Distant route?

[kai1836]

Hello all, how ,many machines would you want on a route before you would drive 100 miles round trip to service it?

[alyssamma]

I think it is more of a questions of how much $ it makes instead of how many machines.

You can have 10 machines making $500/mo, or 20 machines making $200/mo.

So, figure out how much gas you will spend + how much your time is worth. Right now you'll spend about $10 on gas. Say it takes you 2hrs to drive there and back, and, say 8hrs to service the route. Do you want to make $10/hr? If so, the route will need to *net* $110/mo. $20/hr? $210/mo, etc.

Kevin

[Beer980]

I would say the least would be 25 machines if they made $15-$20 per location.

[BluePlate]

I recently bought a route 85 miles away (one way)the route is pulling $350 for 13 locations. I used some other factors in deciding to buy the route. #1 the owner was will to finance it #2 I really like the area, there is some family fun things to do. #3 From my full time job I have TONS of hotel points and can stay for free if needed #4 The machines are high enough capacity to go 8 weeks if really needed.

[kai1836]

Thanks for the comments......one concern of mine is if you buy a route some distance from you how do you know that the old owner won't go back and still collect money from the old machines after the sale?

[BluePlate]

Thanks for the comments......one concern of mine is if you buy a route some distance from you how do you know that the old owner won't go back and still collect money from the old machines after the sale?

Call Camlock and get your own numbered key, I think it is worth it.  I have about half my route on my custom key.

[Brassine Vending]

and I think it would be a lot easier and quicker having a master key. 44 different keys would get old and time consuming really quick...

[shvend]

Kevin said it best, what is your time worth to you. It would depend on the amount of money on average each location would yield you. If it is worth it and go for it. Yeah and change the lock to some kind of security numbered key.

[Jax Snacks]

Another thing to think about...

Be prepared to make special trips to deal with "emergency" service calls (jammed mech, product sold out, ants, vandalism, sun spoilage, business closings, etc). Many locations will call you at 4pm to tell you that they are closing their doors at 5pm today! Is it worth driving 100 miles to deal with a double head machine problem or to simply risk having it stolen (or evicted) by waiting for the next service cycle to take care of the problem?

Every vendor's market is different and each one of us will have to make the call as how far we want to go out.

I personally want to keep all locations within a 60 mile radius. I believe that there are still plenty of locations in this growing metro area. I do have one area 80-100 miles away and I am seriously considering pulling out and selling the locations. The longer drive is simply not worth it to me when I can still get quality spots closer to home.

Jax

[kai1836]

Thats a great point and its my biggest problem. I live a stone's throw from pa. In North Central WV. I have about 70,000 residents in the town I'm in. Thre are two close towns that probably have another 40,000 in them within 30 miles that is. However if you go up the road about 50 miles your into Pittsburgh. There is also a good metro area 10 miles south of pittsburgh on the way. This increases my possible market to over 2.5 million people. Very dense population in the pittsburgh area. I am wondering if a good route comes up for grabs there if it would be worth it. I am pretty familiar with pittsburgh and its all interstate to get there.