What are your top selling and highest markup items?

[Pbuckler]

I picked up a new account. Until now I have only had drink machines but they want a snack machine too. I picked up a USI machine that holds 45 items. I'm wondering what items are the most popular and which ones earn the highest profit?

[RJT]

How many people at the account? Whay type of account is it?

[Sparta_Automation]

Sell alot of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (buy for .45 each, sell for .85).  Jalapeno Chips (buy for .40 each, sell for $1), of course the standards such as Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos, Snickers and Rolo's

Travis

[Pbuckler]

Thanks for the info! A local grocery store is running a sale on candy bars for .50 each. Since I'm filling a 45 item machine for the first time I'm thinking of getting 5-10 of each kind and seeing what sells before committing to a box from Sams.

[RJT]

Sell alot of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (buy for .45 each, sell for .85).  Jalapeno Chips (buy for .40 each, sell for $1), of course the standards such as Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos, Snickers and Rolo's

Travis

Travis no offense but I am not sure how you can determine this without more information? Jalapeño chips would not sell in an account with mostly women.

Maybe it is an account with mostly Hispanics, maybe its an account with mostly white collar workers, blue collar workers, African Americans, etc. The "standard" stuff is fine but demographics and number of employees play an important part  on what you stock,  along with what type of machine you use and how you set par levels etc.

Also how can you give him prices without knowing the type of account, any commission etc?  $1.00 for chips want cut it in a manufacturing account with low wage workers. .85 candy want cut it with an account that is getting 20% commission like a hotel.

Put a 5 wide snack in a low volume account and you are asking for problems with stales. Put a 4 wide snack in a high volume account and you are asking for problems keeping it full.

Way to many factors are not know just to start throwing out what to stock and prices in a snack machine.

[RJT]

Thanks for the info! A local grocery store is running a sale on candy bars for .50 each. Since I'm filling a 45 item machine for the first time I'm thinking of getting 5-10 of each kind and seeing what sells before committing to a box from Sams.

Sams sells variety boxes of candy.....

[Pbuckler]

RJT , I didn't ask for advice on product choices, suppliers, machine selection, or for consulting, or whatever else you are selling. I simply asked for peoples opinions on what makes the most money and what's popular at their locations. I am looking for ideas on what to put in my machine. I didn't ask for peoples opinions on what they think should go into my machine. For some reason your replies thus far aren't what I had in mind when I started this thread. Maybe you should re-read the topic. Do you have an item that is popular amongst your locations or perhaps one that nets you a fair profit?

[RJT]

RJT - all I can say is back off! I didn't ask for advice on product choices, suppliers, machine selection, or for consulting, or whatever else you are selling. I simply asked for peoples opinions on what makes the most money and what's popular at their locations. I am looking for ideas on what to put in my machine. I didn't ask for peoples opinions on what they think should go into my machine. For some reason your replies thus far aren't what I had in mind when I started this thread. Maybe you should re-read the topic. Do you have an item that is popular amongst your locations or perhaps one that nets you a fair profit?

Back off? You got it my friend. Good luck with you vending adventure. However I will say this I was not "selling" you anything but giving sound advice. I NEVER once tried "selling" you a thing.

You do as you like my freind but ask the experienced vendors and they will tell you EXACTLY what I have in this post is on point. When I say "experienced" I dont mean a guy with a couple of snack machines. I mean folks that have been in the industry for years and that have experience with various types accounts and customers.

I am not sure why you think people can just randomly tell you what sells and what dosent. Heck, pork skins sell great at one of my accounts but I couldnt give it away at another. Micro pop sell great at one and not at another. I have an account with 95% women and guess what? "jalapeño chips" dont sell. However chocolate does. So how can anyone tell you what sell and what dosent without some information about the account in question? Get it??

BTW: Snickers is the #1 selling cand bar and Mt. Dew is the #1 selling soft drink.

Good luck...Backing off now.....

[Pbuckler]

Again, I am not asking for advice on what to put in the machine. Simply, what sells for you and what is worth the space in your machine. What Travis posted is exactly what I am looking for. I will probably put in jalapeno chips and every other thing I can think of until I find a good mix. If we dont know a product exists how can we offer it to our customers? I posted this as a way to educate myself and possibly others on products our customers like. Afterall isn't that what we have to do to maximize our potential for sales. After you jumped all over the first person to post a reply then began taking my topic in a different direction than what I intended it rubbed me the wrong way.

[RJT]

Again, I am not asking for advice on what to put in the machine. What Travis posted is exactly what I am looking for. Please read the topic before posting.

You said: "I picked up a new account. Until now I have only had drink machines but they want a snack machine too. I picked up a USI machine that holds 45 items. I'm wondering what items are the most popular and which ones earn the highest profit?"

To me you are asking what to stock in your first snack machine.......

"I READ IT!!! and my answer is the same. I am not sure why you think what I posted was the wrong answer or what you seem to deem offensive. I’m not exactly sure what you are thinking to tell you the truth.

Again, how in the world can ANYONE tell you what sells and what dosent without knowing what type of account and what type of people are in it??? What sells in one account may not sell in another. It is not a XYZ answer. Their is more to vending than that.

Cheerwine soft drink sells great in my area but guess what they might not even offer it where you are. Either way, good luck…..

[Pbuckler]

LOL!! Maybe I should start a new thread titled "I got a new account, its in a sorority house with 100 college women, what should I put in the snack machine?"

Then your answers would be what I am looking for.

I don't want people to "filter" their responses based on what they think will sell better in one location over another. I don't want to know what you think will sell in a sorority house. I simply want to know what items are good sellers and what items make you the most money. Then I will probably put a majority of those items in the machine over the course of a year and see what happens. It should be a pretty simple response to this topic.

[RJT]

LOL!! Maybe I should start a new thread titled "I got a new account, its in a sorority house with 100 college women, what should I put in the snack machine?"

Then your answers would be what I am looking for.

I don't want people to "filter" their responses based on what they think will sell better in one location over another. I don't want to know what you think will sell in a sorority house. I simply want to know what items are good sellers and what items make you the most money. Then I will probably put a majority of those items in the machine over the course of a year and see what happens. It should be a pretty simple response to this topic.

Like I said before I could tell you Snickers is a great selling candy and one of the most popular but if the account has lets say Hispanics then it might not sell well but something else does. Mt. Dew is one of the top selling soft drinks but guess what? In an account with Hispanics it is Coke and flavored drinks like orange and grape. Got an account with older folks 45 and up Mt. Dew does not sell that well either. Got an account with young kids (9 to 12yo)  in it then Skittles traditionally does well but Snickers does not do as well.

So again my response is the same and I HOPE it will click with you what I am saying and it will help you avoid eating a bunch of stale product until you figure out what your accounts like.

[Sparta_Automation]

Funny....how we can read the same question, and understand it different.

I agree to a point with RJT.  If he asked "What should I stock in this machine", then you will need all of that information that he suggested.  However if you read it like I did, he only asked what products do I sell, and what type of profit margins do you get.  It was a pretty straight forward question.

I have 2 main locations.  One goes through mac and cheese like it's water, and the other location sells one a month!  The key is to rotate product until you find what works.  Stick to core products that tend to be universal like snickers and rotate other items to introduce new items, increase sales etc.  I will say that amost every location wants healthy food...and they will sell, but the "sin" items will normally sell better. 

Good luck and keep asking questions.

Travis

[Pbuckler]

We all know that every location is different and you never know what the customer will want. I am looking for items that are good sellers and good money makers, not a list of what people think a bunch of college girls will want to eat. I have a glass front bev machine next door at another sorority and they ask for all kinds of weird drinks. But they put about $175 a week in that drink machine alone so I will try to get this new account as "dialed-in" as I can to recreate the same sales.

[dogcow]

rjt is making some extremely valid points about demographics you will end up with a lot of stales i would try buying small amounts if you are gonna take that approach and just accepting a smaller margin at first

anyway to answer your question in the last month of ownership this has been my best selling

1 - rice krispie treats, i get them from the dollar store , much cheaper than walmart or sams but the stale date is shorter on them however this has not been a problem as they sell extremely well for me. cost about 17 cents vend for 50-65 cents ,

2 - act 2 mini microwave popcorn , just make sure the location has a microwave, long stale date, low cost vs price. sells pretty good. RJT advised me to be careful of how you load these into the machine make sure to test vend them. I switched the orientation of mine to longwise vs standing up this week to avoid potential probs vending them.  cost is 20 cents vend for 50-65 cent

3 - bbq chips , wise variety, i have been trying to cycle out all the lays chips for wise except doritos and regular lays because wise is a lot cheaper and longer stale dates. bbq is best selling flavor for me.  

4 - m&ms plain and peanut and butterfinger and nestle crunch. the markup \is not very good on these compared to above, i sell for 0.75 in one location and 0.70 in the other (slower location)  

what does not sell

1 - andy capp hot fries - pulled tons of stales of these , prev owner even advised me nobody eats them. they were even hard to give away free however i thought they were good.

2- cheese nips

3 - snickers, a, pulled a bunch of stales, havent sold one yet

4 - pasteries, pulled all of them out as stales will probably not be replacing them due to shorter stale date and low interest

my machines are in auto body shops, not in customer reception area.

[Pbuckler]

I like the rice krispies at the dollar store idea. I mentioned that my grocery store is selling candy bars for .50 so I will get a few of each kind so I don't sink a bunch of $$ into inventory that may not sell. With 46 selections to fill I appreciate every suggestion, especially when others have experience with them.

[dogcow]

I like the rice krispies at the dollar store idea. I mentioned that my grocery store is selling candy bars for .50 so I will get a few of each kind so I don't sink a bunch of $$ into inventory that may not sell. With 46 selections to fill I appreciate every suggestion, especially when others have experience with them.

yeah one thing they are not marked for individual retail, dunno if its ok to sell em like that or not i mean im not sure how much trouble you can get in for that

[andyinchville]

HI,

My best sellers are  the "Munchie" chips.....I've put as many as 30 in a machine and have them all gone by the next servicing (Then I put 40 in only to have sales fall back to about 20 in the machine...go figure).

My best profit margin is on Lance Nabs (any flavor) ....Buy for 14.5 cents and sell for 50 cents each.

Andrew

[Poplady1]

I copied this report out of Automatic Merchandiser's industry reports for 2009.  This list is used by many of the larger vending companies as their core snacks in the planogram for their snack machines.

Blue Moose

Top 20 Candy/snack/confections prices

4 year review

Including Average Selling Price

Item size 4 year Avg                 

Snickers 2oz 67  70  73  76

M&M Peanut 1.74oz 67 71  73  77

Doritos Nacho

      Cheesier Big Grab 1.75 oz 76 78 79 80

Twix 2oz 67 71 73 78

Cheetos Crunchy 1.25oz 76 79 80 80

Lays Chips 1.5oz 74 76 77 79

Cheez-it original 1.5oz 52 55 57 61

Poptarts Frosted Straw 3.6oz 77 81 84 88

Three Musketeers Org 2.13oz 66 68 71 77

Skittles 2.17oz 70 74 76 79

Rice Krispies Treat 1.7oz 70 74 77 78

Reese’s Peanut Butter cups 2.25oz NA 1.04 1.05 1.08

Ruffles Cheddar & Sr Cream 1.5oz NA NA 71 81

Big Texas Cinn Roll 4oz NA NA NA 95

Fritos Chili Cheese 2.25oz 73 76 77 79

Fam Amos Choc Chip 2oz 65 68 71 79

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup 1.5oz 74 76 72 77

M&M Chocolate 1.69oz 67 70 72 76

Grandmas Mini Van Creams 2.25oz NA NA NA 71

Fritos Lay Fritos 2.25oz NA NA NA 80

Taken from Vending Market Watch 2009

Automatic Merchandise

[Pbuckler]

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I have been trying to decide what prices to charge as well as what items to sell.

THANKS!

[Pbuckler]

yeah one thing they are not marked for individual retail, dunno if its ok to sell em like that or not i mean im not sure how much trouble you can get in for that

After a trip to Sams I found krispies for $.17 each. That's worth a bulk pack from Sams that's ready to vend (labeled for resale)

[Poplady1]

You are welcome.  Good luck with your new machine. 

Blue Moose

[mbicfl]

Buckler stop being an idiot. I don't know RJT, but from his advice he knows what he is talking about.

[WillisNYC]

Popladys post made me realize a couple of things I learned since buying a bigger route about 3 months ago.  A couple of the names on her list made no sense to me before I bought, afterwards, they have become important.  Also, many of those same names are not available in my local Sams, BJs, etc.  Only upon ordering from Vistar have I been able to get many of them.  Grandmas mini Vanilla Creme cookies are by FAR my best selling cookie throughout all my stops.  Only available from Vistar in my area. 

Wise Ridgies Sour Cream and Onion sell very well and are probably comparable to the Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Creme.  Once again, only available from Vistar in my area.  Got Spanish/Latinos at your stops?  Plaintain chips from ARA and Pork Rinds.  Again, I can only get me at Vistar.  Now I don't want to sound like an ad for VIstar cause I don't love em or work for 'em.  However, they do have stuff I can't get anywhere else and I never even knew some of this stuff existed until I started ordering from them and seeing what other stuff is available on my expanded route. 

Lastly, every damn stop is different.  I can't sell popcorn at most my stops, but I have two where I cannot keep it in stock.  Plaintain chips seem to do well in MANY places I never suspected and they are one of the few that get asked for by name over and over.  However, there are a couple stops where they don't sell at all.  I have come to realize that EVERY stop has to be customized to the individual tastes of the clients at that stop.  And then you come to know when that the guy who buys six Devil Dogs every week is on vacation because they are still in the coils when you go back the next week!    So plan on having to customize each stop to meet your clienteles desires and tastes.  Then learn to adjust as workers change jobs or their tastes change.  Clients often make suggestions if encouraged.  Listen and act on those  suggestions, it will pay dividents!

[Pbuckler]

Man I wish we had devil dogs in Missouri!