bluewhale Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Well right or wrong we purchased 20 Vendstar 3000's today lady was trying to sell 40 of them for $50 apiece all are in lightly used condition has all the keys and locks all the chute doors are in tack, i knew they would be cheaply built from reading on here for a week or so and not worth the money she wanted we got her down to $25 apiece and will try and get them in break rooms and other low key areas and see what happens. i see them selling on ebay and else where for around 45$ ea plus shipping so if all else fails might be able to get rid of some of them that way. not like its a huge amount of money. Probably will be a big adventure trying to find spots to put them wish me luck i will report back the results as we go forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quotealex Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 If it was me, I would have just started with one used bulk machine from one of the 3 top makers to see if this business was right for me. But I'm the risk adverse type. Good luck on your new adventure:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc-vending Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Well right or wrong we purchased 20 Vendstar 3000's today lady was trying to sell 40 of them for $50 apiece all are in lightly used condition has all the keys and locks all the chute doors are in tack, i knew they would be cheaply built from reading on here for a week or so and not worth the money she wanted we got her down to $25 apiece and will try and get them in break rooms and other low key areas and see what happens. i see them selling on ebay and else where for around 45$ ea plus shipping so if all else fails might be able to get rid of some of them that way. not like its a huge amount of money. Probably will be a big adventure trying to find spots to put them wish me luck i will report back the results as we go forward. While they are "cheaply made" I think they do have a place in the market. I prefer the 1800's and Northwestern machines myself, but I do have several VS3000's You should, in the right locations get your investment back pretty quick. Then you can afford to add more machines to your route and continue to grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberframe50 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Well a lot of vendrors hate Vendstars they still collect quarters. Now get them on the street, good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havending Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Bluewhale What's a "low key" area? I like my machines in high key busy areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I jumped in with Vendstar 3000's as well. I bought 30 for $38/each. Here is my take on them and someone getting into the business. First of all you have a whopping $500 in invested in a cash business. No where else can you set up 20 stores for $500. So this is a good move in my opinion. You did well on the price and the condition of the machines. Say you place a few and after a few months decide the business is not for you. Big deal sell the unplaced machines and placed ones for a little more than you have invested or a little less no big loss. You need about 20 locations to find out if you can get enough of an average from your route to make it worth your time. Yes Vendstars are cheaply made. It is kind of an oxymoron they are cheaply made but the hold up well and collect quarters without too many problems. Perfect for a newbie. If you decide the business is for you, your route will evolve and change you'll find you'll want higher quality machines and to diversify your product line. In the mean time do you own locating and feel this business out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewhale Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Bluewhale What's a "low key" area? I like my machines in high key busy areas. Just mean somewhere where the kids can not just tear them up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewhale Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 I jumped in with Vendstar 3000's as well. I bought 30 for $38/each. Here is my take on them and someone getting into the business. First of all you have a whopping $500 in invested in a cash business. No where else can you set up 20 stores for $500. So this is a good move in my opinion. You did well on the price and the condition of the machines. Say you place a few and after a few months decide the business is not for you. Big deal sell the unplaced machines and placed ones for a little more than you have invested or a little less no big loss. You need about 20 locations to find out if you can get enough of an average from your route to make it worth your time. Yes Vendstars are cheaply made. It is kind of an oxymoron they are cheaply made but the hold up well and collect quarters without too many problems. Perfect for a newbie. If you decide the business is for you, your route will evolve and change you'll find you'll want higher quality machines and to diversify your product line. In the mean time do you own locating and feel this business out. Sterling or anybody else Did you do the whole liability insurance, business license, tax id and so on before you even tried to place a machine or did you start working on placing and getting all the other items in order as time went on Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 This is a big topic. One can do a legal business, income tax reporting etc, or all on the down low. My wife made sure I had liability insurance and reporting income. I was able to get liability insurance for $238/year through safco. Others on this site seem to have a hard time getting an insurance company to write such policy. I guess it isn't common. You can set up a C corp to protect your personal assets at $800/year (Calender year) Never set it up late in the year you'll get that $800 hit again on Jan 1! My policy is for 1 million per occurance and 2 million per year. I think I did have a couple of machines out before I got the insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewhale Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 This is a big topic. One can do a legal business, income tax reporting etc, or all on the down low. My wife made sure I had liability insurance and reporting income. I was able to get liability insurance for $238/year through safco. Others on this site seem to have a hard time getting an insurance company to write such policy. I guess it isn't common. You can set up a C corp to protect your personal assets at $800/year (Calender year) Never set it up late in the year you'll get that $800 hit again on Jan 1! My policy is for 1 million per occurance and 2 million per year. I think I did have a couple of machines out before I got the insurance. state farm just quoted me $235.00 yr or $19.58 mth for $1mil liability so that looks about right. hmmm thats 3 avg vend pulls month to cover that payment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEREMYTINA Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 state farm just quoted me $235.00 yr or $19.58 mth for $1mil liability so that looks about right. hmmm thats 3 avg vend pulls month to cover that payment Are you set up as a Sole Prop, LLC, or C-Corp, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewhale Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 Are you set up as a Sole Prop, LLC, or C-Corp, etc? I was just going to do the sole prop way easier and cheaper as far as startup costs and paperwork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGranger Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Are you set up as a Sole Prop, LLC, or C-Corp, etc? C-Corp is too expensive in CA. The yearly fee alone will kill you, as will the paperwork. I ran a lighting C-Corp a few years ago and wouldn't do it again at start up. I personally think a company needs to grow into the C-Corp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Bluewhale, seems like you found a pretty great deal. I've been looking online at VS300s and can't seem to find any as cheap as 40 each. I did find one guy online that was offering $1500 for 20 lightly used VS300s with several spare ones included for parts. But after reading this thread, I'm thinking about holding out or low-balling him at 1K. Have been searching on Cragslist but without any real success. Any tips for finding these things cheap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schweggie71 Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I think you got a great deal. I would have loved to start that way. I walked into the business cold (but very confident I would love the biz, and I do) and bought a 43 VS3000 route for far too much, but you live you learn. The first month was nutty. I was in full panic mode trying to learn my route. I posted here back in October all freaked out, but some really great people stepped in, calmed me down and gave me some great advice. I still have a ways to go to get where I want to be, but the income stream is flowing. It's all gravy from here. But getting back to you, with your investment that you made, you're in a great spot. You'll be having these newbie doubts about the machines making any money. You have these ideas that no one will be using your machine etc, but every time you pull, there's also money. I learned to calm down a bit. Anyways, best of luck, you're going to be fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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