Vendinlen Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Hi everyone, I've recently become interested in vending and have begun educating myself through these forums on different aspects of vending. I feel like this is a nice fit for my tastes as I realize it is a lot of initial work, but I would like to work and build to have a steady stream of passive income over the next year (or few years.) I work a full time job 10-6pm and have two days off in the week, which I think leaves me enough time to build this endeavor. The goal is to make enough money to not have to work every day. Anyway, I make enough at my current job to be able to afford an initial investment in some machines and product, but I'm just wondering what would be the wisest way for me to jump in with no prior experience while still having a chance to build profit. Say I take 1000$ (could be more or less) and I want to take the plunge into vending. I've looked into machines and how to scout locations, is it just as simple as choosing a machine I like and trying to find the best location for it? If so, any advice on how to select a mixture of location and machine to maximize profit? What if I have a 10$ a month machine that could be making 50$ a month simply by relocating? How do I become aware of this? Another thing I was pondering, (assuming I have a beginning investment budget anywhere from say, 300$-2000$) is it better to buy a larger amount of small machines with less profit per machine, or to initially invest in bigger machines which will eventually provide higher dollar amounts? Thank you so much for any responses in advance and sorry for all the questions, but there are probably a million more to ask in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zjtaylor Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Read the big sticky post at the top of this forum it will answer a lot of your questions. Otherwise just do it. Just start with about 5-10 and get your feet wet to see if you like it. My 25c... if I started over I would get some bulk racks and pool tables and spend 8+ hours a day as many days as I could trying to get them out there. But I wouldn't have learned as much as I did starting smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuikVend Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Welcome to the forum. Definitely keep reading the older posts, there's quite a bit of info here. That search button is your friend. My suggestion would be to start small and grow from there if you enjoy how things are going. Buy a handful of quality machines, place them and service them for a few months. After that, you can evaluate whether you want to invest more and grow. Vending isn't a get rich quick plan, it will take quite a bit of time and effort, but it can be very rewarding if you're persistent and patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMD Snacks Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Agree with everything said above. If I had to start from scratch, I'd buy 5-10 used northwestern 60's in good shape and set up single head gumballs. Simple and cheap. I've learned throwing a bunch of money into the business isn't the key, avoiding waste, simplicity and endurance help a lot tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendinlen Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 Thanks for all the responses guys. Highly appreciated. Another question, is there anything I need to worry about besides setting up an LLC and getting a Sellers permit as far as legal issues? This would be my first business venture so I still need to do more research on the paperwork side of things. (Live in CA btw) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMD Snacks Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 where in CA are you? It's hard for anyone to give legal advice since everyone's situation is different. I would definitely say don't do S corp in CA, they charge $800 a year just for the privilege of doing business there...Don't know about LLC. Also avoid legal zoom..they charged me a lot for no reason. Otherwise you might need to talk to a CPA or tax professional to get all the right answers. This isn't advice, but I will say this, if you dragged your feet on getting things set for the business, I don't know that anyone would notice or care, especially while you're getting used to things and stay small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerformaVending Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 If you have any questions, use the search function. You would not believe the amount of information we've got here on pretty much everything you can think of (and plenty you haven't thought of yet!). Welcome aboard sir, and good luck on your vending endeavor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zigzag Vending Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Its true that theres no get rich quick solution in vending, which means do your homework when purchasing machines or even routes. When u go to buy used machines, make sure they are ready to put on location besides dusting. If ur vending candy or gumballs u dont want to see any rust inside, toys wont look bad with a little rust on springs and screws. You dont wanna have to replace coin mechs or candy/gumball wheels right away. I started out a year ago April buying a small route of vendstars that had been neglected and was super cheap. I had a couple usable machines to put in the locations that were the highest grossing, then took the oldmachines, refurbed them, and played leapfrog with the locations until all the locations had refurb machines. Its taken buying new parts and nicer used machines that ive bought to put out a dozen good looking machines (ive probably gone through about 50 vendstars total including the ones out. And the investment sucked. The biggest way to get ur moneys worth is to WAIT for the good used machines early on. If u only have one or two out to begin with because youre waiting for good machines thats ok. Its better than looking at a shed full of sub-par crap plastic and scratchin ur head tryin to figure out how to get ur money back out of it. Kinda like i did. A good way to start would be maybe to buy a few refurbed oaks direct from them. If ur close enough you can pick them up to save money on shipping. Look on craigslist. Just type in vending. Oak and northwrstern may be difficult words to search by. And its ok to buy junk chinese machines for a few bucks IF they come with great stands. New stands can cost $50+ each, so paying $10 or $20 or even $30 to buy stands u desperately will need later makes sense. As far as legal issues, talk to your city clerk. Some cities require u to buy a yearly permit for each machine on location, some don't. U can probably google " bulk vending laws for california" and have a decent understanding of what u need to do in the first page of results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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