Vendstar 3000 Bulk Candy Vending Machines

Vendstar 3000 Bulk Candy Vending Machines

I had an interesting conversation with a guy this past week who was telling me about a deal he had made buying a chain or bulk candy vending route with locations on the east coast of florida.

He told me that the 80 machines were Vendstar 3000 machines and that he had paid a total of $6600 for the bulk candy vending route. According to my calculations this puts the per unit bulk vending machine equipment cost at $82.50 per machine. Now this was for machines located and ready to go. Not a bad deal at all.

Now I mentioned to him that I had heard the Vendstar 3000 was a cheap machine made of mainly plastic. He agreed it was made out of plastic but said the machines have worked for the prior owner for 3 years and that he was having absolutely no trouble with these machines.

As a matter of fact he told me these also had the removable containers which makes them very easy to service. He told me to look on Ebay and that he sees them on Ebay for around 75 dollars per machine shipped. I took a look and they did seem to be fairly inexpensive.

He said his route of 80 machines was bringing in about $1000 per month. This is an average of $12.50 per machine average which seems reasonable. This means that in a littel over 6 months he got his initial investment back on this route and did not have to go through all the hassle of building and setting up machines and the ROI Return on Investment was just down right fabulous.

So for those of you wanting to get into bulk vending you might want to consider also buying a used route from someone. Also more expensive machines are normally recommended, but if you can get machines off of Ebay for $75 for a Vendstar 3000 it is surely worth that and better yet if you can find a route like this guy that already has 80 Vendstar 3000's setup and your were seriously thinking about going into the Bulk Candy Vending Route business you now have 1 example of a guy that did it and is successful at it.

Till Next Time, Keep on Vending
The BulkVending.Blogspot.com
The Vending Blog That Educates You

Click Here to Learn How to Get Great Vending Locations!

Crane Vending or Claw Machines with Plush Toys

Crane Vending or Claw Machines with Plush Toys

If you have ever wondered how much money one of those Crane Machines with the claws and plush toys makes in a restaurant or bar or grocery store, I will just say enough to make it worth your while.

I have been contacted by a guy that has used Crane Vending Machines and resells for $350. That is cheap. I am going to go down to his place to take a look at them to see if they are junk. I just cannot imagine that he can sell them for this price but I will see. If he does then I will buy one from him and let my locator guy place one and maintain it for a cut of the profits. Again, I just do not have the time so It is easier for me to invest and give them a commission. Now the first few times out of course I will go with him to get a good idea of what the machine brings in first to know what I should be bringing in each month.

I have also been looking at a couple of other places for Crane Vending Machines that I have seen and heard about on the Internet. I do believe you get what you pay for an investing more up front in a claw vending machine pays off over time.

Crane Vending Machines with the plush toys or claw vending machines as many call them have always sparked my interest. I think this like any other vending machine and really depends on the location. I would not want to spent over a thousand dollars on a Crane and have it placed in a bad location making a small amount per week. First off you had to locate this large bulky machine in the first place and I would hope to keep it in the location for the long term and not have to relocate it. So putting it in a place where you can make $100-200 per week would be the option I would want. Now this of course is going to require entry into one of these so called good locations which is going to require you to know someone and have an in or pay a locator which in this case would be well worth the money for an ideal location.

Many times you can find the plush toys for sale or being liquidated for the Crane Vending Machines and can help increase your profits. One really good place to search for all types of Liquidation products for resale is
Liquidation.com Online Wholesale and Liquidation Auctions You may be able to find some plush toys here if your search periodically.

One place for Crane Vending Machines with Plush Toys is Coast to Coast Entertainment Here is their contact info.

Coast to Coast Entertainment, LLC
4000 Bordentown Avenue
Suite 16
Sayreville, NJ 08872

Phone: (732) 238-0096
Toll Free: (800) 224-1717
Fax: (732) 238-4404

sales@coastentertainment.com

Another is at Gumballs.com Yes they also have Crane Machines.

Here is a definition of Crane Vending Machines or Claw Machines with Plush Toys -

A claw vending machine consists of prizes, usually plush toys such as teddy bears, inside a cage made of glass or plexiglas with a claw or crane attached to the ceiling of the cage. The player puts coins into the machine, which then allows the player to manipulate a joystick that controls the claw for 15 to 30 seconds (in some cases, a claw vending machine might offer a minute of time). The player is able to move the claw back, forth and sideways, but not up or down.

At the end of that time (or earlier if the player presses a trigger button on the joystick), the claw drops down and makes a gripping attempt. Some machines allow the user to move the claw after it has been partially dropped. After making the gripping attempt, the claw then moves over an opening in the corner of the cage and releases its contents. If the player is successful, then the prize the claw is holding is dropped into the opening and dispensed through a chute into a hatch for pickup.

An alternative version of the machine popular in arcades is the "two button" version: one marked with a forward arrow, one with a right arrow. The crane starts near the front, left side of the machine and the user presses first the forward button to move the crane towards the back of the cabinet. Once the button is released the crane stops moving and the button cannot be used again, thus requiring the user to judge depth accurately in one attempt. After this, the right button becomes active in a similar way and as soon as it is released, the crane drops to a certain depth and then raises, closing its claw on the way and returning to the drop hatch in the front left corner. These versions are generally considered to be more difficult.

The success rate of the game is dependent on several factors, including player skill, depth perception, type of machine, and prizes available (size, density, and distribution). A prize may be lost due to player inexperience or player error in manipulating the claw. A popular belief exists (verified by Brainiac: Science Abuse) that these machines have an apparatus for determining odds, in the manner that the claw would have a strong grasp on objects only after a certain number of failures. Conversely, this belief and similar claims have been denied by claw machine manufacturers, many of whom state that the ability to change the strength of the claw is only in place to adjust the difficulty of the game itself in a fair and challenging way, or to obtain an acceptable ratio of wins for the company. This indicates that machines manufactured by different companies would yield different rates of success, though player ability and the contents of the particular machine would also influence the success rate.

These machines became popular in the United States in the late 1980s, with a significant presence at Pizza Hut restaurants. Later on, they would spread to other venues. By the early 1990s, the NFL began to advertise their teams with stuffed footballs of each team placed in some of the machines. Soon after, the MLB, NBA, and NHL also joined, although the NBA no longer uses these machines as a means of advertisement.

By the middle 1990s, the machines' popularity had made such establishments as Safeway, Fry's Supermarkets, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart a staple of their locations. Some hotels also acquired them to satisfy their younger guests, as did sports venues that would stuff them with collectibles related to their home teams.

In the 1995 Disney/Pixar computer-animated film "Toy Story", Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody climb into a claw vending machine filled with claw-worshipping aliens.

In 2007, the claw machine became playable over the internet. Visitors to SuperClaw play real-life crane machines, using multiple video feeds and web browser controls to position the claw over a selection of plush prizes.

Thought this was interesting.
Keep on Vending!
BulkVending Blog that Educates You!

Click Here to Learn How to Get Great Vending Locations!

Building and Selling Your Bulk Candy Vending Routes

Building and Selling Your Bulk Candy Vending Routes

Hope all is well out there in Vending Land and you are all making lots of change.

For those of you who have bought machines at a very expensive premium or for those that can get machines cheap, you may want to consider getting good locations for those machines and then selling your route.

I know many will say that your machines need to have a track record and some longevity and that is understandable. But for the average person getting into vending they just want a vending machine route and they would like it located in fairly good locations.

The key is getting a source for good quality machines at a reasonable cost. I have bought Amerivend vending machines off of Ebay and have had good luck with their 2 head machines. Mine are Yellow and Chrome. I can get the machines shipped for $130 per and they are nice looking reliable machines with nice solid black stands.

The next key is getting someone good who can locate locally for you in your area. I connected with a guy who already has a vending route with some good locations who does all the locating himself. He took machines I had and has now located all of them very quickly in what I would call good locations.

What I am going to do is talk to him and see if he would like to continue me buying 10 bulk candy vending machines at a time, having him locate them over a 2-4 week period and then list them for sale. I know most people wanting to buy a route would love to have 10 machines already in locations when they start.

Now the question I have is how much of a premium is that worth and the locations are new. Now if he guaranteed a certain percentage could be relocated if they are a flop that might be an added selling point. I am thinking we could sell machines all over the county.

The added feature would be to get people that would sign up and pay ahead of time. You then buy the bulk candy vending machines, build, locate with them coming along and charging a premium for that.

If 10 machines cost $1300 + $300 for locating them for the person you could sell it to them for $1600 at cost. Of course now is what premium should you get for all the hard work of building the bulk candy vending machines, finding good locations and your guarantee on maybe 3 of the machines that might be bad performers. I would say you charge a $900 premium and make it and even $2500 for 10 double head machines that are built and located.

I would then take the $2500 - my $1300 cost for the Amerivend Bulk Candy Vending Machines and split the $1200 profit and each of us would walk away with $600.

Give me your input if you think this deal would be reasonable. I see other vendors charging way more than this to place machines in crappy locations with no guarantee on any machines being moved.

How much would you be willing to pay for the service of having the machines bought, built, located and a 3 vending machine relocation guarantee? Be reasonable with your estimate too, consider the work that goes into this. If you ever had to buy 10 machines and do all of this yourself it is hard work and their should be some sort of a premium added.

I would like to start a small turnkey operation in my area and use my locator friend to do the work and we would split the money.

If any of you have bulk candy vending machines that you feel you paid to much for, get them located even if you have to pay someone to do it.

You then go out on Craigs List or Ebay and Put them up for sale. They will sell much better if you have them located first.
Even if you break even on the machines + locating cost it might be worth it to you. Check this option out.

Till next time, keep on vending!

Steve

Click Here to Learn How to Get Great Vending Locations!

If you or someone you know owns a small business or product website and want to accept credit cards, Check out the best Merchant Service below using Chase Paymentech, a Trusted Name and reputation in the industry.

• FREE TERMINAL
  - Choose from 3 models


• Credit card,
  debit card, gift card


• Unrivaled
  system uptime and reliability


• 24/7, 365 day
  service and support


• Largest
  merchant acquirer in the world


• No Application
  fee


• Free Set
  up


• Free Online
  Reporting


• Low Monthly
  Service Fees – Rates as low as 1.67%



Apply Now!

Adult Arcades or Penny Arcades

Adult Arcades or Penny Arcades

Hi all, hope you are all doing well.
Today I am going to tell you a story that I think you will find interesting. It is much bigger than I imagined at first when this type of Vending Arcade idea was presented to me.

Last week I had a couple call me who were old neighbors of ours and wanted to meet with me and I mean quickly. They said they wanted to start a business and wanted to see if I was interested in investing. At first I thought this was an idea or invention regarding some type of product they wanted to sell.

Well, I drove over to their house with my wife and we sat down and started listening. I asked them what this big idea was and they told me it was to open an Adult Video Arcade. Ok, I know what that is or do I ? I thought it was a vending arcade with amusement machines or something for teenagers to come in and play.

Little to my surprise, I find out they are talking about a type of Adult Arcade for Senior Citizens. They have slot machines and other video machines that resemble the casino games. Apparently the seniors really enjoy it because it is a social setting where they can talk to other seniors and get free food and drinks, beer etc.. while they are playing the video arcade machines.

The video arcade machines or like vending machines but they accept dollar bills. They are really like a computer with a Bill Collector on the side of them to take in the money. The idea is that the seniors win prizes in the form of gift cards like from Walmart or just a Visa Gift Card. This way they fall under the Chucky Cheese Law in the state of Florida where if the game is of skill and you just receive token gifts it is border line legal.

After they told me about this idea, they proceeded to tell me that you have to have a minimum of 50 of these machines and that there are a couple of places in Florida that sells them for around $1500 per machine. So we are looking at a startinig investment of $75,000 just for the adult video arade machines.

Then you will have to find a strip mall with a place to put 50 video arade machines and tables for food and drinks and any other fun things or additional games. In a busy strip mall this could be expensive. So when we left their house I told them I would research it and let them know. Even my wife thought it was a good idea and she is always sceptical on business ventures. I am the risk taker of the family and am usually more likely to want to jump in with both feet if I think I can make a honest buck.

I went out on the internet and started looking and trying to find out more about this gold mine vending arcade type business that was going to make us rich. They also told me these were popping up all over the state of Florida. I have been looking to possibly get into some other type of vending machines besides bulk candy but wow I didn't expect it to cost me between $75,000 and $150,000 dollars and I think that is being conservative.

Well, the first story I came upon was a guy who just recently was arrested in the Tampa area for having a Video Adult Arcade. Then another story popped up that I am attaching on a woman who was also arrested:

The State Attorney's office in Broward County, Fla., brought the charges against Fontaine because it believed that the Tropicana Rec Room resembled a casino rather than a video game arcade. Fontaine was hauled into court as part of a larger trend of state authorities cracking down on the adult arcade industry because of a growing concern regarding senior citizen gambling addiction, which many perceive to be a growing problem. For example, a recent study from Farleigh Dickinson University and the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling found that nearly one quarter of New Jersey senior citizens who gamble have an addiction to gambling.

So after reading a couple of these articles I was starting to see a trend which worries me about getting into this business. On one end they say that the video adult arcade vending machines require skill such as a slot machine and that is what makes it legal. I have been at many casinos and I think you would really be pushing a story that says it is skill but maybe on these machines there is a bit of skill. I know the seniors want it to be skill because they love their video adult arcades and the owners really like them because I am sure they are making a decent amount of money.

For anyone who has done vending, this Adult Arcade concept is fantastic because all of your money making machines are all in one location. You collect money out of them each day, you make the seniors happy because they enjoy it and it is a social think for them. So it all goes back to the question of skill and money being handed out or should I say gift cards. This again is called the Chucky Cheese law and has given the owners the ability to open under this premise instead of being considered a Casino which is illegal.

I talked to our neighbors and told them I did not think it was a good idea as there were just too many things brewing, such as people being shut down and arrested over this and I did not feel that was something I wanted to get myself mixed up with until the legalities of this business have been settled. It sounded like the perfect vending type business and who knows it probably could have made us allot of money but for what risk? If you signed a lease for a place in a strip mall and then a year later the State of Florida shut all of them down, you would be stuck paying on the 3-5 year lease payment while trying to support and pay off a huge loan without any more income and possibly legal fees. No Thanks.

Now if I find out that in the future it has been settled and they are legal, I would give it some serious thought. It sounds like a fun business making seniors happy and having fun with a group of regulars. People that are this age especially retirees are actually facinating and very interesting when you start listening to their stories and lives growing up. They are a big part of our country and heritage.

So I opted out of this business venture of being an Adult Video Arcade Owner for now, but wanted your thoughts and feedback on this. Have you guys or gals ever heard of anything like this. What is your opinion on the subject? Well, now you know what an Adult Video Arcade is if you ever run into one.

There is one down the street from us that I may head down to this weekend. I am really interested in how the machines work. Like I said they are basically a computer type vending machine that takes dollar bills. I wonder how hard it would be to build one of these machines. It sounds like there is a big market for them.

Till next time Keep on Vending and Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The Vending Blog that Educates You!