Purchasing a Las Vegas route

[RobertS]

I'm considering purchasing a vending route from this guy.  I live in Henderson, Nv.  This route in Las Vegas.  Does this seem like a good deal?  The company is named Rocket Vending and the seller claims $900 a week for only 6 hours of work and up to $3000 a week working longer hours. These numbers sound almost too good to be true, although keep in mind Vegas might have a bigger market for the vending machine industry, due to all the tourism.  
This is the add I saw for it on https://www.bizquest.com/business-for-sale/established-vending-machine-route/BW1595744/?q=cz0yMjYmbD1TMzAmbHR5cGU9NDAmbz0xJmk9MTA=&psn=2
His original asking price was $10,000 now it looks like the price has dropped to $5000.  
It's listing id number 1595744.

 

Business Description

-Turn-key vending route
-We supply you with brand-new machines under warranty, initial inventory, prime locations
-2 machines per location
-100% to 150% return on one machine first year, 1000% on other machine first year

Cash daily, earn from $200 to $600 per day
Cost includes new machines and start-up inventory with prime locations
Seller is trusted, licensed Las Vegas company- open 7 days
NO OBLIGATION CONSULTATION and free tours BEFORE you buy
60 Day trial period on all locations

work 3 hours one day a week and collect $450
expand the hours and locations and collect up to $3000 per week
Call anytime: 702-250-7403

[The Mage]

Looks like a classic BizOp to me.

You are not buying an established route if they are supplying you with brand new machines. That right there should be a red flag.

What kind of vending are they pushing? Are these bulk machines? Full line? Claw machines? Pinball? 

A classic BizOp will sell you machines at over-inflated prices, promise you the moon, locate those machines in areas at least as good as the bottom of the ocean, probably stop locating the machines after they get half of them located, and suddenly ignore your phone calls.

I believe I found their Facebook page, and they have what looks like an 1800 machine, with a cup dispenser on the side. Don't ever put cup dispensers on the side of your machines, and I believe 1800 is out of business. 

 

 

[AZVendor]

All Biz Ops are scams.  They are catering to your greed in money and ease of getting into business.  These are all red flags and your comment that it sounds too good to be true are well founded and that is red flag number one.  Don't look for any easy way to do this, it will always cost you way too much money in any industry.  Don't be a victim.  This and all businesses take hard work and lots of hours per week just to eke out a profit - if there is any at all.

[The Mage]

I've always recommended getting one or 2 machines, take them apart and put them back together if your doing bulk. Full line you do want to know the inside of the machine, and learn to fix it, but not take it apart unless you need to. Place it/them, then start figuring out how well they do, and how much you like vending. If it just doesn't work out for you, you aren't out as much, and don't have a bunch of brand new machines sitting in your garage. 

But you might find you can locate machines and make yourself take care of them fine, so you start expanding using the profit to help you expand. Expanding more slowly like this isn't just cheaper, it lets you learn without getting thrown in at the deep end, and getting overwhelmed. Then you grow as you get more efficient, and figure things out. This can be cheaper than spending $5 grand up front, and your profits can be plowed back into the business, giving you the choice of growing slowly with only the profits, or using your money to speed up the expansion.

Doing it this way is less risky, and when you are ready to use more of, or the rest of that money it will be on something you are familiar with. Instead of investing that money on something you hope would pay off, you would be investing it in something you are already experienced with, and that is a much lower risk.

[Southeast Treats]

If he is tying the income to hours with that much variation, he is a locator/ bizopp seller, not an established route.  Machines sell what they sell regardless of how many hours you work.  More machines = more sales (hopefully) = more hours to service = more income.  Sales per machine do not increase dramatically just because you visit them more often. 

And Vegas is a market similar to mine here in Florida, heavy on tourism/ service industry, and light on blue collar.  Tourism locations can be very good but they are unsteady over the long term.  You have to be prepared to lose accounts just because of ownership or brand changes over which you have no influence.