VendingKingllc Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Hi all, As you guessed it I am new to the Vending Industry and this website/forum. I must say that after 7 days of lurking around on here this has by far been one of the best forums I have ever seen. Everyone seems very close, personable, and willing to help each other. As far as my goals, I am looking at starting out small and ramping up full scale once I learn the inside and outs of this industry, etc. My goal is to start with my 17 small honor boxes and then move into a mix of boxes and bulk. I am fortunate enough to have both myself, my wife, and my mom and dad as "free help" which will help me propel this quicker than others I have read. Anyways, I cant wait to start contributing and learning more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Welcome! Honor Boxes are the perfect start. So easy to place, and they pair well with basically every other form of vending; it’s way easier to sell someone on a gumball, soda or pretty much any machine when they’re already getting a hassle free vending service from you. I compiled a couple tips on honor box placement scripts here: If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer, though I’m relatively new to Honor Boxes myself. I hope you find great success, Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKingllc Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Wow Benjamin thank you so much! Exactly what I mentioned earlier when I said how kind and friendly everyone was here. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the Charity Boxes (I will be using the nicer Acrylic ones), but do you by chance have any experience in bulk? I do have a few questions on this type of vending that I would love to pick someones brain on. If not no worries. Thanks again! Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 1 minute ago, VendingKingllc said: Wow Benjamin thank you so much! Exactly what I mentioned earlier when I said how kind and friendly everyone was here. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the Charity Boxes (I will be using the nicer Acrylic ones), but do you by chance have any experience in bulk? I do have a few questions on this type of vending that I would love to pick someones brain on. If not no worries. Thanks again! Ryan I’ve haven’t yet ventured into the bulk side of things, so all I could do is share tips I’ve read here, lol. But there are those much more knowledgeable than I around who could hopefully help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 4 minutes ago, VendingKingllc said: Wow Benjamin thank you so much! Exactly what I mentioned earlier when I said how kind and friendly everyone was here. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the Charity Boxes (I will be using the nicer Acrylic ones), but do you by chance have any experience in bulk? I do have a few questions on this type of vending that I would love to pick someones brain on. If not no worries. Thanks again! Ryan If you wind up running bulk alongside honor, be sure to let me know how it goes. That’s my planned direction once I get my honor box starting finances sorted out. I know it works in theory but would love to hear from someone who has done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKingllc Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Ah I see ok thanks! That my be my ultimate plan on some accounts after a few months, but not for every location. The problem with bulk is it is much more $$ to start out thus your ROI is longer to recover. I feel that if you had about a 40-50% bulk to every honor box it would be a good ratio and really help make some extra money. Bulk appears good because you can wait longer in-between fill ups, but again $150 a machine vs $30 for a box is a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 9 minutes ago, VendingKingllc said: Ah I see ok thanks! That my be my ultimate plan on some accounts after a few months, but not for every location. The problem with bulk is it is much more $$ to start out thus your ROI is longer to recover. I feel that if you had about a 40-50% bulk to every honor box it would be a good ratio and really help make some extra money. Bulk appears good because you can wait longer in-between fill ups, but again $150 a machine vs $30 for a box is a huge difference. Sounds like we’re basically planning the same thing (except I also have some full line machines). It'll be interesting to compare notes from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKingllc Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Haha yeah, once I get setup I will be more than happy to share back in the Honor Box section. I was looking at Full Line, but the size, price, not knowing how to fix, etc all scare me. In my eyes I would rather be simple, make a little bit on a lot of locations, and then the good locations grow into Bulk. I think I do have one advantage though that I have lived in the same area for 20+ years, know every street, strip center like the back of my hand, have a wife who stays home with 2 retired parents and a brother all willing to help once I ramp up operation. In addition my community is still building like crazy, so I hope to have a good shot at getting in early with a new strip center. Do you like Full Line? What are your experiences thus far? Any issues with the aforementioned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 1 hour ago, VendingKingllc said: Haha yeah, once I get setup I will be more than happy to share back in the Honor Box section. I was looking at Full Line, but the size, price, not knowing how to fix, etc all scare me. In my eyes I would rather be simple, make a little bit on a lot of locations, and then the good locations grow into Bulk. I think I do have one advantage though that I have lived in the same area for 20+ years, know every street, strip center like the back of my hand, have a wife who stays home with 2 retired parents and a brother all willing to help once I ramp up operation. In addition my community is still building like crazy, so I hope to have a good shot at getting in early with a new strip center. Do you like Full Line? What are your experiences thus far? Any issues with the aforementioned? I like full line but have had issues with location placement. I feel like I got a handle on everything except that part of the business (probably because I’m not a very good salesman). Honor placement is so easy in comparison; the other day it was every 2 to 3 businesses I visited that I placed. I currently have 1 full size snack and 4 soda machines. 2 of which are working 100% and are great. So I’m still new to things (though, like you, this forum has been a long time inspiration for me). They are heavy and big, REALLY heavy and big. But not completely unmanageable. I like the pickup truck method of moving personally. You pull out the compressor, tip the machine onto the tailgate, pull the truck forward a bit and heave-ho it into the bed, on it’s back. (Pick up a few pallet sheets of cardboard from Sams Club water section, they help a lot.) They don’t have to cost too much if you go used. I contacted a local vending company that is switching over to coke franchise bit by bit and they gave me some really good deals on awesome equipment. You just have to dig and be patient waiting for the deals. Once you have the soda machine placed, I feel like it’s so much easier to service and do profits/loss on. For some reason the uniformity of cans and bottles soothes my ocd mind, lol. I’m mechanically minded so I don’t worry about the machines breaking really, beyond the expense. When I bought them none of them were working, but (with the help of the folks here) I’ve been able to get 3 of them fixed completely. The other two I just haven’t gotten around to. Sorry for the rambling response there. All in all, I don’t have nearly as much experience as others on here, but I’ll do my best to help out where I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMD Snacks Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 On 8/9/2018 at 2:37 PM, VendingKingllc said: Wow Benjamin thank you so much! Exactly what I mentioned earlier when I said how kind and friendly everyone was here. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the Charity Boxes (I will be using the nicer Acrylic ones), but do you by chance have any experience in bulk? I do have a few questions on this type of vending that I would love to pick someones brain on. If not no worries. Thanks again! Ryan Welcome. Charity boxes in my opinion are great if you have time, patience, and quantity. I tried 50 and have 4 left at decent locations. Sold the rest, didn't have time to keep relocating and there's a guy in my area who has literally thousands of boxes all over the state. Didn't want to compete. I do all bulk and am slowly going to add some full line within the next year, and I'd say bulk is easier for me than honor boxes because if the location lasts past the first couple of collections, it normally can last for years. Also my honor boxes had way too much theft and I don't have time to keep track of all that. But I will say Bhumphrey does well in the honor box section, be sure to follow him, he's doing snack honor boxes, and seems to be killing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKingllc Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 1 minute ago, AMD Snacks said: Welcome. Charity boxes in my opinion are great if you have time, patience, and quantity. I tried 50 and have 4 left at decent locations. Sold the rest, didn't have time to keep relocating and there's a guy in my area who has literally thousands of boxes all over the state. Didn't want to compete. I do all bulk and am slowly going to add some full line within the next year, and I'd say bulk is easier for me than honor boxes because if the location lasts past the first couple of collections, it normally can last for years. Also my honor boxes had way too much theft and I don't have time to keep track of all that. But I will say Bhumphrey does well in the honor box section, be sure to follow him, he's doing snack honor boxes, and seems to be killing it. AMD, thanks. My goal is the small Acrylic Candy boxes even though I have read many people successful in the honor boxes with bigger items to me its just harder to manage and prepare. I have in my mind a really good system in place. Once i determine it works I will be sure to share it on this forum in the appropriate thread. My goal is to have somewhere around 2k by next July. My goal is to have my dad and I running sales all day long while my wife and my mom run route collections all day long. My system should allow them to have a driver and a "runner" and be able to collect ~75-100 boxes a day and likewise with us selling by having a driver and a "runner". The final piece is that my brother is certified within UPS logistics software and will help us optimize our routes accordingly each and every day. One thing that does scare me is the turnover. I have heard and read mixed results. I figure every year a 20% loss if I were to do no more selling whatsoever. I would imagine that would eventually plateau; however my biggest fear isn't losing accounts over time, its the fact that once you lost an account you will need to go further and further away from "home" in order to begin collecting. Five years from now if I were to do this full time I don't want to be driving 3 hours to collect hahaha. Unfortunately I think no matter how good service or friendships you make eventually you will get kicked out with just an honor box, which is why my plan B "backup plan" is to place Bulk in 5 of 10 locations. My thoughts are it may be harder for them to kick my honor box out if I am doing a great job on bulk in there as well. I could be completely wrong though! I also feel it would be an easier sale of asking for both. If they say they don't have the space then I can always take the bulk offering away and go honor box only or visa versa depending on where space is limited (counter vs floor). Part of me thinks that vending is rocket science; however I think if you want to be successful and good at it then its pretty darn close . I will be sure to follow Bhumphrey, the more I can learn the better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMD Snacks Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Plans are good, and vending in principle isn't hard at all. The factor that separates all the people who see us vending from people actually vending is really just putting in the work. This business really is the more you put in the more you get out. But time will show you more than anything I can say, your plan is a good one to me, and as time goes you'll see if you can stick with it or have to slightly modify it. Really depends on your area and determination, what works for one guy in one place, wouldn't work for the same guy in another place. Your plan to keep things simple and grow as you need is pretty much the best one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.