Newbie in California needing advice!

[malaea]

Hello!

I'm new to the whole vending world and in my research efforts, I've unfortunately come to a place of  "information overload".  My concerns/questions are pretty basic, but I have gotten so many conflicting stories from companies and websites, I've decided to see what help I can get here. 

I'm a single mother of 3 and I was thinking about using vending as a way of getting some supplemental income.   I'd like to start fairly small because I don't have a lot of money to invest at first, and I'd like to test the waters before diving in full force.  I found a company online that deals with "charity vending" and I can buy 5 triple head machines for $1700, which includes a free route locator.  My understanding is that I will get the 5 machines and they provide the locations to put  my machines. They will also hook me up with the charity.  They supposedly "guarantee" these routes, which they say means that if I don't do well there, they'll provide me with another location.  They also said that because this is "charity" vending, I was saving on having to pay rents to the locations and that it helps me during tax time. 

I've read mostly that I shouldn't buy new machines, but I worry about getting a used one that is faulty.  I've read good things about the way the newer ones are built more dependably and  "user-friendly", with less worry about breakage.

Is "charity vending" really the way to go or is it not all it's cracked up to be?  

This offer from this company sounds appealing in so many ways, but I'm skeptical, any advice?  Is there a lot of "fine print" that I'm not thinking of?  I hestitate paying that large amount of money, but it sounds good to me that I would be 1) getting new machines that I could trust, 2) getting "guaranteed" locations and 3) not having to pay rents or fees to the locations where my machines are.

I'm very hesitant with so many scams out there, but I don't want to lose out on what might be a good thing.   

Thanks in advance for any input!!

[malaea]

One more thing - is it true that I don't need to have any kind of vendor's license/permit to do this in California?

[nam]

malaea,

Welcome to the forum and hope you find the answers to all your questions here. Everyone has advice and suggestions but be very weary of those that have something to gain by what they are telling you. I would suggest you completely stop dealing with this company offering you the 5 triple heads for $1700. Run as fast as you can from these people and all like them. They are just trying to take advantage of you and they are the only one going to benefit from that deal.

You could take that $1700 and buy ballpark 34 quality machines - not five! These guys try to tell you how much better their machine is than some other and you should be afraid of buying used. It's mostly bs and these guys are probably salesman that have never run a route or serviced a machine in their life.

You do not need them to get set up with a locator to place the machines or set you up with a charity. We can show you how to do that in a few minutes right here or you can search and read for yourself how to do it.

I would suggest you go into our Shop and Swap area of this forum and read through the ads on craigslist and ebay for your area. You should try to buy some used machines in the general range of $50 to $100 each. I'd suggest looking for 1800vending machines or even Vendstars. Test the water with these cheap machines and see if you like vending. Don't risk much money and buy them with plans to sell them so you won't lose much if you quit this venture. If it works out for you then great and just continue buying more used machines keeping the same advice in mind. You must have put a quarter in a machine to get some candy for you or your kids. Did you even notice what kind it was? You might like it to look nice and be clean but doubt if anything else would have made much difference to you and it won't to your customers.

Now lets say you went with those 5 new machines for $1700. This would give you 15 heads collecting quarters and by using the average of $7 per head per month that would give you $105 income. It really won't because your new locations probably won't even come close to being that high at least not right away. You'll have to pull machines that aren't doing well and relocate them to hit those numbers. So at some point the best you'd do would be $105 a month.

Now lets say you take your $1700 and buy 34 used 1800vending machines. Now you have 102 heads collecting quarters with the same $7 average this would give you $784 a month. Of course the same thing will be true as far as needing to relocate machines and not hitting this number you first month. Nor would you with brnad new machines.

So how much would you rather make a month - $105 or $784?

These used machines are mechanical machines. Don't think of them as a used car that can give you all kinds of problems. Not gonna happen. They are very simple and you can take care of any problem yourself. Just use your common sense in looking at some used machines and seeing if they appear to be well taken care of or if they are junk. Just like you would do buying a used sofa or anything else you've bought in your life. Do read the forum to help in deciding what machines are ok to begin your business venture.

One more thing to think about. If you buy those 5 machines for $1700 and decide you want out as it didn't work out for you. I will offer you $50 maybe for each machine or $250 for what you just spent $1700. You want to be the one buying them to begin with for only $50 and if you want out sell them again for the same $50 and you aren't out anything but some of your time.

Well, sorry for the long post here but you've asked alot of questions and trying to save you from a big mistake. If you have any questions go ahead and ask them in the forum and if you want to ask some really stupid questions just pm me. lol  

nam

[drink vending]

Don't jump on the first deal to come your way. You need to know if the location cashflows.  Is it seasonal?  It is a slow economy.  I have 350 vending machines out there right now.  I lose money on some of these accounts.  It's okay for me because I can offset it.  But for you, it would wipe you out.  I'm in san diego.If you want to stop by one day, I'd be happy to show you how I started. (I started with only a couple).  You need to learn how to market you business.  Learn about google.

[West Coast Vend LLC]

Nam has given you great advice. Oh, welcome to the forums. You have come to the right place. We have all had the same questions at one time or another. I service Southern California and most towns require you to have a business license. It could be $25 - $50 per year and you just renew it each year. Other towns have you buy vending stickers that are permits that you stick on your vending machines. You also renew the stickers each year like the registration on your car.

You would have to go to the city or town hall to inquire about their procedures and laws on vending machines. Never assume that every town or city is the same. They each have a different set of rules.

Again, welcome.

Gary