dapoopta Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I wanted to start a post where questions could be asked about how much to charge for certain items. 10oz Orange Juice. Cost is right around $.6 or .$.65. I'd think $1.25, but it seems steep with only getting 10 oz and if you were competing against 16.9 oz bottles of dew for $1.25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 IMO $1.25 for 16.9 bottles sounds high, but it all depends on your location, customers (and their price sensitivity) and your competition. A general rule of thumb I've seen is to double your COGS (or thereabouts) for snacks. That's hard to do with candy bars and 20 oz bottles, though. Right now, I'm pricing 20 oz sodas at $1.50, 20 oz waters at $1.25 and 12 oz cans at $.75. I sell candy bars at $.85/each and some various Mexican candy at roughly 2x cost, which usually works out to be between 25 and 60 cents. I don't currently vend 16.9 oz bottles. It doesn't hurt to visit similar machines in the near to see what your competition is charging, either. Just to get an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapoopta Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Thanks for the info indiana. I have been taking pictures of all vending machines I've been seeing lately to start gathering a little data on pricing. The orange juice was a weird one I haven't really seen in many. What are you best can/bottle sellers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Price is largely dictated by what kind of loc and comission I start at 40% cogs and go down from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Best can/bottle selections also largely depend on location. At some of my locations, best sellers include Coca-Cola, monster energy, Fanta Orange and Sprite (in that order). I have a couple locations where I cant seem to keep Mountain Dew and monster energy stocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapoopta Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Mountain dew seems like the super seller for everyone. I think it contains drugs :-P How do pasties and doughnuts do for you? What do you price these at? Some of these items cost about 50cents, so you would sell them anywhere from $.75-.85? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Mountain dew seems like the super seller for everyone. I think it contains drugs :-PHow do pasties and doughnuts do for you? What do you price these at? Some of these items cost about 50cents, so you would sell them anywhere from $.75-.85? At the location I described above, the warehouse that sells Coke products, pastries are my top selling snack food. Specifically the jumbo frosted honey buns, I sell a few cases of them at this one location every week. I sell them at $.85/each. At my more commercial locations, I sell half a case or so at each location for $1/each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelermj Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 My best selling item is 16oz chocolate milk priced at $1.50, I sell 2000-2500 bottles a month, next best selling is 16.9oz water priced at $.75, I sell around 1200 bottles a month. Number 3 item is chocolate donuts from sams club priced at $1, I sell 800-900 a month. Number 4 and 5 do about the same, snickers priced at $1, and canned coke priced at $.60, both do 700-800 a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapoopta Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 What do those chocolate doughnuts cost you? Where do you get them? So you price higher at places that sell less and lower where you sell more? Is that because the smaller sales are a bigger pita? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruff84 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Chocolate doughnuts from SAMs are $4.33 for a box if 12 packa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 The basic "rule of thumb" is to double your cost and round up or down depending on commission and volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kong7014 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Hi. Does $1.45 seem high for a king size candy bar ie. Twix, Butterfinger? Cost = 1.03 each with 15% of gross commission to the site so profit = about 20cents per unit. The price of the same item at the nearest location is $1.89. It seems reasonable to me but the problem is that the location is a local volunteer fire dept that I also am a member of. SO my close friend there wants me to lower the price bc he says it will scare people away from those products. He claims lowering the price just to sell those products will increase soda sales (it's a combo machine due to space issues). My point of view though is that if the product doesn't make anything it's not worth having in there. I'm not a retail store like Walmart that can sell some items cheap with the hopes that the customer will buy something else while they're there. Besides soda's sell well anyway without any influence because it's 50 cents per can (there was a previous machine there so yes I know that's cheap for cans but I can't up that price). Sorry for the long story but to sum it up: Is the price too high or low? Any thoughts on the issue? And how much of this product should move per month to be worth keeping in the machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Are you running this operation as a business or a convenience for your buddies? Right now it sounds like the only one making any money is the location grossing 15%. 15% of gross is nuts, especially since they're only giving you enough space for a combo machine. That's the kind of commission you'd expect to pay in an extremely high volume account. At least the high volume accounts will allow you to price your items accordingly. I'd sell that combo machine to the location and let them earn their money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullyfrog Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Yeah, really. By the time you figure in gas, time, expenses you're paying them. Give them a choice of paying regular prices or buying the combo from you and move on. Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 This is all crazy talk. Candy bars at .85? Pastries at .85? So if your gross for the month was say $5000 you spent $3500 plus gas and commissions etc? I try to x3 or x4 everything! Pastries are .49 and sell for $1.25 all day. Famous famous mnm cookies knotts are all .25-.27 sell for $1 all day. If I sold chocolate I would not price at anything under $1. Your coin mechs must be always empty! I know it varies, but some products atleast double with those you quadrupled it balances out. Sodas at .60? Really? Tgif and gardetos sell for .80c all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Are you running this operation as a business or a convenience for your buddies? Right now it sounds like the only one making any money is the location grossing 15%. 15% of gross is nuts, especially since they're only giving you enough space for a combo machine. That's the kind of commission you'd expect to pay in an extremely high volume account. At least the high volume accounts will allow you to price your items accordingly. I'd sell that combo machine to the location and let them earn their money. Yes, you certainly need to raise your prices. Its one of the harder things to learn how to do in vending. Be proud of your equipment and service and don't be afraid to expect to be compensated appropriately for the service you provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kong7014 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I never expected to make much off of this machine. It's more for the convenience and a learning experience. The station is only 2 miles away from my house. I plan on checking with the fire school to see if I can get a machine or two there and items will be priced appropriately there if I get it. And don't worry it won't be a combo. In any case the cut that the station would get is not set in stone. That part is still speculative. I guess the next question would be how to go about figuring out how much would be adequate? The machine was just set up and stocked so there's no sales figures yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I never expected to make much off of this machine. It's more for the convenience and a learning experience. The station is only 2 miles away from my house. I plan on checking with the fire school to see if I can get a machine or two there and items will be priced appropriately there if I get it. And don't worry it won't be a combo. In any case the cut that the station would get is not set in stone. That part is still speculative. I guess the next question would be how to go about figuring out how much would be adequate? The machine was just set up and stocked so there's no sales figures yet. Well, You've got a somewhat different situation there. You should just lay your cards on the table, show them your costs for the products and the machine and then see how they feel about charging you a commission given the cut rate pricing you've been giving them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 IMO, no commission unless you get market rates on pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparta_Automation Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I agree with teveryone else....up the prices and explain to them that you have time/gas and expenses such as commission to cover. And if you are only making .20 on a $1+ items, you are selling WAY TOO low. Hell, I refuse to make .20 on a single pack of gum. Vending is not worth your time at that profit margin....because the first time the unit fails and you have to replace a $100 part, well you are in the hole for the next 5 months! As a rule of thumb, I buy cans of soda from Walmart etc for .25 - .30 cents each and sell for .85 Candy bars from Costco for .55 each, sell for $1 ea Chips from Costco for .38 each, sell for $1 Pastries etc from Costco and Walmart from .25 to .50 ea and sell for $1 - 1.50 ea Energy Drinks from Costco for $1.27 ea, sell for $2.50 Bottle of water from Costco for .18 ea, sell for .85 ea Remember, you are not walmart and don't have the ability to sell below price or below a decent profit margin. Look at the 7-11's and AM/PM mini-markets and see what they are selling items for! Travis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Sparta u have ur head screwed on right. If we had cogs 80-70% like some people here I would jot be interested in vending at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapoopta Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 I was at a speedway gas station yesterday and they had the chocolate cupcakes for $1.59! So your $1-1.50 is a super deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 $1.25 is good Unless they go buy at sams or Wal-Mart they would more than likely stop at a gas station so would u rather pay $1.25 in your own workplace or $1.59+ gas and waste time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anyvendingcom Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I agree with most. You are pricing them too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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