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New to vending biz


kai1836

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It wasn't that bad I've been volunteering recently and as I go around doing things I just casually bring it up in the conversation. Hey I see you don't have any vending machines and I'm just a local guy trying to start a small business blah blah...... most  are pretty receptive.....after all its just a small candy vending machine. I have some pretty ambitous plans though once I have some machines in my hands..... hoping on having up to 40 located within the next month. I know a lot of people in the area here and can get in to places relatively easy. I used to work in insurance and have an easy time talking with people.  However there are a couple big companies around and I'm sure that once I get out there more there will be some tough competition just as in any other business. I have to admit though in the area here I have noticed that most machines I see in place are either older or not filled and serviced very often. I'm hoping this could give me an in with places that might otherwise be off limits. I figure the worst anyone can say is no. Good luck to you keep everyone here updated. We're at about the same place as far as starting so definitely keep me informed.

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Thanks to pilot22 i now have machines! Am placing the first ones tomorrow night.  As far as locating for the most part I have been visiting the locations and asking in person, mostly people I know. For the ones I don't know does anyone think calling might be better?

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Kai,

I think it could have been done it the opposite way around. The ones you know could have been called because they know you already and know what type of person you are. The newer places have to be visited in person. You may have to talk to them a few times before they will say, 'yes'. If you call them they will think you are another salesperson trying to sell them something.

Gary

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Well congratgulations on getting in the biz, some advice i could give you is to look on craigslist for some machines, i would say stay away from the vendstar's, you should be able to find a good deal on some triple head bulk candy machines, 10 for 500 is very good, anyway i can be of some help to you feel free to call me 239-872-7645 Rocky, Nationwide Vending Locators

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Hello all,

  Getting ready for a fun filled weekend of locating! Hoping to get a large portion of my machines spoken for so that I can have them in place by the end of next week. Picked up a gift shop and another small food joint.  I am considering purchasing some machines that have come to my attention. He has around 90 machines. I only have 32 right now, anyone think thats too big too fast? I think I can have them located by Christmas if I hit it hard. Any thoughts or comments are welcome.  I really appreciate everyones input here. It has been a great help.

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If it was me I would get those 32 located first. At the very least get 25 of them out there and filled. Are these triples or doubles or singles? If they are triples, @$17 average of product, then you are looking at about $550-$600 to fill those 32. Throw in those other 90 and it grows to just over $2000. What are the odds that the 90 machine deal will get picked up right away? Do you have the cash to sustain the initial fill stock and machine purchase without going broke the first couple of months? You say you are doing this part time, how much time can you spare per week? How spread out will the route be with those 32? They won't need to be serviced right away but in a month you will need a good day or two to service them. With those extra 90 located or the act of locating them it is going to push that part time to the limit I think. I don't know what others do but I service about 3 per hour. With 120 machines you would need almost 40 hours unless they are very close together. You could service 2 hours a day and hit 6 or 8 each day to break it up. Can you devote 2 or 3 hours a day to service and locate? It is not impossible but we don't know your total situation. If you are fine with all this then I say go with it. For me it is too much growth and money output at one time but you may be different. I don't want to discourge you. I want you to be secure & profitable and not overworked or stressed.

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Update on my locating. I located 6 machines today. I will be placing them this week and have appointments to speak with another 10 locations throughout the week. I think things are moving along.  I'm placing doubles in most of the locations. I got an auto parts place, an insurance agency 3 pizza shops and a thrift store today.  I am going back to several home warehouse type stores another couple auto parts places and a whole group of insurance agencies and pizza shops this is a college town so there are a lot of them. Banks were pretty responsive too. I will be speaking with a few of them too. Wish me luck.

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Excellent job!

Keep going you sound like you are on a roll. By to way, make sure you list your new placements on the "LOCATING" contest. It sounds like you could win this thing. You get a special contest winner avitar for all to see.

http://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=126&forum_id=38

Gary

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Thanks Im looking to get this up and running as quickly as I can. Has anyone here ever gotten machines into an 84 lumber? How about a dmv office? I am drooling over ours.... And who would you have to speak to about getting into the post office? Any info would be great.

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kai1836

I had a dmv  for 2 years. It had a Seaga triple with jelly beans. skittles and good & plenty. Then I removed the g&p and added m&m. It did a total of $270.15 in two years and one month. The employees were all female. There was a total of 5 or 6 of them. Usually 2-3 working at any one time.The place usually  had a line-up of 4-6 but Saturdays were more. It was also a Sears catalogue office. (The sad part is I had a combo here and some weeks the sales were almost the same:()

Ted

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  • 3 months later...

Hello Kai

I am very green at this venture on vending.

Now I have joined this forum I believe with all my heart if you want to be successfull ask one who is there.Knowing is half the battle.I myself just purchased 10 machines yes it is small but if I can make off 10 then I will double.First of all I beleive in if I cannot afford to pay cash then I cannot afford to own it.You could buy in to a set route but myself it can be scary.Being green I like to feel the water before I jump in.

I hope your new venture is successfull.I am going out to test new areas. Watch learn then do.

Best of luck

 

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Hi c4life,

Thnx for your encouraging words. Also welcome to the forum! Without this site I would be way behind where I am now. I currently have 138 machines in 68 locations. I started by buying 34 off of another member here. I started locating them myself while buying any deal I could find on ebay. I then bought an established route and just this weekend picked up close to 140 additional heads. These I need to clean and locate. Part of the machines may be sold off....however I have a lot of locating to do! I have located a lot so far I like it. I recently have begun placing racks. In the future this will be the only type of setup I will have. I like this business and so far will have all of my equipment pay for itself in less than 5 months. I have slightly less than 15$ per machine in my equipment. Like you I have no debt with this venture. I intend to have 1000heads out by the end of the year. Good luck to you and if I can be of any help please do not hesitate to ask!

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Hello Kai

I was thinking about what you where saying about securing your machines in case of a dispute.

So I made serial numbers for my machines and placed them inside I now have a record of the serial numbers so no one can dispute that they belong to me. Also I use a peice of thin airline cable attached near top of the base and attach to the wall or railing  this prevents them from tipping or any one walking off with them.Of course this is for gum/candy single,double or triple head machines.

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Very nice, I actually use one of those label makers from wal-mart. I print out an ID tag which consists of numbers and letters and fix it inside the body of the machine. I also am going to drill some of my stands so if I land a laundromat I can chain it down. It sounds like you have a pretty good market to grow in up there. Are you big in real estate?? 6000 apartments is quite a few.......

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I work as a Maintenance tech for a large corporation. I have access to all of our properties the corporation does not know or need to know I am doing this little side business.

I have an organization I donate to a hospital neonatal care  for new born children they gave me permission to say the machines belong to them. This way there is no conflict of interest with my company. I give the hospital 40% of my take great tax write off as well

you see it is not what you know it is whom you know in this world. The best part is there is no competition for me if these machines do good in the next little while I will put machines in all of our buildings.

I got lucky when I met the person who was selling his route he let me buy 10 machines if it works I will buy the other 490 from him.

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Hi c4life,

Thnx for your encouraging words. Also welcome to the forum! Without this site I would be way behind where I am now. I currently have 138 machines in 68 locations. I started by buying 34 off of another member here. I started locating them myself while buying any deal I could find on ebay. I then bought an established route and just this weekend picked up close to 140 additional heads. These I need to clean and locate. Part of the machines may be sold off....however I have a lot of locating to do! I have located a lot so far I like it. I recently have begun placing racks. In the future this will be the only type of setup I will have. I like this business and so far will have all of my equipment pay for itself in less than 5 months. I have slightly less than 15$ per machine in my equipment. Like you I have no debt with this venture. I intend to have 1000heads out by the end of the year. Good luck to you and if I can be of any help please do not hesitate to ask!

Sounds awesome. I plan on getting some machines soon and hopefully moving up to having that many. I'm curious though, how long does it take you to service your route?
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Not long........about 5 minutes a location. Switching candy selections takes the longest.  I service mine usually about once every 30 days. This doesn't include the route I purchased though. I am going to pick it up and relocate it. even with 1000 machines I will probably not have much over 200 locations if you service once every 60 days which is not uncommon at all you have to service about 100 per month. Assuming a 5 day work week thats 5 locations per day........still no where near full time work.  Good luck to you its not as easy as I describe it........there's a lot of work behind the scenes, cleaning machines service calls, repairing and replacing parts. Dealing with angry people etc........ just like any other line of work. It is also extremely competetive. Don't let that scare you off though there's a lot of room in this industry as a lot of people are retiring in the next 5-10 years. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

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