4Mega-Vending.com helps
new vendors every day establish vending routes with
outstanding prices, great service & FREE
consultation working in your best interest! We
give you up front, realistic expectations - NOT a
bunch of hype! call today...
Do you need help finding
locations for your machines? We have a few options for
you...(more)
Vending
Frequently Asked Questions
F.A.Q....
.
Is
there much money to be made in the
vending business?
Obviously there is very
good money to be made in vending, but
what you can expect to make is
impossible to say. One fact about
vending is that as long as you get good
advice, buy your machines at low prices,
and don't believe the "too good to
be true" stories, you should
succeed. The only way to
completely fail in vending is if you
just give up! At the worst case,
you can always move your machines to
another location where they can be more
profitable. Don't expect to get
rich overnight, but you can grow your
business into a full income with fewer
hours invested than with probably any
other business. Below are some
industry numbers showing how vending
continues to grow each and every year...
I
have been told that bulk candy machines
will average
$100+ per month per machine....is this
true?
NO. Every day, we
talk to new vendors who have called
1-800 # ads in the newspapers and have
been told by other companies that their
bulk candy machines on location will
average $100, $200, and even $300 per
machine, per month. This may
occur for 10% of the machines that you
place, but the majority will average
approx $30 to $40 per month. If
you really work your locations and
continually move the lower producers,
you can raise this average, but do not
believe these outrageous numbers that
seem too good to be true.
Bulk candy machines produce a huge
return for the amount of time you have
involved. So, as your route grows, the
dollars really add up and have
outstanding returns for the amount of
time invested!
Do
you have quantity discounts on machine
purchases?
Sure, on most machines we
can work with you on the price for
quantity purchases. However, we do
not play games with your money by giving
you one price and then five minutes
later, cutting that price by 50% to make
you think you are getting a great deal.
We believe this is insulting to
customers, and we do not play such games
with your success. Mega-Vending.com
believes in giving you a great price
from the start so that your business can
make a profit much quicker which will
encourage you to grown the business and
buy more machines from Mega-Vending.com.
We know that if we rip you off once, you
will not be back - repeat customers are
the substance of any business, and we
appreciate ours.
Do
you sell to international customers?
We only consider
international orders on large quantity
purchases. This does not mean 1
machine up front followed by more in the
future. Serious inquires only,
please!
Why
do other companies use an outside
answering service to answer their
phones?
Many companies do use an
outside answering service where an
operator takes your name, number, reason
for the call and then forwards that info
to the vending company for someone to
return your call. Truthfully, most
companies in the vending industry that
use such a service do so in order to
screen their calls. They do not
return the complaint calls. This
is a good warning signal
All calls at Mega-Vending.com are
answered by an in-house company rep or
at worst an answering system if all
lines are busy or if calling after
business hours.
Do
you recommend using charities to
place small machines?
Charities can be a huge
help in placing small machines such as
bulk candy, gumball, mint, etc...
machines. Normally, you pay a
small commission to the charity for each
machine per month. Some charities
such as Child Search have great Vending
Outreach programs with all sorts of
tools that can be helpful to you such as
charity T-Shirts, hats, brochures, color
stickers of missing children, flyers,
name badges, etc... The
charity can coach you on how to use
these tools for the greatest effect.
Also, the locations who accept a machine
based on the charity program usually do
not require a commission from your
machine. Click
here for a couple of charities phone
numbers.
Do
you sell to anyone or just to vendors?
Yes, we do sell directly
to the stores, manufacturing facilities,
vendors, individuals etc...
Where
do I buy my products?
When starting a small
route, you may find the best prices at
Sam's or Costco. As your route
grows, you can find better pricing
through supply houses. For
example, call VSA (1-800-444-4017) and
ask them for a price list as well as the
phone number of the location nearest to
you. For items not handled by
these companies, let us know via email,
and we can forward other suppliers to
you.
Which
type of vending is more profitable?
Vending in general is very
profitable, but it is hard to say that
one area is better than another because
you have trade offs with each. For
example, snack and soda machines bring
much more turnover and therefore money
than do bulk candy/gumball machines; yet
snack and soda machines also require
much more of your time since they must
be serviced 1, 2, or 3 times per week.
Yet, you can create the same income as
snack and soda by just adding more bulk
candy machines to your route. Bulk candy
vendors generally need servicing every 6
or 8 weeks; so, you can still treat it
as a part time business even if you have
dozens of machines on location bringing
the same income as a few snack and soda
machines.
Do
your machines come with the locations or
a locator service?
We can put you in touch
with dozens of locators if you wish, but
we do not sell our machines in packages
with locations so that you have the
option of saving that money and
locating them for yourself. If you
do not have success placing them; you
can use the money that you saved to hire
one at any time. We can also
assist you with questions you have on
finding locations. Just call, we'd
be happy to help!
Should
I use a locator?
That is up to you.
If you do not have success locating them
on your own first; then you may have to
hire a locator. There are good
locators and bad locators; so, take
these steps to make sure that you get
what you expect. 1) Tell the
locator that you want to ride with him
to find the locations. 2) Make
sure that you tell the locator
beforehand what % commission (if any)
you are willing to pay the locations. 3)
Make sure that you actually talk to the
person at EVERY location who approved
placing a machine in that location to
make sure that they did agree.
Also make sure that the % commission is
the same as you told the locator.
4) Do Not accept a list of locations on
paper from the locator - Go to the
location and make sure that they have
agreed. 5) Make sure that you are
satisfied with the locations before you
pay the remaining 50% to the
locator. Do Not count on them coming
back to replace any machines in 30
or 90 days that are not producing
enough. You will probably never
see them again regardless of any
guarantees they give you (even written
guarantees)..
What
types of locations are best?
You never know what a
location will do until you place a
machine in it. For example,
certain hair salons are great locations
while many others are horrible.
This goes for many types of locations,
but in general there are a few key
factors...
Most any location with a large number of
employees is usually a good location
whether you are talking about snack and
soda, bulk candy, OTC medicines, etc...
This goes for retail stores,
manufacturing facilities, office
buildings, etc... Blue collar
workers are generally much better for
you than white collar workers. On
locations with only a few employees, you
are counting on the customer base to use
your machine; so, the more customers the
better....the more men and children the
better.
Hardware stores and auto parts stores
are often great locations depending on
the placement of your machine within the
store - near the register or door is
where you want to be. Locations
with many children coming through such
as grocery stores and shopping malls are
great locations for bulk candy,
capsules, etc..., but are also high on
the competition scale. So, you may
have to pay as much as 40 or 50%
commission to acquire them.
Speaking of children, schools are great
locations as for volume, but can
be time consuming and aggravating.
Kids will stick just about anything in
the machines and result in more service
calls than most locations.
On the other hand, nursing homes can be
great locations since the tenants are
easy on the machines, there are many
employees, lots of visitors, and you can
service them 24 hrs a day.
Another popular location is restaurants
for bulk candy type machines...they make
great locations, but it is hard to get
in many of the chains. Most
vendors end up making a hefty
contribution to the District Manager's
"Fund" in order to gain access
in addition to a nice commission.
The mom and pop restaurants generally
will accept charity machines or a small
commission. Some restaurants will
not allow vending machines in the
customer areas, but they may allow
machines to be placed in the kitchen
area where the employees are the only
ones who have access. They may
have 40 to 60 employees who are sick of
tacos and will eat anything else in
their path!
Also, keep in mind that you will find
many locations who are not satisfied
with their current vendor and are just
waiting for you to appear! Then
with good service, your locations will
refer many new locations your way.
