Looking to purchase an existing route

[sbishop]

I this is a candy route, here is what you can do to get the same setup.

250 vendstars from ebay $75 each(you can find them cheaper) $18,750

250 locations from locaters here on vendisucss $52 each          $13,000

250 initial candy $50 each(off the top of the head guess)          $12,500

cost to place the machines(gas and time)                                $ 5,000

Total                                                                                  $49,000

You have spent around $50,0000. Hold on to the $100,000 left over to live off of untill you get the route up and running full time.

I feel that these prices that I listed are a little high, but this gives you and Idea. For $150,000 you can build a route 3 times the size of the one you are looking to buy!

You can use different locators at the same time to get your locations faster and buy 25- 50 at a time to make sure that you are happy with the services you are getting

[sbishop]

There is a guy selling his route in Atlanta with about 800 locations.  Although he says you should generate $8-10 average per location.

I would be trying to sell that rout too.

800 locations and 30 locations a day would take 26 days. then it only pulls in $8- $10 per location. Sure that is 8k but look at the cost in time and gas!!

[mxer518]

good break down of what it would look like if you were to build your own route. that looks like it could be pretty accurate if you were in a hurry to get it up and running. when I buy existing routes from people i do the math just like that, when they are telling me a full line location is worth 600 I explain to them that I can buy one from a locator with a guarantee for about 250.

[sterling]

Best advise is to buy 30 machines off Craigslist for $25-$50 each. So you have about $1000-$1500 invested. Get to work locating yourself. The business is about locating and re locating. I have 81 locations and have got about 20 new locations in the last few month. Re locations not placing new machines. Even if you buy a route the re locating game is endless, trust me on this one. By dipping your toes in without a big investment you'll see if you like the business and have the guts to take the good with the bad. Lost locations, stolen machines, broken parts, service calls ect. If it's not for you then your not in to it finacially big time. Aslo by doing this build your route method you'll see and understand what you really should be paying for an existing route. I bought a couple of full line machines placed from a guy last year. I wanted to dabble in it to learn. He overstated the sales by 16x. I am glad I only spent $2500 not $25000 or more!

IMHO on bulk candy machines placed say $30-$50 for a locator, NOT $100! The machine about $50 and say $20 of candy in it. So $120 per location is a good rule of thumb. Don't let them mesmerize you with the income potential. They lie. See the 16x overstatement example above. If they are making what they are claiming, they would never sell it!!!! If they really are pulling the stated numbers and really do want to sell it they will let you watch them pull the money so you can verify it. Otherwise buyer beware!

[Jax Snacks]

Can someone explain what a "custom" machine is? 

Yesterday, I installed a double head and "customized it" with MMP and Gumballs!  I think I will pattent this concept and sell it for 3 times the original price! 

Jax