revivemintaz Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hello Fellow and Potential Vendors - My name is Matt and I decided to plunge into the vending business with my friend Sam. We live in Phoenix, AZ. The job market and economy sucks but I do not need to remind everyone. After some research and considering all the vending products and companies, we invested in a distributorship with Revive Energy Mints. We felt it was a good product with a lot of potential (eco friendly, all natural, great health benefits (antioxidants), compact, and costs 1/6 of the cost of current energy drinks). Sam and I needed to start a business that was going to generate money quickly (with the right product, machines and location). We have adopted the National Children's Cancer Society to donate a portion of our proceeds. By Wednesday, the product and machines should be at my house. We have made out a list to visit some businesses and would like to know the following questions: 1. Anyone have a distributorship with Revive Energy Mints? 2. What else should we do until the machines and mints arrive? 3. Any advice on how to approach potential businesses? 4. How do you approach colleges and universities (there is a lot of potential for the energy product)? Thank you for your feedback and comments. We look forward to working with everybody. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePlate Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Run Forest Run! All joking aside, welcome to the board. I am sure this thread will be well responded to. For the most part, people on this board do not like the biz-ops out there. They tend to overcharge for machines and lock you into minimum purchases. There is many, many years of experience on this board. I would recomend you locking yourself in a room for a few hours and read as many past posts as possible. The payback will be huge. Good luck on your new venture, I'm sure your excited...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 That is a tough area to get started in and not one I would pick. Many have started and failed in the energy market. Not saying you will but it is an uphill battle. Most of us start with your regular .25 single/double/triple machine as it has a wide variety of candy choices and location potential. Welcome to the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 BluePlate - Thank you for your comment. I have been reading a lot. There are so many different levels of experience on this forum, extremely valuable. Thank you again. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Beer - We chose revive energy mints because it was unique and it cost 1/6 of the energy drinks. In addition, the antioxidants and mint flavor also made it very attractive. We hope we made the right decision. Thank you for your comment. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 In my experience I find that diversifying your inventory is really a good idea. Each location is different with different demands. If you lock yourself into one product you are limiting yourself greatly. Two examples today I was trying to get a rack into a fusion boba drink place. He was pouring over product sites to see what product he would want. If he sees something he believes his customers would want then he has helped me tremendously. The best example is I had 9 heads of bulk candy in a taco shop. Total sales were only about $18/month. Rather poor for sure. The owner kept telling me to bring in Homies. "They will sell". I did and put a sticker machine in there as well and dropped to 3 heads of candy. The first month sales were $80! The lesson was learned! Try not to limit your product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewm451 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Try and think if you know anyone who owns a business, you dont need to know them directly maybe a friend of a friend or something like that. I placed my first machine today at a buddies computer repair shop. I realise that may not be a great place for your specific biz, however it will give you a bit of a moral boost when you realise "yes this can be done" and even if it makes no sales at all, you can alaway move it once you place the rest of your machines. I once sold knives for a "biz opp" they had us sit down and write a list of all the people we know, literally everyone. Its going to be a lot of names. Now think of how many people they know. It's a lot, so narrow it down to who works or owns a store. It is easier to get a placement by saying "My name is Andrew, Aunt Sarahs nephew, bla bla bla" Dont feel wierd about asking your family and friends to help you out, just remember you may need to help them out one day soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 Beer - Thank you for the reply. I just hope we can all prosper from the venting business in this aweful economy!!! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 Sterling - Great advice. We will be looking to diversify once we get these machines out there. In addition, we are looking into buying a couple of UTurn machines and see how they go. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 Andrewm451 - These days, it's who you know and not what you know! I am always looking for assistance from everyone and their mothers!!! Thank you again for your advice! Good luck with your busines. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honda man Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Matt Just a friendly word of advice on the Uturns. Don't buy new! The company is what's known as a biz-op and their machines are WAY overpriced. Uturn is one of the first machines that I researched and luckily I found this forum before spending any money on machines. By the way, welcome to the board. Keep us posted on how things are going and best of luck. Ernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Hi Ernie - Thanks for the encouraging words. We placed a machine at a golf course today and a general manager at a gas station bought a box of 12 pack to "test" out before he buys more! What an awesome guy!! It was tough getting a machine into different establishments. No one said it was going to be easy. Any advice because we still have 29 more!! Thanks again. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 My advice would be to diversify when you are able to. You should target any long/boring job areas. Factory workers that do a 10 or 12 hour shift. Perhaps a Hospital nurse break room. Call or tech support centers. Nightclubs or college campus areas. You don't have an easy target area because it is a niche type product. You can get a candy double in a 20 worker area a lot easier I would think. It does not take a lot of people but the right product with regular customers can go a long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Hi Beer - The areas you mentioned are our target locations but we are always running into "red tape." For example, hospitals and college campuses want you to go through a vendor's process. Do you or anyone know how to get around the red tape or an easier way to place our machines into these locations? As always, thank you. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Short of just being persistent you would need to hire a locator. Sometimes you just need to jump through the hoops to get a spot. Try going through the vendor process you talked about. It may be a way to seed out those who are not very serious and it could give you something to get into other locations. Think of it as a good mark on your resume. You can then say you passed the vendor approval process and have machines on campus. The good thing about a locator is you will get a quantity discount the bad thing is you will have to lay out some more money. I know Kickstart does energy type machine placements and Midwest may do them too. Both do a decent job for our board members if you decide to go that route and they have ad links at the bottom of the pages here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Matt- When you diversify really consider products that don't spoil. Candy does go bad. I have 2",1" toys, super balls, and stickers. I really like them they don't spoil and sell for .50-1.00 the coins pile up faster than .25/each! Also hawk on Criagslist every day. I paid an average of $57 a machine for my first 75 bulk machines that way. I got some racks a bounce a roo, 5'sprial gumball, sticker machines, 2" machines and a bunch of triple and double candy machines. As far as locating yourself. Ask,ask,ask and ask some more. A few of my nice location have come a year after I first asked. Other vendors retired and the machines were gone! I got in! Another place was complaining about the poor quality of service and the broken down machines. I got in! Best of luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Thanks Sterling. Do you have any good locators in the Phoenix area that you know about? I want to place four machines fast and then I will go out and place the rest. What do you think of that I idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revivemintaz Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Thanks Beer. I was planning to place four machines with a locator and then see how the mints sell. I've been disaapointed with this business opportunity. I may have jumped into it a little to fast. Thank you again for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Much has been written about locators. Some good a lot bad. My advice is locate yourself. I took a few hours a day after work or where ever I could squeeze it in. My goal was to place 4/week. If I got one M-Th then Fr off. That gave me 16/month. It took me about 2.5 months to get out my first 38. It took longer than a locator but I developed rapport with my locations and saved a bunch of money. I don't get kicked out much. Still do but it diminishes with good seasoned locations. With vending I found it can be a supplemental income business, but you have to treat it like a business. Businesses are designed to make money, hobbies cost you money! Any business worth anything long term take time to build and turn a profit. I'm getting a decent pofit each month an income stream that is dependable. It's becoming nice, however I've worked at it for 16 months to get to the point where I wanted to be in month 1. Keep working at it there will be months of no profit taking if you want to turn it into spendable income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman_1984 Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Please help with some real numbers. I know these $ are subjective. location and product. just some real number averages. My wife and I were 1 day away (on Monday I was sending a cashiers check to uturn for $37560) before I found this site and a few more resources. What companies so you recommend for bulk candy. We will talk all the suggestions we can get. Should we start small-10-12 machines or should we take the plunge-40-50 machines. Thanks for your time and help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Please help with some real numbers. I know these $ are subjective. location and product. just some real number averages. My wife and I were 1 day away (on Monday I was sending a cashiers check to uturn for $37560) before I found this site and a few more resources. What companies so you recommend for bulk candy. We will talk all the suggestions we can get. Should we start small-10-12 machines or should we take the plunge-40-50 machines. Thanks for your time and help. I am so glad you dodged the bullet with the u-turns.I think I would have cried had I spent so much money for so few machines.u turns can be good for some locations but never for what they sell from factory. check craigs list an ebay listing for deals on nice machines. buy candy from sams or costco.depending on where u are from u might have a distributor close to you. my bulk candy machine of choice is the 1800 machine.it usually comes with 2 candy wheels and 1 gumball/1.1 in. capsuls/1 in. bouncy ball wheel.don`t be cheap and buy locks so your machines are keyed the same.if quarter turn type locks are available for this machine buy those.they cost more but are a time saver ecspecially since you need to unlock 2 locks to get to the canisters for refilling and for the coinbox for the loot. the canisters interchange (like u turns) and that is handy. you should buy spare canisters in case one is broken into or damaged so the machine has as little down time as possible. I would also get a whole machine just for parts.buy them with the spill tray if you can.1800 doesn`t sell these machines anymore nor will sell you parts unless one of the previous machines owners bought it from them and gives u thier info,but there are tons available so it wont matter. I would start with 10-15 machines and see how you like vending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 candyman, I would suggest you not do anything tomorrow or next week. Spend the next several days reading in this forum as much as you possibly can. Since you don't have any machines I would especially suggest you spend alot of time reading the "Shop and Swap" section of the forum. There are two different areas, one is Ebay and the other is Craigslist. To give you an idea of what machines are really worth and what you should be paying just read lots of the ads. Never mind where or how old the ad might be. It will teach you what the machines should be worth. You can buy brand new machines in the boxes all the time from someone like yourself that spent way too much money and now wants out. Personally, I like U Turn machines and have a number of them. Most I have paid anywhere from $10 to $100 tops for 8 select machines in near perfect condition. Once you have gotten a bit of an education here in the forum then you'll be better prepared to buy machines. My suggestion is to buy used machines. Watch the local craigslist ads and when you see something that sounds good buy it. If you aren't sure what it's worth or if it's a decent machine ask a question here in the forum. Start with a few machines that you can buy for $50 to $100 each and start getting your feet wet. If you like it then just stick with the same plan and expand. If not, sell the used machines for the same thing you paid for them and you've lost nothing but gained some experience. Most important is you've still got the money in your bank account. If you let me know the area you live in I will try to post some used machines from that section of the country. Oh, and welcome to the forum. nam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman_1984 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 We live in the charlotte nc area. Thanks for all the help. Getting started soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEen Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 candyman, This listing has been up for a while but it's still there and it's in your neck of the woods: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/bfs/1127651299.html It's really seems like a good deal and might be a good way to get your feet wet. In fact, it's been 10 days, so he may even be willing to negotiate some just to get rid of them. Good luck, and welcome! Scott Edit: Oops, I thought Charlotte and Wake Forest were closer than they are. But I still think it'd be worth the drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 those big 8 select u turns are hard to find good locations for.it could take a while to find locations where you can justify haveing such a monster machine in. I like to have 1 inch toy capsules on the top and candy on the bottom with these machines.I own 3 now and they do well this way. it is hard to find 8 types of candy that will sell well before it spoils. I dont think you should start with those machines ,other machines are better and faster to service. the price is exceptionaly low at $36.37 each ,I wonder what condition they are in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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