Couple of questions for a complete newbie

[guile]

Are there any people out there with a strictly "Triple Head" business? I guess where I'm going with this is why would a lot of people use 1 and 2 head machines when a nice triple would do?

Next question. I know this is not an easy question to answer but approx. how many machines/locations would it take to (realistically) generate $100k per year?

 

Thanks in advance.

g

[G-man422]

Guile, first off welcome to Vendiscuss. 

     About 80% of my machines are triples, the others are just gumball machines.  The thing with triples is that there is a higher chance of spoilage.  If you have a single head in a dud location and the product goes bad you're out just that product, but in a triple you're out 3 products.  You need higher traffic locations for triples to do well.

     The average a month is about $7 a head so a triple should average $21 a month to be considered in a good location.  Having said this it would take about  397 locations doing "average" to gross $100,000 a year ($100,000/21= 4,762.  4,762/12 months= 397).  Now product costs are about 25% so you really looking at $75,000 net. 

Hope this helps.

[alyssamma]

I'll add to this also. I currently have only triples - 27 of them. However, I am about to buy some single heads that can be converted into doubles if necessary.

Why? Well, my plan is to place triples initially. If all heads do well, great. If I see it is a place that can't support a triple I'll put a single or double there.

Ideally I will have all triples, though.

On this board you'll get wildly different answers as to single vs. double vs. triple. I believe the "real" answer is whatever works for *you* in *your* location is the best

As for 100K, again, people make all sorts of profit on each machine. I am like Gabe in that if I can pull $20+ from each of my triple I will be happy, but there are others on this board who do much better than that. The key is the location.

Good luck!

Kevin

[madisonclockco]

I make over $100k /year. We make the bulk of our profit off 3-head & 4-head machines; we have a whole assortment of brands of machines that we use. We also have coke & snack machines that make a ton of sales, but have less profit; though coke machines are definitely not bad!

[guile]

Guile, first off welcome to Vendiscuss. 

     About 80% of my machines are triples, the others are just gumball machines.  The thing with triples is that there is a higher chance of spoilage.  If you have a single head in a dud location and the product goes bad you're out just that product, but in a triple you're out 3 products.  You need higher traffic locations for triples to do well.

     The average a month is about $7 a head so a triple should average $21 a month to be considered in a good location.  Having said this it would take about  397 locations doing "average" to gross $100,000 a year ($100,000/21= 4,762.  4,762/12 months= 397).  Now product costs are about 25% so you really looking at $75,000 net. 

Hope this helps.

Excellent info and makes a LOT of sense!! (almost like one of those "duh" moments you don't think about, until you realize your losing product of coarse).

[guile]

From some of the posts I have read, it seems diversification is a great strategy.

[guile]

I make over $100k /year. We make the bulk of our profit off 3-head & 4-head machines; we have a whole assortment of brands of machines that we use. We also have coke & snack machines that make a ton of sales, but have less profit; though coke machines are definitely not bad!

Interesting. Question. Approx how many bulk candy machines are you running? While I do think soda and snack are something to consider in the future, I feel there are probably a lot less headaches with candy (not that I don't think I'll even encounter problems). I just think between possible refridge unit issues, lugging HEAVY/LARGE cases of soda, more difficulty securing locations, less profit margin (although that too depends on a lot of factors) and hauling huge machines, bulk candy seems (and always has) MUCH more appealing to me.

Thanks,

g

[Beer980]

As an example from one of the placements that a locator got me. I had placed a few machines by myself but got busy at work so I had a locator get me two spots. I went to the first one and it was this dumpy auto body shop. Two chairs in the waiting room with a small desk for the office girl and a 5 gallon water cooler. I had one double that I ordered and had brought along thinking this place might not be able to support it. It had 4-5 workers and maybe 800 sqft to work inside. At the worst I thought I can get it replaced for non performing or make it a single. It was all we could do to squeeze it in. I put M&M's and gumballs in to try. Well it turns out the owner loves M&M's and someone really likes gumballs. That double does over $20 a month average. The new girl at the desk wished that I could put Reeses' in I said sure. So I ordered them a triple GMW (see my review in the review section) and swapped that one out. Now I could have ordered another single but I would need a triple bracket too. If Seaga still sold them in green and not the new chrome I would have considered it as the cheaper route but I wanted to try the GMW one out any way. I have 2 DI/Certs and one Seaga double, the other 6 are triples. My theory is a 2/3 blend. I use 2/3 triples and 1/3 doubles. Now I just need to find a home for this lucky double.