Rick Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Bought my first machines today and talk about scrapping Plan A! I want to take a moment real quick and thank all of you for the goldmine of information on these forums for wannabe's like myself. After lurking and researching for months I had...HAD laid the framework for how I wanted to build my route. I'd stick with premium brand (Oak, A&A, N'Western) singles and doubles in new/like-new condition starting with one location a month and gradually building my route over time. Then today happened. I saw this ad http://denver.craigs...3209986314.html on CL and decided what the heck, I'll drive down and check it out. I showed up to the sale promptly at 8am. Immediately when I pulled up I saw two nearly destroyed Silent Sales Force heads on a wooden stand and one brand new head on another double stand. Oof...I shouldn't even stop. I spoke briefly to the guy and he explained his mom was asking $20 apiece for the 6 heads with stands. I asked if she'd do $100 and he quickly reached her on the cell and got the okay. So I handed him the money and started looking through the boxes. Cracked the first box open and...hmmm...four brand new heads. Where's the stands? Cracked the second box...four new heads as well! I showed him what I found and he said "I already took your money, I'll just tell my mom you drove a hard bargain. Go ahead and load them up". I thought you don't have to tell me twice, and load them up I did - fast. So I think I made a great purchase. After counting it all up in the garage, I'm the proud owner of 14 brand new SSF heads, 1 very dirty but functional head and one trashed (the plastic base was cracked and mangled) head + 3 wooden double stands. So $6.67 per brand new out of the box head. Problem is - I need help figuring out what I have here. I know SSF is a very low-end manufacturer. Does anybody have experience with these and can you tell me what parts are usually the quickest to go bad? Are they strictly candy or can you vend GB? From the guys with a little more experience, how would you break these up for placement? (5 doubles and 5 singles, 7 doubles, 15 singles, 5 doubles and you better keep 4 new heads on standby because you'll be replacing broken parts constantly?) Also, anybody know where I could find these double-head wooden stands for cheap? Looking at them, I think I can fabricate my own fairly easily, but if somebody knows where I can find them for 10 bucks or less it would probably be worth it just in time saved. Thanks for reading - can't wait to start locating!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 They will fit on the metal stands also if you can't find the wood stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 As Far as Candy/gumball wheels. The candy wheel has a triangle shape hopper for the candy to fall in. The gumball Capsule wheels have a round hole for the candy to fall in. Most the time they were set up GB/candy as a double. For stands I would go to Quill.com and get a cast Iron Base stand from them. 35.00 each stand free shipping. When you figure in the shipping it is the best price on the net. While not the most high dollar machines they are something good to start with to see if you like the business. You can always upgrade them as you grow move them to your slower spots and put the better machines in the higher volume locations. Coin Mechs are a downside to these machines from what I have read. An also make sure you candy wheel is properly alined up. Performa has had some experience with these machines so I am sure he can full the gaps a little more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 So here's a question. I have two options... 1) Place these seven doubles and ride them until they break down (slowly replacing with quality doubles as I go) or... 2) Immediately flip these for higher end used stuff like NW60's, Oak or A&A before I work on locations? After doing some research, I feel pretty confident I can flip them for $300-$350, $65 each for the doubles with stands and $25 each for the remaining 8 singles. What would you do if it was your call? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Asses what you have as far as candy and Gumball. I would place them as the locations called for it. $6- stop a single $20 and up I would go double. Keep one or two In reserve preferably one GB one Candy Until you get your better machines. Oak NW eagle etc...in stock and replace them. I started with vend stars Now I got a slew of NW and eagles next week when I run my route I am pulling 3 of them and putting in singles and doubles and will see how sales do. One stop that they say gets a lot of kids I am thinking of doing Gumballs and BB just to see what would happen. It is nice to have a back up of a machine. Just to keep things working. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerformaVending Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 SSF's and their Vendworkz duplicates are super-cheap copies of the RB16 candy machine. My biggest issue was coin mechanisms- they jam easily and are not known for their longevity. The machines themselves don't look too bad, but the internal mechanisms just aren't as good as others. Not a bad purchase by any stretch, but keep in mind that these are "starter" machines, and that you shouldn't expect these to still be running 10 years from now. My opinion is to use them and start vending. Make some money, get some locations, and get started. You can always replace these with your Northwestern's at a later date, and that means you will have some established locations and some experience locating them. I wish you the best of luck on your vending endeavor Rick, you've got a good plan and a good attitude- you'll be very good at this. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Start with them Make some money and upgrade as the locations call for it. If you find locations that pull down 25-50 a month take that cash and place a nice new single or double. Then work that into a new spot. If you have some low end spots keep them there if they get damaged it is no great loss. With what you got into them It will make your ROI nearly non-existent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Thanks guys. I was leaning toward going ahead and placing the SSF's just to get my feet wet, so thank you for the feedback. BigRed, I like the idea of usng these as a "feeler machine" and then slowly replacing the better locs with quality equipment a necessary. Do either of you know if these SSF's will vend gumballs or is it strictly candy? If they don't vend GB's I figure I can still vend chickles out of 1 head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Some can it will depend if it has a Gumball wheel in it. I know they made some of them with the gumball wheel. Might say on the box if not you will have to open them up to see what they got. If it has round or oval holes usally 3 it is a gumball wheel if it has little triangle compartments it is a candy wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Oh it definitely has candy wheels in it. Just didn't know if it would still vend GB, I'm guessing not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronsidney Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Those machine will be just fine for typical gumball stops..they will not be fine for toys as 1.1 caps don't vend well in them and you get a lot service calls because of skipped vends..the skipped vends on LYPC,SSF, OK classic etc. I have found is because of the angle of the chute causes the caps to lodge,,a inspired kid can get his little fingers in there and get it out but some will not and then the next cap won't fall.. this will cause you to go to location several times and run money through it and it works fine,,wonder in your head why is it marked out of order?? and then finally figure it out...But hey i already told you so now you don't have the head scratching i had to endure thanks to vendiscuss !!! a typical gumball stop will be just fine for a few years,,then it will get brittle and break,,, or coin mech will start getting a quarter wedged sideways in coin mech and you have to toss it as the metal has actually worn out from the "no reverse" clicker stop being on too tight of a spring that it has worn out metal(just one thing,several other).. this being because they use cheap "pot metal" in their casts.. Its not a matter of time but a matter of use,,,if it makes 100 bucks a month in a good restaurant then it will wear out real quick,,5-10 a month in some nail salon or mechanics shop then you have years of use.. ron www.blazingquarters.com locating tips and tricks for free!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Good stuff Ron! Very much appreciate the thorough response. I only need these to hold together for 18 months. By then I should be able to easily transition to better equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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