dperry

I've purchased many new machines from different makers, and none came with mounting screws. The only time I ever got mounting screws they came with the racks and pipe stands.

That's too bad. They should have the ability to shoot themselves in the foot if they want to.

I just wanted to point out that I was not trying to attack you, or single you out. I too was just pointing out what I see is the fallacy of how locators actually helping a vending company grow. But, I do like your method of hiring local people and turning them out to do locating only for you. That sounds like a very "Rich Dad" thing to do.

See below. I have a full time job, and I still find time to go locating. Then this isn't the business for them. Think about it. You are doing the work anyways. How are they saving you any time? How many times have you secured a location from a locator, and gone out to place the machine, but found that was refused, or closed, or decided not to place it because it was in a one-man auto shop? You just wasted all that time for no returns. Just placing the machine takes time too. If you have a full time job, where do you find the time to do even that little bit of work. If you can do that little bit of work, you can do a little bit more and go find the locations that you actually want. Your thread is showing exactly how locators do NOT help grow your business. By your counts, you have been testing 6 locators, for a total of 33 days and have gotten a total 11, and you admitted that at least half of those are mediocre at best. That's more than 5 days to get just 1 and iffy location. Since you are doing a test, why don't you test your own abilities, and see where they fall with regards to these locators. Even taking one day off a month to go do your own locating should net you better results than the typical locator. If you try my idea and offer a commission, (signing bonus, finders fee, whatever you want to call it) to the owner, you could increase your closing rate dramatically. Giving that money to the locator to find you some good locations does not guarantee that you will get good locations. Giving that money to the location owner of the location that you really really want is much more efficient.

I don't get it. Anybody who has $30-$50 to give to a locator to find a location, has $30-$50 to plop down on the counter to give to the location owner as a commission or finders fee. This has many benefits over a locator: 1) You know whether or not the location would be worth it, since you are in the location and are able to evaluate it properly. 2) You are much more able to get a YES where a locator would get a NO. 3) You won't get the runaround about there being some sort of miscommunication between the locator and the owner. 4) Your success rate would be MUCH higher.

What kind of toy machines are you placing? How much did they charge you for a toy machine placement? Is the location worthy of a toy machine or just candy/gum? I ask because I contracted with KS to get some toy locations. The locations they gave me were more suited to candy or gum, yet they charged me twice as much as candy/gum locations.

Here again, I think that if you get rid of the capsule idea, go with a candy wheel you will get the same results. If you are giving away an average of 7 items in a capsule, then using a candy wheel, adjusted correctly, can give you an equivalent amount per vend. And you will not have to do any encapsulating.

I like your idea. But I had a thought. Why not just make the lid reversible, and have the machine permanently mounted on one side. When you pack it away, you turn take off the lid, turn it upside down, then your machine is stored within the crate. Don't forget to add locks and latches that would secure the lid to the crate no matter if it's machine-side up or machine-side down. Also, I would have 2 boxes, not one. One for the two 2in machines and one for the three 1in machines. You can make some sort of locking mechanism to lock them together back to back for front to back.

It occurs to me that many of these tiny parts are about the same size as many of the bulk candy pieces that are sold from the small vending machine. If you crank the wheel setting down all the way, you may be able to make it vend one or two pieces per vend. Also, A&A offers a chicle wheel that is used to vend really small candies like chicle gum. Those might be ideal for the heads and hair pieces.