This is 100% not true. Now you are not going to make much owning only 1 or 2 but when you get around 15-20 you can make a decent amount of change. Especially if you find some places that have high level of walk through traffic.

Even starting small such as a local mechanic shop that may only make you a few hundred a month is better than nothing. The mistake some make is buying used and then having issues having to fix, especially if you are not a mechanically inclined person and you have to hire someone out.

quote:
You will need to restock it routinely which is a PITA,

It isn't like this takes hours. Depending on the size of the machine and how often you can visit the location it only takes a few minutes to restock. You get a CC and it can give you real time information on what is being purchased so that you can see what is low. Some of the higher end machines can allow you to know what is low as well.

quote:
so the chances of finding a location that's been around is slim to none.

Also not true, if you can make a relationship with someone you can get them to add your vending machines even if they already have some. It really depends on the person and how well they can interact with people. Plus find any new construction and see who the manager is and discuss with them. Some places will rent you the space but if it is a high traffic area it doesn't really matter.

Like all start ups it will cost money at first and take some time to start seeing profits. Cost of a quality machine would be around 5k then you are looking at a couple hundred stocking and restocking the machine. However, once you get a few of them going you can make money and they really don't take long to restock.

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Posted by WG_Dawg

Hoover

Member since Jun 2004

86585 posts

Posted on 12/10/22 at 9:51 am to Errant_Knight

quote:
Like all start ups it will cost money at first and take some time to start seeing profits. Cost of a quality machine would be around 5k

If someone completely started from scratch with a ~$5k investment how long roughly would it take for them to recoup the original cost you think?

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Posted by baldona

Florida

Member since Feb 2016

20591 posts

Posted on 12/12/22 at 1:57 pm to Errant_Knight

quote:
It isn't like this takes hours. Depending on the size of the machine and how often you can visit the location it only takes a few minutes to restock.

I have some experience, I worked for a non profit that had an ice machine and some vending machines.

Unless you are a true true hustler as I said there's no money in them that's worth your time. Op is a lawyer that's buying rental homes, there's a HELL of a lot more money in him putting his time and effort there.

At some point when you make $100-150k (OP claims he makes much more) you have to look at the time-value of money and vending machines aren't there.

The issue with vending machines is you have to be johnny on the spot all the time, or they aren't selling shite. Even stopping at 5 machines a week to make $500 is going to get old as shite very very fast to someone already making money.

Its not just about breaks, its about money jams, internet going down, power outage, etc. If you have a location doing okay then the client is going to want that fixed asap.

As I said, my experience is its VERY difficult to get more then one good location. There's people hustling vending machines 24/7 in almost any town. If you want to truly make it into an eventual full time job that's one, but OP doesn't.

I just think there's a lot better hustles out there, hell driving for Uber would likely be more worth your time.

This post was edited on 12/12/22 at 1:59 pm

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Posted by shoestring

Member since Nov 2012

260 posts

Posted on 12/25/22 at 7:17 pm to Errant_Knight

Between loading/unloading and purchasing the products I always found it was very time consuming.

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