Almost 600! But nobody shares

[grumpy]

In the member section there is a post for members to share average take per location so that all of us can look and benefit from seeing the trends. But to date less then 10 members out of almost 600 share this information on a monthly basis.

My question is WHY NOT SHARE?

It is annoynmous, there is no way for anybody to calculate what your actual take is.

There is a thread thanking Steve for this forum and all of his hard work(actually more then one), and I'm sure there has been more then ten members posts in that thread. (And alot more of the members shaking thier head in an affirmative motion)

How about the members of this community showing thier appreciation by particapating in voting poles like this.

http://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=1609&forum_id=32&msg=1

Grumpy

[T BIRD]

Yeah........what the Grump Man said!  Come on gang!

[bacho]

I was able to contribute to that poll for the first time last month. Take in consideration there's quite a few people that do not have machines yet.

[grumpy]

I was able to contribute to that poll for the first time last month. Take in consideration there's quite a few people that do not have machines yet.

Out of 600!

I'm sure there is greater then 10 vendors. I'm not looking for everyone to contribute, but more would be statiscaly helpful. (Of course if everbody who had machines would contribute, that would be great.)

Grumpy

[Beer980]

I would but my numbers are one month behind the vote because I service my machines at the begining of the month. So I just collected my money this past week for April but we are now taking averages for May. Well when I collect May we will be doing June. Maybe the poll needs to be tweaked so more can vote. There may be more members like me that can't post the averages.

[G-man422]

I would but my numbers are one month behind the vote because I service my machines at the begining of the month. So I just collected my money this past week for April but we are now taking averages for May. Well when I collect May we will be doing June. Maybe the poll needs to be tweaked so more can vote. There may be more members like me that can't post the averages.

I opperate in a similar manner.  I'll see what we can do about this.

[caserri]

I would but my numbers are one month behind the vote because I service my machines at the begining of the month. So I just collected my money this past week for April but we are now taking averages for May. Well when I collect May we will be doing June. Maybe the poll needs to be tweaked so more can vote. There may be more members like me that can't post the averages.

This has been brought up before, however, what we are tracking with this poll is not when the quarter was deposited but when it was collected. We are tracking "collections" not "sales". If you collect from a machine on the 1st of the month, obviously those quarters will be from sales in the previous month. The poll simply tries to show average collections from month to month.

The reason it is set up this way is because there are some, like myself, who collect every 60 or even 90 days. It would be impossible to determine in which month the quarters were actually earned.

Everyone collects from at least one machine each month. Figuring out whether that one machine contains quarters from the current month or from 3 months ago (90 day cycle) would be impossible. So for simplicity's sake, we are just tracking collections.

Beer, the collections you just made should be listed on the May poll if you collected in May. If and when you collect from other machines throughout this month, you can update your vote at that time.

Steve 

[Beer980]

Ok I will add mine each month but it seems a little misleading or not very accurate. Maybe a sticky explaining how it works would encourage others to provide input.

[caserri]

Thanks Beer.

Unfortunately, just by the very nature of the open poll, accuracy will always be suspect. Obviously anyone can vote whatever figure they want. Hopefully they will vote honestly. I have stated before that this is not a scientific measure and the data should be taken with a grain of salt. When I started it, I figured it would give us a "general idea" of the up and down trending that operators see in their collections throughout the year and not so much the dollar amount associated with it.

I thought I had explained this in the introduction posted in that forum. If I didn't, I apologize and will note it for future reference. Thanks for the suggestions. I agree, there is obviously room for much improvement in this area.

Steve 

[davidsurvz]

My numbers have been bouncing around for a while. I will be posting more accurate info. in a month or so. I am restructuring my route a little (hopefully to increase profitability.

David

[grumpy]

When I first started reporting in the poll I too thought it was a little skewered. But as time progresses and I service my machines I realize I do not service on a 30 day cycle. So my reporting is based on what I collect on average at each location, during that polls month.

Is it an accurate barometer of averages during the months collection, well no! But that has more to do with people not particapating then the poll it self. The more people that particapate the more accuracy there will be.

But remeber it shows collections, at locations.(not heads) That was not the orginal goal but it is what it is.

To do it more accurately would be a pain for most vendors, when I do my route I collect each location and count the take from the location. Not my orginal plan, I would have been more interested in each head take, but quickly realized that was too time consumming. I track popularity with inventory control, I can tell you that I have filled 750 lbs of PMM and only 20 lbs of Black Cherry gumballs since Feb, what I can't tell you is how much I made on those fills.

Grumpy

[Beer980]

I seperate it at each triple machine. I label the slots A B C and dump each coin tray into a bag labeled A B C. Then I enter the total for each bag in a column on my route sheets. That way I see how each candy is trending each month and I enter a total for the machine on the far right side.

[grumpy]

I seperate it at each triple machine. I label the slots A B C and dump each coin tray into a bag labeled A B C. Then I enter the total for each bag in a column on my route sheets. That way I see how each candy is trending each month and I enter a total for the machine on the far right side.

I see how that works with six locations, now try it with 50 or 100 locations. I'm sure this is part time for you, so my querstion is how long does it take at each stop? I use a stop watch and have it averaged at 13 mins to open, dump coin fill and clean doubles. I track inventory at each fill, what I do not recieve in 2 lb bags I pre bag in my candy room. The money is counted per location, but I'm able to track usage with inventory. It accomplishes the same thing as you but it saves time on location. My goal is to get it down below 10 mins per location.

I'm strongly considering changing all top locks to camlocks quarter turn, as I'm sure most of my time is wasted opening those top locks. Oh and this is part time for me too, I have other business and interest to try and find time for.

Grumpy

[Beer980]

I don't think it takes that much more time for me to service then you but I have not timed myself. I don't know how many you try to hit a day either so that is a factor to you. I do all the entering here at the house on the table where I have room. I have zipper ziplock bag packs labeled for each machine. A one gallon bag holds three quart size bags labled A B C. I just open the money area and dump each tray into the labled bag. Fill product, lock it up and wipe it down with a baby wipe. I keep it all in a back pack and swap out the candy for my next stop from a container with all my brands in it pre bagged. When I get home I can count and enter it into my route book in the safety of my home. I guess whaterver works for that person.

[grumpy]

Hi Beer,

I understand the mechanics of your collection method, and like I said; I orginally wanted to do it that way. But your time currently is not that much as a whole on your route.

You are doing three to four times the amount of work on your collection then I am. I bag once, and count once per location, enter once in VendTrak. I don't really have an overabudance of locations at 86, but I do have a great abundance of driving time. When I can I want to save time. That is also the reason why I'm considering camlocks quarter turn top lock again, I spend about a quarter of my time at each location turning locks.

I may not know how much I make from each head at a location, but I can figure it out pretty quickly with the inventory used. All my heads are adjusted to give a certain vend amount which I have calculated to the exact cost. So I know if I put in 2 lbs of PMM's, I made $15.00 off of that head. If 2 lbs of Zaps I made $11.00. But like you said each person has their own way of doing things.

Grumpy

Almost forgot, the time I save doing it this way is spent on inventory control, I bag any product that does not come in 2lb bags, as I order bulk some products are in 15lb to 35lb boxes. Inventory control is extremmely important to me, my supplier tries to only have one month stock in his warehouse as I try to do the same. I know a vendor who orders directly from the manufacture of PMM's in Canada (65 cases) to save about $10.00 a case. I can assure you he is still going through this stock 8 months down the road.

[grumpy]

Just checked the poll at 11:45am Tuesday May 13.

We are now tied with the highest reporting months (Nov, Jan, both @ 9).

Almost the middle of the month and only 9 vendors have done any collections! It is better but still not were it should be.  So keep up the good work and lets make May the first month to achieve a high of 25 vendors taking part. Next month we can aim for 50, then we will start having data that will benifit us all, new and old vendors alike.

Particaptation in the polls is mandatory (kidding )

I have also noticed that particapation in the forum in general is down, must be all that nice weather we are getting after a long winter. (Who could blame anyone) As a note some study has said that Canadians are preoccupied about weather, if memory serves a high percentage of all casual conversations includes a statement about weather.

Grumpy

[T BIRD]

Everyone is concerned about weather not just the Canucks........

[caserri]

I have also noticed that particapation in the forum in general is down

You are correct Grumpy. We are down across the board. Below is a link to a screen shot of our April numbers. I blame the weather!

April 2008

Steve

 

[caserri]

When Grumpy speaks, people listen!  We are now at 12 votes for the month. That exceeds my goal of 10. Thanks for the post Grumpy!

Steve

[grumpy]

You' are welcome Steve!

But I think it has more to do with the community seeing were greater particpation in the polls, gives more accurate information for all of us to see trends.

 

[philo]

All I can add is that April/May has been extremely busy all around. i still have 2 machines waiting to be assembled for about 3 weeks now! Just too busy- which is a good thing. By the time the end of the day rolls around i seem to not get online as much. Oh well- guess I'll try and get some sleep- going to assemble those triples tomorrow!

Regards,

Philo