space city Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Hello to everyone at VENDiscuss ! A little background: I am looking at starting/buying a bulk route in the Houston area. I own a retail store in a Houston suburb (Spring area) for the last 15 years, and in two years my long term lease is up. My new landlord has already indicated my lease will probably double + on renewal; hence looking for a new business opportunity. I am not a "stranger" to the vending business, as I owned a full line vending company from 1976 - 1983 ( 212 pieces of equipment - 26 locations - $ 860,000. a year when sold.) I grew up in New Orleans and my father owned an amusement company (jukeboxes, pinballs, pool tables, cigarette machines, and amusement games from 1950 to 1997 when he retired. I worked for him thru jr. high and high school. When I owned my vending company I came across two different business opportunities during that time, both of them interesting but at the wrong time in my life : a bulk vending route (384 machines) and an honor box route(s). ARA services in Houston had an honor box route - 450 boxes and offered it to me FREE, if I would just take it over; their regional guy just didn't want the hassle of running a full-line vending company and a honor box route(s). The second opportunity was the 384 machine bulk route; I looked at it very closely as the numbers were very good and it was very well setup and CHEAP ! Most of the machines were Oak and Northwestern and were set up on a 30 day run cycle and the business was doing about $ 40,000 @ year. He was asking $ 5,000. cash and would throw in a 5 year old chevy van into the deal (this was in 1981). Again I passed on it ,and referred it to a friend who was a full line vendor; he bought it for his high school son and they ran it for 6 years...did quite well too. I never forgot the business and always kept it in the back of my mind as a "future thing to do". Next item - Question for Members: I have run across a number of 1800vend triple head machines for sale in Texas. I realize that most of these were bought in biz/op deals for way to much money. Generally they are reselling here in Texas for $100. to $150. each. From what I have read here at VENDiscuss so far, they appear to be an excellent machine for both service and durability.....am I right ? Any comments would be appreciated ! ! Thanks...... Neil Surgi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Neil, Welcome to the board. Great introduction! I have heard many good things about the 1800 machines. They appear to be quality built and easy to service. We have several vendors onboard who run these machines so I'm sure you will get the lowdown from them. You may also want to check out the equipment review section. I'm certain there is a review on them there. Also, feel free to repost your question in the bulk section as this forum is not viewed by everyone. Most of our members tend to hang out in the bulk section exclusively. Once again, Welcome! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Neil, welcome to the best vending forum in the world IMO. I use the 1800's and love them. I can product in less then a minute because of the canisters. The biggest down side is finding parts, candy wheel, canisters etc. Unless your a biz/op customer you can't purchase from the company. Or in my case the person I bought from called them and told them I had bought the business. I can get some replacement parts but they are very expensive. I bought 2 candy wheels for 40 bucks, after I place the order I found 5 on ebay for 20 which included shipping. Anyway I think these are great machines but I only have this brand. I'm sure you will find a wealth of information on here.Good luck in you new ventures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
space city Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Thank You for the info ! I am finding these in the Houston area for approximately $ 100.00 to $150.00 per machine; some are still in the box - never opened (biz/op bought). I looked at the machines and that seems like a fair price..especially at $ 100.00 a machine ? Your comments on the price.....does this seem a fair price ? TKS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Welcome and check craigslist too.I have some of the 1-800 but I paid $50 each for them as an example. You may want to consider some doubles in case you get some smaller locations that can't suppot a triple. Ask less for these and get a decent deal. http://houston.craigslist.org/for/1069862917.html You could put this one in your place right now. http://houston.craigslist.org/bfs/1057663697.html Offer them maybe $75 each and see if they bite here. http://houston.craigslist.org/for/1053365564.html You could offer them $1200 here and see how bad they want out. http://houston.craigslist.org/for/1050102597.html These don't have the removable canisters but a decent deal as well. http://houston.craigslist.org/bfs/1049602162.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Neil, I paid 60 for each of my 1800's they were NIB. If they are asking 100 offer 60 each. You never know until you ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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