F J Vending Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I think hillbilly made an excellent point regarding smaller gumball size. it may or may not save you money on the purchasing end, and it will not drive sales higher, but it will stretch your service cycles. if you can stretch service from 60 to 90 days, your cost of service drops proportionately.... I would agree in theory , but in reality if I have a single head machine selling out of gumballs in 60 days I will be more than happy and go collect my $100+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanihotdog Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 me too! Instead of putting in smaller gumballs, you can always carry larger globes for the accounts that always run empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Living off of 300 singles? Are you guys nuts? Best case your gonna mabe average 300 heads at $10 a month. And all the relocating and missing machines. What a headache. I would rather have 10 crane/bulk stops averaging $300 a month. Same money, less hassle, less service time and more stability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 In my humble opinion, anyone trying to live off gumball machines should try to find a decent supplier of 1430ct gum. The extra quantity per case makes the profit even better. Comparing one machine with another at a different location isn't easy and most consumers of the product won't even notice. An extra $145 per case goes a long way! Do you find the smaller GB is just as successful in a shared location when the competitor is doing the 850ct? I would think the smaller gumball WOULD be noticeable if there's a machine carrying the 850ct just feet away. Living off of 300 singles? Are you guys nuts? Best case your gonna mabe average 300 heads at $10 a month. And all the relocating and missing machines. What a headache. I would rather have 10 crane/bulk stops averaging $300 a month. Same money, less hassle, less service time and more stability Apples and Oranges. To each his own. There are positives and negatives that can be applied to either scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 With Toad on this one ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I bet i know 50 guys that have ten or more stops bringing in $300 or more a month, but i couldnt name a single guy that has a 300 single head route averaging $10 a month. Look at peoples success and falures to help build a roadmap to your own success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I bet i know 50 guys that have ten or more stops bringing in $300 or more a month, but i couldnt name a single guy that has a 300 single head route averaging $10 a month. Look at peoples success and falures to help build a roadmap to your own success I have a customer that is over 600 singles and doing way over 10 ea. Presentation is everything. I won't go into details, but it's way over 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvending Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I have a customer that is over 600 singles and doing way over 10 ea. Presentation is everything. I won't go into details, but it's way over 10. Do you think round globe gumball machine sell more product than a standard machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 In the end unless someone here has a route in your area then no one can tell you what you can or can't do. If I had come on here and asked these same vendors if I could replace my state income with less than 70 locations and half are honor boxes I probably would have gotten a hell no, when indeed I have. Nothing can replace first hand experience, like a few others suggested go ahead and get some machines out and start learning the biz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Do you think round globe gumball machine sell more product than a standard machine? Not sure, I think it might, but they sound have to be a location worthy of that much product. I was more referring to there are never absolutes, only in death of the body. I'm by no means as experienced as most on here in this area, it was mentioned that there wasn't ANYONE. is it common? No. Possible? Yes. I did have another customer with one machine like the setup you mentioned, she did 35 in a month, but what would a regular head do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I bet i know 50 guys that have ten or more stops bringing in $300 or more a month, but i couldnt name a single guy that has a 300 single head route averaging $10 a month. Look at peoples success and falures to help build a roadmap to your own success Undoubtedly you can make more with cranes but your ROI takes alot longer and you take your lumps along the way. Cranes require a much larger initial investment, weekly or bi-weekly service cycles (if your grossing $300.00 per month), higher cost of inventory, more out of cycle service calls, higher maintenance costs and usually a 25% to 30% commission split with the location. As far as you "not knowing a single guy that has a 300 single head route averaging $10 a month" just tells me that multitudes of bulk operators that you are interviewing may not be comfortable sharing their actual sales numbers with business maverick such as yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Please if you are a vendor in my area don't take Toads advice, do single heads and honor boxes ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Actually my return on investment for single head gum machines and cranes is about the same. I have done both for a long time. The pros and cons really just come down to how engaged you want to be in the business. Yes cranes an be a pain with merchandise, service calls etc and single heads can be a pain with missing machines and closing locations. Its not as simple as one might wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanihotdog Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 simplified breakdown of both gumballs and cranes. For the average mom and pop vendor. Crane Product cost = 33% , Commission = 33% , service = 5%.... Total expenses as % of sales 71%.. profit margin = 29% Gumballs on Charity... Cost of gum = 10% , service and charity = 5-10% Total expense as % of sales = 17%... Profit margin = 83% a $2,600 31" crane filled and delivered needs to generate 2.86x more sales than $2600 worth of single head machines filled with gumballs to generate the same amount of profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 factor in time too, 50 gumball singlees take way more time to service than a crane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 factor in time too, 50 gumball singlees take way more time to service than a crane Your servicing a crane once a week and you service a gumball machine once every 6-8 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Excitement factor, which will excite you more? Servicing that crane after 2 weeks in a great location or servicing that single head after 8 weeks in a great location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 feeling have very little place in business unless its the comsumers feeling making him buy more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 feeling have very little place in business unless its the comsumers feeling making him buy more I have a feeling you are wrong. If you are doing something that doesn't excite you or you don't enjoy (have feeling for) you won't do it for long or at the least you won't do it very good for very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Excitement factor, which will excite you more? Servicing that crane after 2 weeks in a great location or servicing that single head after 8 weeks in a great location? I try not to go off the adrenaline or excitement when working. If I did, I would be broke. I understand where your coming from, but I think it's a numbers game. I personally would have a hard time getting accounts with cranes in my area I think. It's hard enough just getting out charity machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I guess it all depends on the individual and what their business and income goals are. If you are just looking for excitement then you should get some Keymasters. If you're excited with $300.00 per month from a crane then you will be thrilled with 1k per month from a Keymaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 If you are doing something that doesn't excite you or you don't enjoy (have feeling for) you won't do it for long or at the least you won't do it very good for very long. This is exactly why my previous post stated, "to each his own". Because there are positives and negatives to each route-type. The individual vendor must decide for himself/herself what "excites" them. The negatives/positives must be weighed using your own personal scale. What may seem like no big deal to me may be a huge negative to the next guy. And what may seem like a really great positive to one vendor may not thrill the next vendor at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonythetiger Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 Wow, I didn't think my post would become so popular, but this is great! I really appreciate everyone's feedback. In response to Havending, what machine would you recommend? I'm looking at the PO 89 300 from A&A and I think that it could do the job. Any idea how much this machine costs if paired with the stand? I checked their site as well as the download on A&A prices, but I couldn't find it. I see a few of you didn't read my entire initial post. I'm only planning on starting with 300 machines, eventually working my way up to 2,000. I figure 300 machines averaging $10 will be enough to afford a $600/mo. apartment as long as I keep a tight budget. I'm a young single guy, so I don't need much to live on for now. These posts on cranes/amusement are intriguing to me as well. I've read on other forums that these machines can make around 300 - 1,000 a month in gross sales?! Imagine having just 50-100 of those things! I'm thinking of combining gum with cranes, or maybe even just doing cranes if they're that profitable. And I wouldn't mind the shorter service cycles if I'm only servicing 50 machines as opposed to 300. And Rodney, you may be pleasantly surprised at who might accept a crane in your area. I would think offering a 30% commission on a $500/mo. crane game would be more enticing than a charity machine in many places. This has really got me reconsidering my whole plan of gumball machines. I've done the math and the start up costs are about the same for the number of cranes I would need to match 300 gumball machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanihotdog Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 This is quite funny.. its like arguing which is better shampoo or conditioner!!! I already spelled out what the numbers are for the mom and pop vendor. assume the average revenue/month of a crane is 300 / month ( I think the national average is below that ) Look up BMI gaming pricing and you find a 31" import crane with validator runs about 2800 FOB. pay freight, then fill the crane, and rent a truck and deliver... you are looking at well over $3,000 installed.. If you do the math... black and white... no feelings involved.. 300 x .29 = $87/ month profit.. your looking at more than a 3 year ROI... within those three years you will most likely need to replace a couple quarter mechanisms, one power supply, and one trolley.. so your real ROI is even worse.. then in the fourth year you will probably replace a cpu board... the distributors will love you!!.. oh, and the local townships/municipalities love to tax amusement vendors. Some city/counties charge $1,000 / year amusement taxes plus $100/machine/year, and require a residency within the county!!!! yes, 10 cranes will probably bring less headaches than 300 gumballs, but 300 gumballs will 100% make THE AVERAGE ONE MAN SHOW more profits, and a much better ROI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Probably correct for the average one man show. And yes there are always exceptions, cranes can make good money but product buying has been very challenging the last couple of years, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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