u-turn terminator - I hope I wasnt scammed...

[tkaman2]

Hi, I recently purchased 16 u-turn terminators (8 selection machines). From what I have read I am wondering if those were the best machines to get... I hope I wasn't scammed. On their website they imply that you can make $156 on average per month with an 8 selection machine, but I think that is quite a bit more than I will make in reality. Would I be expecting too much to look for $50 a month per machine? of course depending on location. I have a lot of good businesses around my house so I am planning to locate them myself and save $65 X 16 machines. I am a good people person and I am going to use the local chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters for my charity. Hopefully they will give me a shirt to wear when I place them, that might help.

What does anyone think about the u-turn terminators? Does anyone have any suggestions for an anxious excited new-b to the industry? I have done a considerable amount of research so I hope I am ready. I don't have really high expectations and I know there is a lot of work involved. I just really want this to succeed. From what I have read I am confident I can make it work. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks

 

[Ronzo]

U-Turns are owned by several people on this website. Aside from the plastic coin mechs, they stand up pretty good for me. You have to get quite a bit of traffic for the 8 cannisters to make it worth while. I have several out and usually average about 50 to 60 dollars month per machine. Again traffic, I have a 4 cannister in a cab company with a lot of drivers and it averages about 45-50 a WEEK. So traffic is the answer!! U-Turn does offer a metal coin mech but it costs about $25.00 each. So that is an option.

[deee_z]

I think the U-turns bite!  They are not convenient to work with when it comes time to collect the money out of them.  I bust my knuckles on them everytime.  I feel that it is a poorly designed machine.

[jinxedsoul]

I can buy 5 used for $250 Canadian(with manual and keys) but i dunno...

[tkaman2]

Are the coin mechs the actual coin acceptor? I hope that isn't plastic... that would kind of suck I think. easier to break. I was thinking the coin tray is the plastic part but I guess I will find out tomorrow.

I'm hoping to get them delivered early tomorrow so I can start trying to place them. I hope I can get 2 out each day, and I will likely be trying from 8am - 10am each day.

Have people done well (better or worse) with 1" capsules that contain toy type things like temporary tattoos and stickers and toy jewelery? What is a good price to pay for that type of thing? I found one website that has bags of 250 filled containers from $15.99 - $19.99 USD plus shipping of about $3.50 per bag. I ordered 4 bags of different things to try out anyway. Maybe I can find cheaper somewhere else?

[T BIRD]

First of all tk, welcome aboard.  You have a lot of questions and concerns and that is good. I see you have already made a decision on which machine to buy.  I hope everything turns out ok for you with the U turn.  Like what was said, you need alot of traffic with those particular machines.  And servicing can be a bit tedious and time consuming.  You sound like you have great energy and enthusiasm and that is great!  The coin mech itself is plastic.  Let us know how you make out this week with locating.  tjking.com is a good place to buy toys in capsules.  So is A&A Global.  A&A may be a bit cheaper.

[antoniocinisi]

I can tell you that thier recomended settings are off if you want to make money.set them all down 1 point or more based on what they you will sell out of them.peanut mm should be a 6 instead of a nine for example.

you need a special wheel to sell toys out of these machines do you have them?

you should have the top with toys and the bottom with candy if you are going to do both. you can buy 18 bags at a time from A and A global to get a discounted price.with so many machines you should be able to 18 at a time and have inventory left.

have spare parts,with that many machines I would keep 2-3 coin mechs and chute covers even a coupkle of canisters

the first 2 things cause they break the canisters because you can swith out for a differant candy in a flash if you nreed to.I have had a few old style coin mechs break on me on the same point.they seem to have taken care of that problom with the new mechs.

a problom I have had with the new mech though is that the quarter goes in wrong and gets stuck in the middle of the mech.it was only on 1 mech though but it did hapen.none of the covers have broken on me but the machine will look fugly if one breaks on you.

I can be more of help if u need me too.I also will give you my settings for the tumblers.I also have 2 machines for sale on ebay.

[tkaman2]

I do have some extra parts, I have two extra small and large containers, three coin mechs, and three chutes. I believe I have the containers you mention for the toys... they have a round drop instead of the adjustable one. Its also the one to use for gum balls and bouncy balls right? I haven't received the toys so I'm not sure if it will work but it should. I was kind of disappointed with that, and each machine only came with one container of that type so if I want to put gum balls and bouncy balls in one machine I will have to have another machine without either. I think it will work out fine though.

I wonder if they have updated their owners manual since they printed yours. My owners manual says to use settings 9 and 10 with caution because they will vend more than a handful of product and will likely cause spillage or customers to drop candy on the floor. I tried out the PMMs and I think I got about 8. It was a small handful, I used setting 7. I may give 6 a try. I wish it wasn't so difficult to adjust the portion size, you have to take the tumbler out of each container (4 screws) then adjust it then re-assemble the container. Are other machines typically like this? or are some machines easier?

If you want to pm me with the settings you use that would be great. I am in the process of adjusting all of my tumblers now so it would be good time :-) Just got my machines yesterday.

I need to work on my pitch to get these located now. I talked to a few places (restaurants and grocery stores) and only got one no (out of 3) but the other two said to call the general manager. On a good note, I am using a local charity and the executive director of my charity has a lot of good leads in the area and her brother is a GM at Olive Garden :-) Plus she ordered me a shirt that I can wear when I go out locating.

[antoniocinisi]

it is smart to keep extra parts.I will post the settings here so other u turn users will see them.I wonder if they have adjusted their settings to inflation.

there is also this:Plain M&M's: 12-14 pieces

--Runts: 10-12 pieces

--Skittles: 12-14 pieces

--Reese's Pieces: 12-14 pieces

--Mike & Ike: 6-8 pieces

--Chiclets: 10-12 pieces

--Cashews: 10-12 pieces

--Hot Tamales: 6-8 pieces

--Pistachios: 10-12 pieces

found in herehttp://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=346&forum_id=1&highlight=pieces+per+vend

I have 1800`s uturns Nw and a silent force,and all have 4 screws to unscrew to get the tumbler so I dare say the are all like that.

my setting the best I can remember:I know what numbers are on the tumblers but I can`t remember how many pieces you get .it varys per vend sometimes too, but I based it on the above recomendations the first number is what they recomend and the second is my settings.could you compare them with your owners manual?

skittles 3 2

mm 2 1

pmm 9 6

m + i 5 3 or 2 depending on location commision.

on 2 u still get a good amount.

reeses pieces 2 1

hot tomale 5 3-2

runts 5 4

cashews 6 5

in order to sell caps you need to remove the inserts in the gumball tumbler.if you have about 750$$ you can buy the 48 remaining tumblers you need to do half toys half candy

I hope you live in a city or get really high volume locations.these machines are too much for most locations.doing half toys half candy is the best way to go with this type of machine.

DONT TOP OFF YOUR CANISTERS untill you find where you need to and where not,or you could have spoilage.I had 7 of these I sold 1 and aother is for sale on ebay item #:140261291763.I only have 3-4 locations that can actually handle them.of those 3 are all candy/nuts,only one with toys and candy.of the 3 that are all candy 2 are my top locations(that do over $50

johny)the 4th machine does great sometimes. I will downsize when I can get a nice triple for next to nothing.

BTW do you mind telling us what they charged you for the 16 you bought?I paid $192 for my first and most expenive 8 top,an eliminator at thAT not even a terminator,I paid $55for my cheapest eliminator.cant remeber the third,and about 150 each for the other 4(now 3)terminators I bought.

I like to mention no use of electricity in my pitch.most will like that it wont increase expense and that it will add an extra service in thier place of business.

let me know about the setting,and tell us all how you are progressing.

[Jay-Son Vending]

The one thing you will definintly find here..Is that either people like these machines and have found how to use them or..they really do not like them..

I will tell you I purchased my first 16 machines from a company rep.  I bought the eliminator..I did not like the big canniseters on top...Since then I hav purchsed the 4 selects on e-bay..

I like these machines..They look different than anything else out there...

they are more time consuming to service...

BUT they give you the opportunity to offer the products that people want..in big emplyee break rooms(ie, manufacturing) everybody wants something different...now this also means that you will need to carry more types of candy...

So as you can see... some good some bad...but the quarters are wonderful...

In my opinion... less/better locations...more quarters per stop...more income less work..

 

[tkaman2]

I got my first machine placed this morning in a large grocery store chain employee's break room. This store has 110 employees and while I was installing the machine I had about 5-6 employees come in and make positive comments about the machine. I even had 1 product request so I will probably replace a slow moving product with Good N' Plenty :-) They have a soda machine but no snacks, so I think the 8 selection will be ideal for here that way I can (like Jay-Son says) have something for everyone. Plus the store is open 24 hours. I am excited to check on it in a week or so.

I bought my machines from the manufacturer and paid more than I should have. I am looking at a break even point (including $55 per location through Midwest) somewhere around 9 months out if I get all really good locations. so realistically probably a year and a half. I won't make that mistake next time, I just wish I had found this board before. I know what machines I am going to order next, from the company that makes the DI machines, they have red metal three container machines (SuperPro) they quoted me $189 per machine with discounts starting at 5 machines. I will try to find some used ones I think.

I did some tests to see how many vends per pound of candy I get on various settings and I compared that to what I pay for the candy to determine my settings. I also did the reality test to make sure that it was a reasonable amount of candy for a quarter. I only ended up using different settings than my owners manual for 3 out of 8 products I put in my first machine, and it was only off by 1 I believe. I will post tonight what my owners manual says for various products, I know PMMs are 7, I think I used 6. That should get me about $0.75 more per pound of PMMs. I used 2 for skittles and reeses pieces and they suggest 3 I remember. More settings to come!

It is a bit difficult to service the machines, especially the lower level. I think I will get tired of that if a machine is only making $5-10 a month. It took me about 30 minutes to set up the machine. I was hoping it would be quicker but I can live with that I guess. 1 down 15 to go.

Thanks everyone for the info! if anyone else has any comments or opinions I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with these machines.