SweetLVending Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Hi everyone! im 41, live in San Diego, trying bulk vending for the 2nd time.This site has been great in helping me, encouraging me to try again in bulk vending. I started in October 2013 but never really got off the ground. lets just say that I was spread too thin with two other jobs and health problems. ive simplified my life, down sized to living in a 12x12 office suite and run my vending and life out of it. got rid of 15 years of storage and clutter and now only work 40 hours a week at my regular job. since I work 4 10s I get Friday, Saturday, Sunday off. ive been dedicating Fridays to vending day! ive had two triple play machines out in service at a couple a mechanic shops in the area and have had four other ones in storage for the last year and a half. ive almost lost the two accounts from neglect. I was debating wether to sell all my vending stuff on craigslist or go for it and give it another try. I knew I needed some guidance and help. ive been reading up on all the forums here for the last two months. im happy to say that it has been a great last 4 weeks. ive placed those 4 machines from storage to a machineshop breakroom, rental car business break room, office building deadend hallway, and a local deli. so now I have six machines out making quarters and I need to order some more! I wish I knew about vendiscuss two years ago! since im prone to quick burst of energy and then burnout, ive had to hold myself back at times, and other times have had to push through the melancholy. to be honest, I hate my job! that has been the motivation behind getting this vending business going. my goal is 1 vending machine placed every week. after I get 100 out, quit my job and focus on vending. 100 is just enough to give me a little security to quit, but I know it wont be enough. im planning on also being an uber driver when im not busy with my vending route. so the count down is 94 more until I quit my job. I feel like the guy from shawshank redemption who had to dig a tunnel to escape. thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Welcome! I'm in San Diego too what part are you in? I'm in the northern part my self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyTheCandyGuy Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Hi all, Brisbane, Australia here. Just bought an existing run of 120 small bulk machines, some beaver towers, coolspot and U turns. After 21 years in the video industry time to be challenged again. Looking forward to learning this business and taking over the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I started in the candy vending business 2 years ago with my daughters. I started with just one tri-vend candy machine, and now up to 3 candy machines and 1 sticker machine. Like you stated above, it is work, monthly we go and service the machines, refill if needed and socialize with the business owner's that gave us permission to place our machine there. I just wanted to test the waters before I would invest in many more machines. So Far So Good... Hey there every one call me Cosmo, I am in the planning and info gathering stage I’m thinking I will be putting my toe in the water in 3 to 5 months . I am glad to see the detailed post that outlines what I figured was the best way to get wet in this business. Start small buy used go with 1 to 6 bulk machines don’t get suckered by U Turn to start out in deep debt on a blue sky promise. And May I state that even though I told Gumball.com I’am, still, in the start up planning stage they have been enormously helpful friendly and non predatory to a total vending goober virgin like me. I cant recommend them from that angle high enough . and the pricing and service support appear to be excellent If you know of a better bulk vending supplier please tell me about it. I think the Uturn Terminator looks like a better than average machine to have and place can any one comment on this ? Do you also feel the Terminator is near the top of the food chain? With regards to quality? Production? Ease of placement and servicing? Thanks this is my first post Cosmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 See, the problem with gumballs.com is that their machines suck-bad. For a similar price to their cheap china plastic crap you can get high quality American or Canadian built machines. Go with Oak, Eagle, Northwestern, Beaver, or AA global (Chinese but with good quality control) and call the manufacturer to order- that will be your best price, with the exception of Northwestern- Sam's club is good to buy those. And Uturn is basically bottom of barrel in terms of quality and service ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillv Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Hello to you and the community. Thank You for your advice to newbies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr723399 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hi, Just started in the vending business and just signed up for this forum, looking to see what I can learn. Jeremy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusean Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 New to the vending machine game! I look forward to learning more about the trade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garnette47 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Wow. I think this welcome just saved me some serious pain. I am totally new and was offered a Biz op this past weekend. Thought it was the best thing ever. Glad I went looking for help. Almost sold the farm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Wow. I think this welcome just saved me some serious pain. I am totally new and was offered a Biz op this past weekend. Thought it was the best thing ever. Glad I went looking for help. Almost sold the farm. Keep reading! It will save you and make you a large amount of money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Wow. I think this welcome just saved me some serious pain. I am totally new and was offered a Biz op this past weekend. Thought it was the best thing ever. Glad I went looking for help. Almost sold the farm. Which one? How did they contact you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjboese Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thank you for the welcome post. I have been looking for a site like this. Being new it really helps to have a place to ask questions from people that know the industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthKingVend Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Hello everyone, I can see this post has been around awhile but the information none the less very valuable. Thanks for helping this noob to the vending business out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candy Kevin Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Hello i am new to the bulk vending! But not new to vending, (I worked for Frito lay as a pull up guy in college for 5 years) I really liked the site and learned a lot by lurking and decided to join in on the fun! Thanks once again for such a great site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BouncyBalls Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Welcome Kevin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j03jones Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Good to know there's good information for those just starting here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestro489 Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Hey everybody I am brand new just got started in January 2015. I am loving it so far. The flexibility is great. I hope this forum can be of great help to me and that I too can help others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manderso Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Hi everyone, new to this site as well as bulk vending! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgarf23 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've had one vending location for the last 4 months and just closed a deal today to purchase 4 machines on two sites.. Been enjoying every minute it so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mage Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Welcome to the group Maestro489.There are a lot of experienced members here, and years of posts by past and present members, so search away, and discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyTOP Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Instead of repeating myself by giving the same advice over and over I have decided to make one general post for everyone, and post the link when I am responding to an introduction. Welcome new VENDiscuss members. You have found a great source for learning all about the vending industry. There are plenty of experienced vendors here willing to give their advice. I remember being the new guy, (2009) and was welcomed with open arms. Priority 1. Avoid Biz-Ops. The term Biz-Op is our term for business opportunity. It refers to the companies that push inferior machines at inflated prices with outrageous (implied) promises. They attempt to sell you an entire business as a kit, and even set it up for you. Listen to the members here, and you can start for a lot less, and even make your money back a lot sooner then with the Biz-Op route. Bulk or full line? There are 2 basic directions to go with vending. Bulk, and full line. They are two different animals, and you may find one fits you better then the other. Some do both. Some do mostly one, with a little of the other on the side, for example a bulk vendor who also supplies beverage machines, but may not venture into snacks. I would say that most vendors start out in bulk vending. It is generally cheaper and easier to get into. Then later on some make the transition to full line. I am a bulk vendor. I have looked into full line, and even discussed buying a full line route with a couple of vendors who were selling. But in the end I decided it was not for me. What I want to avoid in full line is probably what draws others to it. It is a very personal choice. Generally when I give my opinions, it is often centered more around bulk then full line. I admit that I forget too easily that others do, and even prefer to do, full line, or both. Start small. Some of you are wondering why I am saying this when you may not even have the resources to start any other way. But there are plenty of people who decide to get into vending, take on an extra mortgage, and end up with a garage full of machines that will never be used, or a giant route where they discover they are over their heads, and are not even sure where all the machines are. If you just get one, or a few, the investment can be quite small, especially if they are used. Or you could purchase a small route already running. (Run the numbers by the members first, and they can help you figure out if it is a good deal or not.) The next step is to actually run the business with what you have. Learn how the machines work, and how to fix them. You will have problems, and have to learn how to deal with them. Once you learn how to deal with the problems with just a few machines, it will be easier to deal with those issues when running a lot of machines. This actually is work. Yes you are going to have to actually do work. Many people get turned on to vending, thinking you just sit back, and the quarters come rolling in. Well, it kind of can, but it doesn't happen by magic. You don't just buy a machine, and suddenly it starts spitting out quarters. This is a business, and must be treated as such. Lots of people dream of being an entrepreneur, but don't realize the amount of work, dedication, and motivation that needs to be put into a business. There are a lot of abandoned machines out there just because somebody found out they actually had to work. Unlike employees, you will decide the entire direction of your business. If your not successful, it is on you, and you won't have a boss to point your finger at. You will also be the repairman, salesman, janitor, accountant, and delivery guy. And your significant other will start asking you what your going to do with all this crap all over the house/apartment, and when the living/bed/dining room or garage isn't going to be full of machines and product. If this makes you cringe, have second thoughts. But if your like me, you would probably get a kick out of all this. My suggestion. No disrespect for the full line guys, (okay... you full line chicks too, ) unless you know you want to get into full line, I recommend getting a couple bulk machines. (Research the ones discussed on this forum, then decide what you want.) Take them apart and put them back together so you understand how they work. Clean them inside and out if they are used. (Not a bad idea if they are new either.) Get them into a location or two, and start servicing them. You will quickly find out if this business is for you or not. Like it so far? Then you start building, slowly at first. You have the benefit of the profits from your current locations helping you fund this little project. And as you get more and more machines, you have that much more coming in to expand further. This is where you do what I call moving up the vending food chain. You slowly begin to add different types of machines and products, moving into just one new type at a time. Maybe you add sticker machines, or start testing the waters of full line with a beverage machine here and there. At this point if you find you like full line, then bulk will help you fund getting into full line. The point is that you take a step at a time, testing the waters each time, and find your niche. And you build it up exactly how big you want it. Weather you just want to add a supplemental income, build a vending empire, or do something in between. What I love about vending is that you can have just one machine, hundreds, or any number in between. As big or small as you want it. You can also decide if you want to invest plenty of your hard earned money into building this enterprise, or after starting up, building very slowly, only using the revenue resulting from your first machines to expand. Good luck, and don't forget to thank Steve C (W) for starting, and working hard to maintain this forum. And notice the little donation bar on the left. Even if you don't donate now, once you start benefiting from this forum, it is nice to give a little back to help keep this forum running. If other more experienced members want to chime in and give their advice, maybe even disagree with me, or tell me where I am wrong, I encourage this. I know I only scratched the surface, and honestly I still feel like a newbie. Hello, I tried to downlaod some forms and it said I do not have permission? Another time it said I may need a username and password, but there was no place to enter info. HELP Thanks William Hi all, I am completely new to the idea of vending. I work for a company that works with homeless people to help with employment training and we are going to attempt vending operations as a training field. I am trying to come up with various ways to track inventory, sales, etc. and found this site and am very excited abotu getting involved and learning from folks already "in the know." Thanks for your time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtail Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Barely just started reading on the Introduction Sections, Love the vibe and community feeling here already! Gerardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplyvending316 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 This forum is great! I am totally new to vending in Wisconsin, but I am motivated and excited to see what comes from my heard work. I have been in sales and customer service my entire working career, so this experience should help. I have started my own start-up business before through cold-calling and was successful, so I hope this will be similar. I bought 3 bulk machines so I am looking to get out into the field and get some locations next week. Thanks for all the advice and support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCM Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Hello Everyone, New to vending but I have about 30 Vendstars, six AA globals, 1XYZ triple, and a single Vline so I better learn pretty quick.Anybody know where I can get plastic globes fairly cheap for the AAs? And pipe stands ? Thanks for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Hello Everyone, New to vending but I have about 30 Vendstars, six AA globals, 1XYZ triple, and a single Vline so I better learn pretty quick.Anybody know where I can get plastic globes fairly cheap for the AAs? And pipe stands ? Thanks for any advice. Glad to have ya! AA Global is the best for the globes. Depending on where you are will depend on best for stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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