If I sell my route...

[MCV]

...how do I handle the half dozen or so pop machines that are 7up/Dr. Pepper owned?

Has anyone done this before? Is 7up/DrP open to me buying them so that I can sell the route whole? Or do they take them back or force me to transfer the account to the person I sell to?

It's a small route, so if I sell it will likely go to another small guy like me. I'm fortunate in that I have access to a shipping address with a dock, but not every potential buyer will, so it may not be an option to just transfer.

With the exception of one machine that recently replaced a broken down machine, all of my stuff from them is pretty old. Hopefully they would give me a good buy out price.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

MC Vending

[tblake05]

They can’t just transfer ownership to the buyer?

sorry I can’t be help, we own all our machines.

[MCV]

I believe they can, but the issue is that it becomes more complicated for the potential buyer. Currently, my contract is not too bad. 7upDrP requires that I place an order at least every 3 months. They won't deliver to a residential address but that's not an issue for me since I have access to a company that will take deliveries for me. I fear this will be a deal breaker for many of the people who would consider buying my route, greatly reducing my pool of potential buyers.

I was hoping someone here has some experience with this situation so that I'd have an idea what to expect before I ask 7upDrP about my options.

[Vendo Mike]

Just for liability sake, I would return the equipment to DP/7up so that I would not be responsible for the equipment after the sale.  I would explain to the perspective buyer that you're selling the route but that the leased equipment will be returned.  Share contact info of the bottler and DP/7UP can determine whether or not to lease equipment to the new person.

 

Just a suggestion. 

[tblake05]

2 hours ago, Vendo Mike said:

Just for liability sake, I would return the equipment to DP/7up so that I would not be responsible for the equipment after the sale.  I would explain to the perspective buyer that you're selling the route but that the leased equipment will be returned.  Share contact info of the bottler and DP/7UP can determine whether or not to lease equipment to the new person.

 

Just a suggestion. 

I like that.  Plus the buyer could stick with the leased machines or install their own.

[putrevus]

As long as the buyer can get their own accounts so they could order inventory from them they should be fine. Bottling units don't care much about the machines already on locations. Neither the seller nor buyer own those machines. They are still property of the bottlers.

Edited June 18, 2022 by putrevus

[West Vending LLC]

At some point I bought a route from a retiring vendor that included 7 Dr. Pepper-owned machines. 

The seller sent an email to the account representative (I was cc'd) saying he was retiring and selling his route to me, and wanted to transfer the machines as well.

The rep had me fill out a "Third-party Vendor" application, and once it was approved, I was in charge of those machines.

Very simple.