Often you can get different fronts that can match your business decor. These particular ones are mostly still on skids and are available for $1,350 each and are located in Sanger, California.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJvLQ6RTGSw

Anyway, there are 2 - 2004 model Antares machines in Buffalo New York for $855 each. That’s quite a reasonable price, and you can find lots of similar machines all over the country at Usedvending.com.

Less well known, but equally as useful, is the compact mechanical combo. This kind of combo is suitable for smaller, indoor office locations, such as a “white collar” office of up to 50 employees or maybe 20 ‘blue collar” employees. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is that the machines have a lower capacity- they hold less product but that’s fine in a place with less traffic- your goal is to sell as much out of the machine as possible to reduce product/profit loss. So you may have to refill the machine a tad more often but that would be worth it, if all or most of your product sold.

Mechanical Snack & Soda Vending Machine

The mechanical combos are less expensive for the start-up vendor, and are readily available on both the used and new market. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can find a mechanical combo for between $800 - $2,000- sometimes even much lower on the used market.

So if it’s a mechanical machine, does this mean it doesn’t use electricity? No. It’s called “mechanical” because, instead of a dollar bill changer and buttons to choose a selection, it has manual coin mechanisms. (Sometimes the machines are also called “manual”.)

These manual coin mechanisms, (which somewhat resemble the coin mechanisms found on bulk candy vending machines), require that the user put in correct change- there is no dollar bill validator to suck it up and give back change. Each product in the machine has it’s own coin mech, and turn knob. Turning this knob turns the spiral, allowing the product to drop into the delivery box.  Many mechanical machines are multi-priced up to $2.00.  This means you can set the price differently for each selection.  You can have your can sodas set to .50, your chips set at .60, your honey buns set at $1.00 and so on.

American Changer Dollar Bill Changer

Okay, so what if the business does not have a cash register available for the employee / customer traffic to get correct change to put in your machine? Not a problem, if you have a dollar bill changer. You’ve seen dollar bill changers before in laundromats and arcades. The dollar bill changer is a separate unit, which plugs into an outlet. It can be mounted on the wall or on a stand, but usually is found mounted to the combo itself. The customer can put their paper money into the changer, getting the correct coinage for spending in your machine. There are lots of different dollar bill changers on the market- the main difference is the capacity of bills it can hold.

So if it’s a mechanical machine, does this mean it doesn’t use electricity? No. The soda portion of the machine has a compressor, just like a refrigerator, and It must plug in as such. It is true that mechanical machines use less electricity. With most mechanical combos, the units can be used together or separately. That means you can have just the snack unit (which requires no electricity at all) in use or just the soda unit. Mechanical combos also take up much less space than electrical machines, which is a plus for locations who are concerned with size.

One very popular type of mechanical vending machine is combo is the Antares Refreshment Center. It takes up about as much square footage as a large file cabinet. Usually a dollar bill changer is included with the Antares combos, and they are readily available on the pre-owned market at a discount price. They are also super easy to maintain.

Here is a very detailed video walk through of an Antares combo that you might find interesting.

If you’re looking to get into the snack and soda vending business, but you don’t know a lot about machines and getting large locations, the mechanical / manual vending machine combos are just the ticket.

How can the savvy vending route operator avoid these wrong product pitfalls? First realize that not every location is going to want the same products, even if they are similar in appearance. First, think about the type of work that is done at the location, and the people who do that work. Then consider some basic guidelines…

Large facilities with mostly “blue collar” workers (factories with multiple shifts, large auto-repair garages, etc.) are more likely to purchase actual food from a vending machine. That’s mainly because the employees tend to stay in instead of going out to restaurants. Also, because they do more physical labor, they are in need of refreshment more often. They are looking for something quick and easy to eat. Cold food vending machines that vend items like sausage biscuits, burritos, sandwiches, and small burgers are great, because some people (especially single people) don’t bring their lunches- you’ll find them depending on your machine to provide their breakfast, lunch or dinner more often than not. The old standbys of soft drinks and snacks are a must, and you want to make sure there’s at least one selection of bottled water available. Their employer appreciates the fact that his employees never leave the facility.

“White collar” workers (men & women both) at corporate type offices will leave the location for lunchtime or bring their own lunch more often, and they tend to be more concerned about the nutritional value of their food choices. Also keep in mind you’re providing more snacks and pick-me-ups as opposed to actual meals. So, it’s a good idea to give them a good mix of junk and healthier choices. Nutri-Grain bars, granola, etc. with a few selections of popular junk food- like Snickers and Hershey bars, Lay’s potato chips and Doritos corn chips should work to begin with.

There’s yet another location type to consider- that with “pink collar” employees- an office of mostly women. Women are often much more health conscious when it comes to snacking. They are often on self-inflicted diets, and so once again the Nutri-Grain bars, granola, fruit cups, and trail mix apply, and also include several different kinds of flavored water, Crystal Lite, tea, fruit juice, and especially Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. It’s probably a good idea to have at least one kind of chocolate available- you can’t go wrong with a Hershey bar.

You can eliminate some of the guesswork and really zero in on your location’s needs and wants by making a simple survey for each of your locations to fill out. This survey should have listed all the different types of food/snack/beverages that you would be willing to provide, along with blank lines for them to put special requests for you to consider. Use this to figure out what items would be the best sellers, then purchase your products accordingly. Doing this will also let your location know that you are a considerate person who wants to make them happy and not just take their spare change.

This survey will also help you provide the right items to locations that might crave items you aren’t familiar with; for instance, health clubs and gyms are likely to want Soy bars, muscle milk, protein shakes; they also tend to consume energy drinks such as Red Bull, Monster, etc. Water and hydration beverages such as Gatorade & Powerade are obviously needed.

Once you figure out what your locations want initially, you need to keep accurate records of what is selling and what is not. When you see sales drop on an item, don’t leave it in there till it goes bad and they get sick of seeing it- replace it with something else.

Don’t stop there when it comes to knowing what your locations want. Some facilities with customer traffic are very particular about their atmosphere, and they care that any machines that are placed there do not stick out like a sore thumb, not to mention looking modern and well kept. If it looks like you’re going to land some very corporate location that has a lot of customer traffic, it’s worthwhile to present those in charge with images of your machines- this way there are no surprises upon installation. Most places that have primarily employee and not customer traffic won’t be so particular about how a machine looks, as long as it’s reliable and sturdy.

Remember, the success of your vending route business is directly related to how satisfied your customers are with the selections you provide in your vending machines, so it can only pay off to find out beforehand what they want, and keep an eye on any trends.

Whether you’re a vending newbie, a seasoned route operator, or just a business looking to provide refreshment for it’s employees, you can cut costs but not quality with refurbished snack, soda, or combo vending machines.

Automatic Products refurbished snack vending machine

What does it mean to say that a vending machine is refurbished? It means a lot more than slapping on a new coat of paint. Let’s start with the fact that the refurb vending machines that are available are top brands known by the whole vending industry: Vendo, Dixie Narco, National, USI, Royal, Rowe, etc. So you know it’s a quality machine from the get-go. These machines may be used, but they have practically been given a new life.

Dixie Narco Refurbished Soda Vending Machine Pepsi Front

Professionally refurbished and / or factory remanufactured vending machines are thoroughly cleaned, tested, and inspected. Cosmetically, anything that needs a face lift, such as vinyl sides, fronts, stickers, and even paint is restored. If needed, parts such as coin mechanisms and bill validators, are replaced with rebuilt ones. So, you get a machine that looks like new and functions properly.

Automatic Products Refurbished Snack Vending Machine

Also, unlike other pre-owned machines on the market, these refurbished machines come with a 90 day parts repair warranty and can be delivered to your location. Bonus: On many models, the factory will pre-set the pricing for you.

The machines start at around $995 (depending on the model and brand), making this a great deal.

Dixie Narco Refurbished Electrical Snack Vending Machine

Personally, I’m weary of vending advertising that:

* Is too expensive, with not much chance of getting to your target audience
* Does not portray the image you want to get across- be it professional, playful, or whatever.
* Does not indicate what type of vending you do- bulk candy, snack and soda, coffee service… not all vendors are alike!
* Looks “blah” (most vending advertisements are just 2 color line drawings- boring!).
* Did I mention too expensive?

Well let me show you a great tool that will likely pay for itself with the first location it brings in: Full color, high quality vending and office coffee service business cards from www.BusinessCardsThatWork.com .

The best thing about these vending machine business cards is the large selection. You will quickly find a biz card that suits you and your company to a “T”. The selections include: bulk candy vending business cards, full line vending business cards, office coffee service business cards- even mechanical snack and soda vending business cards. Plus, many of their designs feature the most popular and attractive vending machine brands on the market- Antares, USI, 1-800-Vending, etc.

For instance, this business card design features a wildly popular snack and soda vending machine combo:



This super cute bulk candy card is an example of their more whimsical bulk candy styles:

How about this ultra professional-looking snack & soda vending business card?

And here is a really hot looking office coffee service business card design:

BusinessCardsThatWork.com also offers LOTS of ways to personalize your business cards. For instance, you can upload your very own logos, pictures of employees, mascots, etc right onto the pre-designed card template. Also, you can customize your business cards further with up to 25 different fonts, font colors, and font effects.

Don’t have a logo just yet? Design one on the spot with their easy business card editor! What’s more, there are other options such as rounded corners and different finishes that you can choose to make your vending business cards extra special. It’s a very easy (and fun, actually) process, and should you need help, it’s only a phone call away.

The great thing about vending business cards is their ability to give the vendor instant credibility. Even if you’re running a smaller outfit with just yourself as the owner and operator, your potential locations will immediately recognize the quality of these business cards. Sometimes when you’re dealing with the larger locations, you’ll have to meet with some very professional, corporate types. These are the people that need to be convinced of your ability to keep the machines clean, maintained, and filled with what the staff and customers prefer. Digitally printed, professionally designed vending business cards will get you much farther up the credibility scale than some flimsy, black and white rectangles rendered from your home computer.

Now you may be saying, “This sounds too expensive”, but another benefit to ordering your vending business cards from BusinessCardsThatWork.com is that you can order in quantities ranging from 250 to 10,000. This way, you can order the quantity of business cards that fit the size of your business. If you’re a larger vending company, you can order a set of cards for each of your vending operators.

I think you’ll be very impressed with their vending business cards- just like your potential customers will be.

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