sweetshelp Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I am new to the vending business and I am diving right in. 150 triples. I noticed Sams club sells all the items I need. But, is there a better place to purchase bulk nuts, cashews, m&m's etc... At Sams, it seems to be sold in 3.5 lb containers. Is there a better place to buys a big, unpackaged case? Mayne free shipping? Seems like such a waste to buy small contaners. Thank you, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Welcome to the forum Bill! Sam's has the best prices to my knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Please tell me you did not buy those 150 VS's NEW?! Welcome. For your case, contact the company you with to buy from (M&M-Mars, Mike&Ike- Just Born, etc) I am sure you can buy a pallet for cheaper then sams resell price. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
that1dude Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 I don't have a Sam's Club located near me, but I have a Costco which is almost as good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacho Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 If you're just starting out, I would try to get a handle on what will move and what won't first. Sam's and Costco are great for that. After you get your fleet established and know what you will be selling consistantly, then you might want to consider case lots. Kyle mentioned pallet loads. Don't just jump in and decide to buy that right off the bat. There's nothing worse than stale product. It eats into your profits something terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hello Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 I had a similar problem/question. My local bulk store is BJ's. The biggest bag of peanut m&m's sold there is 56oz., the biggest bag of skittles they sell is also 56oz. Both are around $8.00 . Do they even make bigger bags of these candies? or do you just buy these size bags in mulitples to save money? & If they do make bigger bags, where can you get them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetshelp Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share Posted November 18, 2008 Thank you Everyone. That is what I thought. To answer your question Kyle, Yes. I bought my vendstar new from the company. I know I can get a better deal on ebay. But. I wanted to have some warrany. (covers everything for 10 tears) I paid about $180 a machine and got enough free candy to fill each machine 1/3 full. I chose the vendstars because of the ease of changing them out and thought it was a good first machine. Only time will tell. I also hired a locator that vendstar recommended. He is coming out tommorrow. The lcating company sent me 4 people. 2 sounded like morons, th other wanted more money than the contract stated and the last seems honest. Obviously going with the last. Thanks, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 I also hired a locator that vendstar recommended. He is coming out tommorrow. The lcating company sent me 4 people. 2 sounded like morons, th other wanted more money than the contract stated and the last seems honest. Obviously going with the last. Thanks, Bill Bill, don't put all your locator eggs in this one guys basket. Let him locate some for you but also hire Rob at Kickstart and Marjorie at midwest to put out locations. Rob and Marjorie are telemarketers and they can find different types of locations than an in person locator can. Also on another thread Bob Butler laid out a simple locating speil that you can do yourself. Memorize that speil and set yourself a goal of presenting it to 25 or so locations. You need to be in a mindset where you don't care if you get a yes or a no, your GOAL is to present it 25 times. You will get lots of no's, but you don't care because you're making progress toward your goal of 25 presentations. At the end of your 25 presentations someone will probably have said yes and you will have located your first machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetshelp Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share Posted November 18, 2008 Thank you Tom, Did you use a locator? Do you find that locators find better locations? eaning, are they worth it? Thank you, Kristi and Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Most of us buy the candy from Sam's or similar club. They also can special order about 30 other candy & gums types with no shipping charges if you pick up at the store. I just did this with a couple of cases of gum and saved about $45 in shipping. Look at the Equipment Reviews section to read the good and bad about the Vendstar's, plus most of the other top machines that we use. Locators are good but you can also do the same work. It is all about how mouch you can invest and how much time you have. If you have more money then time, by all means get Kickstart and Midwest locating some for you. I locate some and have locators do some. The results are almost the same, they can get you into some spots better then you can. What kind of price is Vendstar charging for locations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetshelp Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share Posted November 18, 2008 Vendstar doesnt locate. I went through map marketing. They charged $50 each, that includes setup and delivery. Plus they gaurentee in writing, 12 turns per machine per day. If not, they will relocate for free. Sounds like a lot of turns to me. But hey, if they will relocate for free, great. They have been in business for over 10 years. Kristi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Kristi Bill, The idea is to get you from where you are now (vending newbies) to where you want to be (vending professionals). With 150 machines coming you're going to need some help getting them out. Some decisions that you make now will be decisions that you wont make when you've acquired more experience as a vendor. In the end you will want to do most if not all of the locating yourself because it reduces risk. If you hire someone to find locations for you and the the locations they find are so poor that they aren't worth the time to service them or the locator takes the money and runs, then you're in worse shape than you were before. To answer your question, yes I have used locators in the past and still use them occasionally, but you have to recognise the more money you spend, the further it pushes out your ROI (return on investment). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Vendstar doesnt locate. I went through map marketing. They charged $50 each, that includes setup and delivery. Plus they gaurentee in writing, 12 turns per machine per day. If not, they will relocate for free. Sounds like a lot of turns to me. But hey, if they will relocate for free, great. They have been in business for over 10 years. Kristi Kristi, If it sounds too good to be true, it is! I don't know Map Marketing from Adam, but I am HIGHLY, HIGHLY suspicious of anyone who tells you they are going to find you locations that produce $3 a day. The average around here (VENDiscuss) is probably $15-20 per location per month and this company says they will find you $90 a month locations? I don't believe it. Remember a promise is only as good as the person making it, and you probably don't know this guy from Adam either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetshelp Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share Posted November 18, 2008 I agree with everything you said. I guess I will see. Thank you, Kristi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Well keep your fingers crossed but it sounds like they are reading the same book Vendstar is. I would do cartwheels if mine all did 6 turns a day per machine. I have a feeling you will be challenging that guarantee real soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Kristi, I will tell you something, and I want you to take this advice. I am about to save you a ton of money. Every single locator that Vendstar works with are all con artists. Every single one of them. My advice to you is, do not let them locate your machines. They will put them out, and you will never see them again. Plus, many of them will just set the machines places with out asking, and collect your $50. I have a guy, who used the same locating company as you have been talking with, and he had 130 machines. All placed. Now, he has 10 on location, he lost the rest over the course of 6 months. When he calls them, no answer. They have no reason to come back and replace the accounts. It would cost to much money. (Oh, and many of the accounts he had were lucky to do 6 turns every few weeks) RUN- And call Midwest, and Kickstart. They will not promise you money. They will not sugar coat there words. And, they will treat you right, and replace your lost accounts. You bought the machines, now lets not play games with locating company's that vendstar uses. They are out for themselves, and NOT your business. SAVE YOUR MONEY! Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Kristy, You will learn fast that the gray area in this business is the locating company's. 12 turns a day? WRONG. Free Replacements? WRONG. You will never see them again. Out of those 150, if your lucky, 1 might do 12 per day? Now, are these jokers going to come back and relocate 149 machines? No. Map Marketing? Never heard of them. Like the others before it, its a hoax. They say what Vendstar wants them to say. Its a happy relation ship. Lots of new customers with a dream of making tons of money, will spend as much as they have to. Vendstar buys the soda, and opens the soda can. The telemarketers drink the soda, leaving you with nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powertechvending22 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 dont want to be mean but thats a bad deal man all around if you paid 180 a pop per machine and you got 150 of them that means you laid down 27k and if you consider the locator fees that 7500 I know you wanted warretys and all but there not worth it i run about 30 vendstars all used brought them for 80 a pop on location and will have to say half of them have there front doors broken off or have coin mech damaged but the parts are so cheap to replace and easy that it nulls the warrenty. Also those locator companys at best will give you some business cards and leave you high and dry with a few locations making 2 or 3 dollars a month. anyway 150 is a lot of machines to start out with hope you can make it work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Bill, it would be wise to consider Kickstart ( I have used them and was satisfied). Rob is a nice guy who understands and wants your business. But if you can try to locate some yourself. It's very rewarding and is fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Kristy/Bill, Take Kyle's advice! Contracts and warranties are only as good as the people honoring them and give the vendor a false sense of security. IMO you made a big mistake dealing with a biz-op partnered locator. Here are some of the things they will do. 1. Place machines ANYWHERE that says "yes" These are usually very low traffic duds and will need to be relocated. 2. Place machines in industrial pits. Locators love industrial locations since they can get an easy 'yes' from Joe Foreman. These locations are usually dirty, grungy, bug infested low performing locations that beat up the machines and the candy goes bad real fast. 3. Place machines without legitimate permission. A practice called slamming or dump-and-run. A owner or manager may confront you on your first visit and ask you who gave the okay and may want it removed. 4. Place your machine where they recently placed another competitor's machine. Many of them work the same areas and locations over and over. 5. And then place a new competitor's machine next to yours in a few months. 6. Some will keep a list and may return in a few weeks to take your machine pretending to be you, the owner. The machine is then sold or placed on their own routes. 7. Place a machine in inappropriate environments like outside in the open, or an open garage or an unsecured area subject to theft. 8. Place a machine in an area you did not authorize. Such as a bad neighborhood or miles away on the other side of town. 9. Tell's the location that it's all for charity. The location will think that you work for the charity. The list can go on and on. I believe that if Charles Darwin were still alive he would rate most locators between roaches and maggots on the evolutionary scale! Just trying to tell it like it is. Good luck in any event. Jax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Please let us know how the locator does for you. Best of luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 sweetshelp If you really want to compare how locators work then at least look at the Polling Section under the topic: Clash of the Locators Contest. I am starting a test to compare Midwest and Kickstart. These two locators seem to be the most used by our members here. Some like Kickstart, some like Midwest and they both do a good job no matter who you use. You should at least consider being part of it to see how each one will do compared to the one through Vendstar. In the end it would not hurt to let us help you in learning how to locate yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetshelp Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Well, my locator is here from map marketing. So far so good. I like the locations he has found. However, he has been very honest about map marketing. Basically, he got a post about the job. Explains why 4 different people called me. He also told me that 12 turns a day is unlikely. He has been very honest. He told me it is unlikely that map marketing will send anyone out to replace the locations. However, he said he would come back if I had to relocate a bunch. I know the places he has put them, good places, pizza shops, chinese rest, banks and hotels. I think I got lucky. I will keep you updated. Thank you all for replying!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 Well, good luck. Good locations so far from what you are telling. He seems to be honest, but plan on NEVER seeing him again. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now