bil10219 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I have a soda machine in the lobby of an office building. I recently switched the price on the soda machine from .75 To .95. I didn't want to go to a dollar for competitive reasons. When I went to service it, there were no nickels and it required exact change. Sales were down. Couldn't tell if it was the price increase or the exact change problem. Should I just go to the buck or try to maintain my competitive advantage of a whole nickel? Your opinions are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphincorp Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 yikeeees!!! 2 price changes in a short span. Hope it is a solid location(are any) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 At that price point you will have a never ending issue with nickels running out. You can solve it several ways. Go to a dollar, stop in between services just to add nickels, provide a roll of nickels to someone and ask them to buy a soda once or twice a week using the nickels you provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphincorp Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 i like that last one, problem solved ......roll of nickles is $2, vs. Gas,time,having to raise price again......PRICELESS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I have a soda machine in the lobby of an office building. I recently switched the price on the soda machine from .75 To .95. I didn't want to go to a dollar for competitive reasons. When I went to service it, there were no nickels and it required exact change. Sales were down. Couldn't tell if it was the price increase or the exact change problem. Should I just go to the buck or try to maintain my competitive advantage of a whole nickel? Your opinions are appreciated. That is a pretty high price in our area so its hard to say what is competitive for you, but we are at .75 for cans and $1.25 bottles(some are still at $1 for bottles but they are huge accounts!). I can attest that correct change issues will always keep you from being able to move product. You are better off going to $1 since its a small change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I had the exact same problem except I sell sodas for $.70 in lieu of commission. I installed a Conlux 4 tube coin mech with the 4th tube set up for nickels. This mech has interchangeable coin cassettes and you can get one with two tubes of nickles. It totally solved my problem and I only service this machine every two weeks even though it does about $400 a month in sales. To date I've never found less than fifteen nickles in each tube. Off hand, I can't remember the model number (it's my only Conlux) but I'll be out there next week and check it for you if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Another solution would be to drop your price to $.90. Your existing coin mech holds twice as many dimes as nickels. I agree with the oiher guys that you're pricing is getting a bit steep. Maybe the nickle drop will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncho Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Another solution would be to drop your price to $.90. Your existing coin mech holds twice as many dimes as nickels. I agree with the oiher guys that you're pricing is getting a bit steep. Maybe the nickle drop will help. I like this idea the best! At $0.90 you should be making over $0.50/can which is unheard of for most vendors. You are running at over 50% profit margin and that is very good for this industry. Most of our products are 25-40% margin and that seems to be the norm around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pp47021 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 If you are doing cans I think .90 or .95 is to high. I bet your sales are down in large part due to the price increase. Its funny people will pay $1.07 all day long for a 12oz can at a gas station, but in a soda machine they go crazy when you top .75. Unless you have high commission or some other reason I would lower the price to .75. If you have to go up your best bet would be to move to .90 as others have already noted. Or get a coin changer that can have two nickle tubes and then just fill them when you service the machine. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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