chad Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 anyone have an entire route of all single gumball machines? Hows that going? The thought of only using 1 machine per location and only using gum balls is very appealing to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajdistro Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Appealing to me to as gumballs are about $.03 each and easy as can be to stock/store. I was considering some of those tall spiral type gumball machines..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I have only two locations with just Gumballs and they do veyr well and would upgrade is the owners would let me, one has a spiral and the other is a single beaver. I have start trying doubles with Gumballs and 1.1" Toy Mix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casey259 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I have only two locations with just Gumballs and they do veyr well and would upgrade is the owners would let me, one has a spiral and the other is a single beaver. I have start trying doubles with Gumballs and 1.1" Toy Mix I'm new to all of this and I can tell you just for doing this business as a part-time gig doing exactly this the gumballs and 1.1" toys is easy to manage and profit producing. For me it was the issue of product storage, ease of use, and margin. You can store gumballs and toys and not have to worry about spoilage both on location and in storage. Also doing these two means ordering is a breeze and the margins are as a whole better than straight candy. Like everything it all depends but if you're doing this part time as a side business and mainly for fun then highly consider that combination. Hopefully that helps from the perspective of a new guy in this business with 5 locations (4 double head locations, 1 triple head location). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I've had single head gumball machines before. I had 400 locations along with about 150 triples. Gumball machines aside I did very well. Serviced 200 locations a week every 90 days and grossed about 8 grand just in gumballs. Not bad in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firetad4 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I have such a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of very many locations being happy with just a gumball machine. I'm not dogging this approach at all I think it would be wonderful. This being said I have 1 location that is gumball only (which is pretty slow) and 1 single gumball machine sitting in my garage waiting for my "locating block" to clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Who here is "old" enough to remember my experiment with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboJet427 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I do Caserri.I thought It was an interesting experiment.As for Adjistro I would only do a spiral gumball machine If you know you can place It in a mall or a very popular family restaurant or somewhere where there is very heavy foot traffic.The spiral was a hit in the early to mid nineties,the novelty of the machine has long worn off.You would be much better off with a standard single head model.In my opinion of course.I have to say I did make 200-300 month at one time when these machines first came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendamania Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Who here is "old" enough to remember my experiment with this? Was the experiment testing locations to see what was better single gumball or 2 heads one with candy? Curious of the results because I am torn...there are pros and cons to both. Single head gumball is easier and faster with hardly any spoilage. On the other hand you are leaving money on the table not doing candy as there are those locations that candy will do better or just increase the groos sales. For instance most bowling alleys don't want gum so 2 heads of candy will do good. Restaurants , auto shops , salon ect. candy does well in some. So the question is do I want to mess with candy/toy and the hassles and make more from less locations. Or get more gumball locations and keep it simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Fred, You have been on this forum, and in vending, long enough to know this. I've been following your recent posts and they are quite perplexing. Almost like you are a different person than when you joined. A year or so ago, you were one of our more experienced members with years in the business. Now all I see from you are questions that new vendors would ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Here is a link to my experiment with this. It was from 2007 so things may have changed. In summary, it was a complete failure and I admit I was wrong. http://www.vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/87-Done-with-doubles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfleet32 Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 I run about 90% all gumball. when I got into this business full time I wanted the easiest, least frustrating way to make money. I have added doubles and triples to the places that wanted more. My business is directed more towards mom and pop shops that the big vendors dont want. I also only use one type of machine, I do use the vendstars for the triples. When I go to service I only have to carry one bucket of replacement parts for any service issues, I take one machine with me and five cases of gumballs. All this fits in my car. You can easily service 40-50 locations per day. As mentioned, the key is to set the service day a little longer on the locations that can take it, I dont like to go over 4 months. Most average 3 months. After the show in Las Vegas in 2012, I switched to 1080 gumballs. I believe its still a great way to make a good living and you wont be the one on here posting about how bad your day went! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad Posted September 28, 2013 Author Share Posted September 28, 2013 Here is a link to my experiment with this. It was from 2007 so things may have changed. In summary, it was a complete failure and I admit I was wrong. http://www.vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/87-Done-with-doubles? wow, read that whole thread. Was very interesting. I even saw that i posted in it and it was 6 years ago. haha ..I was using triples back them and ended up getting out of it and now im back looking for a new way. To be fair, even though you considered your test to be a failure, it was because your sales had dropped. But someone just building a route it might still be a good idea. I think my business model will be to put a single gumball machine per location and upgrade to doubles in the ones that appear worthy of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Fred I would locate them as singles and then add as needed but keep the simplest profile possible. I wonder how many of those posters from 2007 are still I'm business? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendamania Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Fred, You have been on this forum, and in vending, long enough to know this. I've been following your recent posts and they are quite perplexing. Almost like you are a different person than when you joined. A year or so ago, you were one of our more experienced members with years in the business. Now all I see from you are questions that new vendors would ask. I did start vending in 1992 doing doubles for charity switched to commission. Now I do mostly amusement and am fading out of almost all my bulk racks except the good ones where I have amusement. Just looking to diversify a little with singles/doubles and get back into charity for the wife to run. Yes I do know all this stuff but just curious of other opinions. I have always taken the approach of more machines the better collections per stop. Fred I would locate them as singles and then add as needed but keep the simplest profile possible. I wonder how many of those posters from 2007 are still I'm business? I agree with the simplest profile and kind of agree singles first , however you could do it the other way around double if not needed single. The only problem with that model is when you switch it the owner may change his mind or he is only one eating the candy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Thats my take Fred, its easy to add but very hard to cut down. Much less start up cost too on the singles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 When you look at it from a dollars per hour and fuel cost, singles are terrible. You spend about 10 minutes on average to drive to the location, maybe 5 mintues to service (if you're very fast), and make about $10. On a good day, you're grossing around $40/hour. Take out commission and/or charity costs, cost of goods, sales tax, and fuel costs, and you're lucky if you're netting $20/hour. With a mix of 4, 6, 8 and 10 way racks, I can net $75/hour with no problem; even more on months when I'm not doing a ton of restocking, repairing, or cleaning. As my route and family get bigger, and as the demands of my regular full time job increase, my time is becoming more and more valuable. Driving around all day servicing single heads is a very time consuming way to make money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makes Cents Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 good info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raquel Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I'm doing single-head gumballs, and I like it much better than when I used to sell candy. Gumballs are cheap, ROI is easier to track, and everybody likes gumballs so they sell pretty well. I've also found that I have less machine problems with gumballs than with candy (jamming, ants, not dispensing at all, etc.) My route is compact so that I'm not driving all over town to service the machines, and I service them every two months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaTurtle Vending Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I do mostly single head gumballs and rarely do less than $700 for the day. It us usually higher. I spend at most $30 in gas. That is a good day. Especially when you look at the net. Plus it is so simple. It is not uncommon to do $1000 for 9 hours of work...well its not really work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I do mostly single head gumballs and rarely do less than $700 for the day. It us usually higher. I spend at most $30 in gas. That is a good day. Especially when you look at the net. Plus it is so simple. It is not uncommon to do $1000 for 9 hours of work...well its not really work I know you've got some figures in your signature - but just making sure: How many GB singles does your route consist of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingAngel Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I would like to know that too SeaTurtle, im thinking of just purchasing singles from now on because. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I do mostly single head gumballs and rarely do less than $700 for the day. It us usually higher. I spend at most $30 in gas. That is a good day. Especially when you look at the net. Plus it is so simple. It is not uncommon to do $1000 for 9 hours of work...well its not really work Forget singles, the new craze is a new fangled contraption called "pistols". You just walk into a place, ask for money, and walk out with bags of money. You only spend about $30 in gas, and net about $10,000 per hour. The only equipment you need is a pistol. You hold it at eye level not too far from the owner's face, so they can easily see it, and they gladly hand over all the money they have. It's amazing! I don't know what it is about pistols, but people are so happy just to have a chance to see one in person that they practically throw money at you just for the chance to look into the barrel! And best of all, you don't need one pistol for every location, you can take the same pistol from location to location. Return on investment is incredible! It's so easy it's not even work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casey259 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Forget singles, the new craze is a new fangled contraption called "pistols". You just walk into a place, ask for money, and walk out with bags of money. You only spend about $30 in gas, and net about $10,000 per hour. The only equipment you need is a pistol. You hold it at eye level not too far from the owner's face, so they can easily see it, and they gladly hand over all the money they have. It's amazing! I don't know what it is about pistols, but people are so happy just to have a chance to see one in person that they practically throw money at you just for the chance to look into the barrel! And best of all, you don't need one pistol for every location, you can take the same pistol from location to location. Return on investment is incredible! It's so easy it's not even work! Wait....was that sarcasm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Wait....was that sarcasm? I sure hope so because that's what I told the FBI after they questioned me about that post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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