philo Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Steve: About 60% of my triples (it's the only bulk machines we run) have no gum in them at all. Most of these are located in break rooms/waiting areas where there are no children. The more public acess triples (pizza, salons, etc.) seem to perform fair to poor on gumball sales vs. pmm's or mm's. Are all your singles acessible to children? Philo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 Most are. I am heavily into locally owned pizza places and family restaurants. I am gradually narrowing my selections to either gumballs or PMM in single head machines. I thought long and hard about this move before I made the decision and the thing that sold me on it, besides its ease of service, was one simple fact that I already knew about my business. Everywhere I had a single machine, I would always pull $10, $15 even $20 or more from it each month. Where ever I had a double, I would only get about $7 to $12 out of one head and about $3 to $5 out of the second each month. If we use the top of the scale here, each double was bringing in roughly $17 a month while each single was getting up to $20 or more! I figured if I broke down the doubles and earned $15 on each of 100 singles (total $1500), that would be much better than earning $17 on 50 doubles (total $850) So far I have not seen any substantial revenue gains but I have not lost any either. I think time will tell. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlakevending Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 When I first got into the business i placed all double head gumballs..One head had Nerds and the other head had jelly belly gumballs. This way a great combination and huge success at certain locations. I had them in a used video game chain and they did great. I was new to vending and made some mistakes and ended up loosing the locations. Since I got back in the game, I decided to only run single heads with very few racks or double heads. By running single heads its cheaper for one, and 2 i can monitor the location to see if it has the volume for a second head before i even drop it off. If a location makes 15.00 or more i will place a 2nd head because from experience with placing the second head it jumps about 20.00-25.00 as a overall total compared to the 15.00. Depending on location i will run either single head toys, gumballs, or peanunt mm. I have found that if i have compeitors like at one of my stops which is a tire shop with 4 other vendors. At first I had a double head in there with the same products as the other vendors and i would make an average of 10.00. There were gumballs and every candy that vendors use out there....... most of these were in the vendmatic or 3 head canister machines. I thought outside the box with a single head with 1.1 toys, and i had a huge success. I would reccomend running single heads unless its a high volume location. Shawn Good luck Steve. -Aint nothing to it but to do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philo Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 All: Either way you look at it, simplifying the route is a plus regardless of wether revenue remains the same or increases. Goes along with reducing cost. (raise the bridge or lower the river). The take home message is that the better you know your own route the better adjustments you can make, and hopefully the more fun and profit you can have. Regards, Philo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 Great post Philo, Thanks for the support! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascentvend Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Tell Chris I said Hi, if you bump into him. Single heads, Ford gum thousands of charity stops, and all made in the USA, Black Oak 450's, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascentvend Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Wait... Chris is in FL, not your neck of the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger vend Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Steve. In your process of converting from double to single heads, what brand name machine are you using or should I ask of all your single/double machines what brand do you have the most of? Ginger Vend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 Well Ginger, I run mostly Seaga Millenia's however I am currently experimenting with other machine manufacturers. I recently received a shipment from Oak that I was not impressed with. My next try will be A&A. See this thread==> http://www.vendiscuss.com/forums/forum1/206.html to see the exact machine I'm looking at. If I'm not happy with this I guess I will stick with Seaga. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger vend Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Thank you Steve. I guess the trial and error stage of the best machine conquest never ends. At least I know not to buy T-picos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascentvend Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 My personal view (and everyone has a diffrent view on this) is: A&A or Oak for charity stops Northwestern for racks and comission locations Beaver for high volume locations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlakevending Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Agreed as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger vend Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Thanks to all for the advice.:cool: I am going for the A&A's. Ginger Vend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candyman007 Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Well, I hate to give the vendiscuss board too much business but I love this topic and idea! When I started reading the thread I thought it was a stupid idea because so many people don't like gumballs. I have even been considering removing gumballs from my inventory because so few sell. Only in certain locations have they been doing good like pizza shops. But, the more I read the more I think you are on the right track. I think there may be something mental about not having a choice of what to buy. If there are only M&M Peanuts then someone is going to buy them. They have no other choice. I really think I may convert to singles, that is after I just built 9 doubles today! Here is something to think about, business wise, to see if it makes sense. If a single head costs you $65 and a double costs you $100 there is a $35 difference between single and double. If a $65 single head machine brings in $15 a month that is a 23% ROI. If the additional head costs you $35 and brings in 50% of the first head then it adds $7.50 a month to your revenues. For the increased head and sales you have an ROI of 21%. So single head ROI of 23% Double head ROI of [ 23% (first head) + 21% (second head) ] / 2 = 22% ROI. Basically you are in the same boat single or double head as far as I can see. That is if you consider that the second head on a double head machine only brings in 50% of the revenue of the first head, which in my observations is about right. As far as simplicitys sake you may be better off by having only single head machines. I would really suggest you locate the remaining single heads that you convert though otherwise your total revenue may go down even though your per head income will stay the same. Rob http://www.kickstartvending.com/forum << That's my plug baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPower Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 I am struggling to understand some things about this approach. When you break down a double it requires another location. If you have 500 locations now you will need 1000 by the time you are done. Is the simplicity worth the extra time or expense involved in obtaining these new locations? What about drive time and expenses involved in doubling your route size for the same income? It seems like you are increasing your overhead and decreasing your profit margin. There are alot of factors that could mitigate the expense like lower inventory costs and less spoilage but is it worth it? I'm not trying to be negative but I just want to understand. My plan calls for maximizing locations and upgrading to more machines to maximize profits and minimize stops on the route. I may be over optimistic or misguided though so I want to evaluate this strategy. Thanks for any input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Plus you have to buy stands!! Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pusherman Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 maxamizing your locations with more equipment is great. those are the locations that you turn into commission, not charity. but anything that i am going to run on a charity route i want it to be as simple as possible. i dont want to have to carrry 6,8,or 10 different products to make 10 to 15 dollars a month from a location. by the way this is only my opinion and not meant to tell you how to run your businesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 True. I would just do JB Gumballs. Thay make more, and sell great. I would just hate to have to buy 500 stands. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlakevending Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Yeah i have had luck with jelly belly gumballs in the past. If you were just looking for one selection try doing just gumballs. Say you have 12 locations run 4 locations with one flavor, run the next four with a different flavor, and the last one with a different one as well.......then each month just rotate your heads so therefore each month they have a different selection of gumballs and your only going with 3 cases.......I would do that or just vend bulk toys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 17, 2007 Author Share Posted September 17, 2007 I am struggling to understand some things about this approach. When you break down a double it requires another location. If you have 500 locations now you will need 1000 by the time you are done. Is the simplicity worth the extra time or expense involved in obtaining these new locations? What about drive time and expenses involved in doubling your route size for the same income? It seems like you are increasing your overhead and decreasing your profit margin. There are alot of factors that could mitigate the expense like lower inventory costs and less spoilage but is it worth it? I'm not trying to be negative but I just want to understand. My plan calls for maximizing locations and upgrading to more machines to maximize profits and minimize stops on the route. I may be over optimistic or misguided though so I want to evaluate this strategy. Thanks for any input Kevin, You make some very valid points however what I was planning and what I am now seeing is the following example that I posted earlier. These numbers are not actual, just examples but it appears to be working for me... Everywhere I had a single machine, I would always pull $10, $15 even $20 or more from it each month. Where ever I had a double, I would only get about $7 to $12 out of one head and about $3 to $5 out of the second each month. If we use the top of the scale here, each double was bringing in roughly $17 a month while each single was getting up to $20 or more! I figured if I broke down the doubles and earned $15 on each of 100 singles (total $1500), that would be much better than earning $17 on 50 doubles (total $850) Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPower Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 looking at those numbers I guess I can see the attraction. I think personally I will incorporate both strategies into my plan. I'll go with singles as the situation demands and if there are prime locations I may try to upgrade those. Fortunately me for me I do not have hundreds of machines out so it will not be nearly so costly for me as for some of you guys.I guess I was just sympathizing since I can imagine what a drastic change it is not to mention costly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascentvend Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Ever kick around the idea of doing doubles with 2 diffrent flavors of gum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmuseStar Vending Co Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 You know, 90% of my doubles do better than singles. That is why I can't grasp this idea. Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted September 17, 2007 Author Share Posted September 17, 2007 You know, 90% of my doubles do better than singles. That is why I can't grasp this idea. Kyle It is completely opposite in my case. I'm sure its different for everyone but even if we were talking the same amount of money, the simplicity of keeping only 1 or 2 items is well worth it for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating this to anyone. I'm just telling everyone what I've been seeing with my own route. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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