TCandies Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 What is a good quality 3 headed machine that LOOKS like the vendstar 3000, that is still being made today? Most of the 3 headed machines I've found aren't being made anymore. I found an LYPC one, but have heard negative things about LYPC. I found a Rhino one, but have heard negative things about Rhino. I see Sams Club sells a model call Selectvend, but I'm not sure of the quality, and they aren't covered in the bulk vending beginners mega thread. I don't see any that style from Oak or A&A, and Beaver is a bit out of my price range. I know that making my doubles into triples is an option, but not ideally what I would want to do. As always any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advanced :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandJGroup Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I wouldn't touch lypc, rhino, vendstar ect. With a ten foot pole. Trust me save your money up and buy quality equipment. Why are you dead set on triples? I can't count how many times the above mentioned equipment is offered to me free by locations that want them gone, or guys on here that buy into them and quickly realize why they are so cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCandies Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 I only have 20 locations,10 are doubles and 10 are triples. I did my first pull, and the triples all outsold the doubles. The conclusion I come to is that the extra candy option opens you up to an additional group of clientele. I know there are pros on here that refute that, but it's hard to swallow. Just because someone would take .25$ out of their pocket for a handful of M&Ms, doesn't mean they would purchase a gum ball, if that was their only option? Thanks for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mike Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Just buy three Oak Vista or A&A PO 89 or NW S60 and put them together on a triple plate. There are several reasons you should do this. #1 Your not stuck with a triple... yoy can do anything with them single double triple four way. #2 You can convert them to whatever you need. Candy GB or toys. #3 Your parts supply is secure. #4 If you decide to get out of the business no pro is going to buy that other junk. If you eventually make a living .25 at a time like I do you can't waste money on single option machines. Buy it once and use it for whatever the situation demands. Mikr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandJGroup Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I only have 20 locations,10 are doubles and 10 are triples. I did my first pull, and the triples all outsold the doubles. The conclusion I come to is that the extra candy option opens you up to an additional group of clientele. I know there are pros on here that refute that, but it's hard to swallow. Just because someone would take .25$ out of their pocket for a handful of M&Ms, doesn't mean they would purchase a gum ball, if that was their only option? Thanks for the reply. Trust me I get your reasoning. The more options the better chance for a sell. Better yet multiple sells by one customer. My point is I think I would go with a small rack vs a triple. There is no one way to do this. Just my thoughts buddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Listen to what you are being told by others. Avoid the triples. Go with quality machines that you can use in single, double, triple, or rack set-ups. If quality equipment is out of your price range, then you aren't ready to grow yet. When funds are limited, patience is required. You wouldn't recommend an auto mechanic go out and buy the cheapest tools available in order to open a garage. Likewise, you wouldn't suggest a cook or baker rely on low quality kitchen appliances to grow their food business. And, you wouldn't expect an attorney to lease the cheapest office space in town. Pros rely on certain things in order to give themselves the best opportunity to succeed. For vendors, it's quality equipment. If this is your hobby, get what you want. If this is your BUSINESS, your equipment is too important to cut corners on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCandies Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Thank you all for the input! It is very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetstop Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Yup what Mike said, I learned the hard way like many others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I totally agree with everything said above other than Sherlock's advice that if you don't have the money you aren't ready to grow. Start by any means possible. Then you can afford the luxury of growing from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Here's an experiment for you. In the locations that performed well, where you are convinced that the triples are the contributing factor, swap the triples for doubles for 3 months and see if the sales drop. And take those triples from the high performing locations and swap them into low performing locations and see if the sales go up. My guess is you will not see a big change. Equipment usually isn't the biggest factor (unless it's truly ghastly hideous junk that nobody wants to touch). Bulk vending is like real estate, it's all about location, location, location! A good location will perform well regardless of equipment, and will perform even better with good equipment. I've had locations that I started with vendstars that were making a killing and I upgraded to 4 way racks and made even more of a killing. I've also had locations that were duds that I thought putting better equipment in would boost sales. No change in sales with the better equipment. Keep the triples you have out there making money; but for the future growth of your business, don't buy any more triples. I'll tell you something I wish I would have known when I got started: candy is a PITA, usually has low profit margin when you factor in spoilage and careless portion metering, and it becomes difficult to periodically introduce new products to freshen up your product mix because of the limited number of candies that you can vend in bulk machines. Buy good doubles and 4 way racks and start getting toys and flat items in your product lineup. You won't regret it. I hesitated for a whole year before I pulled the trigger on toys and flat, and I regret waiting that long. I have switched nearly all of my candy locations to toys and flat, and kept candy only in the spots that move a ton of it. For places that want sweets but don't move a lot, I offer gumballs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drseuss8347 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 The northwestern triple play is an excellent triple. Very diverse. I usually sell toys at 50 cents, 1 inch gumballs, and a candy option. This set up works great if u want to use a triple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I only have 20 locations,10 are doubles and 10 are triples. I did my first pull, and the triples all outsold the doubles. The conclusion I come to is that the extra candy option opens you up to an additional group of clientele. I know there are pros on here that refute that, but it's hard to swallow. Just because someone would take .25$ out of their pocket for a handful of M&Ms, doesn't mean they would purchase a gum ball, if that was their only option? Thanks for the reply. If more machines equal more money then load that baby up with 10 triples, but for more sound advice listen to what others have told you. These guys have been through the wars and they know what they are talking about. I started with 2 vendstars and those baby's are long gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I did my first pull, and the triples all outsold the doubles. The conclusion I come to is that the extra candy option opens you up to an additional group of clientele. Trust me, the triples didn't outsell the doubles. The locations you have the triples in are just better locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I only have 20 locations,10 are doubles and 10 are triples. I did my first pull, and the triples all outsold the doubles. The conclusion I come to is that the extra candy option opens you up to an additional group of clientele. I know there are pros on here that refute that, but it's hard to swallow. Just because someone would take .25$ out of their pocket for a handful of M&Ms, doesn't mean they would purchase a gum ball, if that was their only option? Thanks for the reply. Ok, so I was a 8 selection proponent for a long time under the same thought process your using. I can tell you from experience and using 8's and 4's for about 12 years that more is not better. There are several factors here that I have come to find out. The biggest that ties in to this mostly is visual area. A single head is visible on several sides, even if they are on a 3 wide rack, the singles have more space to show the product. I've used triples, and the one's listed above, and in most cases the doubles out sold or at least equal to the others. I recently cut most of my 8's down to 4's and put the most sold candy in, then added gumballs in there (from the advice given on here). What happened? My 4's are making just as much and in some cases MORE than the 8's were! Not one of my locations made less! I have been also putting doubles out in place of 4's, again, no money drop. Let me clarify, by adding gumballs and dropping to 3 candy or toys where I could, my profit didn't drop, it increased. I have added 4 way racks in some places, a 5 way in one case and so on, but the bottom line is I am making more profit, carrying less product, and one of the biggest things is the machines are taking less repairs. triples to me aren't good because you can't break it down to a double if needed, you can't easily repair, and I haven't found one that looks better that a quality double. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandJGroup Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Ok, so I was a 8 selection proponent for a long time under the same thought process your using. I can tell you from experience and using 8's and 4's for about 12 years that more is not better. There are several factors here that I have come to find out. The biggest that ties in to this mostly is visual area. A single head is visible on several sides, even if they are on a 3 wide rack, the singles have more space to show the product. I've used triples, and the one's listed above, and in most cases the doubles out sold or at least equal to the others. I recently cut most of my 8's down to 4's and put the most sold candy in, then added gumballs in there (from the advice given on here). What happened? My 4's are making just as much and in some cases MORE than the 8's were! Not one of my locations made less! I have been also putting doubles out in place of 4's, again, no money drop. Let me clarify, by adding gumballs and dropping to 3 candy or toys where I could, my profit didn't drop, it increased. I have added 4 way racks in some places, a 5 way in one case and so on, but the bottom line is I am making more profit, carrying less product, and one of the biggest things is the machines are taking less repairs. triples to me aren't good because you can't break it down to a double if needed, you can't easily repair, and I haven't found one that looks better that a quality double. I agree with less is more in some locations. If you find a A account you need to load that sucker up. I have a bunch of accounts with 20 plus mecs in them. All of which are well above the national average for income. Loading a place down helps you secure it from competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I agree completely! Just not the type I was using! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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