AQUISITION QUESTION

[vavendor]

We recently acquired a local vending company and have inherited their stock of surplus machines as part of the purchase. The machines are a mixture of snack, soda, cold food, Ice cream, Coffee and even a few amusements. Total of 87 machines. As we are under a deadline to have the machines removed from the warehouse the previous owner operated in, we are looking at scrapping anything we cannot sell by the move out date. We have sold about half of the machines to date and are still selling them, but the final move out date is approaching fast. What kind of price per machine can be expected from scrapping them, and what do you need to do to a machine prior to scrapping them. I would  remove all usable parts, but I am referring more to compressors and the regulations about disposing of them.  Any advice would be helpful. Just to note, we are out of space at our warehouse, so storing them there would not be an option.

[cvending]

We have scrapped machines in the not too recent past. Price is determined by weight. You will get sheet metal price from scrap yard. Pricing varies. I believe our last trip we received $$300 for 8 units. Our yard accepts them with compressors intact.

[AZVendor]

We recently acquired a local vending company and have inherited their stock of surplus machines as part of the purchase. The machines are a mixture of snack, soda, cold food, Ice cream, Coffee and even a few amusements. Total of 87 machines. As we are under a deadline to have the machines removed from the warehouse the previous owner operated in, we are looking at scrapping anything we cannot sell by the move out date. We have sold about half of the machines to date and are still selling them, but the final move out date is approaching fast. What kind of price per machine can be expected from scrapping them, and what do you need to do to a machine prior to scrapping them. I would  remove all usable parts, but I am referring more to compressors and the regulations about disposing of them.  Any advice would be helpful. Just to note, we are out of space at our warehouse, so storing them there would not be an option.

Have you offered them up on Craigslist yet?  That is where all the cheap, as-is machines here in Arizona get sold.  You could probably get more from them that way, unless you are in too much of a rush.  We have also had a lot of machines go to auction where they may only bring $100, but that is a far cry from the $35-45 you'll get at a scrapyard.  Right now our scrap prices are about $165/ton.  An average load of 3 machines that have been parted out weighs about 1600 lbs.  If you go the scrap route, call the scrapyard ahead of time to see if they will take them with the compressors - ours will.  Some states, hell, some countries like Australia, won't accept any compressors unless they are certified to be evacuated of any CFCs. 

[rmorris1953]

Kansas won't accept any with compressors. If you have motors, boards, etc you could offer them up for sell. 

[andyinchville]

HI VA Vendor,

 

I am in VA and may be interested in a few of your machines (I PM'd you).

 

On the flip side, if you you have the time and energy and if your  machines are good it may be worthwhile to rent another storage unit somewhere and continue selling them off as you have been (would most likely bring MORE than scrap value) BUT would require time and effort and a little bit of cash (to move machines, place ads and sell them off not to mention the storage fees at a new location).

 

I guess it all boils down to how valuable your time is,  how good your machines are and how strong the used market machine market is in your area.

 

As an aside, our local scrap metal place will accept items w/ compressors IF the freon is removed from them ( Simply cutting the lines and letting the freon out is acceptable for them to show that no freon is in the system ). Your area may be different regarding freon tho.

 

Hope this helps you.

 

Andrew

 

PS - When is the final move out date?

[vavendor]

Thanks everybody for the advice, it did help. I did keep some of the newer equipment, and sold or scrapped the rest. I ended up keeping 10 Fastcorp 820 and 2 631's. Also kept 4 vendo 12 select MM machines that were in great condition. And 5 dn 501e's. Hoping I can sell these items for more than it will cost to store them. I could not bring myself to scrap these machines despite not having a place to go for them. They are in too good of shape. 

[AZVendor]

With machines like that in storage (and you were correct in keeping them), you could probably add the ice cream machines to your existing accounts and generate more business from the accounts.  If you are using bottler equipment and have any good locations with only a Coke or Pepsi machine, pull the bottler machines and use the 501E's to sell both brands from.  The MM machines are great for outdoor locations such as apartments, if you service any of those.  In our market, there are several operators using those machines exclusively in apartment locations and doing very well with them.  No glass to break and after adding a couple of hockey puck locks, they are pretty secure.