To buy or not to buy: Seaga SM22 Snack & Drink Machine for $1200

[cwb]

Hola amigos,

I've got an opportunity to pick up a used Seaga SM22 combo (not sure if it has card reader or not yet) that was used in an office.

The seller is firm on $1200 and claims everything to be in excellent working condition (what a surprise).

From what I've read so far, Seaga isn't exactly the best name in vending.

I'm looking around for machines in my local area and found this one on Craigslist. If I buy it, it will be my first machine.

Thoughts, opinions, advice, warnings?

Thanks in advance,

[lacanteen]

No, Οχι, нет, Non, Tidak, Nein, 没有, neniu, Níl, ʻAʻole, Ayikho, and Hayır!

[Poplady1]

Where are you located?  Wondering if I could send you to a reputable equipment reseller in your area.  But to answer your question, I think you need to determine what type of vending company you want to build.  I would suggest the money is better used buying full size equipment unless (and that is a big unless) you have a location close to your home or warehouse that does not have the space for full size machines.  The next thing you have to ask yourself is are you ready to go to the account every other day to fill one sold out product slot.  The one thing about these units is you will get lots of experience on working out problems with them, they fail daily.

Its like drag racing on a bicycle. 

 

[cwb]

Thanks for the advice ... errr uh warnings..

My vision for the company is fairly similar to this fine person's:

Non-franchise, healthy foods (in heavily trafficked areas by healthy people).

I live in a town that has quite a few local manufacturers of healthy foods and nutritional supplements, so I intend to go local as much as I can --It should be more appealing to customers and also help me with the marketing. I also hope to buy some of my goods straight from the manufacturers at a discounted rate.

I want to start with a small machine to test the waters. Mostly because the healthy food vending situation seems riskier. 

There are plenty of these 'healthy spots' around my city and I plan to be very specific about targeting only those locations.  I've got several ideas to increase awareness about my envisioned brand as offering truly healthy products for truly health conscious people (staunch label readers, and folks keenly aware of what they're putting into their bodies). 

Like I said though, I want to start small. If possible I'd like to acquire a machine with enough resale value so as not to lose my shirt should the venture not take flight.

Thanks!

P.S.:  What about the Mercato 2000 16 selection vending machine?
If I stick with shelf stable foods it seems a likely candidate fro my purposes.

 

[Randymire]

I'd stay away from Seaga , from my experience and others I've never heard a good long term story about seaga . You'd be better off to invest your money into full size machines that you'll have long term . Seaga doesn't hold enough product so you'll have to service the machine more often or have unhappy customers and lose sales and then when it does start breaking down you'll find parts hard to find . Nothing but headaches!


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