Nick505 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Just curious if anyone has started a small route with vendstar's? I know they are looked down upon in the bulk vending business, but where else can you get a triple head with lock & key for under 100? At this point I am focusing on quantity of operable machines that will collect, not quality. I have 5 vendstars, 1 on location. Hope to get the rest located this week. And after the first months partial roi I plant to re-invest into a brand new double by northwestern. Hopefully each month I will be able to grow by 1-2 heads and slowly build my route away from the vendstars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacho Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Just curious if anyone has started a small route with vendstar's? I know they are looked down upon in the bulk vending business, but where else can you get a triple head with lock & key for under 100? At this point I am focusing on quantity of operable machines that will collect, not quality. I have 5 vendstars, 1 on location. Hope to get the rest located this week. And after the first months partial roi I plant to re-invest into a brand new double by northwestern. Hopefully each month I will be able to grow by 1-2 heads and slowly build my route away from the vendstars. Yes it can be done. I started with 10 Vendstars. I had 35 at one time but had to sell them off. You have the right attitude on starting into the business. Just keep up your determination and set a goal for yourself. Don't get discouraged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 you can get 1800 machines for about $100 too and it is a much better machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Nick your plan is sound. Not everyone can afford a BMW, you have got to strart with a Yugo. They all collect quarters.I still have a few of these, no sence in replacing them untill there trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thanks. Yea that is how I see it at the moment. Just get a cash flow as cheaply as I can. I can upgrade my business assets later down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyGirl Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi Everyone- I am new to the biz. I have 15 Vendstar 3000. Curious to know why the bad wrap. Can any one tell me whats up. I too am slowly building into the biz and so far from what I have read I love this forum Seems to be a lot of advice from many of you from 10-1000 machines. What do you all recommend as a good, better and best machines? (for future of course) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Vendstars are good way to get your foot into the door, get them placed and start making quarters. As you grow you will probably want to vend toys since there is monet to be made with them. Vendstars limit you on what you can vend. Whats the best machines has been discussed at length several times but as a refresher here is a short line up: Beavers (top quality, but pricey, nice looking machines, hard to find used ones) Northwesterns (Good quality, nice looking machines, readily available from Sams club, and parts interchangeable) A&A's (still good quality, parts interchangeable, easier to find use ones, and cheaper) Oaks (good quality, easy to find used ones at a decent price however my least favorite of the group in appearance). Can't stress enough read, read, read and learn as much as you can to avoid some common mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 I found a pretty good deal on craigslist last night! 8 vendstars for free! the guy was just going to through them away. They have been outside for a couple years, but I think I will be able to clean up about 3 of them to good condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Great find Nick I hope you have already picked them up.Make as many usable machines as you can, keep some spare parts and sell the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Nick, There are some guys that have painted the Vendstars and they came out looking pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Yup. I picked them up. Pretty good steal. Too bad my vendstar keys do not work on them. I drilled out the locks on one of the machines just to clean it up, but I think I am going to hire a lock smith and see if I can get a key made. If so thats 7 set of locks I can sell at 20.00 a set..As far as cleaning up the machines the only parts salvageable are the coin mechs and internals. The bodies and canisters are so discolored from the sun. Also the bases and poles are in decent shape. I may try and figure out a way to use them for double or triple stand for oaks or NW's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Nick your not listening. Those faded bodies are easy to paint. Nick your not listening. Those faded bodies are easy to paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 I saw that, just forgot to respond to the idea of painting them! I'm going to paint one and see how it goes. The only problem is the canisters are so yellow they are not really usable. So by the time that I order 3 canisters for each machine it really doesn't make sense unless I can find a better deal for the canisters that are currently on Ebay. (Roughly 15 dollars a piece plus shipping). So thats almost 60 dollars into the machine, not including the cost of paint or the time spent cleaning, prepping, and painting them. Not to mention either drilling all locks and buying new ones or hiring a lock smith.. Seems like a loosing situation to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will.vend Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 nick after cleaning the canisters real good add the candy and see what it looks like, sometimes globes dont look near as bad full of product...just an idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 I will give it a try Oh yea, forgot to mention they are missing spill trays. The picture of the clean one is one that I have salvaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Go to Walmart and buy some stuff in the auto section called Plastx. It is made by Meguirs. Cost about $6. Use a damp cloth to apply it and rub really hard straight up and down. Don't go in circles unless you use a buffer of some kind. It will do miracles for the clear plastic. For heavy scratches, rub in the direction of the scratch. Or try to find some white rouge made for Lexan. I looked at your pics again. Those machines are definitely salvagable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Thanks Hillbilly! I will give it a try and post some pics! Also great job in your refurbishing of those blue NW's!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrantha Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hey guys I thought about starting a new topic, but since the topic is "Building a Route" I will use this to ask my question. I have been a member of this board for three weeks shorter than I have been vending, 1 year and one month. I started ($850) with as much money as I have now, $1000. You can look at my signature to see the epuipment I have purchased. Should I go ahead and exhuast my funds now on equipment and locations or should I do something like one machine/location per month. I figured I would purhase 5 Northwestern single head Super 60's and vend gumball and Chiclets only. I will upgrade to doubles tripples and racks as needed. Sorry guys the profit margin is too great to fool around with the other stuff unless the location owner request it. I do have locations in which I sell M&Ms and all that other stuff. But, if I had to start over again, it would be gumballs and Chiclets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will.vend Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 the simple answer is to reinvest all of your vending profits until you reach a level you are happy with. But, I would take the $1000.00 and spend 75% of it on equipment and 25% on product, I would then use the money generated from your machines to buy more product until you have all of them located. I would also stay away from chicklets, they are a slow mover and will tie up machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 agrantha, if this were me I would first get the 2 out of your garage. I'm always be on the look out for great deals on equipment, craigslist (everyday). Buy a few machines and get them placed, and repeat the process. You need to deceide how fast you want to grow. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEREMYTINA Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 the simple answer is to reinvest all of your vending profits until you reach a level you are happy with. But, I would take the $1000.00 and spend 75% of it on equipment and 25% on product, I would then use the money generated from your machines to buy more product until you have all of them located. I would also stay away from chicklets, they are a slow mover and will tie up machines. I second that on the Chicle Tab. We bought three boxes when we first started vending and I still have a box and a half left. BTW- We also started with $1000 and have built our route to what you see in the sig below. Just keep buying equipment and using every quarter that comes in to build up that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrantha Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Will One of my locations (Machine Fabrication Shop) requested Chiclets and they sell pretty good there. Another location (Pizza) does pretty well. I have had pretty good success with Chiclets. I think demographics has something to do with what sells well. I have one location (Office Building) in which Chiclets move slow. That is a $10/month location. I have been thinking about pulling the machine. But the temperature and cleanliness of this location gives me grounds to leave the machine there. I do not know how they do it, but their is very little dust on my machine when I service it. But, ultimately I will move it since it is a charity machine. That storage is costing me $1.00/mth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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