Introduction to Vending Machines

Clients puts a coin in the machine, he gets his product, you get the cash. It’s as simple as that with a vending machine business . Whether you own a bar, club, fast food, restaurant, Internet Café or Cinema, vending machines will always be a straightforward, surefire, undeniably easy way to increase your income.

Starting out in the 1880’s with Richard Carlisle’s first book on vending machines, this business market has grown exponentially. Millions of dollars are made daily with a drop of a coin! By the time the coin drops and hits the bottom with a noisy “ching!” hundreds of vending machine owners get rich.

Things that have been sold in Vending Machines

Throughout history vending machines have been known to sell a large variety of products, ranging from the not-so-uncommon French fries and Soda vending machines, to the really awkward Pet Shampoo or Underwear (gasp!) vending machines. Whatever is physically possible to introduce into a reasonably sized box, people have made vending machines for it! Statistically the most popular vending machines are soda (beverage), candy, cigarette and gumball machines. And the top will probably remain unchanged for as long as people are thirsty, hungry or smoke-addicted. You see now why this industry provides a surefire business opportunity? It’s because vending machines deliver our basic needs, which can never “loose popularity” like with other needs in other businesses.

Why Vending Machines are so popular

Reading throughout the Internet, you might have noticed there’s a lot of hype around vending machines. The reason for this is because of the simple, yet efficient way you can do business with vending machines. A vending machine is not very expensive, nor is it costly to maintain. For example a Classic Gumball Machine could go from $50 to $100 with a really unimportant maintenance cost which only includes raw material (gumballs in this case). Placed in a good spot, vending machines (even small ones like gumball or soda machines) can generate serious daily cash, in the number of hundreds of dollars.

Where to place your Vending Machine

Foot traffic! Yes, that’s the keyword when referring to the locations you should place your vending machines in. Foot traffic means the amount of people walking by your vending machine and is relevant to the number of clients you will have. For example if you have your vending machine somewhere around a bus stop where there is a constant stream of foot traffic, you’ll get a lot more clients than if you place your machines in a remote or unsolicited place. Don’t think that just because your vending machine is in a cinema or toy store it will make a lot of money. If that cinema or toy store doesn’t have foot traffic, you’re better of relocating your machine to somewhere else. Basically the mechanism is this: wherever there are people, some of them will be thirsty, hungry or will need the services you provide with your new vending machines.