ronsidney Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I was reading that last thread that got off subject and never got a chance to chime it before it was locked but i had a point of view on the subject no one mentioned. I started as a bulk vendor and made good money running doubles and singles in "double and single" locations.. meaning tire shops,offices, break rooms, salon etc... These locations are alot more common than the "crane and rack" locations that are the best bulk or crane locations, these being restaurants, grocery stores, department stores,truck stops theatres etc.. The person who just wants to run singles and doubles can operate in the above "singles and doubles" forever and make great money and the sky is the limit, run as many machines as they want to make the amount of money they want.. have employees in several different states and make millions with thousands of locations.. or a person can operate the singles and doubles and as he/she are growing their route occasionally get a big buffet restaurant or grocery store and as they go around collecting in their cycle they notice that they made 5-10 times more money in those locations vs. the hair salon next to it.. As time goes by and they get booted over and over and over from these sweet spots or "crane and rack locations" by a vendor that offers cranes or racks they can either look at it like those locations where just "gravy" and not get defensive and keep plugging along with their $10 a month stops. OR they can get defensive (like I personally did) and start offering cranes and racks etc.. each has their pros and cons.. singles and doubles on 4 month cycle i could take a 2 month vacation every other month, perfect retirement plan for most.. I had a nice route of almost 1000 like this and I was making good money.. BUT i was young and hungry so it was actually TOO laid back and i started racks and cranes and went a whole diffrent direction.. Mainly the competitive side that hated getting booted from my best locations by the large rack vendors to each their own and this argument has good points from all sides and can be spun any way. What arguments do you have for or against?? ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I think cranes are huge money makers and a very necessary asset to have for large, competitive bulk locations. But I also think they're one of the easiest ways for a vendor to get in over their head. I'm interested in hearing from ron and the more experienced folks, what crane would they recommend for somebody with no electrical experience and wanting the fewest headaches possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 For cranes+merchandisers Can take dollars,fives,tens,credit cards How many ppl have a few bucks worth of quarters in their pocket outside a laundry Inflation is catching up with bulkvending, dollar coin is DOA and everyone here talking about how there changing prices but .25/.50 still outselling .75/1.00 2" Gotta figure a way to sop up all those dollars at location Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I think cranes are huge money makers and a very necessary asset to have for large, competitive bulk locations. But I also think they're one of the easiest ways for a vendor to get in over their head. I'm interested in hearing from ron and the more experienced folks, what crane would they recommend for somebody with no electrical experience and wanting the fewest headaches possible? Rainbow, usa made smart prize time. U will pay a premium Like any crane they break from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 to each their own and this argument has good points from all sides and can be spun any way. That about sums it up. There are no right or wrong answers. It's all about what is "right" or "wrong" for YOU...remember it's YOUR business. You should run YOUR business as YOU see fit. Folks coming around here telling someone else they're making a mistake for using or not using cranes are about the only "wrong" in these discussions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I am a full line operator and I have grown my vending operation fairly quickly, every month for the past 4 years we have purchased new machines to expand our business. During this time we have also purchased other vending businesses operating in our area both automatic and bulk. For simplicity and less headaches my personal favourite is bulk vending such as spirals, ball vendors, racks and candy machines etc, you can run a large fleet of machines quite easily, servicing intervals can be every 6 to 8 weeks, overall they are easy to fix and relocating and locating is easy as they are not overly heavy and you can easily do yourself. I now have coffee machines, drink, snack and combination machines as well as cranes (plush, football and chocolate) and other types of amusement machines and they are all a lot more labour and capital intensive in comparison to bulk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Folks coming around here telling someone else they're making a mistake for using or not using cranes are about the only "wrong" in these discussions. -Sherlock I respectfully state that I think (hope) you miss typed . If giving advise is wrong then what exactly is the purpose of this forum? I for one do not come here to hurt anyone. Shall we also stay silent when someone asks if 15 peanut m&m is too many to vend for a quarter? Shall we stay silent when someone asks if a route of 25 vend stars that the owner says makes $100 week but only wants $17500 for is a good deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Folks coming around here telling someone else they're making a mistake for using or not using cranes are about the only "wrong" in these discussions. -Sherlock I respectfully state that I think (hope) you miss typed . If giving advise is wrong then what exactly is the purpose of this forum? I for one do not come here to hurt anyone. Shall we also stay silent when someone asks if 15 peanut m&m s to vend at a time, You can't make money vending 15 m&m's, you can make money doing just bulk. I think sherlock meant what he typed and was right in saying so. Not to say you can't have your own opinion about cranes and how they effect your business, but like other members pointed out theres more then one way to earn a living in vending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I'm about to buy my first candy crane. I think cranes have their place. I see it as something to grow in as you go. If you get a really great location that can support a crane, then it makes sense to do it. They have the potential to make more money than rack, and they greatly reduce the service time needed every cycle. Racks are time intensive. Cranes are not as time intensive. The cons of a crane are that they need a power source and they have more electronics and moving parts to wear out and break. If you buy the crane at the right price (don't go broke buying it) then you should be able to weather the storms that come with more complex machines as long as you have a good location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 If giving advise is wrong then what exactly is the purpose of this forum? Shall we also stay silent when someone asks if 15 peanut m&m is too many to vend for a quarter? Shall we stay silent when someone asks if a route of 25 vend stars that the owner says makes $100 week but only wants $17500 for is a good deal? If you can't tell the difference between this topic (cranes) and the topics you used in your examples, I can't help you, bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick505 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I love finding premium bulk rack locations with no crane because I will attempt to kick out rack and bring my own rack and crane, or if I am only allowed to bring in crane that is fine because that operators 400/month rack is now 100/month and guess where that other 300 is going. It is a win either way. Cranes are a good tool for taking and keeping large locations like supermarkets, Chinese buffets, and large restaurants. If you have any nice locations with just a 7way or 9 way it is only a matter of time before another operator comes around with a crane or redemption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronsidney Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 I love finding premium bulk rack locations with no crane because I will attempt to kick out rack and bring my own rack and crane, or if I am only allowed to bring in crane that is fine because that operators 400/month rack is now 100/month and guess where that other 300 is going. It is a win either way. Cranes are a good tool for taking and keeping large locations like supermarkets, Chinese buffets, and large restaurants. If you have any nice locations with just a 7way or 9 way it is only a matter of time before another operator comes around with a crane or redemption. you said it like i did.. bulk only has a place but if you want great locations like you mentioned then your gonna eventually lose them to larger equipment like big racks and cranes.. The single candy guys can have all the car lots and hair salons in my area and i will never interfere with your stops with my cranes,,but drop a single charity in a large china buffet and your toast! theres money in both, if someone wants all the c and d locations they can stil make good money,just not as fast and not with out tons of loctations.. locations make the money,not the equipment!! ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I have always recommended that newbies start out with single head gum machines (there are plenty of people that have argued against that too). I have also always told newbies buy an Oak Vista 300 because its the least expensive machine that you can resell pretty easily for good money if vending is not for you. The single head path lets you find out pretty cheap if you can find locations, manage your route time and learn some basic accounting, and many other things you will need to know if you stay in the business. For those that are moving ahead ok I have always recommended moving to Oak Vista Panel Heads and buying Metal Craft Stands. I have also mentiuoned that the A&A Oak Knock off is a good choice if you are on the East Coast because of shipping. I know a lot of guys that have done very well with such a simple business model by that I mean they have become Millionaires. The truth is I would be very self serving and dishonest if I DID NOT recommend people get into Cranes (or racks for that matter). They are not for everyone but they can be very good and do an operator a lot of good. That is all I am saying. I have a location that the crane did $1175 in last month, the rack there did $126, and the charity machine I have there did $31. Yes, I have all three in that location because they all make money. I agree everyone should make their own decisions but they will make better decisions with more information. And that is all I have ever tried to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderJerry Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I love finding premium bulk rack locations with no crane because I will attempt to kick out rack and bring my own rack and crane, or if I am only allowed to bring in crane that is fine because that operators 400/month rack is now 100/month and guess where that other 300 is going. It is a win either way. It's a bigger win than in your example because it is not a 'lump sum' game; a 400/month rack location usually turns into a 300 rack + 500 crane. I have never seen a crane cannibalize more than 25% of rack sales after the 'newness' wears off. 90% of rack sales are to kids, but most of the cranes action is payed and played by adults. The downside is that the crane should be serviced every week or two (31" at 100+ sales per week). A small plus is you won't need anymore cab-backs on the rack since you come so often, and you have a perfect spot to test new bulk product because you service so often. Cranes can be intimidating, but the bulk operator just needs to think of them as a collection of replaceable 'modules'. You don't need to know very much beyond how to solder a wire and use a test meter to keep it working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Vending Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Cranes are one of the simplest amuesment machines. If any one recommends starting a pinball and arcade game route then you might wonder about there advice. I have on old greyhound that I has been on the same location for 10 years with zero problems. It is as reliable as the rack I have next to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandJGroup Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Like most we started with the singles and doubles. Would add a rack here and there. For me I got really tired of servicing small accounts with just a few heads. Was really inefficient for what I ultimately wanted out of this. Racks were the next step for us. I could place them like hot cakes and make just as much money from one rack account as 6 or 7 small accounts. For me cranes were the next step in our business growth along with larger racks. We run Smart and rainbows. Sure there was Learning curve on working on these things but it was well worth the time to learn. I buy them as needed and only by the two brands I mentioned. I guess in Summary I out grew smaller accounts, and it was a very easy/simple transition for me to get into cranes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Cranes??? Your all nuts. Those are so 1980's. I'm leverageing my house to buy a bunch of the new $3,500 chicken machines, you should too if you don't want to miss the next big thing in vending Here's my new chicken ride to promote my new business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandJGroup Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Cranes??? Your all nuts. Those are so 1980's. I'm leverageing my house to buy a bunch of the new $3,500 chicken machines, you should too if you don't want to miss the next big thing in vending Here's my new chicken ride to promote my new business Lol How could any potential business say no to that. That would be one funny sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Cranes??? Your all nuts. Those are so 1980's. I'm leverageing my house to buy a bunch of the new $3,500 chicken machines, you should too if you don't want to miss the next big thing in vendingHere's my new chicken ride to promote my new business Got a trailer that would go great, make you a good deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 You can buy a chicken suit and use it to mow lawns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 You can buy a chicken suit and use it to mow lawns Wonder if parsal would have one of these suits you speak of cause I love the idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I'm wearing one right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I love finding premium bulk rack locations with no crane because I will attempt to kick out rack and bring my own rack and crane, or if I am only allowed to bring in crane that is fine because that operators 400/month rack is now 100/month and guess where that other 300 is going. It is a win either way. Cranes are a good tool for taking and keeping large locations like supermarkets, Chinese buffets, and large restaurants. If you have any nice locations with just a 7way or 9 way it is only a matter of time before another operator comes around with a crane or redemption. Right on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I have found that the perfect mix for volume spots is nice rack, crane and chicken. Border Jerry has a very accurate example add in the chicken doing 240 to 300 a month and you have it all covered. Also keep in mind locations like this will call you more often than not if their is an issue. I guess they figure that they have skin in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbuford Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 My business plan continually evolves. Currently mainly pursuing premium spots where I can put crane, bulk and flat. I'm spending more time pitching and repitching same locations that will fit my route perfectly. I currently have two that I am close to bagging. They will each be at least $400.00 per month gross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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