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WEIGHT Machines


rebelwithoutaclue

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I this might not fit the description of bulk vending but i respect the opinions of folks here.   Somebody wants to sell a exsisting route of approx 85 scales.  He says you only have to service them twice a year and they dont break down much. Claims they are profiting 16 grand annually. He wants approx 31 grand.   Personally i think the price is too high. I was thinking of looking at them seeing if they are in decent condition and counteroffering either 15-20 grand and seeing what happens.  What iare your opinions on these machines?

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How could you possibly make that kind of money only collecting every 6 months?  Without running any numbers or knowing what percentage they pay the machines would need to gross close to $200 every 6 months to make those numbers meaning there's way too much money sitting in them for too long.  You also know that would be the average so you'd have much more sitting in some of them.  They would need to be bolted down at the very least.  I would also not pay more than one year's proven gross, period.

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Thanks for the reply AZ. He did tell me that were bolted down and are extremey heavy . I would need some sort of books to see how they did finanacially. If they took in 16 grand profit but the years before took in 25-30 then why wouldnt i think they would take in 12 grand next year and even lower afterwards. I am also figuring the better locations i would have to service 4 times a year as you dont want to leave more then a few hundred dollars in there.  He told me the percentages are somewhere between 30-50 percent which i dont mind but would have to havea detailed organzized list of who gets what.    i would have to make my money back on this venture within a year and a half and i am going to add on a thousand or two and consider it misceleannous expenses such as one or 2 machines breaking down. parking meters. 2-3 machines changing owners or a place going out of business.  20 THOUSAND at the most if the mahines are in great condition and probably 15 or less or flat out no offer.   The owner said he is going backto school.  Now if he is staying local , is he getting rid of it? If he is moving out of state he has to get rid of it and it gives me bargaining power.

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I know a couple of people that have lots of scales. Both of these folks use imports that cost around $200 new. Battery life about 18months, cash boxes are large and they service about once a year. Locations vary in income of course but I think they were averaging about $200 a year, after refining the route.  I have seen new scales sold for over $1000 but as I noted the import cost was around $200. If you can get real verification of income (the Gross amount) you can do some real evaluation. I never pay any attention to "net" or "profit" they are meaningless because very business has a unique process that delvers different results.

I had the opportunity to buy a scale route once I bought cranes instead. If you are going to make an investment that big buy cranes or merchandisers.

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Someone was also offering me a small route of scales. They were "impulse scales" which are kind of pricey from what I see, but his numbers don't sound like what you mentioned. It was 50% commission and it was checked quarterly. I haven't finished that purchase because he's not in a huge rush, but I don't think he was making anywhere close to $200 a month.

These are all at truck stops, not sure where yours are, I read on this forum that some lower income areas do well with these in grocery stores or somewhere where people need to weigh luggage for trips. They do sound super low maintenance and pretty easy to service. 

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Be careful of Flying J truck stops, they were just bought into by Buffet. When his company bought Dairy Queen 20 years ago we lost a few locations when they booted the bulk. Don't know if that was company policy or we just had a nervous franchise owner...

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My apologies on the mixup of the amount of money taken in. He said they take in roughly 33 grand a year of which 30-50 percent goes to commissions and the profit per year of approx. 85 machines is around 16 grand. Which comes out to approx. 200 dollars a year for each machine. .  He told me that the machines vary greatly . From some that make 75 dollars in a year to others that profit at least a few hundred dollars. .  I have learned that whenever somebody gives me a figure  of profits even if they are honest , they fail to include miscellaneous expenses.   Example I am sure at least once or twice someone wanted the machines out and he had to hire an extra person to schlep the machine.  The machines have to be maintained etc. ill FIGURE HIS 16 GRAND profit even if telling the truth is12- 13 grand. and that's while getting a good vibe.  

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On 10/13/2017 at 9:32 AM, rebelwithoutaclue said:

My apologies on the mixup of the amount of money taken in. He said they take in roughly 33 grand a year of which 30-50 percent goes to commissions and the profit per year of approx. 85 machines is around 16 grand. Which comes out to approx. 200 dollars a year for each machine. .  He told me that the machines vary greatly . From some that make 75 dollars in a year to others that profit at least a few hundred dollars. .  I have learned that whenever somebody gives me a figure  of profits even if they are honest , they fail to include miscellaneous expenses.   Example I am sure at least once or twice someone wanted the machines out and he had to hire an extra person to schlep the machine.  The machines have to be maintained etc. ill FIGURE HIS 16 GRAND profit even if telling the truth is12- 13 grand. and that's while getting a good vibe.  

You also have to buy batteries for the scales I was looking at. I think once a year it takes like 4 or 8 D cell batteries. 

On 10/10/2017 at 1:11 PM, musser said:

I had some impulse equipment once. Ok until a board went bad. The boards were very expensive. Is impulse still in business? 

I'm not sure if they're still in business i'd have to call, their website is still up though. 

 

 

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I  just called impulse the other day. Their tech guy Jose seemed helpful in his advice . I am still unsure about the venture.  What I have done in the past in usiness dealings is call 1-3 months later and if they tell me its a great offer ill point out that they are not getting any other offers. It sounds obnoxious but it cuts to the chase.

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