AJ519 Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Hello! I just got into bulk vending about a month ago. I have 7 machines. My locations seem to be really underperforming. I currently have 3 locations, a mom and pop pizza place, a barber shop, and a used car lot. The used car lot seems to be doing well because the kids that work there love the PMMs and I make about 2.50 per day from them. However my skittles machine in the pizza place makes like 3.00 per month, and the one in the barber shop didn't have any sales after 3 weeks. Is it likely to be that skittles aren't so popular, or that it is just the locations? I sell a fair amount of super balls at the pizza shop, maybe .50 a day worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCandyMaN Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 did you buy a skittle machine or a gumball machine? think about it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gumball guy Posted March 23, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 23, 2023 14 hours ago, AJ519 said: Hello! I just got into bulk vending about a month ago. I have 7 machines. My locations seem to be really underperforming. I currently have 3 locations, a mom and pop pizza place, a barber shop, and a used car lot. The used car lot seems to be doing well because the kids that work there love the PMMs and I make about 2.50 per day from them. However my skittles machine in the pizza place makes like 3.00 per month, and the one in the barber shop didn't have any sales after 3 weeks. Is it likely to be that skittles aren't so popular, or that it is just the locations? I sell a fair amount of super balls at the pizza shop, maybe .50 a day worth. It's hit and miss when it comes to the success of new locations. My barber shops differ wildly when it comes to sales. Urban barbershops are huge money makers for me while suburban barber shops are often under-performers. I will usually change up candy selections after two bad cycles (My cycles are 60 to 90 days). I always start with gumballs unless a location specifically asks for something else because they are the cheapest for me to run and are usually my strongest seller overall. As for skittles specifically, they are generally not a strong seller for me. Sure I have some locations that they do well in but that is often because I have one or two employees in the location who love Skittles and drive the sales. When it comes to mainstream candies, M&M Peanut will generally be your best seller followed by Reece's Pieces, then regular M&Ms. Unfortunately they are so expensive anymore that I have phased them out of a lot of locations and will continue to do so. Frankly bulk "candy" vending is becoming too expensive to do at a quarter a turn so I would encourage gumballs, chicle gum and cheap (generic) 1.1 inch capsules in the appropriate locations. Couple of suggestions......If there are other machines, make sure that you always offer a different candy/item than what your competitor offers. Once you get all of your machines placed, start pulling and relocating your consistently lowest earners. Try to locate your machines in urban areas where cash is still king. People in general do not carry cash like they once did and cashless is now the norm in most suburban areas. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 3 hours ago, NYCandyMaN said: did you buy a skittle machine or a gumball machine? think about it! I'm not sure what youre asking. I have 7 different machines. I have skittles in both triple head and single head machines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 1 hour ago, gumball guy said: It's hit and miss when it comes to the success of new locations. My barber shops differ wildly when it comes to sales. Urban barbershops are huge money makers for me while suburban barber shops are often under-performers. I will usually change up candy selections after two bad cycles (My cycles are 60 to 90 days). I always start with gumballs unless a location specifically asks for something else because they are the cheapest for me to run and are usually my strongest seller overall. As for skittles specifically, they are generally not a strong seller for me. Sure I have some locations that they do well in but that is often because I have one or two employees in the location who love Skittles and drive the sales. When it comes to mainstream candies, M&M Peanut will generally be your best seller followed by Reece's Pieces, then regular M&Ms. Unfortunately they are so expensive anymore that I have phased them out of a lot of locations and will continue to do so. Frankly bulk "candy" vending is becoming too expensive to do at a quarter a turn so I would encourage gumballs, chicle gum and cheap (generic) 1.1 inch capsules in the appropriate locations. Couple of suggestions......If there are other machines, make sure that you always offer a different candy/item than what your competitor offers. Once you get all of your machines placed, start pulling and relocating your consistently lowest earners. Try to locate your machines in urban areas where cash is still king. People in general do not carry cash like they once did and cashless is now the norm in most suburban areas. Thanks for the response! So far my best sellers have been bouncy balls followed by peanut mms. I haven't heard anyone say they had success with reeses before, maybe ill give those a chance. How about peanut butter mms? I have a machine with a sticker on it for that, but ive been leery to put them in my machine. Seems everyone wants pmms. I'm operating in a pretty low SES area outside of Tacoma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 3 minutes ago, AJ519 said: Thanks for the response! So far my best sellers have been bouncy balls followed by peanut mms. I haven't heard anyone say they had success with reeses before, maybe ill give those a chance. How about peanut butter mms? I have a machine with a sticker on it for that, but ive been leery to put them in my machine. Seems everyone wants pmms. I'm operating in a pretty low SES area outside of Tacoma. I left out that bouncy balls are also a good seller for me as well. I have never used Peanut Butter M & Ms primarily because they were never consistently available in bulk for me. Like M&M's, Reece's are prohibitively expensive these days so I'm not sure that is going to be a long term solution. One other piece of advice.....try not to fill your machines completely full. A lot of new vendors do this instinctively thinking it will help sales......it doesn't. Try to fill you machines in a way that matches sales. Really slow....quarter full, moderate.....half full, you get the picture. Candy is expensive so the last thing you need is to overfill the machine and then have a bunch of candy go stale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, gumball guy said: I left out that bouncy balls are also a good seller for me as well. I have never used Peanut Butter M & Ms primarily because they were never consistently available in bulk for me. Like M&M's, Reece's are prohibitively expensive these days so I'm not sure that is going to be a long term solution. One other piece of advice.....try not to fill your machines completely full. A lot of new vendors do this instinctively thinking it will help sales......it doesn't. Try to fill you machines in a way that matches sales. Really slow....quarter full, moderate.....half full, you get the picture. Candy is expensive so the last thing you need is to overfill the machine and then have a bunch of candy go stale. I'm getting frustrated because out of over 100 businesses ive asked in my area ive gotten 3 yeses. Mostly they say either its corporate and they cant make that call, they feel like the machine would be stolen, or they are disillusioned about other vendors who left empty machines. Several places have had empty machines and when I ask if they would like some machines that will be refilled on a biweekly basis, they say the machines are actually theirs and broken and "theyre getting around to fixing them". Even when offered commission they turn me down. I dont understand why youd want a broken golpher machine on your location rather than actually be making SOME money (and make your customers happier). Also as far as competition there is basically none. Shops either have no machines, or broken empty ones. Edited March 23, 2023 by AJ519 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 1 hour ago, AJ519 said: I'm getting frustrated because out of over 100 businesses ive asked in my area ive gotten 3 yeses. Mostly they say either its corporate and they cant make that call, they feel like the machine would be stolen, or they are disillusioned about other vendors who left empty machines. Several places have had empty machines and when I ask if they would like some machines that will be refilled on a biweekly basis, they say the machines are actually theirs and broken and "theyre getting around to fixing them". Even when offered commission they turn me down. I dont understand why youd want a broken golpher machine on your location rather than actually be making SOME money (and make your customers happier). Also as far as competition there is basically none. Shops either have no machines, or broken empty ones. It's always a challenge locating. As you have experienced first hand, many potential locations just don't want to mess with bulk vending, especially managers who anticipate that it is just one more thing they will need to worry about. As far as location types go, focus on mom and pop locations as much as possible as they are generally more receptive to bulk vending than chain or corporate locations. Abandoned/derelict machines are always a thorn in the side of vendor trying to locate a new machine. They set a terrible precedent. Don't be afraid to try any location that will take the machine as long as you deem that the machine will be relatively safe from damage or theft. All it takes is one junk food junkie to make it a solid performing location. You just have to keep after it so you can get all the equipment out and earning you money. Keep a close eye on your bottom line. A bi-weekly service cycle is much higher than the industry standard of 60-90 days. If all of your locations are grouped tightly and close to home it shouldn't have a huge impact on profit but that extra gas adds up over time and eats at your bottom line. I will place a gumball machine, generally filled about 70 percent full, then return in about 4 weeks. At that point I gauge the service cycle between 60 to 90 days. If it needs more frequent visits than 60 days I will replace it with a higher capacity machine. That way it helps to keep my route cycles streamlined and ultimately helps me run the routes more efficiently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 32 minutes ago, gumball guy said: It's always a challenge locating. As you have experienced first hand, many potential locations just don't want to mess with bulk vending, especially managers who anticipate that it is just one more thing they will need to worry about. As far as location types go, focus on mom and pop locations as much as possible as they are generally more receptive to bulk vending than chain or corporate locations. Abandoned/derelict machines are always a thorn in the side of vendor trying to locate a new machine. They set a terrible precedent. Don't be afraid to try any location that will take the machine as long as you deem that the machine will be relatively safe from damage or theft. All it takes is one junk food junkie to make it a solid performing location. You just have to keep after it so you can get all the equipment out and earning you money. Keep a close eye on your bottom line. A bi-weekly service cycle is much higher than the industry standard of 60-90 days. If all of your locations are grouped tightly and close to home it shouldn't have a huge impact on profit but that extra gas adds up over time and eats at your bottom line. I will place a gumball machine, generally filled about 70 percent full, then return in about 4 weeks. At that point I gauge the service cycle between 60 to 90 days. If it needs more frequent visits than 60 days I will replace it with a higher capacity machine. That way it helps to keep my route cycles streamlined and ultimately helps me run the routes more efficiently. Yeah these locations are all within like 5 minutes drive of me. Later i will wait longer, but for now I'm just trying to get a feel of how stuff is performing so I can move machines if need be. Also what tends to be the best time of year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gumball guy Posted March 24, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 24, 2023 I completely understand the reasoning for your service cycle and that makes sense. My sales are pretty consistent throughout the year. You will have locations that spike due to increased foot traffic such as car lots around tax time, retail shops around Christmas, but generally for me there is no peak season for vending. Others may have differing opinions based on their experience. Anyhow....Good luck and keep us updated on your progress. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay22 Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 15 hours ago, AJ519 said: I'm getting frustrated because out of over 100 businesses ive asked in my area ive gotten 3 yeses. Mostly they say either its corporate and they cant make that call, they feel like the machine would be stolen, or they are disillusioned about other vendors who left empty machines. Several places have had empty machines and when I ask if they would like some machines that will be refilled on a biweekly basis, they say the machines are actually theirs and broken and "theyre getting around to fixing them". Even when offered commission they turn me down. I dont understand why youd want a broken golpher machine on your location rather than actually be making SOME money (and make your customers happier). Also as far as competition there is basically none. Shops either have no machines, or broken empty ones. that all makes sense. corporate places aren't gonna let you place machines. if they did, it would have to travel so far up the corporate ladder, a yes would be a shocker. they only care about the money going to them, not that your machine might make some people happy. i had some jiffy lubes at one point for a couple years, but whenever corporate was gonna come in, the store managers told me they told me they would hide the machine so corporate wouldn't see it. eventually i lost the locations. i don't know what area you live in but machines getting stolen seems very unlikely. i have had one stolen, but it was an unattended laundromat, and i've since learned not to place them there. i highly doubt you'll be filling anywhere biweekly lol. i check my machines every 2 months. if it needs to be serviced sooner, places have my number and text me. only places that's happened for me is batting cages/sportsplexes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 7 hours ago, jay22 said: that all makes sense. corporate places aren't gonna let you place machines. if they did, it would have to travel so far up the corporate ladder, a yes would be a shocker. they only care about the money going to them, not that your machine might make some people happy. i had some jiffy lubes at one point for a couple years, but whenever corporate was gonna come in, the store managers told me they told me they would hide the machine so corporate wouldn't see it. eventually i lost the locations. i don't know what area you live in but machines getting stolen seems very unlikely. i have had one stolen, but it was an unattended laundromat, and i've since learned not to place them there. i highly doubt you'll be filling anywhere biweekly lol. i check my machines every 2 months. if it needs to be serviced sooner, places have my number and text me. only places that's happened for me is batting cages/sportsplexes. Ive been trying to stay near home, but maybe I should just increase my radius? How far would you guys say is TOO far? I was told you should check machines monthly, but if its 60-90 days that should be easier to incorporate a larger radius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 1 hour ago, AJ519 said: Ive been trying to stay near home, but maybe I should just increase my radius? How far would you guys say is TOO far? I was told you should check machines monthly, but if its 60-90 days that should be easier to incorporate a larger radius. The closer to home the better as long as you can find locations. I like to complete saturate areas before I move further away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 2 minutes ago, gumball guy said: The closer to home the better as long as you can find locations. I like to complete saturate areas before I move further away. Ive covered the three nearest small towns and only found 3 locations. Ive found the pity approach works best. The "how would you like some candy machines stocked often" approach seems inferior to the "Im just starting a new business and if you would let poor pitiful me place my machine here" approach. I try to hide the fact that I make 200k at my career, so they feel this is more important to me than it is, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 1 hour ago, AJ519 said: Ive covered the three nearest small towns and only found 3 locations. Ive found the pity approach works best. The "how would you like some candy machines stocked often" approach seems inferior to the "Im just starting a new business and if you would let poor pitiful me place my machine here" approach. I try to hide the fact that I make 200k at my career, so they feel this is more important to me than it is, "I try to hide the fact that I make 200k at my career, so they feel this is more important to me than it is,". If this is true, why waste your time trying to net a few hundred bucks per year with bulk vending? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 (edited) 28 minutes ago, gumball guy said: "I try to hide the fact that I make 200k at my career, so they feel this is more important to me than it is,". If this is true, why waste your time trying to net a few hundred bucks per year with bulk vending? Lol thats exactly what my vending machine dealer said. Im using quarter machines to play around with to feel it out, and I plan to move up to soda/snack machines later and maybe buy a laundromat or ministorage later. This is pretty much a hobby. Kind of like a mobile game where I actually make a few bucks irl. I've never had a business before and I felt like this would be a very low risk investment to get my feet wet. Also a few hundred bucks a year? I was figuring a few thousand. Edited March 25, 2023 by AJ519 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumball guy Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 18 minutes ago, AJ519 said: Lol thats exactly what my vending machine dealer said. Im using quarter machines to play around with to feel it out, and I plan to move up to soda/snack machines later and maybe buy a laundromat or ministorage later. This is pretty much a hobby. Kind of like a mobile game where I actually make a few bucks irl. I've never had a business before and I felt like this would be a very low risk investment to get my feet wet. Also a few hundred bucks a year? I was figuring a few thousand. You'll need to grow exponentially to net a few thousand in bulk vending based on the numbers you're sharing. No worries though...everyone has their process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 15 minutes ago, gumball guy said: You'll need to grow exponentially to net a few thousand in bulk vending based on the numbers you're sharing. No worries though...everyone has their process. Yeah I think im going to start looking in Tacoma proper. I dont feel like these small town businesses are getting the foot traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SSVEND Posted March 28, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 28, 2023 Try going into the inner cities. Small mom and pop stores/restaurants. Moving forward, stick to single or double head machines. I started out with triples many years ago and quickly realized it was basically overkill for most locations. Double heads with gumballs and bouncy balls or gumballs and 1" capsules at 50cents. Very good locations you can upgrade to 4 or 5 head racks. Keep it simple and use quality equipment...plenty available on facebook marketplace or craigslist. Oak, Northwestern, Beaver or Eagle are quality machines. Locating equipment is a numbers game. I personally love locating. I tend to have the gift of gab...Become their friend first and then pitch them. Good luck! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 On 3/28/2023 at 10:09 AM, SSVEND said: Try going into the inner cities. Small mom and pop stores/restaurants. Moving forward, stick to single or double head machines. I started out with triples many years ago and quickly realized it was basically overkill for most locations. Double heads with gumballs and bouncy balls or gumballs and 1" capsules at 50cents. Very good locations you can upgrade to 4 or 5 head racks. Keep it simple and use quality equipment...plenty available on facebook marketplace or craigslist. Oak, Northwestern, Beaver or Eagle are quality machines. Locating equipment is a numbers game. I personally love locating. I tend to have the gift of gab...Become their friend first and then pitch them. Good luck! Ive noticed i have zero luck with foreigners. Which is unfortunate because most non corporate business owners here are foreign. I tend to have the gift of gab aswell usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay22 Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 On 3/24/2023 at 7:02 PM, AJ519 said: Ive been trying to stay near home, but maybe I should just increase my radius? How far would you guys say is TOO far? I was told you should check machines monthly, but if its 60-90 days that should be easier to incorporate a larger radius. my general rule is i'll go one hour from home if i think the location will be worth it, but no further. i also do merchandising work that involves a lot of different routes, so even when i place machines that are an hour from home, it's never too inconvenient. i actually am not usually a fan of playing machines in the inner city even though there's a lot of businesses, just due to lack of parking, traffic, hassle. i am surprised you have no luck with foreigners. i honestly have more luck with foreigners as opposed to americans. they seem to be friendlier, and more open. of course not all, but in general. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 5 hours ago, jay22 said: my general rule is i'll go one hour from home if i think the location will be worth it, but no further. i also do merchandising work that involves a lot of different routes, so even when i place machines that are an hour from home, it's never too inconvenient. i actually am not usually a fan of playing machines in the inner city even though there's a lot of businesses, just due to lack of parking, traffic, hassle. i am surprised you have no luck with foreigners. i honestly have more luck with foreigners as opposed to americans. they seem to be friendlier, and more open. of course not all, but in general. They don’t even reply other than shaking their heads. It’s almost exactly the same in every place of business. I introduce myself and explain I have bulk vending machines and that I service them often. They just look at me confused and shake their heads no. Maybe it’s the language barrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay22 Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 On 3/30/2023 at 5:11 PM, AJ519 said: They don’t even reply other than shaking their heads. It’s almost exactly the same in every place of business. I introduce myself and explain I have bulk vending machines and that I service them often. They just look at me confused and shake their heads no. Maybe it’s the language barrier. i walk in with a photo of my machine on my phone to show them as i explain it. the visual may help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSVEND Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 I also find the foreigners are MUCH easier to locate machines in their stores. I have laminated pictures (3x5) of all my different types of equipment and set ups. I'll bring whichever picture of the machine I am trying to place in the store with me. They'll know exactly what the machine will look like. When I walk in I am already picking out a location for the machine, so I can overcome the "I don't have any room" excuse. Usually once I mention commission money (foreigners love when you start talking money) their head turns and they start to look around the store for a spot. I've already determined the spot when I walk in, so I help them out here. I can be fun and challenging. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ519 Posted April 3, 2023 Author Share Posted April 3, 2023 5 hours ago, SSVEND said: I also find the foreigners are MUCH easier to locate machines in their stores. I have laminated pictures (3x5) of all my different types of equipment and set ups. I'll bring whichever picture of the machine I am trying to place in the store with me. They'll know exactly what the machine will look like. When I walk in I am already picking out a location for the machine, so I can overcome the "I don't have any room" excuse. Usually once I mention commission money (foreigners love when you start talking money) their head turns and they start to look around the store for a spot. I've already determined the spot when I walk in, so I help them out here. I can be fun and challenging. The problem I run with commission is noone cares about making a buck fifty each month. I don't blame them. Its almost non existent. If I owned a business, I wouldnt care about commission unless i was making at least 100.00 a month. Many of these business owners don't like to have to watch the machines from the unruly kids that climb all over them or break them. I am a frequent of a Russian Cafe nearby, and this was why they didnt want a machine. She said they tried it but the kids would climb all over them, because in the back they hold conferences and there will be LOADS of kids. And kids these days arent disciplined for golpher. Ive noticed that especially in this area. Parents just let their kids yell and scream and run all over messing with everything and dont even say a word to them. Pisses me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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