Any experience with Alibaba.com?

[wmboy]

Has anyone had any experience buying bulk candy machines direct from a manufacturer in China?  I have made some inquiries and the prices seem to be very good.

$5000 for approximately 50 triple head machines (not including shipping).

What are people's thoughts on this?

[McMEnterpr]

I haven't tried it, but the shipping from China can be extremely expensive, FYI, depending on the weight of the product.

Regards,

Brian

[AmuseStar Vending Co]

Number one: You are not getting quotes from the actual manufactures of the equipment (The price is much to high).

Number two: Most of the packages I have quoted started at 1,500 machines, not 50.

Number three: If these are resale sellers, quality will not be as high (because when dealing direct, you can buy higher quality packages).

Number four: For that low of a quantity, and the price, you should not buy. Shipping for that number will not make it worth while.  

Kyle

[Skaught]

I've tried to do some other business deals with Alibaba. I think you have to be very careful dealing with them. Many people on that site pose as fake wholesalers and will scam you of your money.

Make sure that the seller you are dealing with is a verified seller, and even then, try and look for someone who has done business with that particular seller in the Alibaba forums or somewhere else.

Also, at that price, you can find machines for much cheaper locally as long as you keep your eyes open. Continue looking around this forum as there's a ton of information that'll help get you pointed in the right direction.

[nam]

wmboy,

Whatever is being sold new will usually be available used at a much lower price. This is really true with vending machines because people buy them and don't ever place them. You can buy used and still get brand new! What you pay for your machines is one of the key factors in determining if you are going to be profitable. Don't buy new from China or anywhere else is my 2 cents worth.

On a different note. You sure have a beautiful country and if I can sell enough peanuts I'd love to come see it.

nam

[wmboy]

wrote:[/b]

Also, at that price, you can find machines for much cheaper locally as long as you keep your eyes open. Continue looking around this forum as there's a ton of information that'll help get you pointed in the right direction.

Not easily.  It is impossible to buy new gumball machines in New Zealand without going with a franchise type setup (think 20 machines for around NZ$31,000).  Second hand stock in New Zealand does come along from time to time but not that often.

[user=8]AmuseStar Vending Co]Number four: For that low of a quantity, and the price, you should not buy. Shipping for that number will not make it worth while.

I was quoted prices of US$98/PC excluding shipping, $US101.5/PC including shipping to my local shipping port (minimum order quantity of 50).  Of course I'd have to pay tax on top of this, but as far as shipping goes I don't think I could beat that kind of price, could I?

Number four: For that low of a quantity, and the price, you should not buy. Shipping for that number will not make it worth while.

On a different note. You sure have a beautiful country and if I can sell enough peanuts I'd love to come see it.

Thanks nam, it's definitely a great place to live! :cool:

[dperry]

On a different note. You sure have a beautiful country and if I can sell enough peanuts I'd love to come see it.

Thanks nam, it's definitely a great place to live! :cool:

Yeah, but the Mordor place scares me.

[nam]

wmboy,

You live in a pretty big city that should have a used market. Have you tried running your own want to buy ads? Why are the only machines through franchises and rather than just individual people doing their own thing? It sounds like there must not be that many on location and so should be a great place to do this business!

Another option to research is Honor Boxes.  Depending on your finances this might be away to get into vending without having to buy machines, shipping expense and so forth.  Let you make some money while buying machines as they become available.  I've seen used honor boxes being sold for a couple dollars each that also often will say never used.  You can do this with bulk candy of your choice (wrapped of course) or with larger boxes full of chips, candy bars or whatever you want to put in it.

nam

[wmboy]

wmboy,

You live in a pretty big city that should have a used market. Have you tried running your own want to buy ads? Why are the only machines through franchises and rather than just individual people doing their own thing? It sounds like there must not be that many on location and so should be a great place to do this business!

Another option to research is Honor Boxes.  Depending on your finances this might be away to get into vending without having to buy machines, shipping expense and so forth.  Let you make some money while buying machines as they become available.  I've seen used honor boxes being sold for a couple dollars each that also often will say never used.  You can do this with bulk candy of your choice (wrapped of course) or with larger boxes full of chips, candy bars or whatever you want to put in it.

nam

Yeah, we've got a eBay equivalent site called Trade Me (www.trademe.co.nz) and it's the most popular website in New Zealand.  Over the past few months I've kept my eye on it and now and again some machines come up.  Just the other day I saw 2 U-Turn machines for NZ$700.

But compared to what I see on the Australian and US eBay auctions there are far less machines available.  I'm gussing that means it's still a growing market?  I think currently there is 1 vending machine for every 600 people in New Zealand...

As for honour boxes (or honesty boxes as we call them) they are quite a bit more popular in New Zealand.  I guess I could look into it.

[nam]

wmboy,

You might also check out www.usedvending.com for some machines. Since you have this shipping problem I'd recommend looking for someone that has brand new machines in the orginal factory boxes. Often there will be 2 to a box and packed very well for shipment - probably better than a private person packing for shipment. Anyway, just buy one box of new machines at a time and probably half or to a quarter of what these people have paid for the machine. You also wouldn't be risking a great deal of money just buying a couple at a time. I like www.craigslist.org the best but thought you might not be aware of usedvending.com. Hope this gives you another option to think about.

nam

[wmboy]

wmboy,

You might also check out http://www.usedvending.com for some machines. Since you have this shipping problem I'd recommend looking for someone that has brand new machines in the orginal factory boxes. Often there will be 2 to a box and packed very well for shipment - probably better than a private person packing for shipment. Anyway, just buy one box of new machines at a time and probably half or to a quarter of what these people have paid for the machine. You also wouldn't be risking a great deal of money just buying a couple at a time. I like http://www.craigslist.org the best but thought you might not be aware of usedvending.com. Hope this gives you another option to think about.

nam

Hi nam,

Thanks heaps for these ideas - but don't forget that as I live in New Zealand the machines have to be set up to accept New Zealand currency, not American coins.  Looking for second hand machines from the States that accept NZ currency would be near impossible.

Then there is the shipping equation.  Buying small shipments from America mean's shipping works out to be very expensive (maybe doubling the total price).  And of course a lot of sellers won't ship internationally period.

I'm not trying to justify myself, it's just I do have some unique barriers living half way across the world!

Cheers Will

[nam]

Will,

The honor boxes are sounding better, no machines needed and no worry about coin mechs.. Just stolen product - lol. I think that wouldn't be near the problem there as it is hear. You must have the big box warehouses like Costco, Sams Club or something similar don't you? Auckland has "The Market" big box right? Would they have vending machines like Sams and Costco? Also I'd think many of the coin mechs would be easily changed for your currency or many others around the world. Also I've heard New Zealand was very strict on bringing like these used machines into the country so you might be better off to stick with new. Can't believe I just said that.