Combo Machine

[AMD]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum & the vending business & I'm hoping to learn alot from this forum!

My question is I have a potential location, its a high rise apt. complex that has 225 units, & about 15 employees & they are interested in having 2 combo machines placed in there laundry rooms (they have 2 laundry rooms in the same building). What is the best type of combo machine, should I buy it new or refurbished? Thank you all so much for your help!

 

[lacanteen]

Oh boy, here we go. The 5 dirty words "..best type of combo machine". 

 

[Vendo Mike]

Is that 2 machines in each laundry room or 1 combo per?  If it's 1 combo per room, you will likely spend more time and resources keeping those machines filled than the value of your time.   Combos don't hold a lot so the have to be filled often.  Apts tend to be tough on equipment as they're not well secured and tend to get trash and debris forced into coin slots and bill accepters shutting your machine down.  Service calls will be pretty constant for stuck coins and vandalism.  Not saying it's an absolute but definitely worth considering.

If possible, find out who had the location before and why they pulled out of the account. 

 

[Southeast Treats]

Avoid any of the imported combos, such as Seaga.  Poor quality with no parts or tech support, often using non standard components as well.  AMS or Crane combos are OK, but be aware as was already posted capacity is poor, especially drink capacity.  That is unavoidable when you shove two machines into one cabinet.  Spending too much time restocking machines hurts your profit margins deeply.

As for apartments in general, some can be good locations and some are terrible.  Mostly depends on the types of tenants they cater to.  College age or family oriented can be good; but locations that cater mostly to mature adults are often very low sales locations.  Mature adults go grocery shopping and have what they want in their kitchen, they don't usually need to buy from your machines.  And vandalism can be a problem, especially if the laundry rooms are open 24/7 without supervision or good surveillance.  They will also tend to be very warm and not candy friendly for that reason, so avoid chocolates that will melt in the machine.

[NYCandyMaN]

i would stick to just soda machines

[AMD]

It would be 1 combo in each laundry room. & the complex is not happy with the current vendor as they do not keep the machines filled. 

[orsd]

There might be a reason the current guy doesn't keep them filled, namely, low sales. Look for a name on the machine, have you seen their other machines around town? if so, and their others are kept well serviced, I would avoid this location.

Otherwise, I would not spend too much on this location. If the laundry machines take card then I would consider going credit card only on this location to reduce the threat of break ins. Otherwise if it is still quarters I would go ahead and do a trial run with cash. If the sales are good I would probably switch to card only, but if the sales were bad I would pull the machines.

[Vendo Mike]

They may not have been able to keep up with demand and fuel/time costs ate all the profit.  Combos require constant attention.  If you decide to move forward, I would suggest at least trying to talk the location into drink only.  Also, if the laundry is coin-op, set your vendor to "Force Vend" or all your quarters will end up in the laundry machines.  You'll have a lot of $1 bills but no product sold.