Info about Vending

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Tips for Buying Vending Machines

Besides your time and energy, the biggest investment you will make in your vending business is in machines. You may be thinking that buying a cheap plastic vending machine or used vending machines may be the way to go and it will allow you to grow your business quicker but it may end up costing you both time and money in the long run.

In my short time in vending I’ve learned a few things that you may want to consider. I bought a small lot of 10 machines off Craig’s List. I got what I considered a good price on the machines but the 10 machines were several different types and brands and this ultimately proved to be a big mistake. My first vending purchase was 18 located machines and then a few extras also consisting of several different types. So what I learned the hard way is that you don’t want to have too many different types of machines. You’ll be left without exchangeable parts and since the parts are expensive it’s usually not worth it to buy parts, usually it makes more sense to just buy a new head. So I was left with a bunch of worthless machines. If you do find a good deal on vending machines, make sure that they are of one single type and that the lot is at least 20 or so machines. In addition to not having exchangeable parts, consider the fact that you will also end up having tons of keys. This may not seem like such a big thing and it can be overcome with good organization but it just creates one more hassle.

I’ve made lots of mistakes in my vending business and I’m sure you will too. The good thing about vending is that it’s very forgiving. Unless you get involved in something like a biz op scam, you can recover from most mistakes fairly quickly.