microtargeting Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Note: I'm not sure if I'm in the right category with this post - if so I apologize, Dave. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hi friends, in my pursuit of still trying to find an instant ramen vending machine in Germany i stumbled accross an approx.10-12 year old Coffee Vending Machine by Crane on an online bulletin similar to craigslist. I'm thinking about buying this Machine and locating it inside the Main Hall of a large University. Since the Seller isn't familiar with the Vending industry either I now have a challange... The guy selling this machine can't supply enough infos for me to feel safe and secure enough to go for it right away so I'd like to take this opportunity to share my next steps with the community and hear what everyone has on their mind regarding this opportunity. As i said - I'm completely new to the whole Vending Market and I'd like to find something nice and simple to start out with and help me get my food in the door ;-) Infos stated and given by the seller are: - Fotos of the Machine... http://picasaweb.google.com/microtargeting/CraneVendingMachineForCoffee?authkey=Gv1sRgCI7ZtoyCgpy7kgE&feat=directlink - The Machine was bought 1 year ago by the seller on Ebay for aprox. 1752 EUR. SInce then, he at the Machine was Used in his restaurant kitchen as a regular coffee making machine without using the coin function. - He's giving me 3 keys and stated that the machine has been completely decalcified. - He stated that it's in perfect condition and I can come around anytime and see... the problem is - I live in Berlin and the seller is in Hessen, which is a whole day by car. If I go down there to buy this thing I want to be sure that it makes sense. I'd need to rent a van, and pay a driver plus gas... What would you do next if you where me? What Questions should I ask the seller? Is this a good deal? Please, I would be very grateful If people with more experience in this field would take me by the hand and show me what I should pay attention to. Looking forward to your resposes! :-) Dave from Berlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Crane is a good brand and you can get parts pretty easily. The drawback is that it's old and hot beverage machines are IMO the most complicated and troublesome pieces of equipment in our industry, so unless you are mechanically inclined IF/WHEN something goes wrong you are going to have a devil of a time troubleshooting the first few times you have a problem or you are going to pay for some pretty expensive service calls. If you can get the manuals with it even better. Be sure to test the machine including coin and bill acceptance. Price might be a little high but if it is in really that good condition it would not be out of reason. my .02 BTW I speak German fluently so if you will fly me over there I will be happy to teach you the ins and outs without charging you for a service call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVEND11 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Crane is the best coffee machine I think. Crane is the only coffee machine I use. 10 to 12 years old not that bad I have a ton of 10 year old machines that work every day. You can get on cranems.com and find every Manuel to them and crane is by far the simplest coffee machine to work on I rebuild them for my company. I have rebuilt about 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coinvestor Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Crane is the best coffee machine I think. Crane is the only coffee machine I use. 10 to 12 years old not that bad I have a ton of 10 year old machines that work every day. You can get on cranems.com and find every Manuel to them and crane is by far the simplest coffee machine to work on I rebuild them for my company. I have rebuilt about 20. I agree with IVEND completely, but I will ad that coffee vending is rarely a profitable thing in the US as a stand alone unless it is subsidized partially or completely by the company. Coffee here is somewhat like cold food (although not quite as bad). We do it because we have to in order to get the drink and snack business. Some on here may disagree with this, and it might be completely different in your country. Just my thoughts. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVEND11 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 I agree with IVEND completely, but I will ad that coffee vending is rarely a profitable thing in the US as a stand alone unless it is subsidized partially or completely by the company. Coffee here is somewhat like cold food (although not quite as bad). We do it because we have to in order to get the drink and snack business. Some on here may disagree with this, and it might be completely different in your country. Just my thoughts. JD JD I will not agree with you on coffee not being profitable. My coffee machines do great its all about how you work it and how clean you keep it . I have a crane 167 that has done 36769.45 as of last week . The machine is 3 years old and it was put in new I see the machine now and for that price buy it thats a great price I just sold 2 ap 213 for 1500.00 each and thats a better machine then the ap 213 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coinvestor Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 JD I will not agree with you on coffee not being profitable. My coffee machines do great its all about how you work it and how clean you keep it . I have a crane 167 that has done 36769.45 as of last week . The machine is 3 years old and it was put in new I see the machine now and for that price buy it thats a great price I just sold 2 ap 213 for 1500.00 each and thats a better machine then the ap 213 Like cold food, there are some accounts that coffee is a profitable thing, but most are not and the chances of getting in those locations without offering drink and snack vending too are slim to none (hence the stand alone comment). For every profitable location with a coffee machine there are 15-20 locations with coffee machines that do not deserve one and only had one so the vendor could pull the drink and snack income. I know that not everyone will agree with me, I am just saying what I have found to be true. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microtargeting Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 @ JD & IVENT- thanks for sharing your view regarding coffee vending... you guys got my mind going in an important direction... I'm thinking now, if it's a smart idea to start with coffee.. and what genre would be the right and most simple to start with. Any ideas? ;-) @ mission vending - feel free to visit Berlin - I'd have to think about flying you in though ;-) Bst rgrds, thnks, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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