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CapitalCityVendingLLC

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Everything posted by CapitalCityVendingLLC

  1. So I called Cantaloupe and spoke with a guy on the phone. Described the issue. He said the antenna's don't have anything to do with the power source. He said it's more than likely a board issue and that I shouldn't try a new reader until I change the board, or the new reader will probably just fry also. Not saying who is right/wrong, but I think I will go forward and purchase a new board. I don't want to try another reader on that board and fry a 4th reader haha. Does anyone know the specific board that I will need? I won't be able to search for it on the internet until tomorrow evening. Luckily, in my 10+ years, I have never had to buy a new board for a machine so this is new to me. I can't believed I just typed that. I have 100+ machines and I have never had to get a new board. Wow. Thanks.
  2. We delayed and delayed and delayed going up on our prices but finally had to bite the bullet and do it. We should have done it way earlier, and not doing so definitely hurt our bottom line. About 3-4 months ago, we made the move though. Put the prices where they need to be. We slightly feared the push back and the potential of losing accounts, but haven't lost a single one. A couple people have asked or commented, but after a brief discussion, they all can read the writing on the wall. We are in SC, which is far cheaper of a place to live than California. Our 12oz cans are now $1.00 which seem crazy as 2-5 years ago, most of our locations were at $.60-$.75. They are now all $1.00, no exceptions. We do 16.9 soda bottles, and they are $1.25. We will probably soon go to $1.50, but we are dragging our feet on that. Candy/Chocolate $1.25-$1.50. Big chips $1-$1.25. Small chips $.75-$1.00. Pastries $1-$1.25. Need to make all of our pastries $1.25 or more eventually. The prices we have to pay are similar to AngryChris. 12oz cans are anywhere from $.35-$.50. Not sure of the bottles off the top of my head.
  3. Our business is almost back to 2019 revenue numbers. Looks like we will fall just a little short though. Our COGS have definitely gone through the roof though. In the last 2-4 months, we have had to raise prices accordingly. We should have done it earlier. There's only 2 of us running our company. Historically we have tried to keep COGS at/below 50%. Other expenses at/near 10%. And then we take the rest, hopefully 40+%. Pre-covid, we almost always hit these percentages. 2020 we were somehow able to keep it close to that. 49% COGS, 12% other expenses, 39% take home. 2021, I got lazy and didn't notice the %'s getting off. Should have kept a better eye on things and slowly gone up on prices. COGS were 52%, 16% other expenses, and only 32% take home. Expenses percentage ballooned up mainly due to our revenue being down. About 4 months ago, we had to put our foot down and start going up on our prices more aggressively to keep up. Before that though, the first half of this year our COGS were 55% (ouch), other expenses 12%, take home 33%. Since then we have raised all our prices across the board. Since May or so, our COGS are down to 47%, other expenses 14%, take home 39%. Much closer to pre-covid times. These are just the numbers we shoot for. Everyone and every company is different though. Some accounts have definitely slowed though, but our good ones haven't slowed too much. We have tried to slim up a little bit. We try and kill off our bottom 1-2 accounts each year. If you can walk away from your bottom 1-2% of accounts, pick up those machines and either sell them or put them out at a better location, that improvement/decision can add up to $ on your bottom line. Do you have an account that is a tiny % of your total business and it's really far out of the way? Raise the prices to make it worth your time to work the account. If you can't or the sales drop, or they raise a big fuse, pick up the machine(s). Save on gas $ by making your route more tight, and find a new home for that machine(s). Spend less time going to small accounts were you are just wasting your time. This idea used to be true. It's now very very important/true. Big picture, hang in there. Shop around for deals on product. Figure out margins for each specific item and try and add an extra row of the high profit items while cutting back on the lower margin items. Stay out of debt if you can. When covid hit, we easily made it because our company didn't have any debt (other than small credit card balances). Getting through covid wasn't easy at all, but being debt free helped us tremendously as our revenue dropped off 80%. Cheers
  4. Hey people, I have a Wittern 3538 snack machine. Machine has been in account for over a year, working just fine. Last time I served it, I noticed the Credit Card Reader (Cantaloupe ePort Device) wasn't receiving power. I checked all the cords/plugs/hook ups and they were fine. I had 2 spare old and out dated telemetry devices that I recently swapped out and upgraded. So I tried to plug one in. I powered down the machines properly before swapping out all of these parts btw. When I powered on the machine, the older telemetry device powered up for maybe 1-2 seconds, then it made a little dying noise and powered down. When that happened, the lights on the devices came on, then faded off as it made the "dying noise". What I think is it maybe had too much power and got fried? I had a second old telemetry unit, plugged it up, and it did the same thing. Does anyone have any thoughts? I tested the power going to the machine and it was normal. The changer and bill validator (both hooked up through the same mdb line) both worked fine. But the telemetry/card devices showed no power (after they died). I could call Cantaloupe and speak with them, but figured I would ask on here first. See if anyone had any insight on the matter before I call Cantaloupe or Wittern. I have attached pictures of the board below. My thinking was to try and buy a new board and see if that is the issue. I'd like to not fry another telemetry unit if I don't have to though. Thanks in advance.
  5. Sorry. Been crazy busy last 2 weeks (thank God right?). YES!!! We plugged in the board you sent me and it worked immediately. You sure I can't send you any $$$? I plan on donating some $$$ to the website, after I figure out how to later today. I have been meaning to for a while as this board/forum has saved my butt a couple times in the past. Thanks for all the help everyone, LACANTEEN especially! Will
  6. **new update** I am here at the account. We have tried plugging the machine into different outlets. Including one 100 feet away in a different room. A1, when selected, the auger rotates twice. It is the only one in the machine that is doing this. A5 is free vending. You simply press A5 and you get the product. The machine still says “use lower value bill” when you press a selection to see its price. I have tried to take a picture of the computer board but the file size is too big to upload. I can try and upload it later today when I get home to my computer. Anyone want to buy an AP 113? Haha.
  7. To my knowledge, the control board is the original one. Again, this puppy worked for 3-5 years prior in a different location.
  8. **New Update** The weirdness continues. The changer "jackpot'ed the nickels and dimes out of the changer. "0553" is gone. When you press a selection to see what the price is, "use lower value bill" shows on the screen. When you put in change or a bill, it doesn't register on the screen, but does register in the machine. You can vend items, and most of the items seem to work. He checked with the secretary and she was unaware of any past power issues. He also tested the wall outlet for power and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I plan on meeting my friend there tomorrow to check out the machine myself. I will make sure all the cords/harnesses are plugged in correctly. Chard. Do you have a battery backup that you recommend? Hopefully we fix it, but we may need to try that. Thanks.
  9. I have an AP Snackshop model 113 that we picked up and then sold to a friend. We had the machine for 3-4 years in an account with little to no problems. We sold to our friend, helped him set it up in the new account, and as we tested the machine a couple times everything seemed fine. Then..... The machine was working fine but the front screen said "0553". I had never seen that before. Once you put in money, it would show the money that you had put in, it would refund your money if you wanted it, it would give change back properly, etc. It was weird but as I said, the machine seemed to be working fine, so we were just going to leave it be and let it say "0553" haha. Then.... A couple days later (this morning) the machine started to free vend items. His contact sent him a picture of the product container half full of snacks. Does anyone have any clue what this could be? Is the "0553" a code saying something is wrong with the machine? Does that have anything to do with the free vending issue? Again, the machine worked well for years until we moved it. We did have to take the control panel off to get the machine in the door but we took pictures beforehand and made sure we connected everything back up correctly. Thanks, Will
  10. We are off about 60-70%, and I think the worst is yet to come. Whether we like it or not, I think this is going to last (in certain ways) far longer than some of us realize. We have been locked out of a handful of our accounts. This coming week, we are going to try and get into some of our schools to get the product out as school's are closed through May. This is all a guessing game, but I'd bet that schools won't return until next school year (at least in my part of the country (S.C.)). There are only a handful of things you/we/us can do in the short term, but let this prepare you for the future. Try and keep debt off of your company when you can. Try and keep a couple of months of expenses/payroll in the bank account. I completely agree with what lacanteen said. Don't let any one single account be more than 10% of your total business. Don't let a single segment be more than ~30% of your total business. These are ideals that we can't change overnight but are great goals to have. Diversify accordingly over the coming years if you can. This is going to hurt my business pretty hard, but our company is very fortunate to be 100% debt free and we have a decent amount of money in the bank to hopefully carry us past this. Like Warren Buffett said "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked".
  11. Machines will be brand new. Will for sure have cc readers on them.
  12. Great guys. Thanks a bunch. Keep the guesses coming.
  13. Hey fellow vendors. We are going after a pretty big account (for us at least). Let’s hear some guesses on what you think a year’s worth of revenue will be. Manufacturing plant. 200 employees. Monday-Friday. No night shift. 2 drink machines. 1 snack machine. 1 snack/sandwich machine. Fire away.
  14. When someone broke into our snack machine at our elderly living facility, we thought it was an employee. We set up cameras and caught them the 2nd time around. It was grandson/granddaughter of one of the residents. They couldn't have been more than 15 years old. I'd bet that it was Jimmy visiting his granny. This is why it is important to have your prices at a good level. People don't see this part of vending. Next time someone complains about your prices being a nickel too high, tell them that one of your machines just got broken into....in a nursing home.
  15. Similar story to AngryChris. They do ok, but definately not as well as famous amos or mmcookies. Just goes to show that not everyone has the same type of good sellers. One of my best selling items may be your worst. I do love the cost though at .32 cents. What part of the country are you located in? Southeast here...
  16. We go the truck and trailer way. Drop the trailer at the end of the day. We don't really run into any tight parking situations.
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