Zeusophobia Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I did gumballs for a little while. Made some decent money. I was thinking of getting some of those seaga mechanical table top soda machines and hiring a locator. I'm a bit gun shy as I'm never going to have this much money again. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grand Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I would never discourage anyone wanting to invest in themselves. You could just as easily spend the money on a new car or short-term vacation, so I definitely applaud your decision to purchase assets that will generate income. That being said, it sounds like a considerable risk to take on, especially if you do not have experience in full-line vending. I don't want to discourage the investment, rather I would hope you do as much due diligence as possible – or maybe seek out a partner or similar investment opportunity in the same niche where you are not fronting all the risk. To additionally help mitigate the risk, I would recommend not investing all working capital at once – instead, I would purchase machines as they are placed on location. That way, if the specific type of machines you have chosen to not place well or there are any other issues to be ironed out, you can correct them on the way. I'm anxious to hear the advice from the more established vendors here. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I did gumballs for a little while. Made some decent money. I was thinking of getting some of those seaga mechanical table top soda machines and hiring a locator. I'm a bit gun shy as I'm never going to have this much money again. Any advice? Stay well clear of anything made by Seaga or any other offshore manufaturer. You can find good used soda machines, Royal, Dixie or Vendo (in that order) in the $500 to $1,000 range. Place them yourself in Autobody Centers, Tire shops or Muffler shops. If you can find the big machines, usually the Royals, you can load them up and service them once a month unless you find a really smoking location that does better than $500 a month. Stick to cans as they have a ten month shelf life (except for diet sodas which generally are not big sellers) versus bottles which are only good for three months and tend to jam more frequently. While a soda only route is pretty much the holy grail of full line vending in terms of profit versus effort, start with ten grand and see how it goes - that should be enough to get a few good machines out there and see if it's working for you. Stay clear of any of those soda machine biz op locators you see advertised - you'll need to do your own locating or suffer the consequences. And don't let that 50k burn any holes in your pocket. Unless you get involved with shady locators or biz ops you should be able to build a viable soda only route for half that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Stay well clear of anything made by Seaga or any other offshore manufaturer. You can find good used soda machines, Royal, Dixie or Vendo (in that order) in the $500 to $1,000 range. Place them yourself in Autobody Centers, Tire shops or Muffler shops. If you can find the big machines, usually the Royals, you can load them up and service them once a month unless you find a really smoking location that does better than $500 a month. Stick to cans as they have a ten month shelf life (except for diet sodas which generally are not big sellers) versus bottles which are only good for three months and tend to jam more frequently. While a soda only route is pretty much the holy grail of full line vending in terms of profit versus effort, start with ten grand and see how it goes - that should be enough to get a few good machines out there and see if it's working for you. Stay clear of any of those soda machine biz op locators you see advertised - you'll need to do your own locating or suffer the consequences. And don't let that 50k burn any holes in your pocket. Unless you get involved with shady locators or biz ops you should be able to build a viable soda only route for half that. you only need 500 of that 50k get a used soda machine, and stick it in tire places Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 you only need 500 of that 50k get a used soda machine, and stick it in tire places This right here! Let me tell you something about me.. not that this topic is about me but I think it will help you. I enjoy vending, but I am a business-minded person at heart. With that being said, if I enjoyed some other kind of business that I could be successful with, I would have done that instead. I don't do vending simply because it makes big money, because almost everyone on this forum will agree that you work hard for the money! It can pay off with the right kind of accounts, but you'll have a fair share of headaches along the way. If you are interested in the vending business, but you have no experience with it, I would advise you to do as ORSD mentioned and pay no more than $500 and get a nice can machine and place it somewhere. It is just important to see how things go in this business and a can machine is a good way to get started. Plus, if you get a decent enough account, you could add a snack machine later, you could upgrade to a better machine and move the can machine elsewhere, etc... You could grow at your own pace and STILL have most of your $50,000 in the bank for anything. Why put all of your eggs in one basket? I'm not trying to say that vending is NOT the way to go because it can be, but I think a lot of us realize that the once prosperous vending market is dwindling down as the large accounts are being taken over by micro markets, older machines aren't being supplied with new parts, and many vending manufacturers are doing away with mainstream designs as they focus on micro markets and very high-end machines that are only meant to be used at big accounts. If I were you... I would really think about all of the things you could do with your money. As mentioned earlier, you could go on a decent vacation, you could invest it into something like the stock market where your risks are probably just as high (or even lower) than investing into vending machines, but with WAY less work involved to grow your capital. There are many things you could do but the first thing you have to talk about is what your financial situation already is. Are you retired? Do you have a solid income already? Do you want to retire? Do you like to work a lot of hours or do you want something part time? Do you have children that can help? Etc... I'm not asking these questions as a vending operator (even though I am one) but I am asking these questions as a guy who manages financials as a HOBBY (I am not actually qualified to be a finance person, but I would be with 2 more years of college, and I am pretty decent at it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc vending Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Seaga dont buy them buy a dixie narco, royal or vendo. Snack machine usi, ams, or ap look on craigslist for these machines they won't cost you 50k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezvend Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 It helps to start small so you can become educated about the vending biz. In time, locating becomes easier as your self confidence grows. My advice: buy a decent used pickup with a tommy gate. Watch the classified ads for cheap machines, buy one and start asking business owners to let you place it. Dont hire locators. learn to be a salesman. Networking is the best way to locate machines. The great thing about vending is that it doesnt require much money to get started. $5,000 should be enough to get a few decent locations set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris1953 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 $100 a week account will bring in approx $5200 a year. Good quality equipment cost approx $750 to $1200 a piece. Unless you are familiar and mechanically inclined I wouldn't buy off craigslist. Thats not to say there isn't good buys but not for the Newbie. First fills require a lot of product and starting with only 1 vendor will leave a lot of product sitting going out of date till you can refill vendors. Locate a account close to home. Buy 2 Multiprice soda preferably D/N 501 E's or Vendo 720 or Vendo 721's.. 2 AP 113's.or 112's. High end cost max is about $4;800. $100 a week account will gross times 2 $10,400. if at the end of a year you decide you no longer want to do this then if you haven't over spent on equipment you can sell if for what you have in it. In this case $4,800. You haven't lost anything but time. Plus you made some money after expenses. $4,800 in bank won't make anything anymore. At %3 you will make $144 yr. That $4,800 is a gift that keeps giving year after year. When done with it you can cash in a get most of it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Send me 1k and I will send you valuable info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 There are 3 things you need to successfully run a business, any business. 1. A knowledge base, 2. Capital 3. A market For a soda/snack business: 1. First and foremost, how are going to acquire locations? Buy them? Pay a locator? Locate yourself? Anything you farm out adds to your cost of doing business and takes away from your bottom line which you should guard jealously. You should know how to move and repair machines, set prices, or a cost effective way of having it done. Accounting, mess it up and it costs you money. Ideally you know how to solve every problem before it happens because you've thought about it and your response to it. 2. Covered 3. For the most part you can't be in the vending business and be afraid of competition, but there are places where the effort just isn't worth the return, can you elbow your way in cost effectively? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy S Mire Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 You can make a good return on your money in vending but do your research and I would start with a few nice used drink machines to get your feet wet and grow from there . You can usually get some nice used drink for a reasonable price .Also keep room in your budget for repairs , moving expenses . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vfendman1968 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hello. I think the Midwest is a great market to start or even buy a vending route from a person who has been in business more than 10 years. If you need help I have 24 years as a vending machine operator, please feel free to ask me anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grand Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hello. I think the Midwest is a great market to start or even buy a vending route from a person who has been in business more than 10 years. If you need help I have 24 years as a vending machine operator, please feel free to ask me anything. I definitely agree with this; acquiring an established route (even with just a handful of locations--or a couple pretty good locations) is a great way to start. Just be sure to verify the locations by vending the route with the seller, and review the last couple years worth of tax returns. In my experience, if someone is willing to lie to the government about what they're earning, they probably have no issues lying to you about the performance of the business. While you're on the route you can also get a feel for the relationship the vendor has with the location. Also, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Make sure the information presented makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Also on used machines if you can describe problems and can use a screwdriver and follow instructions you'll be fine, member azvendor on here is our resudent tech support guy and can sell you parts and give instructions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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