Well, it's time to go through a quick lesson on electrical vending machines. A previous post explained mechanicals, but if you're new to this, you'll also want to understand how electrical vending machines, mainly snack and soda machines, work.

Unlike mechanical vending machines, you've seen thousands of electrical machines and probably used hundreds of them. You just insert your money, push a button or two, and the machine does the rest, right!

Electrical machines may be intimidating to work on and service for someone that is new to this aspect, but they really aren't that difficult to understand. Without going into a vending machine repair lesson here, we'll give an overview of how the machine functions.

Basically, when you insert the money, an electrical coin acceptor or bill acceptor tells the machine brain that you have $x.xx credit. The machine waits for you to make a selection on the front of the machine. Once you make your choice, the brain decides if that selection is available and if you need any change returned. Then you'll hear some clicks as the changer inside actuates to dispense your coins. Then you'll hear the motor which the brain has told to rotate so that your snack, candy, or soda will be dispensed.

The difference from the mechanical machine described in another post is that it has an internal changer and bill acceptor; also, the turning of the selection mechanism is done through an electrical motor rather than making a motor out of you!

When I have lots of time, we'll go through this in more detail; however, keep in mind that with a nut driver, screwdriver, and voltmeter, you can solve most problems with an electrical vending machine. A couple hours of training does help

For more common sense in vending from Vender Defender, visit www.4MEGA-Vending.com or www.USEDvending.com

Here for You!

Now that we've covered the pros & cons of Bulk Candy Vending Machines; we'll do the same for .

First of all, there are different levels of snack & soda machines such as electrical machines vs. mechanical machines. There are pros & cons between these two groups; but for now, we'll just cover snack & soda vending in general compared to bulk candy machines.

When I refer to snack & soda vending, that is the same as full line vending. This area also includes cold food vending machines, frozen food machines, & coin operated coffee vending machines.

Pros:
- Higher income per location ($200 to $500 per stop feels much nicer than $30 per stop)
- Takes only a few good locations to create a nice income
- are usually long term if you provide reliable service & fresh quality products
- You can develop a great relationship with the location & it's employees (they look forward to seeing you)
- They Do not spill candy on the floor like bulk candy machines
- You will receive customer referrals to acquire more accounts (you have a service they NEED)
- The addition of just 1 snack and soda location can substantially increase your income

Cons:
- Higher machine cost (overall the investment vs. Return on Investment should surpass that of with bulk candy tremendously, but the cost to add 1 location is much more)
- Requires a dolly & trailer to move machines (or a moving service)
- Need to have a vehicle capable of handling larger product capacity (may need a dolly for servicing accounts)
- Full line vending machines can be very reliable, but they will need more repairs than bulk candy (phone tech support can help a new vendor through this)
- Snack & soda machines make more money, but they require servicing between 1 and 3 times per week (poor accounts are sometimes serviced every 2 weeks)

We have customers that are full time, professional vending operators in snack & soda vending as well as others in bulk candy vending. Some do both!

Choosing either type can result in a successful vending business, but it seems that a greater percentage of those who choose snack and soda are able to create a full time income from it.  Perhaps this is just because they realize up front that it will require more dedication and therefore think through it more thoroughly before beginning and treat it like a real business from the start.