Estimate the sales!

[AngryChris]

I have a prospective location that apparently wants a snack and soda machine.  The location in question is a budget motel.  It has about 75 rooms and in a B- neighborhood.  The nearest convenience store is the gas station that is within walking distance from the motel but you do have to cross the street to get there.  Other than that, you would have to drive a couple minutes any direction to get anything else and the nearest fast food is probably over 5 minutes away.

I am assuming that this hotel is going to attract non-business customers.  What do you think the sales would be?  I am guessing, without commission involved (which would affect sales prices) that this location would do about $5,000-$10,000/year in sales.  I have a much nicer hotel in a somewhat similar area that does $5k/year from snacks alone (15% commission) but they have a lobby and the vending machines are very close to the front desk.  The sales went from about $3,300/year to about $4,500/year when I replaced the snack machine and up to about $5,500 after adding a card reader to the newer machine.  At that location, the nearest store is only about 2 minutes away (driving) but you can walk to several stores and even walk to several restaurants.  Apparently, the clientele there is comprised of a lot of business travelers.

I was thinking about installing something like a bubble front 501e and pair it up with something a little rugged like an AP 112.  I get the impression that I shouldn't bother with a revision door because the door could literally get destroyed at some point anyway.  So on top of sales estimations, can anyone recommend a good tanky snack machine?  I can get a nice USI 3129 for $800 but I'm afraid it will get too beat up.  Might be worth it for the price though.

[orsd]

AP7600 with a UCB. Door gets destroyed? Get another 7600 for 200-300 and transplant the board over. Soda do a golpher old T series or something. Do a test run with cash and CC and CC only. If you don't see too much of a drop go to CC only. Or, ask the front desk if they require a CC or debit to rent a room. If so, go ahead and do CC only. If not I would try CC and cash.

[AngryChris]

7 hours ago, orsd said:

AP7600 with a UCB. Door gets destroyed? Get another 7600 for 200-300 and transplant the board over. Soda do a golpher old T series or something. Do a test run with cash and CC and CC only. If you don't see too much of a drop go to CC only. Or, ask the front desk if they require a CC or debit to rent a room. If so, go ahead and do CC only. If not I would try CC and cash.

I am considering cashless only.  What would you estimate sales to be?

[Snickers]

$50-75 a week gross sales between both machines my guess. 

[vendcobros]

Not worth it. You'll pay more repairing the machines from vandalism than you'll actually profit.

[Chard]

$100 a week is my estimate

expect vandalism

[flintflash]

I have a similar location and we do not have any vandalism.  Ours is located behind a Bob Evans restaurant and within walking distance of several other restaurants.  We average about $100/week out of the snack machine.  We have an AP112 and have had it there for 8 years.  If it is near the front desk vicinity, vandalism should hopefully be prevented. If it is on a different floor or hidden in a room, then yeah, you might have some issues.

[EddieMac]

We've had 2 motels in the past.  One was in a hallway.  Both machines were torn apart twice.  I just moved out.  

The other motel was run by a scammer.  I moved out of that one too.  I didn't have any vandalism there because he had cameras EVERYWHERE!!

[Vending Dude]

That brings up an interesting idea I haven't seen discussed here.  Does anyone mount a fake or unconnected camera to the top of their machines in riskier areas as a deterrent?