks. 7. With all that out of the way, it's drilling time. Print the template, then align it and level it. Tape it to the machine in the desired location. Make sure its right side up. Use an automatic center punch to make a little divot at the center of each hole to be drilled. This will prevent the bit from wandering. Use a sharp bit of the correct size to make the 4 mounting holes. For the big center hole for the cable, use a step drill bit. Pilot the hole (drill a small hole), and enlarge it with the step bit. 8. Clean up the swarf (metal shavings). Clean up sharp edges. 9. Mount and connect. 10. Test.

I went to a convenience store and bought a snickers. It was $1.59. None of them were outdated. So I raised mine to $1.50 and taped copies of the receipt to the inside of the machines. A vending machine is a convenience store but more convenient 😂

If they added a vodka nozzle then I think they would have a winner.

The machine is from 1977. You probably drowned the thermostat. You can try removing it from the machine and let it sit in the sun for a day or 3. It should look something like this when removed: And welcome to TVF! Let me warn you that you will be banned if you ask how to put a card reader on this heap.

I ended up mounting my Nayax readers in the POS windows on my Royal GIIIs. I just put electrical tape over the right and left sides of the plexiglass, and mounted the reader over it. At first, I was worried that there wouldn't be enough room for customers to swipe cards, but it is working great. I really like these readers....they are attractive, take chip and swipe cards, take touchless payments, and even talk! I was surprised the first time I heard it talk because I wasn't expecting it. I also really like the ability of checking on sales and product levels on my computer. It's only been on my machines since yesterday, but I'm already hooked. I also started getting CC sales, which is exciting.

You do not automatically become wiser when you age, sometimes you just become more confident in being an idiot.

While shopping it seems like every retail store asks for a donation. Finally I was asked if I wanted to donate to, "Help the kids." I responded, "No, I hate kids." (Yes I actually said this, at a Best Buy, and the cashier busted up laughing.)

Weekly update: 187 locations. Grossed $1,634.00 Avg $21.50 Theft ran at 4% Serviced 76 boxes