Faith Vending Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I'm sure there are discussions on this topic but I have not been able to find anything definite. The 1" capsules I am vending are flying out of the machine at a very impressive rate. However, my COG on a 25 cent vend is 32% at best. Not including time, travel all the usual stuff. Not real good. If I change the mech to 50 cents obviously my COG goes to 16%; much better. My question is has anyone done this switch recently and have the results been good? I see all over the caps I vend for a quarter are fifty cents. If the bottom line is the same why go to the trouble and expense of switching mechs? My most recent location with 25 cent vend produced $265 in the first month gross I guess its the volume versus price question. Any feedback on your experience would be appreciated. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendnoob Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I'm new to the vending biz. But here's my 2 cents. If it's not broke dont fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 The cost of buying new 50c mechs has to be added to your bottom line. Maybe when you strart buying new machines, you start getting them with only 50c mechs. That way you can swap the machines/mechs with some on of the machines on your existing route. This has been a struggle for me too. I don't have any 50c 1" mechs out there, so I've been trying hard not to vend 50c product. Another option you might want to try is to cut the 50c product with a cheaper product like superballs or tattoos to get it below your COGS level. A&A's pricelist for classic tattoos is $14.75 for 250 and Monkey'n Around is $18.50. If you mix them together in a 50/50 ratio, then that's a 26% COGS which is better than the 32% that you cited. They also have several selections of 27mm super balls that go for ~$10 for 250. With that mix, your COGS should get down to 23.6%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarter Master Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Jim, Sounds like you have alot of unanswered questions to mull over and then make a decision. Is this a single machine or part of a rack ? Are their any other vendors at the location and if so,what are they selling and at what price ? Is the product you are looking at being sold elsewhere at 50 cents ? If it is,then you can see why yours is doing so good. If you are mainly concerned about the COGS, then maybe switching product to a lower cost would help. Then, of course, you take the risk of sales going down on the new product. To put it plainly, you're just going to have to put the ole' pencil to paper to see if overall it is best to switch mechs or product or just leave things alone and be gratefull that you have the $265 coming in every month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 How much should the 2 inch superballs be? I seem to recall talking to A&A about getting them, but their price was too high, which surprised me because I thought 1inch was fairly low CoG for 25 cent vend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipergts Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 How much should the 2 inch superballs be? I seem to recall talking to A&A about getting them, but their price was too high, which surprised me because I thought 1inch was fairly low CoG for 25 cent vend. I sell the 2" pool balls for .75 in 2 locations. They do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statik27 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I'm with Vendnoob on this. I think that if your doing well with the .25$ caps, leave it alone. Perhaps you could give it a test run in a new location or something to that effect, but I wouldn't want to offend any repeat business by doubling my price on a product they like. Statik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith Vending Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks for all the comments guys. This location is a single triple with no competition (no room) and I am trying to get the owner to let me put in a rack which takes up about the same space. Charity only. Offer commission only if I can get the rack in. My feeling is not to mess with this spot; I agree if it ain't broken leave it alone. I have noticed these huge racks in grocery stores and restaurants etc. all sell what I sell for 50 cents (no candy). If I could get in them I'm sure I could outsell them just based on price. That would be a war. I think I'll compile some data for a few months and present it to some leads I have. It has to make sense for me and the owner and with a tight margin on 25 cents; I'll just have to crunch some numbers. I love having "problems" like this. For this operator its long overdue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbishop Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 You are between a rock and a hard place. If you leave it alone your margin is low. If you change out the product or the price you risk losing the sales volume. My dad always went for volume over margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Snacks Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 From what I have seen and heard from other vendors, you need to go 100% with 50 cents and not just 1 or 2 selections. I saw a rack in a Buffalo Wild Wings and all of the one inch was 50 cents and moving pretty well at that. I would also consider watering down the premium products with lower cost items to lower your average COGS. However, I personally think watering down should be done ethically with similar themed products. In other words, I would not water down zoo mania with super balls and still use the zoo mania display. Rather, use a mystery mix or toy surprise display. Or find some cheap animal themed products to add and still use the original display. Jax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 jax is a much more experianced vendor then I am but I am seeing the same thinbg he is saying.either all the items at 25 cents o all at 50.in the locations that I have them mixed the 50 cent toy is a dud no matter what I put in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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