if you have a card reader is a CF7512 (5 tube) coin mech really needed?

[SPARK]

This may be a newb question so please don't bite. Can someone elaborate on the advantages of buying a MEI CF7512 ?

From my research on this site, the COINCO 9302-GX is considered to be one of the most reliable coin mechs made ?  Is there ANY advantage to "upgrading" to a MEI CF7512 ? What is the point of having more tubes ? 

If you have a card reader is it less important to have that much change capacity ?

Can someone please explain the pros and cons ? Why would people pay 2 x more for the same functionality ?

Is it just about giving out more change ?

 

 

[AngryChris]

Having something like a CF7512 is adventageous when people carry bills larger than $1's or even $5's.  Sometimes all people have is maybe a $5, $10, or $20 and they still want to buy something.  Even a few $5 bills in a row will nearly wipe out the quarters in a 3-tube mech, so having enough quarters is crucial to prevent the machine from running out.  You can set the machine to only take $1's and eliminate that "problem" but you'll also miss out on some sales if all they have are larger bills.  If you only accept $1's then there is no advantage of getting a CF 7512.

A card reader is a different form of payment acceptance.  If people are buying things with cards, then there is no need for a coin mech or validator at all.  However, cash is still king at MOST locations (but that's quickly changing) and not accepting cash will cost you a lot of sales just like not having card acceptance might cost you a lot of sales too.

Does a card reader negate the advantages of a CF 7512? Not really as the coin mech relates to cash sales and the card reader relates to card sales.  Some people refuse to use cards and some people refuse to use cash.  I have locations with CF 7512s that have $5's, $10's, and $20's in the machine regularly and they use the card reader too.  I have to refill the coin mech every time I get to a few locations because they just murder it but it's okay because the machines are making me money.  Another big advantage of the CF 7512 is that it will give you a pretty close estimation of the coin value in the mechanism.  That's a huge plus when you are adding coins to it.  If it says you currently have $35.70 in there, you can just add coin to the proper slots and let the mech tell you what the new value is.  It might not matter to you now, but it's a big plus for a vendor that needs to account for change added to the mech.  

If you had to pick ONE for budgeting reasons... definitely get a card reader first.  Some locations are totally fine with a 3-tube mech.  You'll know when you need a fancier coin mech.  The card reader has advantages that are often way way better than the advantages on a bigger coin mech.

[Southeast Treats]

Chris is on point, just want to add that with the 7000 series you have a number of options with the coin setup.  That lets you adjust for variables such as pricing that might require more than average nickles, for example.  I also use dollar coins in many locations where larger bills are common.  That makes it easier for the customer and takes some pressure off the quarter tubes.  The programming also lets you set coin levels so that you can better manage your change banks.  If you have a location that does not need full tubes of something you can program the level you want, increasing the coin in the vault to collect and negating the need to par down the changer.  That said, I still have a lot of 9302's out there working as fine as always. 

[SPARK]

THOSE WERE REALLY HELPFUL REPLIES THANK YOU it makes a lot more sense now