Bmac Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I wish I would have known about this website before I bought my candy route two years ago. I a lot of mistakes. I'm hoping some good advice and I can do better. I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice on owning a vending massage chair business. I'm planning on purchasing two massage chairs with the intent of building up volume in the years to come. I was hoping to get some advice from people who have them already. What are the best locations? I was thinking about any place you get your oil change and car wash. What about a Laundromat? Is it possible to get them cheaper than buying from The Back Massager or The Massage Chair? What about lawsuits? A guy I talked to said he gave 50% commission. I was also thinking around a 25% to 30% commission. What are your thoughts? I would appreciate any and all help/advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I wish I would have known about this website before I bought my candy route two years ago. I a lot of mistakes. I'm hoping some good advice and I can do better. I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice on owning a vending massage chair business. I'm planning on purchasing two massage chairs with the intent of building up volume in the years to come. I was hoping to get some advice from people who have them already. What are the best locations? I was thinking about any place you get your oil change and car wash. What about a Laundromat? Is it possible to get them cheaper than buying from The Back Massager or The Massage Chair? What about lawsuits? A guy I talked to said he gave 50% commission. I was also thinking around a 25% to 30% commission. What are your thoughts? I would appreciate any and all help/advice. We really don't have much information here about massage chairs. If you are going to explore this business then make sure you do your due diligence and DO NOT simply take the word of the sales rep trying to close a deal. Take the time to travel a little into other markets and contacts existing operators and see if they will sit down with you and talk with you about their business and if it has met their expectations. If you do procede we would love to see some updates about your experiences good or bad, hopefully good, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 50% is a fairly standard commission on any amusement /vending that does not dispsense a product. in my opinion i always offer the highest amount right off because I would not want to get kicked from a acct over a few dollars here or there. so i always offer right away the highest commission i can afford to offer. just my 2cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't own any but to be honest with you every place I go to that has them I have never ever seen anybody use them and I drive for a living do I see them occasionally but never used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrCorey Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Massage chairs are out there. many use all custom parts. and many manufactors come and go quick. if you dont break a shaft or strip a gear. motors can be rebuilt at motor places. the money accepter is prolly stock. timer? anyones guess. basicly you are betting the company survives. err, dont put them in any places with rodents or bugs that like to chew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Retiredguy Posted March 27, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 27, 2015 Massage chairs are out there. many use all custom parts. and many manufactors come and go quick. if you dont break a shaft or strip a gear. motors can be rebuilt at motor places. the money accepter is prolly stock. timer? anyones guess. basicly you are betting the company survives. err, dont put them in any places with rodents or bugs that like to chew. Hi All, I just registered today, but I've followed for a while. A buddy and I started a coin operated massage chair business two years ago. We bought our original ones from Backrubber and then a few from Titan. They are slowly making money. Not too much effort. We have moves some because of the low return. We've got a couple that make in excess of $100 monthly at some amusement centres and most make $50 or there abouts. We usually give the location 3 months to prove itself and get up to an acceptable level of profit. If it doesn't we move it. We're always out looking for new locations so we have options if and when we decide to move one. No problems with vermin, some problems with vandalism and theft ( by a location's employee who was supposed to count and remit our share ), but not a lot. We've decided to collect all funds by ourselves every three months as well as adding additional locks on the back rubbers. Seems Backrubber is out of business now, but there is a different company that sells the same chair. We chose this as a business because it seemed cheapest and easiest to get into. We didn't want to do a lot of work. The delivery and setup takes time and effort, as does locating the spots. We offer 40 to 50% commission to the location, dependent upon traffic and we've decided to only place in supervised areas to cut down on our stress. Anyways, just thought I'd chime in and join the forum. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelb5499 Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I doubt this will help, but there are massage chairs in our local mall...I've walked by them tons of times...no one using them ever. I considered it once or twice, but had 2 assumptions: 1. The massage was going to hurt or be unsatisfactory (I've never liked any of the massage stuff you can buy.) 2. It was going to be expensive. And then, honestly, I didn't want people to walk by and watch me. I finally used 1 the other day and was actually surprised and impressed. $1 for like 3 minutes (maybe 5 I can't remember.) It felt pretty good...wished I could have told it no legs though. I only share my customer/user experience as things you might consider...good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I doubt this will help, but there are massage chairs in our local mall...I've walked by them tons of times...no one using them ever. I considered it once or twice, but had 2 assumptions: 1. The massage was going to hurt or be unsatisfactory (I've never liked any of the massage stuff you can buy.) 2. It was going to be expensive. And then, honestly, I didn't want people to walk by and watch me. I finally used 1 the other day and was actually surprised and impressed. $1 for like 3 minutes (maybe 5 I can't remember.) It felt pretty good...wished I could have told it no legs though. I only share my customer/user experience as things you might consider...good luck! We haven't had much success in malls. People sit in them and don't pay. They even go so far as to pull the plugs out so the "Put $ in" alarm doesn't go off. In smaller locations they still do this as well. We either disconnect the alarm and post a sign that we've done so or disconnect the notification. In smaller locations the other people can note that the person in the chair is not paying and sometimes that makes the freeloader move. In a mall, nobody cares. The massages are quite good these days. In the smaller venues, people tend to be repeat customers. They tend to grab a massage while their kids play or they do the laundry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I don't know if this is the correct forum to post in or if I should start a new thread. But here goes. So one of our chairs went down. For some reason when we went to check on the chair and collect the display was really funky. Showed random #'s and when we put $ in, it went for 6 min., it was set for 5. So we put in the controller and tried to reprogram it. No dice. In fact it bricked and is totally unusable. We removed it the next day and are now working with the company to repair it. The only thing we can figure is that this location shuts off all their vending machines by using the main breaker. We're thinking some sort of power surge when the breaker was turned on fried one or more of the boards inside. Any other thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I had a problem, solved it and thought my solution could have wider applications here, so I'll share. We had people that would pull the plug on our chairs so the alarm wouldn't go off. First we disconnected the alarm. The rational was that we'd rather have the Aholes sit in the chair (pun intended) and leave the plug alone so the machine was still operable when they left. We also put a sign up saying we've disconnected the notification. Surprise, the plug was still pulled and revenue was weak. Even with the people at the locations asked to check on the chair to ensure the chairs were plugged in. I searched the net for some sort of solution and found these. http://americanpumpkins.com/secure-connect-electric-cord-and-outlet-safety-lock/ Going to install them and reactivate the alarms. Hopefully the customers will not attempt to pull them out. I'll put some black tape around the release mechanism to make them a little bit harder to remove. Just thought I'd share. Anyone else have a solution to keeping the plug in the socket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Hard wire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Hard wire Yes, but the location owners won't let me. Have you hardwired any of your machines? I don't even know if is legal up here in Canada. I think I'd have to check fire regs as well. Maybe I'll drop in at a firestation and ask, or call the city. A real pain, but if the answer is "Yes." Then I'd be on firmer ground when asking for permission from the locations. Thanks for the thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massvendor Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 @retiredguy, how are things going with the massage chairs these days? Do you mind sharing how many you have and what other lessons you have learned? What would you say are the top spots you've found to locate the chairs? Thanks, we are considering getting into that business so any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 (edited) @retiredguy, how are things going with the massage chairs these days? Do you mind sharing how many you have and what other lessons you have learned? What would you say are the top spots you've found to locate the chairs? Thanks, we are considering getting into that business so any help is appreciated. Things are moving along. We've ordered a few more chairs ( we'll have 30 when we get our newest order) and started doing some straight rentals as well. We put the chair in a location and charge a fixed monthly rate for unlimited use. We set the chair up to take a token, supply 125 tokens to the location and give them a key. Billing is monthly and we receive a check in the mail. Saves on gas and gives us a predictable $ flow. Not too bad. We check on the locations periodically. Our preferred locations are: Professional offices for rentals Children's play areas Sports complexes ( high risk of vandalism) Laundramats Car washes anyplace where people wait around or watch the kids play Good luck. Do your homework wrt which chair you get and when you find one that you like, stay with it, get to know it's workings so you can maintain and repair it. Edited August 13, 2015 by Retiredguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Vending Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Hello, I bought four Back Rubber massage chairs about two years ago. I have two chairs that need replacment motors. I can't find the company that I purchased the chairs from, I think the company is no longer in business no surprise ! Does anybody have a idea where I can buy replacement parts for these Back Rubber massage chairs ? Thank you ! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Check Grainger or McMaster Carr. Edited September 1, 2015 by orsd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) Hello, I bought four Back Rubber massage chairs about two years ago. I have two chairs that need replacment motors. I can't find the company that I purchased the chairs from, I think the company is no longer in business no surprise ! Does anybody have a idea where I can buy replacement parts for these Back Rubber massage chairs ? Thank you ! Craig Hey Craig, I sent you the information and am posting it here as well in case anyone else needs assistance. I've gotten in contact with Jose who's been a great help with my Backrubbers. He's a great guy and very knowledgeable. Jose 631 316 2999 in case anyone else needs parts or information. If you do contact him, give him regards from his Canadian buddy. Edited September 2, 2015 by Retiredguy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Vending Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thank you, Sam. I really appreciate your help. I will let him know you gave me his contact information. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massvendor Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Glad to see the site is back! retiredguy, thanks for the tips! I really like your idea of renting to professional offices. Way to think outside the box! I'm having my first chair installed this week, wish me luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Thank you, Sam. I really appreciate your help. I will let him know you gave me his contact information. Craig Q Craig. Good luck. I've suggested to Jose, he post some videos on tube showing how to maintain, repair, replace parts. It'd help all of us out and generate business for him. From a selfish point of view, it'd help me out just to know I could access a visual for the stuff I'm sure to need at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Glad to see the site is back! retiredguy, thanks for the tips! I really like your idea of renting to professional offices. Way to think outside the box! I'm having my first chair installed this week, wish me luck. Good Luck Buddy. A straight rental is likely to generate less income/use. but it creates a steady stream of cash that you don't have to drive to to get. Life's about balance and having a mix of locations is working ok for us. Consider hitting me up with a like. I'd like to reach 12 by years end. Goals are good to have. lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 So after a lot of searching and loosing some of what little hair i've got left I found these. http://www.lowes.com/pd_410980-15527-14438___?productId=4395853&pl=1&Ntt=outdoor+waterproof+outlet+covers I've installed these and put a little key lock on. I leave a key at the location and the chair's income have all increased, YEA!!!! I've also added a small bolt cutter to my tool box incase someone messes with the lock. Anyways, I hope this helps you guys out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Vending Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Sam, that's a great idea. It will help me also. I have put a call in to Jose, I left a message but have not heard back yet. Do you know when a good time to get a hold of Jose? Thanks, Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredguy Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Sam, that's a great idea. It will help me also. I have put a call in to Jose, I left a message but have not heard back yet. Do you know when a good time to get a hold of Jose? Thanks, Craig No idea Craig, try his email. thebackrubber3@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Retiredguy Posted January 24, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted January 24, 2016 Hi All, just thought I'd update. Our rental locations are doing well. Using tokens instead of coins seems to create less hassles for us. No one is angry and messing with the chairs to get their $ back. Some of our rentals are a little late in paying, but do pay. Getting the cheque in the mail saves us a bucket of cash because we don't have to drive. Some of our chairs are almost 300 miles away. If we had to drive every two months to collect from them, it'd cost us $ to own them. We're so glad we found this niche. Our spit locations are doing reasonably well, and our biggest problem seems to be in the acceptors jamming or simply not working anymore. We're working at finding more rental locations. The drop in our Canadian dollars wrt the US dollar has made it difficult to buy more chairs. What used to cost us $1450 Canadian $ is now costing us $1800 Canadian. I know it just means it'll take longer to recoup, but the road is long enough already. It seems the only way to get a break is to order 22 units. May take a while. Good luck and take care all. Regards from your Northern Neighbour. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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