sweetvends Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Hi all: I've been an avid reader of this forum for a while now and finally got to the bottom of the posts. (I like to try and read everything first before making a post) well first let me say that I am kind of a new vendor, I have been operating bulk machines since december of 2006. I currently have 16 machines out at locations. I have only single and double machines. After reading some of the posts here im glad that i did not go with triples. I was wondering if anyone has tried using "freshness date" stickers on their machines? Before i got into vending, i would have never purchased, let alone eat, anything from a bulk vending machine simply because i had no idea how long it was sitting there. Now that i am in the biz i was thinking of a way to combat that problem to try to increase sales from those who would ordinarly not purchase. my idea is to have a small card or something that I can write when the product was placed in the machine. kind of like the fresh date on milk or chips. do you think that would have any effect on sales or just a waste of time. i know i probably wouldve purchased from a bulk machine if i knew how old the product was. just a thought, all responses welcome sweetvends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPower Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 I am not sure that kids care much about that stuff but it may sway some adults. Maybe a sticker that shows a serviced on date might help. This may be more of a problem than a benefit if you are running gumballs on a two month cycle though. Just my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetvends Posted August 27, 2007 Author Share Posted August 27, 2007 i see your point. i was an adult when i thought about that (still am as a matter of fact) so i can see where it may be in vain if im marketing to kids. thanks for your input. btw, how many machines do you have? i think it would be neat if we all put our "stats" in our signature. ive seen message boards where people put pertinent info relating to the board subject matter in their sigs. im going to add mine as soon as i find out where to do it. been reading so much i havent played with the settings yet. sweetvends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Sweetvends, You can update your signature by going to "My Account" then "Profile" Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pusherman Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 what is fresh? to you it might be two weeks to me it might be 2 days. also those that are not going to buy from a bulk machine are not going to even walk over to look at your machine that may have a freshness sticker on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPower Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 I have zero machines out so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I wasn't trashing your idea though I think it is worth a test run to see if increases sales in a slow location that caters to mostly adults. I agree with pusherman though when he said "how fresh is fresh?". I guarantee if you ask my wife and I that question you will get two different answers. You will never be able to please everyone and by putting a date on your product you will encourage some and discourage others who might have given the benefit of the doubt. I think that ultimately the best advertisement for freshness is a clean machine with bright, unfaded product. This is an opinion given as a consumer not as an expert but its a free opinion and worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedk Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 This topic was suggested on Vendingtalk at one time but I've forgoten if annyone actually tried it and posted their results. If you decide to try it a "Best Before" might be best. One problem I can think of is, that unless you dump all your old product faithfully you always get a few rogue pieces that are hard as a rock. If you have a best before and someone gets one of these "stones" do you end up getting more refund reqests? And is that bad? Sorry, more questions than answers. Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 This topic was suggested on Vendingtalk at one time but I've forgoten if annyone actually tried it and posted their results. Ahh, an old VT brethren! I thought I recognized that question before as well. A big welcome to you Ted if I haven't already extended one. Its good to see some old VT guys here. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedk Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Thanks Steve, it's good to be back on a board with helpful people. Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetvends Posted August 29, 2007 Author Share Posted August 29, 2007 thanks to everyone for the input. i guess it would'nt be as good of an idea as i originally thought. oh well thats the beauty of these forums i guess! Sweetvends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDERSONVENDING Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 On VT another member posted using this method with a 2 month from service date on machine and she said it increased sales, however she didn't say how much or how long she was doing it. John MVSJOHN on VT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 MVSJOHN on VT Ahh, Another familiar name. Welcome John! Good to have you here. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANDERSONVENDING Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Thanks Steve,Its great to have another forum to read and get back into getting advice from other readers as well. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoMunch Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 I too thought about a freshness sticker on the machines however have not decided how often product needs replaced somethings like gumballs should last longer than say cashews right? p.s. thanks for the idea of adding to pur signature neat idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taypnguyen Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 are you actively looking for new locations? Or are you satisfied with 16 machines? How long does it take you to place a machine? I know this is off topic but I am trying to start and I have been reading the post around here and am trying to figure out how long it will take me to have 50 machines. Also much are you profiting a month off of your 16 machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 To be quite frank, I think that putting freshness stickers on your machines may be a mistake. I can see where people may not purchase because of it. People are different, but I would guess that after a month, they would begin to think that it is too old. However I service my machines about every 6-8 weeks, and longer on slower locations. I can expect to see my sales drop off after the first 4 weeks, if they know how long ago it was that I serviced the machines. Also, i figure it takes about 3-6 months to go through the entire product in a Vista 300 if it were full of gumballs. So if I service every 2 months, the stuff on the bottom would still be 4-6 months old. Customers might figure that out too. Not only that, you don't really know how fresh your product is when you get it. I have purchased some Double Bubble gumballs from Sams, and when I opened it that same day, it looked like it was old and splotchy. I figure it's best to keep the mystery alive. Let them think that it's as fresh as they want, and if they think it's old, it's prolly even older than they think. Either way, there's no reason to disabuse them of their beliefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onyxxtreme Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 this discussion somewhat reminds me of the bad old days, working at budweiser, trying to keep the product rotated. :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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