Skaught Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hey guys, I am new here. I am interested in getting involving in the vending business, and have recently read a local ad on Craiglist stating someone was selling an 11 machine Dentyne Ice route in my town. I am debating purchasing it. It is the actual Dentyne Ice machine, and I have read that some people are having problems with their machines. Anyone have any input on this? Also, I am still learning, do you pay commission to business owners or anything for placing your machine there? He has listed on Craiglist that he is selling 11 placed machines for $999. I am thinking about trying to talk him down to about $700. (He said he paid $2200 for them and they are 4 months old) I was looking on ebay and saw that the machines were selling for about $80, so I figure at worst if the locations aren't successful, i can sell them for about $70 x 11 = $770 (Being conservative). What are everyones thoughts on this? Does this sound like a good deal?? Having 11 machines already placed would give me a jumpstart on starting the vending business. I still plan on calling and asking what his profits are from the machines and where they are located. Any thoughts or input would be greatly appriciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsnwag Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hi and welcome. I too am new to vending. I found some good info on purchasing routes on the vend 101 section. It should be on the main page at the top. There are alot of opinions so you should be able to pick up some good info. Just from reading myself as I was thinking of purchasing a route, records of earnings, good standing with store owner, condition of machines, being able to tag along the route to meet store owners, are just some basic ideas to think about. Again check vend 101 section. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I bought mine new at $135 for the machine, stand and 3# of gum to start with. We did have a special price for members but I think it may have expired. Put a message in the Super Pro section to polecat as he works for the company that sells the Dentyne Ice machines. If they are just DI machines then they are either lieing or overpaid from someone else. If they are DI/Certs doubles then the price is more inline. Ask what the average per location is but take it with a grain of salt. Unless they have very good records then averages are hard to prove. They really need to be doing at least $15 a month but $20 would be a good average. I would not pay $999 for the route but if he goes for $700 then I might be tempted after I did a pull with him. We can give more details on how to structure the deal when you get more info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarter Master Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 After owning 41 DI machines,I can tell you that most likely you will have to replace the stands in the next 3 months.Stands from SuperPro are cheap tin and wobble-not safe.That replacement will run you about $300 for the 11 machines.Also consider the fact that you may get thrown out of a location after the purchase for whatever reason. IMO- I wouldn't give over $600 max for the whole ball of wax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raredory Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Skaught, I would try talking him down to 700 if you can. Islander, I know what you mean now on those stands. I have a couple now that are bending and will have to replace as soon as possible. They have been on location only a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I have not had a problem with the stands yet but they do give that unstable feeling sometimes. I had one in a heavy traffic area of a family style sports bar for a year. It was actually a DI/Certs double. Have you tried to place any fender washers where it screws to the stand? That may make the difference in stability. You would think my double would be more unstable then a single. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaught Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Thanks for the input guys! I talked to the owner today. I wasn't sure if it was sold yet because the listing was from Jan 8, but it was still available. This makes me think he may consider taking a lower price. Okay, now for the details. He said that he is selling: 10 Placed Dentyne Ice Machines (He said he replaced the stands with cast iron stands for about $30/each. This was good news to me) 1 Gumball Machine (I didn't ask the specifics on this) He said he collects about $10 a machine every 4 weeks for $100/mo. I didn't know what to think about this. Sounds kinda low to me from what I have read, but he said I could go out on a run with him, so I'm leaning toward doing this. I got the impression that he had given up on servicing the machines somewhat. He said that the machines only need filled about once every 3 months, and most of them are still 1/4 of the way filled, so I don't need to buy new product right away. This kinda made me think he isn't paying much attention to them. He said he collects commission from 2 locations where he splits the profits with the store owners. The rest of them are charity machines. The locations he mentioned were a Barbershop, Pizza Shop, and a Health Club. I didn't ask where the others were. Like I stated before, he is asking $999, but I am thinking I would look to buy it for $700 at most. What do you guys think about it? Would it be worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Way to much. I never pay more than $50 new. You have some locations with it, so that is not to bad. Dentyne Ice has done terrible for some on this board, and that is something to consider. $10 a month is over 1 vend per day. This means the machines are above the national average. It seems that he is telling you the truth, so I would be able to buy with confidence (but the price is to high). Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaught Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Thanks AmuseStar. What would you say is a good price for this route? By the way he was describing his price, he sounded like it was pretty negotiable. I would just like to get an idea of what it is worth and why, and present it to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creativecandy Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 where do u get $50 dollar machines from ..do they come with a stand,,,,? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkochan Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I would offer him $500. The health club and pizza place are excellent locations. I suggest adding a gumball machine to the health club and a rack to the pizza place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 "where do u get $50 dollar machines from ..do they come with a stand" When buying local off craigs list. Not from a distributor. As for the person asking about the route: No more than $50 per machine. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaught Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 "where do u get $50 dollar machines from ..do they come with a stand" When buying local off craigs list. Not from a distributor. As for the person asking about the route: No more than $50 per machine. Kyle Thanks Kyle!$50 per machine sounds like a really good deal. I will talk to him tomorrow and see if I can negotiate this with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainMan Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Hi Skaught, It sounds like you have a workable plan to approach this guy with. I would offer $500 and be willing to go up to like $800. HAving these located is a plus. If it is a poor location, you could try something other than the DI. I have had no trouble with my DI yet. I put it in a slow moving restaurant, trying to pick up sales. I would want to run the route with him for sure and see any books he has. It is an inexpensive start and you can get your feet wet. Then once you are hooked, expand brother! If you have some extra cash, I would get some triples to go with it. It will open your options, then you can learn to locate, which is easy, or buy locates for around 50 bucks each from a company listed with vendiscuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaught Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 Thanks MountainMan! My main concern is that I'm a broke college student right now and will have a pretty difficult time finding more than $700 to buy this route. Hopefully I can find a way to get it for $500, but if not, I think $700 is the highest I can go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROGERS VENDING Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Be confident in the way you offer him... Don't offer him a low ball price from the get-go... Make him tell you more about the machines. Creat rapport with the seller. Then find something you can use to drive the price down. Example: I think the Northwestern doubles I'm going to look at this weekend may have glass cannisters. I know some are scratched up (he told me on the phone). After we talk things over, I'm going to say, "I just don't like glass, it scares me to death with little kids around them." Then after discussing the machines a little bit longer I'm going to offer $30 to $35 per double (with stands). He wants $40 per double. Cheers, Jesse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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