Laundromat vending

[lurtsman]

I've secured some laundromat locations on commission. I'll be installing toy machines and spirals. Some of these locations are in what I would consider unsafe areas. I would be very scared to service these locations at night. The owners have given me permission to secure the machines as I see fit including using heavy duty chains, or drilling if necessary. I have some pictures on my phone I need to upload here from one of the locations. I do not have a power drill, and it seems to me the easiest option at least initially may be using a metal chain and heavy duty lock to attach them. Obviously I can not stop a determined theft, but I should be able to drastically reduce crimes of opportunity. I have seen a spiral once with a small ring on the bottom that was locked to a ring on the floor. I loved the idea, but don't know that I'd be able to drill into the floor. It seems more practical to do something that involves less power tools. However I am concerned about cart related damage potential. I'm only putting a new machine (which ironically was one of the cheaper ones at 150) in the most upscale & safe location. I am also putting in toy machines. I have some great 1800s set to vend toys at 50 cents. However this machine is very easy to walk off with. I need a great way to secure it from both theft and tipping, or I will need to buy some small 4way toy racks (with 50 cent mechs to account for commission)--which would be a considerable cost compared to using machines already on hand.

Thanks to all our Laundromat vendors who can give me some ideas on it.

[lurtsman]

Here are the pictures. The pop machine is in the back. The snack machine is in the front.

[sherlock]

Lurts, are these laundromats with or without an attendant?

Stay away from laundromats that don't have attendants during business hours.

I got that advice from someone who has years of experience with different types of laundromats.

He said they don't necessarily walk away with machines - but they beat the crap out of them to get free product and/or free quarters.

[lurtsman]

1 of the 3 has an attendant. Note on the pictures. 1,2,5 are at the front of the building, pictures 3 and 4 are at the back.

[will.vend]

Laundromats are great for vending but unattended are risky at best, I chain mine to a table or row of chairs, I think drilling into floor is time consuming and overkill, especially when they will just use bolt cutters to steal them if determined. In unattended I only leave a single head gumball machine to minimize risk.

[lurtsman]

Laundromats are great for vending but unattended are risky at best, I chain mine to a table or row of chairs, I think drilling into floor is time consuming and overkill, especially when they will just use bolt cutters to steal them if determined. In unattended I only leave a single head gumball machine to minimize risk.

I could discuss doing some GB singles with them. I have some large ones, but the base is made of plastic and they could smash it out on site to steal the quarters.

[dperry]

The place has and old mega-touch video game.  That may be a good sign for you if somebody is ok with placing a $600 machine the size of a TV in such a place.

You might look into getting some security cables like they use for laptops and such. Go to Best Buy or Frys.  Sometimes they have an anchor that uses strong sticky tape to secure the anchor to a table or wall.  This my be what you need.

[lurtsman]

Interesting ideas. The most dangerous location also has one of those video game machines. The nice location has several, and a large TV and leather couches. Selling gumballs in high capacity is required to have the location--specifically I was able to get in to sell the toys I wanted by agreeing to sell gumballs and pay a very high commission on them. (The toys are at a lower rate and would be more profitable for me) He had wanted spirals at each location, so I would need to put either a spiral or at least a gumball head in. It might be plausible to do a 4way rack with 25 cent GB, and 3 50 cent toys. In these cases the challenges are potentially selling out of GB between service (2 months if possible, will go every 1 if required by sales), and paying for more machines to sell toys at 50 cents + a rack stand. In my opinion, worth doing if they are not at significant danger for being stolen because the potential income should be very high. If I get my feet wet, so to speak, in laundromat vending, there are several laundromats to approach in the area.

To clarify. I do have the cash flow to purchase additional machines and assemble small racks for the locations. I also have either spirals or high capacity heads available to do gumballs. The laundromat owners would like to have the spirals. The 50 cent toy machines I have are 1800s--all attached by bolts, no press on attachments or plastic bases. I got a great deal on them, but because they are so easy to move (compared to racks) they are potentially at higher risk for theft. Despite the low price for me to acquire them, I want to keep them very safe because I understand how difficult it would be to replace them.

[G-Vending]

I had a laundromat at one time the A_holes took the changer out of wall.

Just think what they would do to a bulk machine..

[lurtsman]

I had a laundromat at one time the A_holes took the changer out of wall.

Just think what they would do to a bulk machine..

At one of the locations the laundromat owner reported having a criminal attempt this. He had a hi tech security system and after the attempted crime (there was no way he was going to get the bill changer out, but he left a huge hole in the wall) the owner posted several large high res pictures of the criminal around the laundromat. He said after that everyone understood how good his cameras were and they behaved better because they knew how easy it would be the cops for identify them. He bragged that at ten feet the resolution is still good enough to pick out a single hair. It won't prevent first time offenders, but the crack heads that steal these machines may already have a list of charges, which means the face is on record and they could easily be picked up. The machine will be gone, but the crackhead is not likely to strike again (until he gets out).

[antoniocinisi]

I had a laundromat at one time the A_holes took the changer out of wall.

Just think what they would do to a bulk machine..

this just hapened to a laundrymat I have,luckily they didnt touch any of my machines.in the other mat I had I put the worst looking machines I have so all the scratches and damage they did to the rack while there wasnt much worse then what they looked like when it got there.they are destructive at an unatended laundrymat.notice how there is paper shoved in the coin acceptor of the megatouch,this is the least they can do in an unattended place.

if you are ready to deal with vandalism then you are in luck because laundrymats do very well.I dont know if I would go service every 8 weeks,if a machine is down or more then 1 it could have hapened days after you serviced and will not earn for 2 months,go there often!

[JEREMYTINA]

Do you all pay comission at your laundromats?

[lurtsman]

I certainly do. With Laundromats you are dealing with real business owners, not the useless figureheads that populate the bureaucracy of larger chain stores. You may have decent success meeting these people man to man and discussing how you can help each other. I'm certainly looking at going into more laundromats if these work out well. Less than 1 year until I'm in place to be a full time vendor.

[lurtsman]

     I have several laundromats, some attended and some not.  I have 2 racks (a 5 way and a 7 way) chained to an I bolt that I drilled into the floor. I have another 5 way chained to a folding table mounted to a wall. All my other racks are "unattached". Of my unattached racks,  7 of them are in unattended locations. Up to this time, I have had no problems.  The 2 that are chained were previously stolen, one at an attended and the other unattended store. Go figure.

     A far as the pictures you posted, I would think about chaining a small rack, perhaps an A&A step stand 18 or 27 to the folding table.  If you were to move the trash can, it would fit nicely there.

     I would not recommend placing a single head in a laundromat. It would be much to easy for it to sprout legs and take off.

Hey Gumball. Since you have several of these locations, and a few are secured, would you mind sharing how you would do the attaching.

I want to do a simple chain and lock. Where would you go to buy the supplies, and what would you consider to be heavy duty enough for the job? I've decided to pursue placing the spirals in the scary locations. I'll be looking for cheap toy machine setups to chain down as well. I have a Lowe's near me, and a tiny true value hardware. Would the supplies needed be available there? Should I get them at Walmart instead? My wife would love it if I came to WM with her on her next grocery trip.