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Machines to AVOID at all costs!


NorthTXVending

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Don't know what you are willing to spend but I got six 1800's on stands ready to go $600 delivered if your in the south east region of the US, slight increase the further away you are. And for a limited time only (working on my info-mercial skills) I throw in a single oak candy machine without stand absolutley FREE. 

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the  mech seems to work ok,what happens is that coins sit on a flat shelve directly behind the mech inside the machine.with vendstars you need to unlock the two top locks and the rear lock in order to see the quarters a lot of operators just open the back or shake the machine a little and the coins fall down,but i have not seen that being a problem.I will keep mine in service...I did not  go out and buy vendstars...they came with the route i bought    hope i answered your question   ron

If I remember the coin problem has been discussed and one of our members had a solution, can't remember who but I thought it has to do with a piece of inner tube.

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I have never owned any vendstars so I don't know too much about them. I personally don't like the way they look or the fact that they are all plastic but hey if they work for people then thats great!  I think the key factor to express to the newbies is if you are going to buy these machines do not pay too much for them!

One question I have for the vendors that operate these machine that I think would also benefit the newer members is would you buy these machines if you were to start over knowing what you know now?

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Yes

I would still buy them.  I would pay $75.00 for a brand new one and up to $50.00 for a used one.  I would prefer a used Northwestern, but they are rarely sold.  The fact that you rarely see a Northwestern on Craigslist is a great statement in itself about the machine.  But if I cannot find a Northwestern I will have to settle for a Vendstar.  They are sold a dime a dozen.

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Yes I would buy them again. All of mine are in bars, owners like them because they are all plastic. They don't worry about them getting damaged, and niether do I.For less than 50 I'll just replace it and within 2 months have paid for it.

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Yes

I would still buy them.  I would pay $75.00 for a brand new one and up to $50.00 for a used one.  I would prefer a used Northwestern, but they are rarely sold.  The fact that you rarely see a Northwestern on Craigslist is a great statement in itself about the machine.  But if I cannot find a Northwestern I will have to settle for a Vendstar.  They are sold a dime a dozen.

When you see a Northwestern on CL or Ebay it seems as if the vendor was thinking "Well, I've had this machine for 30+ years and it clearly needs to be replaced because it's a total rust-bucket now... why not just try to sell it to some naive soul, and make a few bucks before I choose to toss it?"

Anyway, yeah it's rare to see them... but the ones that usually end up for sale, I certainly wouldn't buy.

I think $71 from Sam's Club is a good deal.  The money spent on trying to fix up a used one (new brushes, new coin mech, new globe) you could easily exceed the price of a new one.

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When you see a Northwestern on CL or Ebay it seems as if the vendor was thinking "Well, I've had this machine for 30+ years and it clearly needs to be replaced because it's a total rust-bucket now... why not just try to sell it to some naive soul, and make a few bucks before I choose to toss it?"

Anyway, yeah it's rare to see them... but the ones that usually end up for sale, I certainly wouldn't buy.

I think $71 from Sam's Club is a good deal.  The money spent on trying to fix up a used one (new brushes, new coin mech, new globe) you could easily exceed the price of a new one.

Assuming they are old machines, you are correct.  But, I purchased my Northwesterns from a depressed soul.  They are in great condition and one of the heads was new. $71.00 for one head with no stand and base….I don’t think so.

Right now I have 5 Northwestern heads with stands and 3 Vendstars in my garage.  After they are located I am back to used Vendstars unless I find more Northwesterns in good condition.  I check Craig’s list everyday…even if I don’t need machines.

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  • 3 years later...

A issue with vendstar is they won't vend bubblegum

Buy the small gumballs from BJ's or your local big box.  I buy mine for about 1 cent each.  Vending 3 at a time usually will make them jam in the wheel but vending 6 wont.  Vending 6 gumballs at a time is a bit much unless you have the special gumball wheel but you can work with what you have.  A 19 cent profit per vend isn't bad and the customer feels great.

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  • 3 months later...

In doing my research over the last couple of months, it appears that plastic is the material least preferred by most bulk vending operators.   

In your experience, which bulk vending machines would you AVOID even if you could pick one up sitting on the curb for free.  (of course one would pick it up from the curb and sell on craigslist or ebay, but you know what I mean : ) )

This post is not meant to insult anyone using a specific model which may be mentioned, but better yet to educate myself and others new to the field on the machines of choice.

Thanks!

Are there actually machines that are not plastic?

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Not sure why people are fans of eagle. They are cheap copies of oak vistas. Anyone that runs both oak and Eagle or has had both should tell you oak is better.  I cant think of ANY benefits eagle has over oak or newer AA machines. They make a bigger cab back and that's about it. 

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