guile Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I met a guy selling a route this weekend. He lives about 2 1/2 hours away from where the bulk (no pun intended) of his machines are located. It takes him 1 day to service (55 machines). Do a lot of you guys have accounts located 2 hours+ away from your homes? While in theory, it may only be one day per month of work. Realistically, there could be a lot of other issues that could cause you to have to make a run up there more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markvend Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Guile, I think it would really depend on how well you could assess his averages. I drive several hundred miles away for my routes and have it set up where I can service 70 on average a day of single head Beavers. If the averages are good enough and you could do it in a day, consider it. Include your time costs too (what its really worth to you personally to give up a full day or day and half of your valuable time.) Also look to see if there is potential to expand the route with different machines (toy racks, cranes). Good luck, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raredory Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Interesting. Didn't think about other towns and such. Might be a good thing to look into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guile Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 Guile, I think it would really depend on how well you could assess his averages. I drive several hundred miles away for my routes and have it set up where I can service 70 on average a day of single head Beavers. If the averages are good enough and you could do it in a day, consider it. Include your time costs too (what its really worth to you personally to give up a full day or day and half of your valuable time.) Also look to see if there is potential to expand the route with different machines (toy racks, cranes). Good luck, Mark Thanks Mark. Still waiting to hear what the avarages are. I'm sure I could do 55 machines in a day. I would say it's about 100 miles away from me (NEPA to Trenton NJ). I am also looking at a smaller route in South Jersey as well. I'll keep you guys posted. g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I keep thinking we are talking 55 locations. But thats not what you guys are saying. Youre saying 55 individual heads, whether they are at 20 locations or 30 locations or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philo Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I have my 77 stop route set up in a 64 mile round trip- door to door. It's a big circle and I look for locations close by so I can provide the maximum service with minimum cost. Regards, Philo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I would say if the price is right and the machine income is not inflated then I would consider it. Lets say that they average $10 each month then you are looking at $550 for that one day. Even at the national average you are close to $400. If the machine are farily new then you should not have any service problems. The other thing to consider is, are there any potential locations or towns on the way. If you could fill in the middle then you could split it up into a two day route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guile Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 I keep thinking we are talking 55 locations. But thats not what you guys are saying. Youre saying 55 individual heads, whether they are at 20 locations or 30 locations or whatever.No, I'm talking about 55 machines on 55 locations. They are, however, Vendstars. I'm not excited about that but...if the price is right, I might consider. I believe he is looking to get around $5k but I still need more details. Ironically, I saw a deal on CL for 75 used Vendstars for $1500!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyssamma Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Guile, you can get Vendstars cheap. I just picked up 22 Vendstars for $300. Just be patient and you'll find great deals. Think of the price per location that you are paying. for 55 machines/locations for $5K you are paying about $100/location. Considering a locator will charge you at least $50, then you are paying $50 for each machine. Not great, but not terrible either. If the averages are good, then go for it. But, that is the problem. There is really no way for you to verify his averages Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Yea if they average $20 a month then you are looking at about $1100 a month gross with 5-6 months ROI. I don't think I would go over $4000 unless they are some really verifiable numbers. That brings it down to $75 per location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guile Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 Think of the price per location that you are paying. for 55 machines/locations for $5K you are paying about $100/location. Considering a locator will charge you at least $50, then you are paying $50 for each machine. While he may be asking that, I would REALLY offer a lowball on this deal. I can base my offer once I have more info though. I'm not hardpressed to take it first off and secondly, I prefer to stay away from Vendstar. I could get used Vendstar machines for $20 each and have passed. Now some people might think that's foolish since they would pay for themselves after only a month, for the most part. I prefer to build a solid fleet with equipment I feel good about. Not only are Vendstar machines an inferior machine, they look HORRIBLE, imo. g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlander Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Hey T-Bird, how many locations do you service in a day, I feel lucky if I can get 25. If I thought I had to do 55 in a day, think my heart would give out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Hey T-Bird, how many locations do you service in a day, I feel lucky if I can get 25. If I thought I had to do 55 in a day, think my heart would give out. I am very slow at servicing Outlander. That and I have work to do in terms of adding more locations to where there is too much driving going on to the next location. I can service about 10 locations maximun right now. I am sure I can double it in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Hmmm. There seems to be something wrong with my computer. :? When I click on the topic "What's the farthest some of you guys go to secure locations?" I somehow end up reading a Vendstar review? While I appreciate everyones opinion, I think those opinions are better served in the proper thread. Lets steer this one back to the original question please. Thanks, Steve **Edit: This post may seem out of context to some. The Vendstar debate posts have been moved to the proper thread. See below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacho Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Sorry, Steve. You posted before I did. I'm dropping it because I'm fed up with this crap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 There is nothing wrong with a good healthy debate to get the blood flowing. Lets all remember though that there is a place for it. My only concern here is that those who are interested in this topic may not want to weed through the Vendstar comments to get to what they want. To that end, I will be moving all of the Vendstar posts to one of the existing Vendstar debate threads. Lively debate has always been encouraged and I have seen significant upspikes in forum usage when there is a debated topic on board. Our differences are what makes being here fun and educational. If we all agreed on everything, there would be no point in being here. If anyone is interested in following the Vendstar debate, the posts have been moved here ==> http://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=1002&forum_id=1 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 In regards to the original topic, I think the answer to the question would have been very different just 3 years ago. But for me, my goal is stay in a 60 mile radius until I can no longer obtain new locations. I do have one small zone that is 80 miles away but that is the exception. One big problem I see with having machines over 100 miles away would be dealing with the "emergency" service calls - such as getting evicted, business closings, business moving, M&M are empty, machine has ants, product is stale, jammed coin mech, etc. When a locations calls to have a machine removed or serviced, they expect to see you in a few days. So is worth driving 100+ miles to pick up a single head gumball machine because the new owner doesn't want it any more? Or do you simply take the risk and wait to go back there in a number of weeks during the normal service cycle and hope that the machine is still there or a competitor has not yet replaced you? I had one irate restaurant owner place all charity machines outside with no shelter in the heart of the Florida summer. I arrived 10 days after his call, but he said he expected them to removed in 1 week and got sick of looking at them. As you can imagine, M&M in the rain AND 90 degree heat got pretty nasty! I am not discouraging getting the 100+ mile locations, just be prepared to deal with the "emergency" service calls to those areas. Jax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I have mapped out an area for myself. ( you hear me Larman?.....lol ) I guess its about 45 miles to the east ( Commack ) of me and 15 miles to my west. I have alot of area to fill in. As I move along I will have to ask my locator for specific areas to help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 For me I'm trying to keep the machines as close as possible. Right now they are within a five mile radius of me. I think it just makes it easier when I do get those emergency calls Jax was talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shvend Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 I travel around 4500 miles per service rotation that travels through 6 states. Of course that is broken up into 14 routes some are one day and some a two day routes. But depending on how big you want to grow your business if how far you have to travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guile Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 I travel around 4500 miles per service rotation that travels through 6 states. Of course that is broken up into 14 routes some are one day and some a two day routes. But depending on how big you want to grow your business if how far you have to travel. WOW! Now THAT is a route (ok,14 of em:). Once I start, I will be concentrating on specifc areas in NJ, NY and PA. g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shvend Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 yeah you are a little north of me good luck to ya g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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