new locating service

[natalie]

Sweet Water Vending & Locating Service

My name is  Natalie, I am a full time bulk vendor and now a locator also... I been a vendor for 10+ years I just expanded into the locating business this year. I have always located my own machines for myself, I feel that it is a void of locators in the business... especially one`s that do not charge upfront fees. I am looking to create long lasting relationships, I have a great system.. I will give a vendor 1 - 3  locations with no deposits. Vendor has to fill out a contract before any work starts. I will offer replacements on any locations. All I ask is that the vendor allow the machine to sit for 45 days. If the location is unprofitable I will replace. The machine has to be removed first !! I will give the vendor 5 business days to install , then I will need to be paid via paypal. I only do  1- 3 machines to start per vendor. Locations are not that easy to get... my prices are reasonable as follows..

• $25  w/ 30  day guarantee
• $30  w/ 60  day guarantee
• $35  w / 90 day guarantee
• $40  w / 120 day guarantee
• $45  w/  150 day guarantee
• $50  w /  one year guarantee

** This prices are for  1- 3 head bulk machines, please email for prices on uturns,sticker machines,racks, spirals, buzz bite , energy balls, or altoids.

 

** I do not do any soda or snack machines !!

 

** I only accept paypal as payment

 

My agreement with the vendor is that I am only paid in full once the machine is installed. The vendor agreement to me is that they will try the location for atleast 1 1/2  months because they jump to judgement on a location.

 

** No work starts until my agreement is filled out

  

 My time frame for getting 3 locations is usually  5 - 7 days. So this is a good opportunity for those who do not trust giving out the money first. Please email me  at sweetwatervending09@gmail.com

[caserri]

Natalie,

Welcome to the board, it's a pleasure to have you here. Allow me to be your first VENDiscuss customer.

Let me know what you need from me to get started.

Steve

[natalie]

Thanks for the reply Steve, I have been on your forum and I feel it is fair. I am just trying to generate a customer base. I am willing to give honest vendors 1 - 3 bulk locations at a time with no deposits. All I ask is that they pay me, I feel you should know what a machine does after 45 - 60 days and I will replace. So I feel I am being fair ...

[G-man422]

Welcome Natalie,.   You have an Email.

[alyssamma]

Natalie, I sent you an email too, but am repeating some of it here as I feel others will have the same Q.

Can you explain your guarantee? For example, you said to wait 45 days, but the $25 price only has a 30 day guarantee.

Also, what do the 60, 90, etc. day guarantees mean?

Thanks,

Kevin

[T BIRD]

Its good to have you here Natalie.

[natalie]

We will replace if not earning the national average within the guarantee. The machine has to be removed before we can do a replacement.

[Jax Snacks]

Welcome Natalie. Does the guarantee deal with getting evicted by an offsite owner or regional manager? Is that what the different time brackets are for - getting kicked out or the business closing down in those time periods? Thanks for the info and all the best in your new venture.

Jax

[alyssamma]

Natalie, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd like to give you some constructive critisism.

People here are desparately looking for a good locator - myself included - so you can get a lot of work here.

I think you need to get all of your ducks in a row and then make a single post with all of the info in it.

Please...

1) Give *specific* dollar amounts for "not performing". Don't just say "national avg".

2) Explain exactly what your replacement policy is. Like Jax said, how do you cover getting kicked out, or the business closing?

3) What exactly is the "vendor agreement" you mention?

4) How long do we have to ask for a replacement? If after 60 days we realize the machine isn't doing well, for example, can we get a replacement or does it have to be 45 days exactly?

5) I would strongly recommend looking at Kickstart's and Midwest's websites. They have a lot of good info there and answer these questions.

6) Put together a pamphlet/Word doc and post it here so we can all see. Look at getting a website as soon as possible.

7) You say only 1-3 sites initially w/5-7 day turnaround. You have 4-5 people already expressing an interest. You'll get a lot more. Can you handle that much business?

Again, don't take these items as negative. Your prices look good. I'd just rather see you succeed and get positive reviews instead of fail and get negative reviews. Like I said, we are all looking for good locators.

Thanks.

Kevin

[nepavend]

Natalie,

Welcome to Vendiscuss!

I appreciate that you are a bulk vendor yourself and understand the business.  Your prices are indeed fair and the turnaround time, if you are in fact able to deliver on that consistently is fair also.  I have never used a locator and have located or purchased all my locations from existing vendors, same as you up to this point.

I would like to experiment with some locator-generated locations to speed up production of new spots in the very near future.

I, however, have the same concerns as Alyssamma when it comes to the details on the guarantees.  I do really like the concept of the tiered guarantee pricing, it doesn't come off as bogus or anything of that nature, very reasonable.  No deposits is also a strong point here which most members will like.  I myself would probably take the $25 offer you have here and not worry about many of the other issues that come with using locators, just get them in quantity and move non-performers around myself, whether or not a replacement guarantee is in effect.

For your other 99.5% of your future customers however, I would also like clarification as to having us keep a spot for 45 days and only offer a 30-day guarantee at your lowest tier.  That will generate confusion among customers.  Confusion = lower sales for you.  The best thing to do sometimes with any business model is to keep it simple silly (KISS) 

Under her Q#3, I am assuming that is the agreement between myself as the customer and you as the locator?

Once again, welcome to the board, I hope you succeed in the startup of your locating arm of your business.  You will also find many good people who can help you along with something that you will easily miss being the only person up to this point who looked at your ideas and plans, unless I am otherwise mistaken. 

[T BIRD]

I am not sure how to say what I am going to say here but here it goes.  It's like I am feeling we are a bunch of hungry sharks looking for a good locator.  The problem is there is so many of us that I am sure it can get overwhelming for a locator.  Not sure I have an answer to the concerns about this but I guess one thing the locator must do is put limits and know the limit of how much business they can handle.

I wish there was one person assigned by us who can communicate with the locator also about questions etc.  OK.....I am done.

[alyssamma]

T-Bird...very funny

To me this is very interesting because even people who use the "good" locators (e.g., Kickstart, Midwest) are looking for new locators.

Kevin

[natalie]

Everybody out there I will stick to the $25 to start !! let machine sit for 45 days and if it earns under $20 I will replace 1 time for FREE.

[alyssamma]

Natalie, again, trying to offer constructive critisism

1) I think your "original" price of $40 is more than fair and you will not lose any potential clients because of it.

2) I am worried you will be swamped with requests. I would suggest taking a couple of clients at first, letting them write reviews here, and then growing accordingly.

2a) FYI, I would be happy to be a first customer and am willing to pay $40/location.

3) Please look at Midwest and Kickstart sites. They replace only if the location is making less than $15/mo.

4) The problem with $20 is that it is the avg. That means some locs will be low and others will be high. By saying your *min* is the avg, you are setting yourself up for failure.

I really want you to succeed at this...we need more good locators.

Good luck.

Kevin

[Beer980]

So what you are saying T Birid is we need a Locator Liaison for all the sharks circling the bait. Let's see if Natalie addresses all the questions first. As far as a web site goes she could fire one up pretty quick through the site and host it here if Steve jumped on it. It is true everyone loves their favorite locator until another one comes along but don't overwhelm her please if you want to keep another good one for the group. You know we can send someone out of business quick by dumping all the potential business in her lap at once. She may even want to throw out a free location to our Spring Fever fundraising contest as an example of her locationg skills.

[BluePlate]

Wow guys, sounds like we need a Locator/Vendor Bill of Rights;)

[Beer980]

Sounds like we got our Locator Liaison here with BluePlate.

[G-man422]

I have just been informed via Email that Natalie has had an "Emergency" come up and will have to put our locations on hold.  Just wanted to update everyone per her request.

[alyssamma]

Since she is gone for a while, I'll post a copy of her vending agreement...

----------------

Please fill out and give me 5 - 7 days to do your order

Sweet Water Vending & Location Service

This agreement is between the locator & the vendor listed below. The locator will provide between 1 -3 locations without any deposit required. The vendor must inform the locator of the exact date they will install the machine because the payment listed below will be due on that day, NO EXCEPTIONS !! the locator does not allow a vendor to REJECT any location. The only exceptions is if it was in the wrong city/town. The locator will honor the guarantee listed below, and will relocate a machine if it makes under the national average of $7 per head. The vendor has the responsibilty of providing via email on a weekly basics the income of the machine. If vendor does not no replacements will be issued. All payments will be paid through paypal only, if locator is not paid on the day of installation a $5 per day fee will be applied. If locator is not paid within 1 week the locator will have machines removed. If any late fees occur they must be paid before any more locations are issued !!

NO EXCEPTIONS !!The locator will also have machines removed if not paid at all !! so it is very important to pay for the locations. Locator will do follow ups on all locations and if vendor said business would not accept and they really wanted the machine service & guarantees will be VOIDED !! locator will not replace any locations due to poor service by the vendor. Locator will only replace a location 1 time for FREE. MACHINE(S) HAVE TO BE REMOVED FROM A LOCATION BEFORE ANY REPLACEMENTS ARE ISSUED !!MACHINES HAVE TO SIT FOR 45 DAYS BEFORE A REPLACEMENT IS ISSUED !! vendor is not responsible for a location if the business denies placement. I appreciate your business and look forward to a long relationship if we follow the terms of this contract.

By filling out this agreement, vendor fully understands the terms and will abide by this contract

· Vendors name :

· Company name :

· Address:

· City:

· State:

· Zip:

· Telephone :

· Email address:

· Best day & time to reach you ?

· Type of machine ?

· Charity that sponsors your machines ?

· Price per machine / guarantee ?

· City / towns to find locations ?

*** Locator only excepts paypal and will send a invoice on date machines will be installed.

Please fill in name ______________

Please fill in date you filled out agreement ______

I look forward to working with you !

Natalie Gugina

[antoniocinisi]

I completly disagree with removeing a machine before relocateing it.midwest made me put a machine in a location after I agreed to the location but before seeing it.I told them it would be a dud after I went there to see it but they insisted since I said yes to it.

the machine made 11 dollars in 3 weeks.not even worth the gas to go out there not to mention my time and wear and tear on my truck.

when they do find a replacement location hopefully the machines will have enough money to pay for my gas to go get it.

it`ll be a double whammy to the vendor that will need a replacement if the machine has to be removed first.

 

[alyssamma]

Well, I think the biggest problem is that you need to provide a weekly report for the machine.

Here is what I told her:

Natlie, I am alyssamma on the VENDiscuss boards.

A few comments about your contract...

0) This should be a Word doc instead of an email. No way to "fill out" an email.

1) You have "basics" instead of "basis" below.

2) Having to service a machine weekly for 45 days is really not realistic.

3) Your contract comes across rather harsh. I would remove the exclamation points and all caps. I understand your worries about being burned. However, the initial business you get will be from VENDiscuss - I think you can trust us

4) You can't have a blanket statement about rejecting locations. You might find a location for me where I already have a machine, for example (or had one and pulled it do to poor performance).

5) Again, take 5min to look at Kickstart and Midwest. I think you'll find what is on their pages helpful.

I can't sign this agreement the way it is unfortunately. I would love to work with you, though, and offer any help I can.

Thanks.

Kevin

[Jax Snacks]

Well the old saying, "Actions speak louder than words" applies here. It is the actions of both parties that will create a lasting and long term relationship. The words on a contract will not accomplish that! That's a lot of harsh wording for just a few locations. Let's not turn this into a big legal fiasco.

There are many sleazy locators AND many sleazy vendors. To some extent, neither side really trusts the other and their objectives are very different. But IMO the best way to build this relationship is to start with small orders and have each side evaluate the other to see if they wish to continue. If one side screws the other, a small order would not be a significant financial loss. There is risk in all transactions, especially when new parties get together. But after all this is business and there is no risk free transaction (unless you have an insurance policy - maybe AIG will write one for us).

What I am trying to say is to always start all new relationships with small orders (and stay small for a while if that helps you sleep better at night). And if doesn't work out, well you just have to get over it, move on and hope that the other party makes good on promises made. The small amount of money lost will be a lesson learned. The key is to not have a catastrophic loss.

We encourage vendors to post reviews on locators. For the preferred locators, we should also allow the locators to post reviews on the vendors as well! There are two sides to every story and it would only be fair. We need to keep BOTH sides honest.  Just a few comments on making an imperfect situation a bit better.

Jax

[nepavend]

I received the same email, then when I replied it came back as a bad email address.

[nepavend]

Very true, Kevin.  I emailed her much the same and ever took the liberty of organizing it a little bit better minus grammar and punctuation errors, which she agreed to.

I also informed her of much the same concerns, especially since I am a law firm employee, I am more of a stickler for detail like that regarding contracts and such. 

[nepavend]

Perfect Jax!  POTD!