I make sure the new prices are clearly marked on the machines, so for instance if a drink machine has a large number of same price items that machine will get a prominent price sign when the price goes up (i.e. "12 oz Cans now .85"). That cuts down issues with people expecting the soda to dispense when they deposit the old price! If I have a working relationship with someone at the location I will tell them but I don't go out of my way to do it. If there is no contract on prices then the location should not expect control, and I don't apologize for needing to keep up with inflation like the rest of the world. I have only lost one location due to price increases, and was not sad to see that one go. Most operators are a little bit afraid of increasing prices, and it's good business to be sensitive to pricing expectations of your customers. But the longer you go without increases the more your customers come to expect no increases. I think it's good business to adjust prices on one category at a time and to do that at least once or twice per year. I read somewhere that January and July are the best times to raise prices for customer acceptance; I don't know how true that is but I think six months is a good minimum interval to space out category increases.

I'm in a strange position with snack machines, where a lot of people here have AP's, I have a lot of older USI's and on the other end brand new Crane Medias. I will say the USI/ Wittern machines are not bad units, but you run into a zillion variations, and the older control boards usually can't be updated. They do have a very good tech support team.

On the list of machines, the Royal 804 is a big, very high capacity machine and is too tall to get thru most doors. Not at all fun to move. It's best in a high volume location with exceptional access, like a garage bay. I think coke liked them for a while because they held so much the service interval could be extra long. The newer Vendo's (V21 series) are not too bad, not too confident in the older units.

Locations make assumptions about what is wrong with a machine without really knowing. It may not be sold out but could be some other problem. Bottom line is you really can't know how much they will sell unless you try it. Coke will probably not give you the machine if you don't already have a relationship with them, and usually if they do give up a machine it's because it's a dog.

Busing a route is one way to start, and the seller should be able to help you with at least basics (if you trust them). However, most people overpay for their first route that way - I sure did. But in a way I was paying for an education as well, and I still have few of those first accounts producing for me, so there is that. There are several ways to value any business for sale - breakup or asset value (what is the equipment worth if you just sold everything) is one; calculating the value of the working business is more complex, especially when you are new to that trade. I tend to look at 50% of annual sales, plus the value of spare machines and operating equipment (trucks, dollies, etc), the amount of cash (change banks in machines) carrying over, and to a lesser extent any extra inventory (which may be short dated or not selling well, you don't really know). There are some really good and in depth prior threads here on valuing a vending business, so if you want to go that way dig some of those up first. The route you are talking about at 42K per year for 39 machines means he averages less than $100 per month per machine, not so very good. Some locations may be winners but there will be quite a few on the low end of the scale as well. It may only be worth equipment value, if that. You would keep the good accounts of course, and try to move the other machines to better locations or sell some of them off. If he has a bunch of combo machines (or even worse, mechanical machines such as snack time or antares) - do not walk away, RUN away... Yes, existing accounts do turn over due to neglect or for many other reasons. Hotels are a world all their own and a good hotel is a nice location to have. A bad hotel will work you half to death for little if any profit. Anyone you call on in my opinion, should be in person. Emails and letters get ignored, and phone calls get hang ups. Look professional and have your business cards to leave; be willing to come back several times.

Always good to see someone working to get ahead, best of luck! Having said that, vending has been described as a "nickle and dime" business, as that is all you might make some weeks. If you had 8 or 10 really good accounts and did all the work yourself out of your home, you could be looking at a fair income for your time. Getting to that point, however, takes lots of time and investment. Good accounts are difficult to come by simply because someone else is usually there ahead of you! But what AZ says is a good start if you want to try it. Canned drinks have a good shelf life (other than diet varieties), and good used can vendors can be found at reasonable prices (Craigslist or EBay to start). If you like shopping for deals, you can get better than wholesale prices on your products. Try to find a location first before buying equipment, unless you have room to store it and just run across a crazy good deal. Also plan how you are going to move your machines. Vending equipment is much heavier than household appliances - steel on steel with steel insides. Pro movers cost too much. Maybe find another vendor that you won't be competing directly with and see what they will charge. Licenses and permits -I am across the country in Florida, so can only speak in general terms. Sales Tax registration and payment is usually required. I think CA also has container deposits that have to be dealt with. Most places will require some sort of local business license (city/county) based on the location where your business is based. You are not dealing with perishable foods or food prep so the health dept likely will not be involved. The form of business is up to you (sole proprietorship, LLC, etc). but does not have to be complex to start; it can always be changed down the road. Keep good books and pay your taxes, the government needs your money and does not like being cheated!!! Finding a location - first, just keep your eyes open as you move about your community. Again, the really good spots are probably already taken, but something viable is usually out there waiting. You want a location with lots of people as potential customers, good visibility, and somewhere that is safe for your machine and for you when you service the machine. Tire stores, full service car washes, medium size offices (at least 30 employees) like a phone room, small industrial operations... all have good potential. Stop and ask to speak to the manager or owner and offer your service. Don't offer a commission unless asked, and if they do ask, be agreeable but let them know the sales prices will have to go up to support their share. (5 to 10 percent of sales max). If you see a new business getting ready to open, get in there! The first vendor in the new door usually gets the location. Have some business cards to hand out, as it usually takes more than one visit to land an account. What to expect: Working from home and keeping your expenses to a minimum, you have a chance to make some spare money, but don't get too excited. Let's do some math. Say your machine is in a fair location and you sell about 3 cases a week (about 10 per day X 7 days). For easy math, lets say you sell for $1 a can. So $70 a week in sales. If the drinks cost you .35, sales tax is .07, and the location gets .10, that means you gross .48 per can or $33.60 per week. Now deduct the value of your time to go and buy the product and take it to the machine, the gas your car uses, and any other business expenses you run across (licenses, moving fees, repairs) and the price you paid for the machine to start (until it has repaid itself). So how much do you make net? Not much to start. When that machine and a few others are paid off and still earning for you, and you have things well organized you can see a benefit, but it's not an overnight success for sure. I hope I have not been too discouraging, just go in with your eyes wide open and good luck!

In other news, the city will also require all drivers to carry buggy whips.... https://www.wsj.com/articles/philadelphia-is-first-u-s-city-to-ban-cashless-stores-11551967201?cx_testId=0&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

There has been some shifting in purchasing over the last few years, and the selection of better for you type products is improving also. I do find that many items marketed as healthy are not any better than a bag of plain chips if you read the nutrition panel, but perception is reality for most people... My better locations with nice looking large machines and credit card readers are starting to move some more of the higher price point items, like clif bars, but it's still a struggle to source and manage good healthy items, and they require more frequent rotation of products as people tire of the same item quickly. Meeting the widest amount of customer demand results in the best sales volume. Pleasing the location management results in keeping the location. Doing both at the same time can be quite a juggling act!

That's a vendo 721 and it may belong to SevenupSnapple Group; I don't know if any of the distributors have sold them off. As far as the card reader, I have mounted them to the plexi next to the validator with no problems.

We had another thread about this recently, machines going into a food processing facility that needed to be moved daily for facility cleaning. I have also seen DN's at a large convention center that had casters so they could be placed according to the needs of the current event. Someone said that DN makes a caster kit for some models. I would not install them just for placing and removing machines from a long term account. I think they would be more of a liability unless there was a distinct need to move the machines often. Maybe the school moved the machines in at night??

Here is the link to download the programming manual, it may be easier to read since the paste in lost all formatting: http://images.veii.com/images/Manuals/OEM/Dixie/DN-SII-Programming-Guide.pdf

803,842,850.41Page 1 of 13Revised 2/24/99SIID CONTROLLER PROGRAMMING0773-6201CS & HIGHERThe controller has two modes of operation:NORMAL MODE:In normal mode, the display will show a decimal point. If decimalis blinking, this indicates an error or problem recognized in thevender. When money is inserted, the display indicates the totalamount of the deposit. The select buttons are used to select theproduct.SYSTEM SET-UP/AUDIT/DIAGNOSTICS MODE:System set-up/audit/diagnostics mode is entered when the venderinner door is open and the service switch is pressed. The displaywill show a list of error codes for errors that have occurred sincethe door was last opened. "JC-#" is a jammed column, "SS-#" is aselect switch problem, and "EN-#" is anenable error (board component failure).To acknowledge an error,press any select button, at this time you will enter the menu. The displaywill show "HD" at this time. Some of the menu items have sub-menus.To move through the menus and sub-menus follow these instructions. To:MOVE THROUGH MENU:Press select buttons 1 & 2 simultaneously to scroll down through themenu. While scrolling down through menu, release, press select buttons1 & 2 simultaneously to scroll up through menu.ENTER SUB-MENU:Press and hold select button 1 to enter a sub-menu.EXIT SUB-MENU:With "RTN" on display, press and hold select button 1 to exit a sub-menu.EXIT SYSTEM SET-UP/AUDIT/DIAGNOSTICS MODE:Closing the inner door or a two-minute inactivity time-out will exit the system set-up/audit/diagnostics mode.FRONT PANEL PROGRAMMINGSYSTEM SET-UP/AUDIT/DIAGNOSTICS MENUHD – HISTORICAL DATAThis section shows the user the vender accounting over the life of the vender. Use the following select buttons toview the total sales in dollars, total number of vends and the total number of vends for each selection.Press Select Button 1:Shows the historical total cash sales for the life of the vender.Press Select Button 2:Shows the historical total number of vends.Press Select Button 3:Shows the historical number of vends by selection. Each selection automaticallyscrolls across the display.Press & hold select buttons 1 & 2 simultaneously to move to the next item on the menu.In-LineSide-By-SideHorizontalSIID CONTROLLER PROGRAMINGPage 2 of 13RD – RESETTABLE DATAThis section shows the user the vender accounting data since the time of the last counter reset. This data can bereset either from this menu or by a DEX interrogation.Press Select Button 1:Shows the total cash collected since the last counter reset.Press Select Button 2:Shows the total number of vends since the last counter reset.Press Select Button 3:Shows the total number of vends by selection since the last counter reset.Each selection automatically scrolls across the display.Press Select Button 4:This button zeros the resettable data described above. Hold button "4" for 5seconds and "COUNTERS RESET" will be displayed. At this time, allresettable data will return to "0".Press & hold select buttons 1 & 2 simultaneously to move to the next item on the menu.S-P - SET PRICEThis function is used to set the price of each selection. When a select button is pressed, the price for that selectionwill be displayed. If the button is held in, the price will increment or decrement. To change from increment todecrement, release the select button and press it again. To set all selections for the same price: set desired vendprice on select button #1, then simultaneously press and hold select buttons 3 & 4 for five seconds, this will changethe vend price of all selections, both primary and secondary, to the price programmed to select button #1.Note:The SIID's multi-pricing capability allows you to set all selections to any price in the range of $0.00 to $99.95.Press & hold select buttons 1 & 2 simultaneously to move to the next item on the menu.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-t-gives-3g-service-three-years-to-live-11550765221?mod=hp_lista_pos2

The machine needs to see product to sell and change available before it will allow the validator to accept bills. Put some product in at least one slot (2 or 3 rows is enough to close the sold out switch), set the price, and make sure the changer has coins enough to cover the lower sensors. Make sure the exact change light is off. If it still does not work then you will need to troubleshoot further.

For a quick move like that on a single machine somewhere under $75 in most areas. If there are stairs it would cost more.