shepherdsflock Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I'm thinking about expanding into other forms of vending from bulk candy, and was speaking with my brother-in-law yesterday. He mentioned that the only two bait shops in our area are now gone and that it is quite a drive to the nearest place to purchase fishing bait. One of the shops was destroyed in a flood a few years ago, and the other one closed last year when the owner retired and sold the building. I'm thinking there could be a market for this kind of machine, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried it. Are the machines on the market dependable? Are there good suppliers to work with? Can the machine actually pay for itself, considering that most people who fish in the midwest only fish when its warm (spring through fall)? Any other concerns you care to mention? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyinchville Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 HI, I was visiting a friend and I saw a "regular" looking snack machine (it did have refrigeration tho) that sold worms in small styrofoam containers....The bait was on the bottom row and the vendor had chips pastries candies etc.. above it...Just like a regular snack machine! I can't remember the brand of machine but it looked like a standard vending machine except that it was cooled. As far as suppliers, I think the vendor did the worms himself since the containers for bait just had a piece of tape on it with the words "Worms" written in pen.....I guess doing it yourself means almost 100% profit! Andrew PS - I wonder how the worms would hold up in a regular non refrigerated machine if the machine was placed in the shade?....FWIW - One of my snack machines has a fan in it to suck out hot air...that probably would not be hard to retrofit on most any machine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 The glassfront bait machines are either AMS or USI outdoor refrigerated machines. Wittern did make a dedicated bait machine that was made out of a soda machine many years ago but I don;t know if that is still in production. This equipment from what I was told did pretty good near fishing ponds but not so good on ocean type locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 The glassfront bait machines are either AMS or USI outdoor refrigerated machines. Wittern did make a dedicated bait machine that was made out of a soda machine many years ago but I don;t know if that is still in production. This equipment from what I was told did pretty good near fishing ponds but not so good on ocean type locations. i dont know if the USI is still made but several of them come up on tampa craigslist pretty regularly.. Any other concerns you care to mention? besides the smell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 The glassfront bait machines are either AMS or USI outdoor refrigerated machines. Wittern did make a dedicated bait machine that was made out of a soda machine many years ago but I don;t know if that is still in production. This equipment from what I was told did pretty good near fishing ponds but not so good on ocean type locations. That about sums up the extent of my knowledge of this type of machine except for the fact that the bait needs to be kept chilled it will not survive in a non refrigerated machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 One of the manufacturers has AMS build their machines. I know for sure that the machines are refrigerated. I know from personal experience that you can't keep bait unrefrigerated for more than a few hours. I kind of like the AMS built machine from what I saw on the website. You can customize the rows to sell all kinds of other things. You sell hooks and other tackle, snacks, drinks, and about anything you can find a coil to fit. Seems like if I could find a good location at one of the nearby lakes, perhaps by a campground or boat ramp, it could do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendmech Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I'm thinking about expanding into other forms of vending from bulk candy, and was speaking with my brother-in-law yesterday. He mentioned that the only two bait shops in our area are now gone and that it is quite a drive to the nearest place to purchase fishing bait. One of the shops was destroyed in a flood a few years ago, and the other one closed last year when the owner retired and sold the building. I'm thinking there could be a market for this kind of machine, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried it. Are the machines on the market dependable? Are there good suppliers to work with? Can the machine actually pay for itself, considering that most people who fish in the midwest only fish when its warm (spring through fall)? Any other concerns you care to mention? try this website. They are a trustworthy professional Bait Vending Company. http://livebaitvending.com/machines/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I see all kinds of bait machines for sale all the time on craigslist and I rarely ever see bait machines on location... this tells me that many of them sit inside of garages and rarely get used... I think that, unless you manage a lake or popular fishing area, a bait vending machine is just not the way to go. Besides, many of the local convenient stores and liquor stores usually sell bait in containers and live bait and can do it much cheaper than you can do out of a vending machine for a whopping 10 vends/week (baseless estimation btw). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I see all kinds of bait machines for sale all the time on craigslist and I rarely ever see bait machines on location... this tells me that many of them sit inside of garages and rarely get used... I think that, unless you manage a lake or popular fishing area, a bait vending machine is just not the way to go. Besides, many of the local convenient stores and liquor stores usually sell bait in containers and live bait and can do it much cheaper than you can do out of a vending machine for a whopping 10 vends/week (baseless estimation btw). In Minnesota we fish 24/7 and it can be hard to find a store open near the lake. 20 years ago I did some work for an inventor who had placed minnow vendors. The machines were full size with a window on front. You could watch the minnow swimming.It vended 3 kinds of minnow. When it vended a screen came up and the bait slid into a measuring cup and then dumped out a shoot with a pint of water. He ended up pulling the machines when they developed leaks in the water tanks and dead bait. Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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