Greg Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I am looking at a couple of companies for machines. I know i can buy some used combo machines that are by 1-800 Vending but i have mixed reviews on the quality of there machines. Does anyone out there have any experience with their machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 Never mind I have read plenty already on combo machines. I ques I should have read some posts first! I am looking at a couple of companies for machines. I know i can buy some used combo machines that are by 1-800 Vending but i have mixed reviews on the quality of there machines. Does anyone out there have any experience with their machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielirubin Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 one machine to rule them all crane, bulk head, drinks, snacks, and golden tee all in 1 vending mega combo machine one does not simply walk into chuck e cheese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Run, Forest, Run!!! Read up on vending in general and stay away from combo machines all together. Stick with full size machines in vending worthy locations and you will have a much better future in vending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Run, Forest, Run!!! Read up on vending in general and stay away from combo machines all together. Stick with full size machines in vending worthy locations and you will have a much better future in vending. I certainly agree with staying as far away from the 1-800 machines as possible. I think one of the few things that RJT and I have very different opinions on is the use of combos. Doesn't make him wrong and me right or vice versa, just that different experiences got us here. I prefer to not place combos but I don't rule them out if warranted by a smaller potential account. One example that I can cite is that about 8 years ago I got a call on a referral from one of the large vending companies that did not want this location due to their being only 20 people there. It was within 2 miles of a location that I was already servicing and I had the equipment idle and available( which are important criteria for me to do a combo location). They grew a little, moved to a new location and I went with them, they grew a little more, I put in a full size snack and soda. They moved again and I moved with them again. They grew some more and I put in a second drink machine. We moved again about 3 years ago, they grew some more and I added a third (glassfront) drink machine, a second snack machine and a frozen machine. It is now one of my top 5 accounts. They have had many opportunities over the years to change vendors but Linda (my contact and the owner) has said that she won't even look at other vending companies because I signed up to provide a service to her when she was a very small business and the other vending companies wouldn't give the time of day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Mission, You are right we dont disagree on much. I agree with you for the most part on this and dont have to different of opinion when it comes to combo machines. Have I ever placed a combo machine? Yep. Will I probably place another one? Yep. Here is the BIG thing about combo machines that I have a problem with. First they seem to attract new people in vending. New people do not have enough experience to figure out the correct use of a combo machine. They cant figure out the when, where and why part. They spend WAY to much on them in the first place, etc, etc. I landed an account a few years back that had three locations. One large location, a smaller one and a small location. I placed a combo machine in the smallest of the locations. So I am not 100% against them but dont think new people to vending should consider them as an option to start off with. I will say that 99% of your medium to large vending companies do NOT solicit accounts that only need a combo machine. Some people will say “then that sounds like a good reason and opportunity to do those type accounts because of less competition”. Well that is not a good reason. The reason they don’t solicit those accounts because there is not enough money to be made. 95% of combo machine accounts will do an average of about $35.00 or less gross income a week. Are their exceptions to the rule? Yes, but the $35.00 or less is a good average for most combo machine locations. Now do the math, 20 accounts at $35.00 is $700.00 before product cost, labor, gas, insurance, etc. I can do one account with two full size drink machine and one full size snack that will do those numbers a week. Is that a large drink snack account? Yes but I could easily find 4 accounts with a drink snack in each that will do $700.00 a week. Mission even said “I prefer to not place combos”. Combo machines have a niche place in vending but overall are not the way to go building a vending business. I am pretty sure we DO agree on that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Thank all of you for the advice! I haven't had a good vibe about them from the start. Your points are well taken. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.