Sticker machines with trading cards NFL/ Pokeman

[Aaron1410]

Has anybody tried putting trading cards in their sticker machines ,  if so where did you find a supplier?  I have competition popping up running NFL/NBA/Pokeman/Fortnite combination.  Just wondering if anybody else has tried the same ?

[gumball guy]

2 hours ago, Aaron1410 said:

Has anybody tried putting trading cards in their sticker machines ,  if so where did you find a supplier?  I have competition popping up running NFL/NBA/Pokeman/Fortnite combination.  Just wondering if anybody else has tried the same ?

Used to do it years ago and sales were great in the right locations. The popularity seems to come and go with trading cards like everything else. Unless things have changed with sticker machines and their slider mechs, I encourage you to buy clear, hard plastic, top load card protectors to vend product or you will often have cards folding up mid-vend. Load the cards in the column with the card protector's closed end facing out. You will also need to test and adjust the machines as needed. In regards to inventory,that was many years ago and we would buy from all over the place including local card shops and sellers. The plastic top load sleeves can be purchased from Amazon Etc... . The same thing went for the card inventory. Amazon, ebay etc. Maybe someone else will chime in with a current supplier for all items but we had the best luck with local people. The key is vending mostly common cards and mix in a few higher value cards that you advertise on the front of the machine. Hoe this info helps. Good luck.

[Army Mom]

We use trading cards in our flat vend machines. We use the plastic top loaders or folded cards. We sometimes order our cards from eBay or from local flea markets. Also watch local yard sales pages. They sell fantastic 

[Aaron1410]

Ok I’ve been trying to look at different cards NFL,  Pokeman,  etc but they have all seemed kinda expensive .

[Hyper Vigilance]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:06 AM, Aaron1410 said:

Ok I’ve been trying to look at different cards NFL,  Pokeman,  etc but they have all seemed kinda expensive .

Look for pre-owned collections on sites like eBay or Mercari and use the term "lot" in your search. There are always a bunch of pokemon cards on Mercari. You just gotta look around for someone with a large amount of loose individual cards that's willing to put together a good mix at a bulk price. About 6 months ago I found some kid selling their huge collection of Pokemon cards on Mercari, the listing was for a random bundle of 100 cards for like $20. I messaged the seller first and asked them if they could put together a good mix of good cards and lousy cards. I told them if they could do that for me and we're willing to give them to me at a bulk price, I'd buy multiple lots. They were excited to make a large sale, so they went out of their way to make sure not to give me any duplicates and even through in a few of the good, more valuable collectible cards (that kids are really hoping to get from a vending machine) mixed in with every so much percentage of the cheaper, less rare cards. They ended up giving me 300 for like $25.

I sold through them so quick that I went back to the same seller and had them put together another 600 for me for $50 shipped! (I gave them spectacular feedback both times and I will be buying from them again very soon). But they are just one of the dozens of people selling cards in the same manner on mercari, you just got to haggle and talk to the seller to find somebody that's willing to give you a good deal on a good set of cards for your machine.

Another thing I want to note, what gave me the idea to try the Pokemon cards in my sticker machine in the first place was, I saw on gumballstuff.com they were selling this cool packaged deal that came with, 300 Pokemon cards in folders, a $1.00 coin mech for your machine (to swap out your 50¢ mech), and a display, all for $100! (They also sell just the sets of 300 cards in folders for a little bit cheaper without the mech).

I knew pokemon can be a good seller and I thought getting the package might be a good way to try selling the cards to see how they do, selling at a dollar a piece, in the same machine that also sells five different types of stickers at only 50 cents each. Let me just say... That machine (in an arcade at a little pizza place) now does better than any other flat vending machine I have!

If you have the time to shop for a good deal on bulk cards and are willing to put them into the folders yourself, it's much cheaper than buying them in folders from gumballstuff.com, but there's still a very large profit margin if you buy them in a set.

The empty folders can be purchased in bulk from gumball stuff.com also, but I don't know if they have the best deal, so you might want to shop around for those too. Many other wholesale bulk vending retailers sell them in large quantities for very cheap ( aaglobal.com , BMIgaming.com , moneymachines.com , allstarvending.com , etc.)

All in all, selling Pokemon cards from a sticker machine at a dollar pop is a very good money maker! I highly recommend it!

(The Pokemon figurines in the 2" capsules in the photo are incredibly good sellers as well. I do the same thing with those, I buy them in bulk from aliexpress.com and put them into capsules myself and sell them at 50 cents each with a huge profit margin!)

[Aaron1410]

10 hours ago, Hyper Vigilance said:

Look for pre-owned collections on sites like eBay or Mercari and use the term "lot" in your search. There are always a bunch of pokemon cards on Mercari. You just gotta look around for someone with a large amount of loose individual cards that's willing to put together a good mix at a bulk price. About 6 months ago I found some kid selling their huge collection of Pokemon cards on Mercari, the listing was for a random bundle of 100 cards for like $20. I messaged the seller first and asked them if they could put together a good mix of good cards and lousy cards. I told them if they could do that for me and we're willing to give them to me at a bulk price, I'd buy multiple lots. They were excited to make a large sale, so they went out of their way to make sure not to give me any duplicates and even through in a few of the good, more valuable collectible cards (that kids are really hoping to get from a vending machine) mixed in with every so much percentage of the cheaper, less rare cards. They ended up giving me 300 for like $25.

I sold through them so quick that I went back to the same seller and had them put together another 600 for me for $50 shipped! (I gave them spectacular feedback both times and I will be buying from them again very soon). But they are just one of the dozens of people selling cards in the same manner on mercari, you just got to haggle and talk to the seller to find somebody that's willing to give you a good deal on a good set of cards for your machine.

Another thing I want to note, what gave me the idea to try the Pokemon cards in my sticker machine in the first place was, I saw on gumballstuff.com they were selling this cool packaged deal that came with, 300 Pokemon cards in folders, a $1.00 coin mech for your machine (to swap out your 50¢ mech), and a display, all for $100! (They also sell just the sets of 300 cards in folders for a little bit cheaper without the mech).

I knew pokemon can be a good seller and I thought getting the package might be a good way to try selling the cards to see how they do, selling at a dollar a piece, in the same machine that also sells five different types of stickers at only 50 cents each. Let me just say... That machine (in an arcade at a little pizza place) now does better than any other flat vending machine I have!

If you have the time to shop for a good deal on bulk cards and are willing to put them into the folders yourself, it's much cheaper than buying them in folders from gumballstuff.com, but there's still a very large profit margin if you buy them in a set.

The empty folders can be purchased in bulk from gumball stuff.com also, but I don't know if they have the best deal, so you might want to shop around for those too. Many other wholesale bulk vending retailers sell them in large quantities for very cheap ( aaglobal.com , BMIgaming.com , moneymachines.com , allstarvending.com , etc.)

All in all, selling Pokemon cards from a sticker machine at a dollar pop is a very good money maker! I highly recommend it!

(The Pokemon figurines in the 2" capsules in the photo are incredibly good sellers as well. I do the same thing with those, I buy them in bulk from aliexpress.com and put them into capsules myself and sell them at 50 cents each with a huge profit margin!)

Wow thanks for all the info,  it looks like you have an awesome setup.