twilliams76 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Before you pull the plug on a location. I'm a newbie to vending and I currently have two locations up and running. I've got one spot that has a soda and snack machine. The soda machine is grossing about 20/wk avg now which to me is not all that bad (surprisingly water is the best selling product in the machine, it sells out weekly) but the snack machine is doing horrible, after a month I'm just now paying for the goods I put in the machine (about $100 roughly) I've asked this question of others but I'd like to get your opinions of how long should i wait before I consider removing the machine. Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Before you pull the plug on a location. I'm a newbie to vending and I currently have two locations up and running. I've got one spot that has a soda and snack machine. The soda machine is grossing about 20/wk avg now which to me is not all that bad (surprisingly water is the best selling product in the machine, it sells out weekly) but the snack machine is doing horrible, after a month I'm just now paying for the goods I put in the machine (about $100 roughly) I've asked this question of others but I'd like to get your opinions of how long should i wait before I consider removing the machine. Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 I'd wait until summer is over. By then you'll know if your soda machine is a keeper or not - if it's not then shut the location down. With only two locations, snacks are going to be a problem for you no matter how much they make. If your snack machine is grossing a hundred a month, I'd say it's marginal but worth doing if you've got a good soda machine there. By good I mean at least $200 a month and hopefully more - $80 won't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I wouldn't pull the plug until you have another location for the machines. At least you are earning some money and you are getting free storage too. But like Moondog says, give it some more time. You didn't mention what type of location or the population so we're only guessing here. What is the equipment investment you have there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilliams76 Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Thanks for the responses. I've got about $1000 in equipment there. About 6 employees and waiting customers. Its a mechanics shop. I really only wanted to put the drink machine there in the beginning but he requested the snack machine so I figured I'd give it a shot. Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I wouldn't pull the plug until you have another location for the machines. At least you are earning some money and you are getting free storage too. I concur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 wait it out, i have 2 apartment complexes. i got them like 2 months ago. one did $30 snack in a month and $40 coke. the other $14 coke and $45 snack. i was very upset as it was a pain to get in. i just serviced them today... one did $172 sodas, and $65 snack and the other did $55 soda and $135 snack. not great locations, but this means its going up, obviously in apartments the tenants start getting the hang of it, plus most were all sold out as i left them for a month. so it went from $129 to $427 and im sure they will continue to go higher as the summer is here and people know theres machines in the laundry room, plus the pools were closed and will open this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilliams76 Posted April 2, 2013 Author Share Posted April 2, 2013 wait it out, i have 2 apartment complexes. i got them like 2 months ago. one did $30 snack in a month and $40 coke. the other $14 coke and $45 snack. i was very upset as it was a pain to get in. i just serviced them today...one did $172 sodas, and $65 snack and the other did $55 soda and $135 snack. not great locations, but this means its going up, obviously in apartments the tenants start getting the hang of it, plus most were all sold out as i left them for a month. so it went from $129 to $427 and im sure they will continue to go higher as the summer is here and people know theres machines in the laundry room, plus the pools were closed and will open this month. Wow!!, not bad at all. Very inspiring. Thanks Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donut Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 I seem to do around 2.5 to 3 times better during summer months with soda machines.... I'd say give it the first month or so of summer.... If sales start increasing pretty good, leave it... If not, find a place before you move it or else you could end up like me with 4 machines sitting in the garage and a wife who keeps asking, "When are you going to get those things out of here?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 What AZVendor says is correct!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyinchville Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 HI, Since you mentioned that water sells out weekly it sounds like you can increase the drink machine sales if you try to put in 2 columns of water...an empty column makes no sales. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilliams76 Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 Yes, it's true that great minds think alike. I was thinking the same thing. The water pretty much sells out every week. Everything else goes a little at a time. I might just fill three or four with water it'll cost me a lot less as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilliams76 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Just an update. The soda machine is getting better every week. I can't keep enough water in it now. I think it's gonna do good in the summer. On the other hand, I've lowered everything in the snack machine to .50 just to recoupe my money. I'm gonna sell that machine and just concentrate on drinks for now (plus the chocolate is starting to melt because of the temperature). I think I'll try an honor box to supplement the soda machine though. Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Never lower your prices to drive sales! You have to sell products for a profit and that profit has to cover all you expenses. If you barely make your cost back you are doing it as a hobby. If you are clearancing products that is another issue, but don't do the whole machine unless you are really pulling it out. If you end up leaving it in the account it will be awful hard to explain why the prices went back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilliams76 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Never lower your prices to drive sales! You have to sell products for a profit and that profit has to cover all you expenses. If you barely make your cost back you are doing it as a hobby. If you are clearancing products that is another issue, but don't do the whole machine unless you are really pulling it out. If you end up leaving it in the account it will be awful hard to explain why the prices went back up. No, I don't think you understood my post. I didn't lower the prices to drive sales. I lowered them because I'm gonna pull the machine off the route. It's doing horrible and I just want to recoup my money before I shut the machine down. It's costing money to keep the machine going and plus its a hot garage so the candy is starting to melt now. Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I wouldn't pull the plug until you have another location for the machines. good advice. or just sell it to some sucker on craigs list seems like a lot of that is going around lately LOL avoid mechanics shop in the future for snacks, just a waste of time yo u will never make any money there. soda is marginal its the kind of acct i learned is best to set up with a big golpher machine like a 440 or 501 and check it every month. because its a shop floor just get the vendors cheap as possible , $200-500. make sure to compute ur cost to service( see sticky thread) to figure out if its even worth going there once a month given the numbers or, if ou can even affrd t o go more frequently. also if u set an acct on 3-4 wk cycle, u have to have a solid contact donwn there who can contact you asap if there is trouble, you dont want a validator to break down and stay down for 3eeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilliams76 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 good advice. or just sell it to some sucker on craigs list seems like a lot of that is going around lately LOL avoid mechanics shop in the future for snacks, just a waste of time yo u will never make any money there. soda is marginal its the kind of acct i learned is best to set up with a big golpher machine like a 440 or 501 and check it every month. because its a shop floor just get the vendors cheap as possible , $200-500. make sure to compute ur cost to service( see sticky thread) to figure out if its even worth going there once a month given the numbers or, if ou can even affrd t o go more frequently. also if u set an acct on 3-4 wk cycle, u have to have a solid contact donwn there who can contact you asap if there is trouble, you dont want a validator to break down and stay down for 3eeks Yeah that is a problem that I have at that location. They never call when the problem first happens. They let me know the next week when I show up.. its not funny but you've gotta laugh or get pissed off. Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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