GumballDragon Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Last week, I walked into one of my locations to service the machine. First thing I see is the manager, so I immediately greet him, and then I turned to my right to walk toward the machine, and it was gone. I turn back to the manager, and I say, 'did you guys move my machine???'...he replies 'no, we didn't touch it'...I look over again, then he comes running over, and we start searching all around for this machine, and then we realize, ITS STOLEN. I've been bulk vending gumball machines for 12 months, with 100 locations, and first time it happened to me. I was royally pissed. *Has this happened to everyone? If so, how often does it usually happen? *Do most of you secure your machine with anything, such as bicycle lock, or cheap plastic zip ties? *Who would walk out with a 25 cent gumball machine?? *I'm considering buying bulk gps microchips to install inside the machines now, so next time it happens, I can track these savage mother f*8ckers down. What is your perspective on this idea? *Should I obtain a police report? *Is business insurance worth it, for these machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehehe Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Police Report: of course I don't know how much those microchips cost but is there a monthly/annual fee? how are they powered? how much room do they take up? how close do you have to be for it to register/locate? I can't imagine it would actually be worth it for every machine you have... seriously though... how much did they actually steal from you? $100/200 (machine, lock, stand, product)... money in the machine is irrelevent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GumballDragon Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 The machine was 80.00, 15.00/month location, on a 2 month servicing cycle, so approx 30.00, therefore, total loss = 110.00. I'm not concerned about the loss; I'm more concerned with why and who would steal it; and it seems I'm more anxious to know 'who' stole it. Hence, why I'm considering a tracker. There are an assortment of different trackers I can get from China, that are very inexpensive, and I would only place them into locations where people could 'possibly' walk out with my machines. Most of my locations, it would be way too difficult to walk out with, but there are a few locations where they could walk right out. I'm estimating 10-15 trackers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehehe Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 got a link for those trackers, got me curious about them? fill out the police report, see if the location will place the machine somewhere else in the store/business and move on, trackers just sound like an unnecessary added expense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GumballDragon Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 Hi Mehehe, Thanks for the advice on the police report, and I agree with your added input about unnecessary expense on the trackers. I keep thinking about it, and was initially planning to do a bulk purchase (acting on impulse), but as I calm down, I'm thinking maybe I'll just get 5-10 of them. Fortunately, my wife is in China right now visiting her parents, so if I do decide to get them, she can simply buy them over there and come home with them, and save on the shipping; so in my case, it would be ok. I'm going to send you 3 links from where I'm searching misc trackers. There is an assortment, and China is the place to buy such gadgets, because they are cheap, and good vendors will give you a quality product. My wife will test a few of them out this week, and once she locates a good one, i'll give you more information. Here are a few links from the beginning of my search, but as mentioned previously, I'll have better information for you this week. https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/cheap-gps-tracking-chip.html https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-micro-gps-tracker.html https://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/micro+gps+tracker.html If you have any locations that are sketchy, or some where the staff tends to leave the customers without supervision, the tracker 'might' be a good idea. That way, we can get a good sense as to who is stealing these machines. It could be an employee; it could be a disgruntled competitor; or it could simply be some idiot acting on impulse, who is dumb enough to think a gumball machine has more than 500.00 in there. Im on a mission to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Shipping on small electronics from china is stupid cheap, so not worth it to have someone bring it back. I've gotten stuff with free ship from china cheap enough that I couldn't even ship it in the US for that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Are there other machines there? If it was another vendor I wonder if they'll try to solicit the location. I like the gps idea. But probably the best defense is what you seem to be doing, that is making sure the place knows you. Out of curiosity what kind of machine was it? It hasn't happened to me yet but I only have a handful of locations at this point. It would be easy enough to do though. Especially if the machine is right near the door. I was at a restaurant a few weeks ago & as I was leaving there was a single machine right next to the door. I thought how easy it would be to just walk out w/ it. Who would notice or even question it? Someone might even hold the door for me. Made me realize not to put machines right by the door if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSVEND Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Theft and vandalism is the cost of doing business. I’ve had MANY machines stolen in all my years in this business. Just had one stolen last week. Most are inside jobs.... an employee thinks the machine would look cool in his man cave. A lot are drug addicts looking for a quick buck so they can get their next fix. Machine get smashed open, money stolen. I’ve become immune to it now. Best to cable lock machines if you have any doubts of it being stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 3 minutes ago, SSVEND said: Theft and vandalism is the cost of doing business. I’ve had MANY machines stolen in all my years in this business. Just had one stolen last week. Most are inside jobs.... an employee thinks the machine would look cool in his man cave. A lot are drug addicts looking for a quick buck so they can get their next fix. Machine get smashed open, money stolen. I’ve become immune to it now. Best to cable lock machines if you have any doubts of it being stolen. I agree completely and have had lots of machines stolen over the years as well. Many of the thefts come from businesses abruptly closing, packing everything up (including my machine) and disappearing into the night. I will do some initial follow up and occasionally I find them but it isn't cost effective for me to spend a bunch of time trying to track down the missing machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSVEND Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Absolutely agree. You learn to move on. Yes, sometimes they pop up somewhere along the way. Sometimes years later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcdivine Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Probably a kid did it. When I was younger I had a friend steal one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GumballDragon Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 @Boris The machine was a smaller model single head gumball machine. It was my 5th location, and was servicing it since I got started. Never had an issue in there until recently; we were ALL shocked (the employees and the manager); it was an auto shop (one of the few auto shops i haven't pulled), nobody could believe it; in fact half of them didnt even know there was a gumball machine in there, but they ALL know now lol, so who knows..maybe it helped me gain enough publicity to the point where sales will double? lets see. BTW, boris where are you located? **Thanks everyone for the input. This is all very good information, and appreciate all of you for taking the time to inform me of your experiences and perspectives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrotthead Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 20 hours ago, SSVEND said: Theft and vandalism is the cost of doing business. I’ve had MANY machines stolen in all my years in this business. Just had one stolen last week. Most are inside jobs.... an employee thinks the machine would look cool in his man cave. A lot are drug addicts looking for a quick buck so they can get their next fix. Machine get smashed open, money stolen. I’ve become immune to it now. Best to cable lock machines if you have any doubts of it being stolen. Which locks do you buy? Link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSVEND Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Camlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartToys Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I'm fairly new to vending, but I am well versed with technology (like those GPS modules). Those modules consume enough power that you'd be changing AA batteries almost every visit. The problem is the modules work well when they are outdoors (even in a trunk or under-body of a car/truck) but not so well indoors. So you will see your signal up to the building (approximate) where the machine was taken, but not further. When the module cannot lock in a signal, it keeps searching. GPS modules consume 1-2 A of current when they are seeking, which you'd find your device doing most of the time. Given an average AA at 1200mAh and you'd be using 4 to get your 6V stepped down to 5, you'd have 80-90% efficiency at best, so out of 4800mAh you could squeeze 4000, at even 1Ah your battery pack would be drained after 4 hours. Some manufacturers (not the chepo Chinese ones) include sleep timer cycles (100ms on, 7900 ms off) and some designs to delay retying of the signal search based on previous failed attempts, but you'll have to make sure the product has the feature. From a data cost, depending on how you'd go about it, A GPS signal with envelope would take ~2.5 kB (unless you're doing SSL which would take ~6kB), so you should plan accordingly. For example, if you're using unsecured reporting and have a report every 15 minutes, that's 4 times an hour x24 hours in a day x30 days in a month x2.5kB or roughly 7MB of data. SIM from a place like Hologram.io can be as alittle as $2 - $5 per machine per month. * statistics are from personal experience with GPS modules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanH Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 I don't know much about trackers but i 3 Would only do it on a very high performance location, not the one you are talking about. I would put your signature on the bottom of the machine do If you think you see it later on you can check the bottom and take it back if its yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendingfora cause Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 Sorry to hear about your loss. It's a risk we all take...but seriously, who does that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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