lurtsman Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I'm planning to be out of this account in two and a half months. The huge gumball vendor--who gets a much better deal on pricing than I do--has decided to copy several of my toy selections. He's selling at the same price--but his machines are absolutely beautiful, enormous, and drawing several of my customers. My sales have dropped around 40%-50% since he decided load up on toys. I'm not allowed to do gumballs, but he is allowed to tread into toys. You can tell why I'm walking away from this mall. It was a learning experience, and a better value than I got in a college. I can't complain too much. Best unpaid internship in the world as far as I'm concerned. Now it's time for the vendiscuss answer. How should I respond? A. Change to a line up of new toys that might or might not sell. B. Ask the mall politely to change the policies and have their vendor not step on my toes. C. Cut all my prices to twenty five cents so anyone buying at his machine will see they could've had it for half price from me. After my sales went down and they refused to lower rents I told them I would be pulling one rack and they could reduce the price on the others or I would just load them all up. They agreed to lower the rent--but it is still too high to be profitable. They put break points on to prevent us from being profitable if we do manage to make enough to exceed the rent--and they are proud of this system. I love the person that works there--she's a shark and I want to hire her for my business. Regardless, if my sales went high enough to hit the break points selling toys at 25 cents per, I'd still be better off than I am with my gross sales destroyed by the huge gumball vendor. What do you vote for? The worst the mall can do is kick me. After the last round of negotiations the mall is slightly profitable--but after factoring in the time and headache they require they are worse than almost any of my charity locations on a pay per hour basis. I see this as a case of having very little to lose. If the forums are interested in seeing the response from cutting my prices in half, I'm open to doing it. I have all the coin mechs I'd need on hand. It would take a little time, but it would also give me an interesting education in watching what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 You're at 50 cents for 1" or 2"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Vending at the mall is just like any where else. It's a pie chart. If the other guy didn't have toys and now he does your pie slice just got smaller. The more he adds the smaller yours will get. It sound like his machines may be nicer than yours if so then that would hurt you also. I would not pull out. I would step back and look at everything. Take a look at your space. It there a better spot in the mall you can get? Can you get a better set up? Are you selling best products? Get some flashing displays from cardinal. Dont lower your price. Malls don't care who makes money just as long as they do. Do you have a photo of yours and theirs? Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 I could get photos. He definitely has mine out classed. I think the mall has a rule against flashing lights. Either way I'm moving at the end of July and can not assign my companies lease to the next buyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esko Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I can't speak from vending experience but from a business stand point I would look at what you know... 1) His pricing is better than yours. 2) His machines are newer and more attractive. 3) The mall isn't going to lean on him to change help level the playing field. I might get flamed for this but I would change my selection to a higher end product and vend at a higher price. I have been in price wars that you can't win and the only way out was instead to build value. Just my opinion. Before you take my advice you might want to have a vending vet confirm that this method also applies to vending as I stated I am new to vending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 You said you were precluded from vending gumballs. Does that mean he is precluded too? If not, why is it that he can do gumballs, but you can't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 You said you were precluded from vending gumballs. Does that mean he is precluded too? If not, why is it that he can do gumballs, but you can't? Because the mall only cares about the malls profit. The other guy may have been there first and asked for it. I used to deal with malls when I had a franchise and it sucks. Have you noticed how mall are enclosing drink machines. That's so they can count each as a tenant to keep rents up. Because many mall contracts are bassed partly on occupancy rates. Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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