Insurance

[AJ519]

What are the best companies for insurance? I have USAA currently and wonder if they would insure vending machines. 

[orsd]

No one really insures machines. Too cheap compared to a typical deductible. Plus, I wouldn’t want to make too many claims anyways cause you risk getting dropped. Liability is a different story and should be pretty cheap. State Farm is good for me, but there are others. You want commercial business liability insurance, shop around.

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by orsd

[AJ519]

Can you explain what you mean by liability? I'm new to all of this. Also I have a business license which I hear is a requirement. One guy who sells machines recommended a company called Hartford. He runs a bigger operation with soda machines etc though and said they may not take me on. 

[AJ519]

This is what got me concerned about it

[orsd]

3 hours ago, AJ519 said:

This is what got me concerned about it

Yeah not worth insuring a machine against damage or loss like that. Just a cost of doing business. Put it this way, if you have 100 machines out you’ll be filing a claim a year. But your increased rates will cost more than just replacing the machine out of pocket. Or they’ll probably just drop you.

At the end of the day I really don’t care if I lose a 100 dollar machine every so often. I do care about having liability insurance, because a lawsuit or injury claim can easily run 5-6 figures.

Edited May 13, 2023 by orsd

[AJ519]

I carry medical malpractice insurance for my work but what kind of claim would they have against me for a quarter machine?

[orsd]

2 hours ago, AJ519 said:

I carry medical malpractice insurance for my work but what kind of claim would they have against me for a quarter machine?

If you have a job that requires medical malpractice insurance then I don’t know why you are messing with bulk vending.

To answer your question people will sue over stupid random things.

Edited May 14, 2023 by orsd

[AJ519]

1 hour ago, orsd said:

If you have a job that requires medical malpractice insurance then I don’t know why you are messing with bulk vending.

To answer your question people will sue over stupid random things.

Ive heard this a dozen times but I already have invested in the stock market, I have land, etc. Id rather put my money to work instead of letting it just sit in the bank. I mean what kind of jobs do other bulk vendors have? 

I only work at most 4 days per week, and while I could work more, healthcare is extremely stressful and draining. I love the relaxed pace of bulk vending. I now have 8 locations and expect to be up to 13 next week. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by AJ519

[allgum4me]

I was once told that Insurance is to CYA....Cover YOUR Assets, @ $ 300.00 a year hard to pass up, I would never do business without it, although no one has ever asked me if I carry it!

[AJ519]

I wish someone would explain why people question doing bulk vending in my situation. Heres how I see it

Lets say hypothetically I make 100 an hour. 

Lets say I had 100 vending machines that each made 15 dollars profit per month ea on avg. It sounds like that may take about 16 hours to service every 3 months. So 1500$ for about (16/3) hours =1500/5.3 = 283 an hour. Almost triple the money. Now would I quit my day job to do it? Absolutely not. But working 3 days a week (maybe 4-5 if i pick up shifts) gives me plenty of time to comfortably service these machines. I also don't have children so I have nothing but time on my hands. 

And the cherry on top is I get 3% cashback on my credit card spending so when I buy candy or other related vending stuff, I make money just running it through my hands. 

I'm not understanding the downside here. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by AJ519

[gumball guy]

12 hours ago, AJ519 said:

I wish someone would explain why people question doing bulk vending in my situation. Heres how I see it

Lets say hypothetically I make 100 an hour. 

Lets say I had 100 vending machines that each made 15 dollars profit per month ea on avg. It sounds like that may take about 16 hours to service every 3 months. So 1500$ for about (16/3) hours =1500/5.3 = 283 an hour. Almost triple the money. Now would I quit my day job to do it? Absolutely not. But working 3 days a week (maybe 4-5 if i pick up shifts) gives me plenty of time to comfortably service these machines. I also don't have children so I have nothing but time on my hands. 

And the cherry on top is I get 3% cashback on my credit card spending so when I buy candy or other related vending stuff, I make money just running it through my hands. 

I'm not understanding the downside here. 

     Your situation is different than most. You are approaching this like a challenging hobby that you can potentially make some income off of. I get it. You have the time, you have the interest, you have the start up capital, so I say more power to you.

     Unlike yourself, most people enter bulk vending as a side gig because they need more money to live on. They also see it as a possible way to break free from working for someone else by growing the business into a full time operation. Unfortunately for those who have such dreams, bulk vending is slowly dying and that is the primary reason people have questioned why you have chosen this business as an investment vehicle. I think you have made your point as to why you want to do it, so again, I say more power to you.  

     Couple other thoughts...... Projecting vending sales is a crap shoot at best and actual gross sales often fall short of what you were hoping for. You will probably have a few locations that do great, some that do as expected and many that will be completely disappointing. To be successful, you have got to be willing to pull machines from slow locations and find new homes for them immediately. Failure to do so will just result in stale product and a delay in getting your ROI. Buying machines, product cost, stales, replacement parts, storage, gas, insurance, car maintenance, taxes, out of cycle service calls for broken equipment, licensing (if necessary) are just some of the things that affect your bottom line so keep track of all expenses so you can be sure you are making progress with a positive cash flow. 

     I know you had asked about liability insurance earlier. Just some possible scenarios where liability insurance would be beneficial: Someone cracks a tooth on something they got out of your machine. Someone chokes on a piece of candy. A person knocks your machine over and it lands on someone's foot or clocks a kid.  Someone tips your machine and it breaks a plate glass window.

     You in particular should have liability insurance because you have tangible assets that someone could come after through a legal claim. You should consider at least establishing an LLC or incorporating in addition to liability insurance as it can possibly provide additional liability protection. Talk to a lawyer and/or a tax professional for the best fit for you.

     Good luck with your endeavor and keep us posted on how it goes.

[AJ519]

In my opinion, keeping track of which candies sell well in which location, which locations are best etc is the whole fun. I keep a notebook full of all of the details and its fun tinkering. Its actually in a way like handloading ammunition- keeping track of how much powder, which grain bullet, and performance finding the best load for your specific barrel.  (Harmonics and such)

Edited May 16, 2023 by AJ519