Lately at the place I work I've noticed the snack vending machine gets used quite heavily. Same with the kiddie rides/carousels in shopping centres. Saw a swarthy looking fellow holding a bottle of cleaning fluid and a rag, emptying out the kiddie ride at my local shops. Lots of gold coins, perhaps $200-$300 worth. Not sure how often it gets emptied of coins. Even though he was holding cleaning equipment, The dirty bastard didn't even wipe the machine clean afterwards!!! Anyone have experience in how these sorts of vending machines/ kiddie rides operate? And what the profit margin might be like? Is it hard work? Do you buy the machine and then pay the shopping centre to allow you to install it in there?
Yes usually you would have to make an agreement with the Place where youre installing it. Sometimes a rate or a % depends on what you guys negotiate
Generally a mafia type leans over you and tells you that you want to put a vending machine/ride/space invaders/cigarette machine on your property, either that or get better fire insurance. Then the mafia type comes around and empties it out everynow and then, you have to wash it yourself. Simples!
You'd either be paying the location a flat rent for the space or a share of the profits. Places like shopping centers are in the real estate business and you're more likely to be paying them a flat amount of rent every month. If you're putting the machine inside a private business (pub, cafe, cinema, etc), then you'd probably be doing a profit share. You can work out the gross margins on snacks pretty easily by getting some quotes from a wholesaler and finding the difference between that and what the item sells for in a machine. That will give you a ballpark figure but you'll need to adjust you selling price to account for the location. "Service only" equipment is just that, so you only need to work out how many uses you need to get your investment back and start making a profit. It isn't incredibly difficult work but it can be time consuming and you need to develop procedures for everything, from sourcing and replacing broken parts to figuring out how to count $1000 in loose change.
I'm cheap. I let my kids play on the equipment without putting money in. They're still happy. Besides when did they jump from 20c to $2. There's still some shopping centres (Sydney - North Shore) where they're 20c, and surprisingly, poorer areas (Central Coast - NSW) are $2.
There always good fun to ride when you're sh*tfaced drunk covered in your own vomit. I woke up in a dorothy the dinosaur car once without any pants.
I know someone very happy with a Hoyts DVD rental kiosk out from of their shop. They are on profit share.
I think you're looking at the wrong sites. I think the best vending rounds have their machines sited in private factories and workshops etc. You buy a beat up old crap machine off ebay, it doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it accepts $2 coins and keeps the drinks cold and stick it in your local garage for the employees. The garage owner's happy that the boys have cold drinks and all you have to do is go around once a week, collect the money and fill it up with cans from Aldi.
