Anyone ever played with this? I've thought about buying some machines just to put a little extra income in my pocket.

8/11/2009 11:43:15 PM

I would suggest buying a vending machine from Sam's Club.

8/11/2009 11:47:45 PM

I didn't even know they sold them. Noted.

Either way, I'm pretty sure I can buy the machines and score a good deal on them. I'm deal-finding/making machine.

I'm more concerned about the business aspect of it.

8/11/2009 11:50:34 PM

Apparently the secret to a successful vending machine is location, location, location.

I'd say a laundromat is a good place for a vending machine...doing laundry makes me hungry.

Or at a fat camp.

8/11/2009 11:54:17 PM

ha, a laundromat should be great...people sitting around, bored out of their minds, and with tons of quarters burning holes in their pockets.

8/12/2009 12:05:25 AM

My dad had a vending machine business awhile ago. It worked pretty well, I remember going with him to the locations and filling up the machines.

Quote :

"secret to a successful vending machine is location, location, location."

Definitely true. He had smaller wall-mounted vending machines and would put them in offices. He made a surprising amount from just those. You gotta be good about keeping them full though, or people don't rely on it and they won't be used as much.



He stopped the business later, and gave the machines away as presents. I have one in my den

8/12/2009 12:16:14 AM

I wish my dad would give me a vending machine

8/12/2009 12:20:24 AM

Ya, it's a lot of work keeping them filled. but easy money.

You can also go the cheap route and set up those honor system boxes in offices. The contract requires the office to cover any shortfall, so you're covered in case people aren't so honorable.

8/12/2009 12:27:43 AM

i stayed at a hampton inn in alexandria, la that had a pain killer (otc!) little vending box. i had never seen one in a hotel before, and i stay in a lot of hotels

i happened to have a really bad headache and tried to buy some shit. wasn't stocked. great idea with poor follow through-- keep it stocked!!

also you may look into pain relief vending machines in hotels. the contraption looked simple and each dose is 50 cents. i was ready to pay it too! margins seem higher on this and its not as saturated. it was co-located right there with the soda and candy

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 12:36 AM. Reason : kdjfkdjf]

8/12/2009 12:35:48 AM

I don't think a laundromat would be better than a larger office (200+ people in the building). People who go to laundromats are poor and are not going to frequently pay the premium prices that white collar fatasses who sit down all day will.

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 12:43 AM. Reason : .]

8/12/2009 12:42:32 AM

^^ great idea! and 50 cents/dose is cheap. those little packages run 75 cents to over a dollar in the convenience stores.

8/12/2009 12:44:33 AM

i want to see a vending machine that sells vending machines. it'd have to be really fucking big

8/12/2009 1:10:49 AM

^^^ does not compute

aren't lower income people using laundromats usually the same people who use check cashing services, have blackberries and satellite cable? aren't those all premiums? businesses are made off these people paying premiums for things they can't afford

hence why they're on their fucking blackberry or iphone at the fucking laundromat. no money for washer and dryer

on another note, i read an article awhile back on a dude who was going to roll out vending machines at clubs and bars that sell basic $8 flats for women. he got tired of piggy backing the gf home after a night of heels. pretty sure it was over in the uk.

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 1:36 AM. Reason : skdjkdjsf]

8/12/2009 1:33:16 AM

8/12/2009 2:19:00 AM

i def wouldnt mind doing this in the future as a side gig

8/12/2009 2:34:01 AM

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/bfs/1318995735.html

8/12/2009 10:34:07 AM

We're going to a laundromat right now until we buy a house -- the people there will shell out a $1 for a can of soda! We thought the vending machines were just *there*, but I've watched countless schmucks with annoying little kids, nasty old clothes and busted cars feed the change machines bills to fill themselves up with $1 soda and $.75-$1 fatty candy/chips.

Laundromats are a good idea. Businesses, too, but people typically go out to lunch or don't have cash.

You could also try parks over at the bathhouses. It's a bit counter-intuitive, I know, like the free popcorn deal with Peak Fitness , but people love their soda and chips!

8/12/2009 10:34:18 AM

i think the laundromat idea is good.

Quote :

"and satellite cable?"

wat?

8/12/2009 11:20:10 AM

I was at the laundromat on Monday, and I bought a Slim Jim for $.35

I am not poor, nor do I have a Blackberry, "satellite cable," or anything on layaway.

I have a Wachovia checking account thanks to the free student accounts

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 11:23 AM. Reason : sucks]

8/12/2009 11:22:14 AM

VEND TRENDS-FACTS AND FIGURES:
vending machinesThe name of the game is financial success and Independence with vending!
1) A department of commerce study revealed that fewer than 5% of new vending companies fail each month, compared with a 65% failure rate by the Small Business Administration, for independent, new business start up. Vending can be a very profitable business!
2) The main motivation for getting into any business is “money”. The only common aspect of every business is money. That is what business is all about. Vending allows a person to invest 10 to 20 hours per month and get a return on money invested 100% to 200% in the first year. This is 10 times what they would get at a bank with a CD or Money Market account.
3) Money follows financial independence. Vending allows 95% of start-up to go for machines and product. Your home can be your office. This allows lots of possible tax write-offs that other people never receive.
4) 70% of vendors start off on a part time basis, keeping a full time job, and checking their machines and servicing them after work or on weekends. This allows their money to work for them while they keep their present jobs. 85% of them turn to full time vending after two years. Money does allow freedom. We might wish that our economic system operated differently, but it doesn’t. Having money or not having it largely controls what we do in our lives. Vending can give you that independence.
Not only is the greatest growth of vending ahead of us, but also the greatest diversification of vending is yet to come. Here are just a few reasons why Automatic Merchandising "vending" is literally exploding.
- The high cost of labor in personal selling activities makes Automatic Vending a more interesting alternative.
- The movement of population to suburban areas, plus the desire for more convenience in location and time of purchase makes vending appealing.
- The trends towards more impulse purchasing by customers will benefit the growth of this industry.

http://www.vendingconnection.com/consider.html

8/12/2009 11:51:19 AM

I too have thought about this. Def not right now, but I've thought about doing it in the not so distant future as long as I feel my job is stable..possibly going into it with another friend to split costs and time spent on maintenance of the machines.

8/12/2009 1:19:39 PM

i want to get some atm's

8/12/2009 1:20:51 PM

My dad buys them, gets them in good locations then sells them to other people for a profit.

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

8/12/2009 1:21:16 PM

atm's what?

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 1:26 PM. Reason : ]

8/12/2009 1:26:29 PM

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=7264

8/12/2009 1:32:57 PM

two words

used panties

8/12/2009 1:39:53 PM

Quote :

"Vending machine profits are usually out of order By Christine Selvig • Bankrate.com Rules of Thumb Turning a profit in the vending machine industry is no mean feat. In fact, an overwhelming majority of the industry's estimated 8,000 businesses are losing money, according to the National Automatic Merchandising Association, a national vending industry trade association. Vending companies with sales less than $1 million, a group that includes 75 per cent of the companies in the industry, spend 2.5 percent more than they bring in each year. The remaining "ventailers" rack up profits of 1.2 percent to 5.3 percent of sales each year."

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/thumb/20000209.asp

8/12/2009 1:40:35 PM

Isn't that Hygeia condom machine the one in the men's room of that scary fucking truck stop on the way to Richmond?

8/12/2009 1:40:58 PM

how would you know, FroshKiller?

actually I thought you said every truckstop or something

but ok...

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 1:43 PM. Reason : ,]

8/12/2009 1:42:35 PM

Are you kidding? I hang out in truck stop men's rooms all the time. My jaw looks like Mark McGwire's biceps.

8/12/2009 1:49:37 PM

Quote :

"Apparently the secret to a successful vending machine is location, location, location."

you're not gonna compete with companies like canteen or aramark for the most lucrative locations, so you can hang that shit up out of the gate. the best you're probably gonna swing as an individual is a small (<50 people) office setting, which will be good pocket money--maybe a couple hundred a month net

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 6:25 PM. Reason : sp]

8/12/2009 6:25:04 PM

^^ haha





^^^^^

I don't see how a vending business could really lose money. I mean, other than the initial buy-in, what are the costs, other than space rental if you're going with a flat rate rather than a % of profits?

8/12/2009 7:53:41 PM

vending machines aren't exactly known for their dependability and you can expect some downtime every month; a lot of times it'll be something simple (a bent quarter maybe), but you'll still have to make the trip to your location to fix it or risk pissing off your customers. your only real expenses besides time and gas will be unsaleables (damaged or out-of-date products) and repairs. a machine shouldn't need actual repairs very often, but when it does it'll probably eat your profits for the whole month. a typical rate for overhead is 15% of gross sales

[Edited on August 12, 2009 at 8:17 PM. Reason : of]

8/12/2009 8:16:44 PM

My roommate's dad set up pinball machines on campus when he was at NCSU in the 70s. He made BANK.

I'm not sure how this relates but maybe it will help.

8/12/2009 11:07:32 PM

im wondering how you get your machines in certain locations

its not like a landry mat is just gonna let you set a machine up in their place and sip their power while you make all the profits. what percentage of sales is normal for laundrymats? what about office buildings...

8/12/2009 11:36:42 PM

wait isn't a laundromat basically a room full of vending machines?

what makes you think a laundromat operator would let you put your machine where one of theirs could go?

8/12/2009 11:51:33 PM

i've heard everything from 0-30% depending on where it is and who's using it. a lot of companies view it as a service to their employees and price controls are fairly common

8/12/2009 11:56:29 PM

this thread reminds me of the pizza vending machine,

http://wonderpizzausa.com

[Edited on August 13, 2009 at 2:44 AM. Reason : ...]

8/13/2009 2:44:18 AM

Coffee vending machine.

8/13/2009 4:01:10 AM

There is a show on the History Channel right now all about vending machines. "Modern Marvels: Coin Operated. The history of coin operated machines is examined." It's actually really interesting.

8/13/2009 11:13:04 PM

they had water vending machines in rome, dudes!

or so i've heard. i'm not watching this show, is my statement confirmed?

8/13/2009 11:46:34 PM