Vending machine business??

Does anyone here own a vending machine..like a coke machine or snack machine? if so how is the business? how many do you have to own to actually make good money and what kind of profits can you expect?

 

I too have wondered about this. I think the reason its not gonna be a gold mine, is that you have to have places to put them, and it seems like most major buildings and such have contracts for that already. Any input on this I would be interested in too.

 

Where i'm at the mafia controls all of that stuff. It seems like a good business though.

 

yeah in certian areas where I live you have to pay the places to put the vending machines their, at the college I go to i guss it would be quite profitable, because all the prices are the same eg its like $2.50 for a bottel of coke and I heard they pay like $0.20-$0.50 per bottle so they are making $2 profit per bottel....I guess some may sell 100 a day so its making $200+ a day profit.

 

It depends where the machine is located, if it's in a busy elementary/highschool/college, yes its very profitable. Basically anywhere many people are in a hurry would work best. I never considered such a business.. before..

 

do you have to have any kind of license??

 

Yes, there's a by-law that requires you to have a license (you might want to look up the one that's specific to your location).

 

My neighbor is a vending machine entrepenuer. He says the business is really profitable if you can get a prime spot to put your machines. He makes his full income off of vending machines since he basically owns all of the machines in our area.

I believe that it is a hard job though, since you have to constantly restock your machines, maintain them because of the inevitable vandalism that will happen, etc. Payout seems a good enough reward though.

 

Maintenance can be a pain, but the biggest complaint I heard from an uncle of mine that ran a vending business:

Travel time.

If your machines aren't laid out in a logical, easy-to-navigate route you're going to have a VERY hard time keeping up with them without spending too much time, or paying the person you hire to handle them for too many hours.

Competition is also pretty high in the vending industry, so you're unlikely to get a good route -- most of the good locations like universities are locked into contracts, leaving far-flung suburban and rural areas to kill your route time.

A vending machine business is far easier to buy than build in most cases.

There are also some horribly disgusting things you might end up having to deal with. The squeamish should stop reading here.

This uncle of mine ran a vending machine business in the 1980's and had an account with a small university. The vending machines included heat-and-eat sandwiches and had microwaves that had to be cleaned every restock.

One day he was doing a routine clean-and-stock at the student union hall and found that someone had microwaved a cat. He had to clean this dead, exploded cat out of the microwave.

The next day he put the business up for sale.

 

Start out small with bulk vending, the kind you put a quarter in and it dispenses a small amount of candy. Much less expensive than trying to buy/move/locate soda and snack machines.

I would also suggest getting used machines off ebay or craigslist.

The profit is there, you just need to get some locations.

-SS

 

Yea, I still remember when a can of coke was like .50 lol

Anyway, all you would have to do is go to a Sam's type wholesaler and get your supply and that's it. If you go they probably have a machine out front selling drinks for 3 times as much as what it is inside. I don't think you should have to pay a business though because you are enhancing their business. If you go to mom and pops type places and offer to put in a machine (candy, coke etc.) they may do it to keep there customers happy.

 

Problem is repairs and insurance eat up all profits.

 

oh holy bloody shit. i just lost my lunch.

 

Location, location, location.

 

wow, i like this business idea. any idea how could i get one vending machine myself? would be good to have one in my hostel.

 

Interesting. We hold a major contract for a local vending machine company.

 

http://buy.ebay.com/vending-machine

 

I used to own a simple candy machinge (Vendstar2000) like the ones where you put in .25 and get a small handfull of bulk candies....it actually made more money then I thought it would but then my machine was badly broken by some idiot.....you need yto make sure your location is safe....you can lose it all with just one swing of a hammer!

 

Where did you keep it?

 

It would be very good for a Hostel if you get lots of business...

Also where is your Hostel? I was wondering because some of my friends and I like to travel and we usually stay in a Hostel...