OptoPrime Posted October 6, 2022 Share Posted October 6, 2022 Hello vending colleges, I am new here and have done a lot of research in the past weeks. I would like to start my vending business with 3 machines with springs for snacks and drinks in Germany. I already have the locations and my next step is to order the machines. I know there are no good thoughts about chinese machines machines and I can understand a few of this points, like time difference, support, spareparts and so on. But in my actual business I am importing a lot of machinery stuff and products from china and I know what I have to do in comparison of buyingin europe. My feeling and also my research tells me that china machines are technologicly really ahead and the screens and systems look really good. I think there can no big troubles on machine housings or springs. Motors also should work good and they do not cost a lot as spareparts. I think if you deal with this things and because of the big price difference it is very interessting to import machines. Stock the most important parts and start with it. On the other hand I have read a lot of bad news on china machines and it seems that everybody say: do not buy chinese machines. But it would be interessting for me and maybe others, why? What are concrete and exact things that ars not good or have bad quality. Also I am a bit confused that there are that much companies for vending machines. It seems to be that the biggest one with the best marketing is TCN. On the other hand I have read that TCN and AFen are the same company. There are tenth of other manufacters. It would be very nice to start a conversation here about china machines your toughts, your feelings and maybe also experience. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Vending Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I think your looking at equipment from an out of pocket cost perspective and not anything else. You want to buy equipment with the intent of making money. What are you going to do when machine breaks down, and cannot figure out how to fix it? I can’t tell you anything about Europe but here in USA I use 3 types of drink machines: Dixie narco e series stack vendors, Vendo V21’s and Bevmax 2,3 and 4. The Bevmax is a very technical machine and there are things that can happen that I still don’t have a clue as to what to do, so what do I do? I pull out my Chinese manual and google translate app and figure out the problem of course. Just messing with you. The 1st thing I would do is call a local equipment supplier who also has a service department that knows a thing or two about a thing or two. If they don’t know then I would call Crane and get some help. What you have to ask yourself is TCN capable of doing so? If you ask their sales person BEFORE the sale the answer to that is of course yes we have the best service in the business. I don’t know if anyone on this forum that buys these Chinese machines and I really would like for someone to share their experiences. It has been asked several times on here but no one ever comes back and says “these TCN machines are the best and I had 1 break down and they helped me get it back to working”. Who knows might be the thing to happen in vending. But where I’m at— no suppliers also means no support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Vending Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 How much do those things cost anyways?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptoPrime Posted October 7, 2022 Author Share Posted October 7, 2022 Starting at around 2000$. As you can see on Alibaba. In Europe machines start at 5-6k. And you do not have big displays, possibility of advertising, labeling and so on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I say this with no malice towards you. Just my own personal experience. The truth is Chinese vending machines are junk! Bold statement? No. Just a fact. How do I know this? I started my business 18 years ago with 7 brand new Genesis combos. They looked great and had a 2 year warranty. Everyday I was on the phone with tech support ordering replacement parts until one day their phone was disconnected. Yeah they went out of business and haven’t been seen since. Could that happen to any other vending manufacturer? Of course. Automated Products (AP) is no longer in business BUT I can still get parts and tech support from 100’s of different sources. That’s a huge difference! A friend just bought an off brand and it is sitting in his business empty waiting on a return call from the tech support it’s been 2 weeks (The card reader won’t interface among other things) If you want to buy a Chinese vending machine by all means buy it. But if you want to have a discussion about the virtues of Chinese vending machines you won’t find much support here. Good luck with your journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendo Mike Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 SandenVendo Europe is in your back yard giving you access to snack/combo machines built in Italy with an office in Germany. Freight to get a machine from China to Germany is not cheap and the mfg is not going to simply eat it. That needs to be added to your consideration of total equipment costs along with the need for any training, parts and local support for troubleshooting. Sometimes spending a bit more today saves money in the long run. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptoPrime Posted October 7, 2022 Author Share Posted October 7, 2022 Thanks for your answers. You all are right. Support, problems, spare parts, time difference are problems. But i am electricity and software engeneer and have a company with 15 more engeneers that could gelo me in any case. This will never bemy main company and if there are problems and a machines cannotrun for some weeks this is also bo problem. I would order a full machine inlet as spareparts and i think the technical part of these machines are not a big problem. But lets talk on the machine itself. What can make problems? And what can have bad quality compared to european or american machines. From technical point they are all the same. I would really like to try chinese machine but I amnot sure what supplier or manufacter would ve the best to choose. Can anyone give an overview avout them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cvending Posted October 7, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted October 7, 2022 “It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.” 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 Machines of course can vary in quality between different manufacturers, and even different models from the same company. In my experience Chinese machines imported in the US are not well designed or easy to repair. Components are difficult to access or remove, parts are not standard, quality is low. Stamped trays and columns have sharp edges. Wiring is poor quality and control boards are unreliable. They do not make schematics and service information available to the customers. In general they are producing machines for the low end of the market, and you are getting what you pay for. A good vending machine is built for 20+ years of steady service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 An AP 7000 is easily 30+ years old if I am not mistaken, and I don't see why they can't last another 10 or 20 years more! Some chinese machines last for a few months. Let that sink in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendq8y Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Good day everyone sorry to say too much talking about Chinese Machines, I imported TCN machines for at less 5 years and don't have meager problems also they can communicate very good english. Sure everyone want his country goods, but also you should be fair, If you did not use the machines do not judge them. also they have english and other languages manuals, they put extra parts in the machine extra charge, never used them. Best regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Vendq8y said: Good day everyone sorry to say too much talking about Chinese Machines, I imported TCN machines for at less 5 years and don't have meager problems also they can communicate very good english. Sure everyone want his country goods, but also you should be fair, If you did not use the machines do not judge them. also they have english and other languages manuals, they put extra parts in the machine extra charge, never used them. Best regards Our experience comes from the abundance of people who come to the forum asking for advice. On American made machines, we can help them ourselves or direct them to the right people. With Chinese machines, no one knows who to contact. To make matters worse, a lot of these people have already asked people from other platforms. It's as though the Chinese companies just close up shop over night or cut off communication. This doesn't even consider the fact that many Chinese refrigeration systems are welded together BY DESIGN and extra parts are NOT made. So if any refrigeration component fails, you can't fix without some very serious and technical modification, none of which exist in any manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Vending Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Ok so utilizing these TCN machines, who or where do you call to obtain parts? Let’s assume we have machines in a warehouse with 150 people, if I have equipment that’s down and this type of location that is gonna have every vending operator big and small knocking on their door. I’ll need parts today. If not today then tomorrow. What company in USA is stocking said parts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc vending Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 New vendor warning Chinese machines are junk. Do not buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Vending Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 On 11/1/2022 at 7:03 AM, Gizmo Vending said: Ok so utilizing these TCN machines, who or where do you call to obtain parts? Let’s assume we have machines in a warehouse with 150 people, if I have equipment that’s down and this type of location that is gonna have every vending operator big and small knocking on their door. I’ll need parts today. If not today then tomorrow. What company in USA is stocking said parts? I still don’t know where to buy parts for my TCN machines? Does any one know? Need some help here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendq8y Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Dear sir, Contact This No for TCN 008618774000522 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Vendq8y Posted December 3, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted December 3, 2022 Usually when I buy new machines I order one extra so to help in break down.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tblake05 Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 25 minutes ago, Vendq8y said: Usually when I buy new machines I order one extra so to help in break down.. So you buy an extra new machine to use for parts??? ..... not helping the case for imported machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonkw Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 There are reputable manufacturers based in China for anything. Fridges, phones, etc. are made in China without issue and sold to the US every day. Having said that, as a small operator you would not be advised to buy a machine that has no local parts support for. If you are large enough to buy hundreds of Chinese machines and stock parts and the manufacturer is willing to deal with you because you're big enough for them to care, then you might be able to get somewhere. I know someone that had a lot of luck with Chinese machines here in North America - but they bought them by the container load and they had enough expertise to customize them to do what they needed to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendq8y Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 Some times no need to use the extra for parts as they supply you extra parts with the machines, such as spirals and motors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facevend Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 New to the forum and vending really but here is my take from importing other Chinese equipment: If you don't have the skills to rip it apart and rebuild it if you had to, don't buy it. Obviously, that's a worst case scenario, one where you'd never buy the machine if you thought would be needed, but that's not the point. Ordering spare parts with the machine is a given, but you need to be confident you can troubleshoot yourself, change them yourself. The larger issue is the computer ish stuff, boards and software. The documentation won't be there and if that stuff goes.....see worst case above. Spare parts ordered with the machine might be enough even then, but might not too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 New to forums too, I guess. It's bad forum etiquette to post on all of the old threads that your posting on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facevend Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 On 2/26/2023 at 9:23 AM, AZVendor said: New to forums too, I guess. It's bad forum etiquette to post on all of the old threads that your posting on. Fair enough, but I guess I have seen that a ton of newbies like me are browsing posts old and new so if I have something useful it seems worth adding. But I get that it's not normal forum etiquette. My apologies, particularly as your reply to my problem post was so helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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