Snacks and Drinks vs. Amusement Vending

[bardovending]

I am looking to purchase a vending machine route in San Diego.  Since I am relatively new to the business, I originally had snacks and drinks vending in mind.  After contacting several vending operators, however, some suggested that toy and amusement vending gave better cashflow and was easier to service.  I would love to hear some feedback from operators with experience in both.

[moondog]

I am looking to purchase a vending machine route in San Diego.  Since I am relatively new to the business, I originally had snacks and drinks vending in mind.  After contacting several vending operators, however, some suggested that toy and amusement vending gave better cashflow and was easier to service.  I would love to hear some feedback from operators with experience in both.

 

I'd say that amusement vending would be easier from a cash flow and servicing aspect.  The downside is that locations suitable for amusement equipment would be few and far between versus good snack/soda accounts and I suspect the competition would be stiffer with fewer locations available.

[snack dude]

I cant speak for san diego for that is a much bigger area than I live in.

thats the problem with amusements here, unless you plan on opening an arcade of your own 

competition is really intense.

which is why i do snacks and drinks and coffee. alot more targets

[mission vending]

I am looking to purchase a vending machine route in San Diego.  Since I am relatively new to the business, I originally had snacks and drinks vending in mind.  After contacting several vending operators, however, some suggested that toy and amusement vending gave better cashflow and was easier to service.  I would love to hear some feedback from operators with experience in both.

 Each has its own unique challenges, my suggestion is to take some time and do a lot of research into both and then figure out which works best for you.  Here is a link to our national full line trade association http://www.nama.org/

 

And the amusement trade association http://www.amoa.com/

 

If it was me I'd try to find someone nearby that is a member and contact them, maybe do a site visit etc. I suggest a member as they typically are very committed to the industry and generally are helpful to people looking at the business.

[dogcow]

amusement vending is a better biz to part-time your way into 

because you are not dealing with stale product. seasonal product 

can be packed up and resold next year. i limit my exposure to fad stuff

by buying small amounts of movie license plush and that sort of thing

and making my own mixes w/ hihgh quality generic and licensed plush

 

 

here is my problem with the soda+snack biz. I like it very much

and i found its better profit than amusements (except coin pushers) because

the equipment cost is much less and there are fewer service calls (imo anyway)

even on used equipment. I can buy a nice used crane for $700 or two used snack

machines for $800.

 

anyway the problem I have found is spoilage. at first you will have a lot of spoilage

unless you are gonna hit hard and place 5 machines in a month or two. or put out

some honor boxes which is what i did. once you get some machiens out your 

spoilage levels off. but then as you add machines one by one you will eventually hit

the "next level" of purchasing and you will end up with stales again. because you cant

buy a 1/3 of a case of chips you end up with a lot of product sitting around. 

 

so like say 5 machines puts you at the first level of buying, where you can buy 3 cases of

chips and have no spoilage. 6 machines you will need 4 cases of chips but you will

have most of the 4th case left over... so really you need to add 10 machines to stabilize

at the next buying level where you dont have a spoilage problem. i hope it makes sense

its just a business where its hard to get started or expand except in fits and spurts

so trying to do it part time is difficult unless ur buying an established route.

 

amusements are just easier with respect to a ramp-up period