West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I just bought a snack vending machine from a guy in the area that sells on craigslist. The machine is going in a silk screen factory that prints all the tee-shirts for Planet Hollywood's around the world. They have a lot of employees that work all different shifts so hopefully it will be a good first account. It is used but looks brand new inside and out. It has the instruction book & all the stickers for pricing in it. It is being delivered next week so I am very excited. I don't remember the brand of the machine. I will have to post again once I know. One thing I liked about it was that it has sensors inside that return a customers money if the product does not drop. It can be set to any price-point. It has an MEI bill acceptor and has 32 selections. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Congrats Gary! How did you land the account? Beverage too or just snack? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 Steve, Just a snack machine at this one. I use these guys for my printing business and he saw all the quarter bags I had in the car. He asked me what I was doing with all those quarters. Once I told him that I had a vending business he wanted a machine. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. They have a soda machine that is run by the owners bother so I wasn't getting that. The other place I am working on needs both a snack & a beverage machine. They are deciding on it this Monday. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Way to go Gary! Sounds like a very nice machine. I'm starting to get the full line bug . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyssamma Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Gary, congrats. We moved to full size shortly after getting into bulk and now do both. Bulk is *much* easier, but the $ you pull from a full size machine are very, very nice. Having a stack of singles instead of a stack of quarters puts a smile on your face Anyway, good luck! Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summit Vending Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Gary, Congrats......Sounds like you have an AP Studio Series machine with Golden Eye. If so these are the machines I have, you will be quite happy with it. Keep us updated. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 Brian, I am not sure of the brand. It seems to do everything. It has I-Vend Technology which is very cool. I wish my bulk machines had that. I can't wait for him to teach me how it works. I will let you guys know what it does and what the brand is as soon as I ask him on Monday. I have been checking other machines in the area so that I am priced right and have the correct selection of products. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Congrats there Gary! I also have had the full line bug for a while now. Please keep us posted. I have a new name for you Gary: 'Money'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guile Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Congrats!!! As I continue working on setting up my bulk business, I can't help but think full line is in my (near) future. I'm in the process of a route acquistion and placements and will report back on my success. With that being said, I continue to weigh the pro's and con's on BOTH sides of the vending equation. In my place of business, I see the vending guy come in like every other day for servicing. 1 Snack a Snapple and Coke. This is x2 per floor and about 50 floors!! I could only imagine having an account like that one day! Good luck Gary!! g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 I am getting my machine delivered Tuesday afternoon. I will fill it up on Wednesday morning so we will see how it does. The machine is a USI 32 selection with I-Vend Technology. It is only 6 month old so it looks brand new. The seller is setting it up with the price-points ahead of the delivery so I can just adjust a few prices once I pick up the products to fill it. Let me know if USI is a good brand or not. I don't really know to much about them. It's all new to me. I can use all the help I can get. Thanks Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Gary, USI (U-Select-It) is a Wittern Group company. They have a great reputation for making very good quality machines and you should be very happy with it. You can learn more about them by visiting their site at http://www.vending.com or directly at http://uselectit.vending.com/ You can also search "wittern" or "USI" here on the board. I know there have been some posts about them. We also have some manufacturer documentation for USI machines in the library. I'm not sure if your model is there but here is a direct link==> http://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=2341&forum_id=44 I'm jealous! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Thanks, Steve. I printed out some information from the links you gave me. I will learn a lot more about the model number tomorrow afternoon. I am glad it's a good reliable brand. I don't want to have to many problems with it. Thanks Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlander Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Grats, Gary Can't wait to hear how it does for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Well, it's done. I filled my first snack vending machine today. Wow, that took awhile to set up for the first time. Filling all those openings, setting price-point tags, programming prices, filling change holders. It takes a lot longer to do full-line than bulk. I know I will get faster with time. It's all new to me know. I loved the way it looked when it was finished. The people that work at the factory stood around during their break, talking about the items they like to eat. I hope they get their money out and spend some of it. I will update all of you as I go. Thanks for all your help getting, this new part of my business, off the ground. I also heard today that the pool and recreational center is interested in machines. I presented a snack machine and beverage machine for the Spring of 2009. We are just finalizing some details on this deal. Thanks again. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 You go Gary. I can't wait to hear what you think about the full line side of vending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedk Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Congratulatios Gary! They do look good all filled up. It will go a lot faster soon. When you are topping up, rather than filling up, it is much quicker. You also won't have to change prices too often. If you haven't already done it, put a product selection sheet together for your accounts. Get them to check off the items they like. It cuts out a lot of the guess work and gets you selling more product more quickly. Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 Good idea Ted. I already asked them to give me a list of the things they like. I put a good variety of products that I think they will buy. I surveyed about 5 other locations in the area to see what they all had in common, both on price-points and item. It is all Mexican workers so I tried to ask their manager what they like. He gave me some good ideas. They seems very happy with the items I put in to start. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlander Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Way to go Gary, keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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