Does anyone sell or operate vending machines or know someone that does? There were three listings in yesterday’s business opportunities section for the acquisition of several machines with locations. I can come up with the money, I’ve got the time, and this could be a good start to financial freedom. It’s an all cash business, it’s virtually a 24/7 product, and there’s minimal operating cost… I think. This is a very acceptable risk for me to take. However, I need to know how to sort through the hype. Some lousy assholes have been known to sell people shitty machines. Then you have to deal with angry customers and store owners that want to kick your ass out of a location. That’s why I’m asking. I should have checked if there were any resources when I was in bookstore, but I saw a picture of Angelina Jolie on the cover of Cosmopolitan and stared at it for one or thirty minutes. That was, um, distracting. A return trip is warranted. Anyway, if you’ve got knowledge, let me know.
Okay, do you know the exact locations? Do you know the nearby business owners to those locations and are they on good terms with having machines there?
Do you have any idea of the traffic volume (independant of what the sales man says of course)?
Can you confirm quality/vandalism possibility of locations?
In all honesty, unless these are new machines due to a new change in traffic at that location, I cant think of a reason an owner would not keep them (aside from lack of profit). They dont take much work to maintain, and they are cheap to manage.
my friends dad does it and they make a lot of money.
"Okay, do you know the exact locations? Do you know the nearby business owners to those locations and are they on good terms with having machines there?
Do you have any idea of the traffic volume (independant of what the sales man says of course)?
Can you confirm quality/vandalism possibility of locations?
In all honesty, unless these are new machines due to a new change in traffic at that location, I cant think of a reason an owner would not keep them (aside from lack of profit). They dont take much work to maintain, and they are cheap to manage."
Gotcha. You make good points. The only way to find out for sure is to call and investigate. I shall do just that.
Ask to see the records of what he reported to the government. This will give you the most honest assessment of his profit, and expenses. If he is cheating the government then you will get a better profit.
I have researched this myself, but haven’t taken the plunge. What I have found out is to never buy a new machine, the secondary market is huge, and if you go to ebay you can find some good bargains. Just learn the prices first.
Also I found a discussion group on Yahoo (search for it) and they said that the value of a rout is equal to 1 to 2 years income from the machines.
Placing machines would be my biggest worry. Convincing companies to take your machines can be intimidating. But every machine placed is an increase in income. Don’t forget about your product, and it’s shelf life. I personally prefer bulk machines, though my brother had some pop machines located. (He has since started a shredding business that is going great.)
I read that the average income is $70 an hour for vending, but if you only work an hour a month, that might not be good, but averaging 5 hours a week can be a substantial second income.
Probably the best recommendation I could give is to buy a book from Amazon. They have a few on vending, and making the most of it.