Soda and snack comba machine

[foozeman]

Does anyone have a feel for the soda and snack combo machines.  Are they the way to go at smaller locations?  any problems with the mechanical vending portion of it?  It there a brand or model to stay away from?

 

thanks in advance

 

Dave

[g_r_vending]

I have 2 new AMS heathly vend combo machines around 4500 each, Top of the line machine easy to use good for small locations but expensive to start up with. Just bought a used American Products machine, that does snackes and can sodas for 500 still running strong after 15+ years

[T BIRD]

I keep looking at this biz op only because it looks like a manageable machine for me and Deb AND they deliver them, set them up, give me tech support on site and on the phone, and provide replacement locations at no charge if a location does not work out.

 

http://www.snacksodavendingroutes.com/summer.htm

[Yvette]

I have a USI soda/snack combo at a location that I acquired from another owner in April and it's working really great.  It's near my home so I service the machine weekly and it averages about $180 a month.   These machines are ideal for small break rooms.

[tedk]

I have 11 Seaga 2500 series combos. They are ok for smaller locations but, over $100.00 in sales you will need to service more frequently than I would like. The capacity for drinks is 240 cans (no bottles). Candy is about  130 and chips 30 bags. In small accounts the drinks and candy are adequate but the chips run out more than I like. These machines are ok for someone starting out who is unsure of locating etc. The small footprint of the machine and the fact that you can approach people that large vendors would not, makes it easier to get into accounts. Unfortunately, in my experience, most of those accounts are the ones you will want to drop as you grow.

If you want to get your feet wet, a combo is fairly eay to start with but you will grow to a size where you will decide this is not the way to build a business. I have 11 because I listened to a guy with 36 years expeience (when I had 4 combos that I paid a wildly inflated price for) who told me not to mess around with those toy machines and to get real equipment. I was so smart, I chose to ignore his advice and to continue buying these "lovely" machine butmy secret was to buy them from "don't wanters" at bargain basement prices. I did buy 7 more machine at low prices but I would have been better off heeding his advice, buying better, used machines and getting better quality accounts.

I am going to move all my combos very close to home so that the frequency of service calls is less of a problem, and as I land bigger accounts to sell off most of the combos. Also the particular type of machine I have is vunerable to vandals and thieves. The machines need to be placed in safe locations  that are not prone to attack. Once people find out how to beat them you will have to replace them with more secure machines or abandon the location.

If you decide to buy combos do a lot of research, buy good used, and don't pay too much.

 

[grumpy]

Ted off the subject, well not totally as a gourmet butler is a drink machine. Why are you selling it? Start a new post if you like to elaborate as most newbies would think coffee sales would be a good place to be.