What are some of the best make and models of soda and candy machines?

[ScottA]

Getting started in vending and am currently looking for some locations.

What are some of the best makes and models for soda and candy machines?

Would you suggest sticking with certain makes and models to simplify repairing and learning how to repair?

 

[Vendo Mike]

Get your locations lined up and then determine what space you have to work with in each. A measuring tape is your friend.  In most cases, your best off if you start with a drink at a location and build from there if demand is there.  Being brand new, your best starting point is used equipment until you can reinvest in your company/equipment down the road.  Google your area for vending distributer(s) and start to build a relationship.  They can provide used equipment, parts and most importantly, all of the knowledge that you don't have yet.  

I try to be too salesman-ish on this site due to my obvious leaning toward the mfg I represent and this site is meant for service help, not sales pitches.  For that reason, I'll leave the suggested mfg's to the rest of the group.  

[Vendo Mike]

I meant I try NOT to be too salesman-ish.  

[AZVendor]

Start with soda only and stick with cans to begin with.  That will teach you some of the ins and outs of vending before you get too deep into it.  Dixie Narco single price machines are bulletproof but you can get a DN 501E which will allow cans or bottles down the road.  Cans are easy to buy and vend and have reasonable pricing compared to bottles.  Don't do any snacks until you can place 5 of them to cut down on stale products.

[ScottA]

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate it.

 

[orsd]

To add on to what AZ Vendor said,

Personally, as much as it pains me to say it, the single price Dixie’s are probably past their prime at this point. Great, solid machines, just a bit outdated at this point. But for a newbie on a shoestring budget they can still work for smaller locations, if you buy one dirt cheap (<3-400 dollars for a mint one in good working shape)

Dixie Narco 501Es are the perfect starter machine in my opinion. There’s a lot of them out there, and they are easy to learn and setup. Plus, they are still very much relevant and can have credit card readers installed on them fairly easily.

Other decent machines are Royal 650s (Merlin IVs) and Royal 660s (GIIIs). The 650s are somewhat rarer, but are fairly simple as well. 660s are much more common, but are a bit more complex with their single motor chain drive vending mechanism. Both machines are a bit more complex than the 501Es tho.

As for Vendos the 721s are great machines, but not super common to find used, and usually a bit pricier when you do. These are probably the simplest to operate and are still in production. The previous model, the 720 (VMax) are kind of ok, but are a pain to setup initially. The other issue is that a couple of wear parts (gate links and gage bars) are no longer being made, so keeping them running could be an issue going forward. Wouldn’t necessarily recommend the 720, but you could do a whole lot worse than that.

[ScottA]

 

orsd - thanks for the reply. I'll those to my list.