Munch Box Advice

[PerformaVending]

After scouring the forum, I cannot find more than a few fleeting references to this sort of machine. I recently bought out "Soda, Snacks and Sweets Vending Co." 3rd string vending line. It was composed of these Mini Snack Munch Box machines.It was a good deal, and had a lot of good extras for other equipment, so I bought them, and trucked them back here, and then stacked them here in my garage. I plan to test one out at a location that has already agreed, but cannot see myself placing more than two or three due to their dimensions. A few have some dammage (minimal) and all of them need touch ups on paint. I have "most" of the stands, though a few machines didn't have stands, and were set up to be wall mounted. They vend "Fun Size" candy out of them with mechanical coin mechanisms. The darker (Maroon) ones have an older, large "drop-through" mechanism, while the red machines have generic 25 cent mechs, which can be upgraded. I see these infrequently on eBay, but have never seen anyone operate a route successfully. The guy said they were very profitable for him, but he got a sweet union job, and didn't have time for this part of his route anymore.

I intend to sell half or better of them. Basically, what would you guys charge for them if you were selling them. The lowest I can go is $35.00 each to accomodate new locks, paint, and minor repairs. I suppose I could sell them "as-is" for less, but I would have to figure that price point out. Two of the machines will need new mechs and window panels, while one is basically new, and hasn't even been put together. Any advice would be helpful!

[lakevending]

I don't spend much time on the bulk forum since we opted not to do bulk, but I do know a little bit about these machines from a former route operator. He was down in the Dayton, OH area and got out of the vending business because he and his wife decided it just wasn't worth the return anymore. The idea for the machines is pretty cool, but these particular machines have some problems, mostly due to their age.

1. The coin mech on some of these types of machines CAN be updated to 50 cents which is the only way to make a good return on fun size candy bars. This particular model can be upgraded, but not easily. The company has been out of business for some time (it was a biz-op in it's day) so you cannot order parts direct, and they never actually made a 50 cent mech for them. Take a look at the coin mech, it has a pin in the back that turns the bar that pushes the metal stick thing that causes the candy to drop. In order to upgrade that mech you would need to find a similar mech and add that pin to the back. I would be concerned about breakage giving you a lot of repairs and service calls.

2. Changes in candy bar dimensions. Dimensions of bars when these were made have changed a lot. For pretty much anything you want to put in there you're going to have to create shims and various other methods to hold them properly in the columns. It's a major PITA. And don't even attempt to put small bags like skittles/M&Ms in them. The metal stick just wedges them in the back without pushing them out.

3. They are pretty easy to get quarters out of if someone has some privacy and a little time. All you have to do it turn them upside-down and the quarters are all yours. He said he had to bolt them to the wall in factories instead of using the stands because of the theft.

You probably don't see much about them anywhere because they are older with known problems and most vendors can see the problems with them now. The final fate of the Dayton machines was the scrap yard, fyi. He had a couple people interested in them (myself included) that just wouldn't take them after the issues became apparent. HTH

[PerformaVending]

Thanks. I fixed one up, and sent it out and I'm awaiting the final report on it. It's in a business entryway, and is pretty well looked after. I agree though. The costs to fix the older ones is too much. They all came with the shims from the guy who sold them to me, and he gave me a lot of good ideas/parts to make them work (for one, little plastic tubes that hold the M&M bags) but the cost is steep. I plan to keep 1 to 3 of these and see if I can sell the rest. In the end though, I think these suckers will wind up scrapped. It's a real shame, but times are changing. Another tally on my wall-o-failures I guess. Thanks for the info Lakevending!