shepherdsflock Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 There is a local route for sale and I'm thinking about asking the seller if he'll sell part of the route. I don't want the whole route. I'd like to just focus on soda to start out with. In buying part of an existing route, what are some things you think I should look for and be aware of? What should I be mindful of that may hinder future growth? I've purchased a bulk route, so I'm familiar with the ins and outs of financing and stuff like that. I want industry specific insight about machines and technology. Like, are there certain machines and technologies which are no longer supported that would be a terrible investment if I find them on this route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Depending on the route size it might be worth considering going for it. This could potentially allow you to leapfrog one of the biggest struggles of getting into the snack side of the business, not enough machines to sell through your product before it expires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 It's a smaller route (16 locations), but I'm uncomfortable with the amount of time needed to service that many locations. I still have to find time to work my day job and be home in the evenings for my family. I'd like to just see if maybe I can buy a couple of soda-only locations if the seller has any. I have no idea of earnings for any of the locations, but the price sounds pretty good for 16 locations. I just don't want to commit to so much right off the bat. It's a big financial and time commitment to a part of the vending industry that I have no experience in. I've really enjoyed bulk so far, but snacka and soda require a lot more effort and time. Most of my bulk locations don't even pay attention to me or my machines unless it's a commission location, then the only thing they care about is the checks they receive and that my machines aren't a nuisance to their business or customers. I imagine snack and soda locations can be much more demanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 I think you should ask him first you are asking prety much nothing here. Your asking for general advice which is all over the forum. Ask him first if hed seperate his route which is a very low probability especially if he has snack and soda locations, you wouldnt want that either. Introducing 2 New vendors in the same spot. Either A, buy Coke machines and place them yourself, or B step up to a snack and soda route. It will never make any sence to share a location. Say the coke machine makes 300 a month and the snack 2-300 as well. Wouldnt u rather spend an extra 15 min a service and collect that? I think you need to ask them if theyd split and what machines they use, pricing, established time, why they want out, gross and net income. Then you can come back and post about it. If soda and snack are too overwhelming id say stick to bulk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 TKK, I agree with what you said. But I want to ask the guy if he has any soda-only locations. I don't want to buy half a location, i.e. buy the soda machine where he also has a snack machine and let somebody else have the snack machine and boot me out to put in their own soda machine. Maybe he has some locations where a snack machine isn't needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry1973 Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Make sure that the soda machines are good solid brand names such as Dixie narco, vendo or royal (top 3). Find out if the machines are single price (all selections same price) or multi-price (freedom to set different prices for different products, and the ability much of the time to run cans and or bottles) Also check to see what his prices are like, because sometimes its hard to raise prices to profitable levels after machines are already placed. Also make sure that they fit your geographical area so that when there are problems you are not traveling great distances to unjam a soda. Other than that, just read and research and you will be fine. You might run some of the details through the forums for pointers and advice when you get them, lots of very experienced guys here who are willing to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 I finally made contact with the guy today. He's getting divorced and has to sell the business. He said it's mostly soda locations (which is a plus for me, that's what I wanted) with a few that are snack and soda. He said he also has a location with a combo machine (I don't want that, but if I decided to buy the route I'll probably have to take it), plus another combo machine sitting in storage (I doubt I'll even try to locate this machine if I buy the route, probably just try to sell it to anyone who will take it). He said he wasn't sure of the brands of all the machines, but most of them are USI. USI isn't the big name that Dixie or National is, but they're local to my area and they're not a total no-name brand. I'm going to meet up with him tomorrow to learn more about his route and machines. I'll probably be posting some more questions after I meet with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I finally made contact with the guy today. He's getting divorced and has to sell the business. He said it's mostly soda locations (which is a plus for me, that's what I wanted) with a few that are snack and soda. He said he also has a location with a combo machine (I don't want that, but if I decided to buy the route I'll probably have to take it), plus another combo machine sitting in storage (I doubt I'll even try to locate this machine if I buy the route, probably just try to sell it to anyone who will take it). He said he wasn't sure of the brands of all the machines, but most of them are USI. USI isn't the big name that Dixie or National is, but they're local to my area and they're not a total no-name brand. I'm going to meet up with him tomorrow to learn more about his route and machines. I'll probably be posting some more questions after I meet with him. Try and get the model #s of those USI soda machines - I've heard some nightmare stories about the sepentine models Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 Will do. I definitely won't commit to buying anything until I know all there is to know about the equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Some basic info you need to gather: Asking price? Willing to finance? Types of accounts and how long he has had each. Are they within your service area that makes sense to do? How much revenue does he do with receipts of purchases to back up the numbers? What is the current pricing on products? How many and what brand, model, etc machines. Any other equipment included like hand trucks, money counters, shelving, delivery vehicle, etc. Gather all this info and we can give you a better idea of what it is worth and if you should buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Okay, I got to meet up with the guy today. It looks like a pretty low performing route. I still don't have make and model for all of the machines, but he said it's grossing about $12,840 per year between 14 locations. The whole route is averaging $1070 per month. I'm thinking this is an opportunity I should pass. I don't have data broken down by product, just total sales, buy many of the locations are soda and snack. The majority of them are totaling $20-25 per week. That's total gross. Since I can't break down those dollars by product, I can't accurately say what the net profit is, but I would guess it is somewhere around 55% based on the pricing he said he's paying for product. So, most of these places are only netting around $11-14 per week. I think switching some of the can locations to 24 oz. bottles at $1.50 or $1.75 might be a way to increase revenue and cashflow, but I'm just not seeing a good route here. Plus, he said many of the soda and snack locations are a soda machine with a satellite snack machine. That sounds like something I probably don't want to mess with. Any machine that needs another machine in order to operate sounds like trouble. And there's a mechanical machine at one location. I'm not excited about that, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Okay, I got to meet up with the guy today. It looks like a pretty low performing route. I still don't have make and model for all of the machines, but he said it's grossing about $12,840 per year between 14 locations. The whole route is averaging $1070 per month. I'm thinking this is an opportunity I should pass. I don't have data broken down by product, just total sales, buy many of the locations are soda and snack. The majority of them are totaling $20-25 per week. That's total gross. Since I can't break down those dollars by product, I can't accurately say what the net profit is, but I would guess it is somewhere around 55% based on the pricing he said he's paying for product. So, most of these places are only netting around $11-14 per week. I think switching some of the can locations to 24 oz. bottles at $1.50 or $1.75 might be a way to increase revenue and cashflow, but I'm just not seeing a good route here. Plus, he said many of the soda and snack locations are a soda machine with a satellite snack machine. That sounds like something I probably don't want to mess with. Any machine that needs another machine in order to operate sounds like trouble. And there's a mechanical machine at one location. I'm not excited about that, either. I'm thinking that this is an "opportunity" that you should pass on This would be a very poor transition from bulk to full line for you as these accounts appear to be dogs regardless of what equipment is involved. Way too much equipment to maintain versus the low gross. Keep your eyes open - a good deal will come along, just not this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 This sounds like a route of crap accounts that someone put out without any idea of what they were doing. This is proof that you can't put a machine just any ol' place and make money. The "satellite" machines are probably USI soda/snack satellite units, so they are pretty small. The number of $12840 annual gross for 14 locations (not machines?) is only $17 per week per location. You might as well have them in your garage doing nothing rather than do the work it takes to only earn $17 per machine per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 This sounds like a route of crap accounts that someone put out without any idea of what they were doing. This is proof that you can't put a machine just any ol' place and make money. The "satellite" machines are probably USI soda/snack satellite units, so they are pretty small. The number of $12840 annual gross for 14 locations (not machines?) is only $17 per week per location. You might as well have them in your garage doing nothing rather than do the work it takes to only earn $17 per machine per week. No kidding. I have bulk locations that do better than this. And yes, that's locations, not individual machines. I am also guessing these are USI machines, too. Their manufacturing facility is about 90 miles from here, so it wouldn't surprise me if these are USI units. They might be pretty nice machines, but in poor performing locations. Too bad for him. He probably paid a fortune for these machines and isn't making squat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 If they end up being good machines and you want to scout your own accounts, buy the route for pennies due to his poor sales and then plan on relocating the machines. You could turn this around pretty quickly - IF they are good machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 If they end up being good machines and you want to scout your own accounts, buy the route for pennies due to his poor sales and then plan on relocating the machines. You could turn this around pretty quickly - IF they are good machines. I would agree, if you proceed buy, it should be for the current value of the machines only and work them them at their current locations until you find a new location for them. Let them at least pay for their own storage and that way you will only need to move them once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 This sounds like something id sell lol. Dont do it, plain and simple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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