jerry1973 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi everyone, thinking of starting a bulk vending operation. I have been thinking possibilities and numbers. My question is how many locations do you guy and gals service per day? I know there are tons of variables and I know each location is different, but has it been your experience that you can service 20 per day or 30 per day or 50 per day in your area? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 That is kind of a Open end question. It will have a lot a variables. If your stops are close without a lot of windshield time you should be able to do 25-35 in a day without too much trouble. Depends on how easy it is for you to service your machine. When I ran a sandwich route I tried to do 4 stops a hour. 4x8 would be 32 stops. Vendstars NW 60's etc... you should be able to do this. Now if you have a large rack or have to write commission Checks it might make it a little longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I have a bulk route with 1-800 triples. I could do 18 per day. However, I try not to do more than 12 and that takes about 6 hours with paperwork and travel time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 A sandwhich route? That's is open ended it all depends I can do all of my 40 stops in about 8 hours but I usually divide it in 2 days. But I'm sure if I had some far ones it'd take a lot more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1973 Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 no not a sandwich rt, but just typical singles/doubles/triples. I was thinking that a person should be able to take care of 25 per day as long as your stops are not to far apart. I was just thinking theoretical like... 25 machines per day x 5 days per week x 5 week service cycle = 625 machines. And if each machine averages somewhere around $15 dollars monthly then theoretically it should be possible to bring $9375 per month gross. I know that there are plenty of things that could interfere with this idea, but just playing with numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 A sandwhich route? That's is open ended it all depends I can do all of my 40 stops in about 8 hours but I usually divide it in 2 days. But I'm sure if I had some far ones it'd take a lot more I did it for 3 years walk in take a count of product, Record levels and what your putting back in, Write ticket, enter do count with owner, Collect, pull shrink and stock shelves. Small stops were 15 min 25-50 bucks Large stops were more like 30 It was what I had the most experience to give a ruff Idea on how long it would take. To take care of a double or single is a lot quicker then that. Even my vendstars are a fairly quick machine to service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I'll bet the number of people on the planet who could accurately tell you what's possible with a route consisting solely of singles and doubles could probably be counted on both hands. Why? Because once you grow to 150-200 heads (max), almost everybody begins to realize there are ways to work smarter instead of harder (cranes, racks, stackers, full-line, etc) so they begin at minimum blending those bigger money makers into their route. If you find someone who's busting their hump 40 hours a week working a 500-600 loc route of singles and doubles - they're the rare person that is both 1) motivated enough to do it and 2) so business stupid that they've willingly turned a blind eye to easier and more lucrative vending options. Very rare to find those two combinations in any one person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I know Singles and Doubles for me is just a start. As I grow then I will move one to bigger and better things and locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Impossible to answer because there are too many variables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I'll bet the number of people on the planet who could accurately tell you what's possible with a route consisting solely of singles and doubles could probably be counted on both hands. Why? Because once you grow to 150-200 heads (max), almost everybody begins to realize there are ways to work smarter instead of harder (cranes, racks, stackers, full-line, etc) so they begin at minimum blending those bigger money makers into their route. If you find someone who's busting their hump 40 hours a week working a 500-600 loc route of singles and doubles - they're the rare person that is both 1) motivated enough to do it and 2) so business stupid that they've willingly turned a blind eye to easier and more lucrative vending options. Very rare to find those two combinations in any one person. my old landlord had a route of gumball machines (charity) that ran like 4 states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I once had a route consisting of 400 single head gumball machines and 150 1800 machines. Did them once every 3 months. Only worked 10 days for $12000. Not bad in my book. Smart too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1973 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 wow treadmill that's cool. I thought at 3 months there would be spoilage problems. Was the $12000 a monthly income or 3 months? And did you work 10 days per month or 10 days within the 3 month service cycle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronsidney Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I used to only work about 8 days a month, zero debt, zero service calls really and all i ran where spirals and double heads..over a thousand before i started in tattoos and racks and then cranes,then importing cranes, then pushers, then arcades ,then mini storage, then manufacturing....whos knows whats next?? just part of evolution i think,,the training ground. I worked so little i was bored and got into the other types of vending.. It was a "off base" thing as i had gum ball machines 3-400 miles from home and would sometimes leave on monday and be back on friday to get route done.. could do about 20-30 doubles a day,usually located about 10 or so a day also and on those days i would only service about 20,the 30 was straight servicing, then find a good hotel with a bar in it, sit and have drinks and try to pick up some local trim. I was single ,had primary custody of my boy but he went to his mothers every other week until he started school. Those weeks my ex had him is when i would do the routes.. I really had it great but i kept wanting to be bigger and looking at what the big guys where doing and it wasn't doubles or spirals. I had my routes like a big spider web or spokes on a wheel...if there where 100 stops in that spoke about 25-30 would be AAA+ stops and would empty out every month or close to it,,i would service them every month, and on the way pick up 20-30 of the others,,,i would do this and eventually service every stop about every 3 months.. I then placed sticker machines in c stores along the way as they did well there and gum balls did not.. then i placed racks in those AAA+ stops then i got cranes that had to be serviced every week and made a whole new route I did on the other 3 days of my week I wasn't working, I had been helping a friend from high schools satellite shop and was installing dish network on those 3 days (because i was bored and i can't just sit at home)..My boy had already started school and i didn't like being on the road overnight so i sold off the far routes and only kept the stuff i could do and be back at bedtime.. then i got pushers and couldn't believe those tobacco shops and c stores could make that kinda of money!! I was shocked when i had one location do 5K in one month(the best stop i might add) but I had several do 1K a month..My best cranes did about 3-500 a month but only in really busy buffets or grocery stores, BUT some ghetto tobacco shop owned by immigrants from India with stacks and stacks of beer cases,lottery tickets taped on the wall from one end to the other because they didn't want to paint the place,where they lived in small closet in back with his wife and 2 kids! this place made a grand a week!!!! OMG!!! just think about how many of these places i pass everyday, I see the "discount tobacco and beer" big yellow sign with red writing in about every single shopping plaza i pass..Im gonna be rich!! so i placed a bunch of them,,couldn't get a good supply so i started building my own...then i was making so much money in so little time i let the other stuff slide,, Thats the failure of a lot of large and medium size operators.. Thats why there is so much opportunity for new guys.. The big guys get caught up in the big money makers and let the smaller stuff slide.. I see the most grandiose operator in the country doing this now.. Coinstar is so caught up in Redbox that their racks they paid Folz a gazillion dollars for are crap.. crap product, empty heads or entire bottom role full of candy that nobody buys.. you either do one thing and do it really well(like folz did) but you have to cover a lot more territory to make big bucks... or you stick to your territory, and branch out and do it all and make the same money... just my evolution,, but i really need to quit getting off topic,,I'm sorry and i have written so many posts like this and i delete them because i start writing and adding and adding etc. because i write like i talk,,otherwise i just don't shut up!!! ron www.blazingquarters.com locating tips and tricks for free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1973 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 Ron, I think your post is very interesting.. I think this could get very addicting haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 wow treadmill that's cool. I thought at 3 months there would be spoilage problems. Was the $12000 a monthly income or 3 months? And did you work 10 days per month or 10 days within the 3 month service cycle? That was a 3 month income. 10 days per every 3 months. At the time that income level was what I needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decaturjack Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 just my evolution,, but i really need to quit getting off topic,,I'm sorry and i have written so many posts like this and i delete them because i start writing and adding and adding etc. because i write like i talk,,otherwise i just don't shut up!!! ron www.blazingquarters.com locating tips and tricks for free Don't stop sharing these stories Ron. Each one is unique, insightful, and encouraging. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I drove past a discount tobacco shop like you described just Monday evening and thought Ron would tell me to put a pusher in there if I could. Lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Like I said I am glad for this board and people like you Ron and others. To share you experiances with us new guys. We all can learn form one another and that is what it is all about. Where else can someone make a living working 10 days a month selling Gumballs. You got to love it. To have the opportunity to grow large or keep it small it is up to us. Our drive and desire to grow. Keep sharing Ron I like so many others enjoy it and I hope to meet you at a trade show sometime and spend a evening listening to some of your stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1973 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 so in other places on the forum ive read where any more than about 6 weeks and you get into spoilage and wasted product.. whats the deal with these 3 month services? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 De so in other places on the forum ive read where any more than about 6 weeks and you get into spoilage and wasted product.. whats the deal with these 3 month services? Gumballs and most hard Candy have a 2 year shelf life. Toys do not have an exasperation date. IF you do toys and gumballs hard candy you can go 2-3-4 months on a service cycle. Just candy usually 2 weeks to 2 months. If you have to service a candy machine longer then 2 months to make it worth servicing then The stops just not worth messing with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1973 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 If you have to service a candy machine longer then 2 months to make it worth servicing then The stops just not worth messing with. Thanks big red, that's great information. For me the 2 month thing isn't so much to make it worth it per service, but to be able to handle more machines in the field. If a machine only has to be serviced once every 90 days, then that opens up 89 more days to fill with more machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedvender Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Thanks big red, that's great information. For me the 2 month thing isn't so much to make it worth it per service, but to be able to handle more machines in the field. If a machine only has to be serviced once every 90 days, then that opens up 89 more days to fill with more machines. I will agree with that. I have stops that could probably go to every two months but just starting out I will keep it at one month. As I grow and get more stops that will probably happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronsidney Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 thats why i du Thanks big red, that's great information. For me the 2 month thing isn't so much to make it worth it per service, but to be able to handle more machines in the field. If a machine only has to be serviced once every 90 days, then that opens up 89 more days to fill with more machines. Thats why i stopped selling candy real fast!! when i was doing doubles and singles i had a lot of spicy peanuts machines in bars,,they lasted bout 3 weeks before they got stale,,pistachios would hatch moths if in sunlight at about 5 weeks and you would have moths in your machine globe...peanut mm's crack if they get the least bit hot and only last about 6 weeks and you start getting complaints,,mike ikes,hot tamales are the biggest pain ever and melt and stick and clump and no amount of pam will ever make me think they are worth it, spree doesn't sell,,bonz is OK but still not as good as gum balls, skittles end up on floor and locations want them out and they cost a lot..... All candy sucks in my opinion ,,, A gum ball machine in a restaurant is the best simple formula that will make you the most money starting out...dont buy any triples or uturns or whatever needs more than one product and puts you in the candy biz... buy gum balls or toys and search out restaurants,,if you can't get all the machines in restaurants,drive down the road until you do..simple easy and it works!!! more than one way to skin a cat,,i just told you the easiest and fastest! ron www.blazingquarters.com locating tips and tricks for free!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 thats why i du Thats why i stopped selling candy real fast!! when i was doing doubles and singles i had a lot of spicy peanuts machines in bars,,they lasted bout 3 weeks before they got stale,,pistachios would hatch moths if in sunlight at about 5 weeks and you would have moths in your machine globe...peanut mm's crack if they get the least bit hot and only last about 6 weeks and you start getting complaints,,mike ikes,hot tamales are the biggest pain ever and melt and stick and clump and no amount of pam will ever make me think they are worth it, spree doesn't sell,,bonz is OK but still not as good as gum balls, skittles end up on floor and locations want them out and they cost a lot..... All candy sucks in my opinion ,,, A gum ball machine in a restaurant is the best simple formula that will make you the most money starting out...dont buy any triples or uturns or whatever needs more than one product and puts you in the candy biz... buy gum balls or toys and search out restaurants,,if you can't get all the machines in restaurants,drive down the road until you do..simple easy and it works!!! more than one way to skin a cat,,i just told you the easiest and fastest! ron www.blazingquarters.com locating tips and tricks for free!! when u were doing all doubles and working a week per month what was your gross and cogs, also how many units were you servicing and mileage of the route? if you dont mind me asking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronsidney Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 my Cog when u were doing all doubles and working a week per month what was your gross and cogs, also how many units were you servicing and mileage of the route? if you dont mind me asking My COG's was about 10-15%, most stops where charity or 25-30% commission..my gross was about 10k a month but I would say that 25% of the machines made 75% of the income..I would hit a cherry stop about every 10 stops that would just be killer.. And i had also bought a lot of used junk cheap and had them strewn about in crap stops like auto repair and hair salons that took my average down.. If a stop made less than $5 a month i would pull it as the product would go bad before it sold if sales where below $5 on my machines..of course any fading of gum because of sunlight i would rotate to better selling stops to keep it gone etc. to state the obvious.. My mileage was as far as 300 miles out in some spokes, according to how my luck was when i built those routes,,i would keep driving until i got the number of machines i wanted and locations i wanted,,normally 150 locations on a spoke would be max,some spokes would have same base as same road and then branch out at about 50 miles away... total units or coin mechs got to about 1100 or so before i started focusing on racks in the better stops..I then started pulling machines to make up bottom row of my racks(there still there!!) After i got cranes and racks i sold off some of the far away stops and invested that money in cranes.. I lived in a single wide trailer that i paid for with cash( 35K for trailer and 5 acres) my van and truck where paid for ,,all machines where paid for,, I was even making an extra 2-3K a month on ebay selling satellite cards (direct tv used to be hacked regularly back then) to guys in canada,,they would then reprogram them and get free tv,i just picked up peoples old direct tv boxes when i installed their new dish network system,,I then sold direct tv card for 1-300 each on ebay!! i only worked for my buddy about 2 -3 days a week and sometimes not any if he didn't need me.. before i started full time really,, I had gotten laid off at Peterbilt in Nashville and didn't go back when they called me because i was making enough to be happy with gum balls..The guys thought I was stupid to ignore a recall for a UAW gravy job like peterbilt for some gum ball machines!! i just worked with Dish because it was a friends biz and i can't take it as easy as i was,id go crazy. I think I was really at the top right then and there and didn't even realize it.. If i wouldn't have gotten remarried and started making kids again i could still be in redneck trailer trash heaven!! i bought my first container of cranes with that satellite money!! I didn't have any idea at the time how to withdraw my money off of paypal(pretty new then) and i would just ship the cards out at post office everyday( I had 15 guys i would pay $20 each for cards they would get while installing also) and pay shipping etc out of my pocket... When i went to finally get money out of paypal i had over 30K in it !! I was using the debit card all the time and still had that much pile up on me! bought 23 cranes from Wu Mar for a grand each with bill acceptor(same company as coastal toy soldier) and thats when i had to start working for a living!! ron www.blazingquarters.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 my Cog My COG's was about 10-15%, most stops where charity or 25-30% commission..my gross was about 10k a month but I would say that 25% of the machines made 75% of the income..I would hit a cherry stop about every 10 stops that would just be killer.. And i had also bought a lot of used junk cheap and had them strewn about in crap stops like auto repair and hair salons that took my average down.. If a stop made less than $5 a month i would pull it as the product would go bad before it sold if sales where below $5 on my machines..of course any fading of gum because of sunlight i would rotate to better selling stops to keep it gone etc. to state the obvious.. My mileage was as far as 300 miles out in some spokes, according to how my luck was when i built those routes,,i would keep driving until i got the number of machines i wanted and locations i wanted,,normally 150 locations on a spoke would be max,some spokes would have same base as same road and then branch out at about 50 miles away... total units or coin mechs got to about 1100 or so before i started focusing on racks in the better stops..I then started pulling machines to make up bottom row of my racks(there still there!!) After i got cranes and racks i sold off some of the far away stops and invested that money in cranes.. I lived in a single wide trailer that i paid for with cash( 35K for trailer and 5 acres) my van and truck where paid for ,,all machines where paid for,, I was even making an extra 2-3K a month on ebay selling satellite cards (direct tv used to be hacked regularly back then) to guys in canada,,they would then reprogram them and get free tv,i just picked up peoples old direct tv boxes when i installed their new dish network system,,I then sold direct tv card for 1-300 each on ebay!! i only worked for my buddy about 2 -3 days a week and sometimes not any if he didn't need me.. before i started full time really,, I had gotten laid off at Peterbilt in Nashville and didn't go back when they called me because i was making enough to be happy with gum balls..The guys thought I was stupid to ignore a recall for a UAW gravy job like peterbilt for some gum ball machines!! i just worked with Dish because it was a friends biz and i can't take it as easy as i was,id go crazy. I think I was really at the top right then and there and didn't even realize it.. If i wouldn't have gotten remarried and started making kids again i could still be in redneck trailer trash heaven!! i bought my first container of cranes with that satellite money!! I didn't have any idea at the time how to withdraw my money off of paypal(pretty new then) and i would just ship the cards out at post office everyday( I had 15 guys i would pay $20 each for cards they would get while installing also) and pay shipping etc out of my pocket... When i went to finally get money out of paypal i had over 30K in it !! I was using the debit card all the time and still had that much pile up on me! bought 23 cranes from Wu Mar for a grand each with bill acceptor(same company as coastal toy soldier) and thats when i had to start working for a living!! ron www.blazingquarters.com Ron, Your stories are very inspiring. Thanks for the posts as they are very interesting to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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