Just Starting my journey in the vending machine busines

[personal vending machine]

Im new to this forum and business and plan on getting as much information and help as possible. im in the process of picking what kinda products i wanna sell. im looking forward to making a few friends and talking with everyone

,PVM

[mission vending]

Welcome to this lil ol corner of the internet pardner.

[Mettle]

Yes welcome aboard! You will learn alot by reading old posts and discussions - if you don't find an answer just ask - everyone here is quite friendly and willing to help!

[personal vending machine]

Thx for theI welcome guys, Ive already found lots of information. hopefully I can get some insider tips from one of you guys about what direction I should take to get me off to a fast start.

[The Mage]

Welcome to the group.

The best advice I can give is to read as much as possible, then purchase 1 to 5 machines, and get them located, or buy a small route if that works for you.  (Make sure to ask everyone if it is a good deal or not first.)  Then spend time learning the business hands on, and finding out if it is right for you.

Too many people go overboard and either buy a ton of machines that just sit in their garage, or buy a giant route that they quickly find out is over their head.

When I purchased a small route, my first time servicing it took way longer then I ever expected.  Mostly because I was fumbling around, and having to make trips back to the car for things I forgot.

Now I grab my "vending kit", get in, fill the machine, take the money out, clean it, and am out in less then 5 minutes most of the time.  Longer for the commission locations,or if I have an issue I need to deal with, or somebody wants to talk.  (Always be open and friendly.)

Good luck.

[personal vending machine]

Welcome to the group.

The best advice I can give is to read as much as possible, then purchase 1 to 5 machines, and get them located, or buy a small route if that works for you.  (Make sure to ask everyone if it is a good deal or not first.)  Then spend time learning the business hands on, and finding out if it is right for you.

Too many people go overboard and either buy a ton of machines that just sit in their garage, or buy a giant route that they quickly find out is over their head.

When I purchased a small route, my first time servicing it took way longer then I ever expected.  Mostly because I was fumbling around, and having to make trips back to the car for things I forgot.

Now I grab my "vending kit", get in, fill the machine, take the money out, clean it, and am out in less then 5 minutes most of the time.  Longer for the commission locations,or if I have an issue I need to deal with, or somebody wants to talk.  (Always be open and friendly.)

Good luck.

Thx, alot mage!  what comes in the kit lol I might have get me 1 of those

[personal vending machine]

HI and welcome, I have a backpack  that I carry over my shoulder. I have a postal scale for weighing quarters,paper towels/ cleaner, tools, collection bag (zip-lock) and of course product.

hi, kelly! You mean to tell me you have to weigh your quarters?  I guess You've been ripped off before.  Ive got alot to look into lol Im sure your gonna take a loss like that at some point though.

[Poplady1]

Hi and welcome to Vendiscuss.  Great community of vending folks here and we are always happy to see a new vendor jump in.

Poplady

[NinnJinn]

hi, kelly! You mean to tell me you have to weigh your quarters?  I guess You've been ripped off before.  Ive got alot to look into lol Im sure your gonna take a loss like that at some point though.

The scales is to weigh the quarters so you know how much to give the location owner as for commission for them letting you place the machine there.

If every stop you had, you had to count $40-$50 in quarters by hand, you are looking at 160 plus quarters  to count.  it would slow you down drastically.

[personal vending machine]

The scales is to weigh the quarters so you know how much to give the location owner as for commission for them letting you place the machine there.

If every stop you had, you had to count $40-$50 in quarters by hand, you are looking at 160 plus quarters  to count.  it would slow you down drastically.

hi ninn jinn,  that makes perfect sense it seems like im missing all of the smaller details that make your business more sufficient. I would've never thought of that until after the fact, you guys here at vendiscuss are really helpful.

Is there anything archived with tips like this in one place to help us new folk?

[The Mage]

My kit is actually one of those Hot Tamale or Mike & Ike boxes.  I pick them up free from Sam's when I am buying candy, and use a new one each time.  I keep my candy in those screw on zip lock containers with cup measurements on the side.

I have the candy I need for the location, my keys, a spray bottle, and some clean rags and a zippered coin bag in the box.  I am thinking of changing to the Clorox wipes that some members here use.

Along with that I have a handled zippered notebook (almost looks like a briefcase) that I use for recording my route information, plus it has a place to hook my keys when I am not doing my route.  I also have a large nylon zipper case that I keep all the tools I need, and some extra screws, washers, and nuts just in case.  And that is kept in my notebook, along with pens, and my commission record sheets.  (Just those cheap rent receipts from Wal-Mart.)

I also have one a fire safe I use to dump my coins in after I count them, and I use a counting tube.  Takes longer then the scale, but is still quite quick.

[bostonvendor27]

I use a small duffle bag. Inside I carry a few tools, cleaner, paper towel roll, zipplock bags,  Some business cards and some tape just in case a display comes off. I keep all my product in the car and once I get to the location I put what I need in the bag.

[will.vend]

If every stop you had, you had to count $40-$50 in quarters by hand, you are looking at 160 plus quarters  to count.  it would slow you down drastically.

hey ninn thats how I do it and alot of times it's more than 40 to 50 dollars, I can count out and roll 100 dollars worth of quarters in about 5 minutes. I used to carry a scale but it was awkward and clumsy, it was a nice one that came with a silver metal case, every time I would enter a location the owners would get real nervous, one day an owner told me "damn, I thought you were the IRS" so I just went back to counting by hand.

here's what I do: assuming im gonna collect 1000.00 for the day I will count and roll 300.00 dollars worth of quarters at the beginning of my route (based on average 30% commission) I will pay my commissions with the rolled quarters, at the end of the day I dump all remaining quarters in a counter/sorter machine and roll the rest, I take them to the bank the next day.

[NinnJinn]

every time I would enter a location the owners would get real nervous, one day an owner told me "damn, I thought you were the IRS" so I just went back to counting by hand.

That is hilarious! 

[amakieve]

Hello All,

I am brand new to the business and to this forum. I noticed that one of you uses a postal scale to weigh their quarters... I thought those scales only measured how much postage something needs. Is there a specific setting for measuring money? or did you just measure the weight of one and divide it by the total when it's weighed?

Thank you for your help.

[dperry]

I use a digital food scale that can display the number of grams.  Quarters weigh 5.67 grams.  I take the total weight in grams, divide by 5.67 and then divide that by 4.  I then round down to the nearest $0.25 since there is invariably some other denomination of coins or toothpicks in there too.  I found the weight of a quarter buy weighing many many quarters and taking an average.

[amakieve]

Haha, thanks guys, that's a very interesting and very helpful thing to know!

[Bocephus]

Definitely agree with checking on here to make sure you are getting a great deal. You never know, someone on this site may have exactly what you are looking for at a cheaper price.