Jesse Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Hey Guys I’m new to vending and I know this question has been asked but the closest thread I found on this was back in 2012. So I was wondering in 2021 is being a full time bulk vendor still plausible? Or should this only be a extra income? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 18 hours ago, Jesse said: Hey Guys I’m new to vending and I know this question has been asked but the closest thread I found on this was back in 2012. So I was wondering in 2021 is being a full time bulk vendor still plausible? Or should this only be a extra income? Honestly I would not encourage anyone to pursue bulk vending as a long term career path these days. Covid has indeed hurt the business but it had already been trending downward for some time. Society's shift toward cashless has been one of the biggest culprits in the slow demise of bulk vending. Add in a reduced number of brick and mortar businesses due to online shopping and many corporate chains deciding to eliminate it because of liability concerns and it does not paint a promising picture for the future of this business model. Gumball, candy and toy vending will undoubtedly hang around for a while, especially in lower income areas where cash is still king, but eventually it will cease to be a viable income generator and will join the payphone in the history of the bygone coin op era. In regards to extra income, like a side gig, sure you could do it for a while but I will tell you that it will cost you a fair amount of time and money to start from scratch and you may be surprised at how little you make after all of the time you put into it. If you knew someone who wanted to sell a small route at a reasonable price..... maybe.... but your return on investment may take a while based on how slow things are right now. Whichever way you slice it, bulk vending is an uphill battle right now and I just don't see that changing......ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 Thank you for your honest opinion I appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSVEND Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 I echo Gumball Guy 100%. NO WAY would I try starting from scratch at this point. I've been at it 18 years and the past few have been dismal to say the least. We'll NEVER see it come back....times have changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendin it Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 On 3/1/2021 at 4:37 PM, gumball guy said: Honestly I would not encourage anyone to pursue bulk vending as a long term career path these days. Covid has indeed hurt the business but it had already been trending downward for some time. Society's shift toward cashless has been one of the biggest culprits in the slow demise of bulk vending. Add in a reduced number of brick and mortar businesses due to online shopping and many corporate chains deciding to eliminate it because of liability concerns and it does not paint a promising picture for the future of this business model. Gumball, candy and toy vending will undoubtedly hang around for a while, especially in lower income areas where cash is still king, but eventually it will cease to be a viable income generator and will join the payphone in the history of the bygone coin op era. In regards to extra income, like a side gig, sure you could do it for a while but I will tell you that it will cost you a fair amount of time and money to start from scratch and you may be surprised at how little you make after all of the time you put into it. If you knew someone who wanted to sell a small route at a reasonable price..... maybe.... but your return on investment may take a while based on how slow things are right now. Whichever way you slice it, bulk vending is an uphill battle right now and I just don't see that changing......ever. Their is alot of machines in Walmarts, Dollar stores, Grocery's with bulk machines in them, then the street locations that we get, that equals alot of machines I don't see bulk dying that fast or dye out at all. Their still is coin in circulation & when fees for using a card rise after they get alot of people on them people will still use cash. Also we provide a low cost item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 10 hours ago, Vendin it said: Their is alot of machines in Walmarts, Dollar stores, Grocery's with bulk machines in them, then the street locations that we get, that equals alot of machines I don't see bulk dying that fast or dye out at all. Their still is coin in circulation & when fees for using a card rise after they get alot of people on them people will still use cash. Also we provide a low cost item. I wish I could share in your enthusiasm for the future of bulk vending but numbers don't lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger vend Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Thoughts on length of time bulk vending as a side gig with established route could be worth it (5 yrs, 10 etc.)? I have doubled my service cycle length last two route runs since places opened up again and at that interval am able to pull preCovid amounts in most locations. So still making something for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 7 hours ago, ginger vend said: Thoughts on length of time bulk vending as a side gig with established route could be worth it (5 yrs, 10 etc.)? I have doubled my service cycle length last two route runs since places opened up again and at that interval am able to pull preCovid amounts in most locations. So still making something for now. I wish I knew. Locating more equipment in lower income areas where debit/credit cards aren't as prevalent will help bulk operators hang on longer but even those areas will eventually see less coin being used over the next 5-10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendin it Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 On 3/20/2021 at 7:38 PM, gumball guy said: I wish I knew. Locating more equipment in lower income areas where debit/credit cards aren't as prevalent will help bulk operators hang on longer but even those areas will eventually see less coin being used over the next 5-10 years. I don't see coin, cash ending 100 percent, also our soft candies Mike & Ike, Mmp, etc. & gumball's had strong sales before covid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 6 hours ago, Vendin it said: I don't see coin, cash ending 100 percent, also our soft candies Mike & Ike, Mmp, etc. & gumball's had strong sales before covid. I don't think coin or cash are going away completely anytime soon (like for decades) but just because they still exist doesn't mean people will widely use them. The fact is a lot of people (especially young people) don't carry cash and that trend, in all likelihood, will continue to expand with each generation coming into adulthood. Based on all of the factors previously discussed in this thread I would never recommend to someone to start a bulk route from scratch with hopes of doing it full time someday. Honestly, I hope I am wrong, but when you look at vending 10-15 years ago bulk sales were far better than they are today (even prior to Covid). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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