How much money can you make off a Full-Line Machine?

What is full-line vending? Full-line vending are large vending machines that vend snacks and sodas (or so it used to be). Full-line vending today still offers the traditional snacks and sodas, but the new generation of machines can offer a variety of different snacks and beverages, specialty drinks, coffee, energy drinks, healthy snacks, etc. The days of Coke and Potato Chips for 50 cents are gone! The newest generation of Snack and Soda machines offer credit card readers with flexible payment options, allowing you to maximize your profits by utilizing dynamic pricing and offering higher ticket items. CandyMachines.com is an Authorized Distributor for Snack and Soda Machines. 

Do the credit card companies take a cut of proceeds?

Yes, you will have to pay a transitional fee to the credit card company which is typically a rate of about 5% (which can be added to the price of the item with the use of dynamic pricing. What is dynamic pricing? Dynamic pricing allows you to set a price for an item which may not be in 25 cent increments. Keep in mind, dynamic pricing works very well with electronic payment methods but not cash transactions. 

The profit you make will depend the type of machine you have and payment methods you can accept. For example, if you have a machine that will not accept electronic payments methods, you're limiting your customer base by as much as 30% or more in some locations. Also, if you have an older model machine that doesn't have flexible change dispensing methods, you may be limiting yourself to only offering lower ticket items. 

To maximize your profit, make sure you have a modern full-line machine and phase our your older obsolete machines. This will allow you to offer the traditional items and higher ticket items such as energy drinks or even healthy snack alternatives. Make sure you maximize your customer base by offering cashless systems with mobile payment and credit card capabilities. 

2. How much money can you make off a Gumball Machine?

Quarters ADD up!! A gumball machine can pay for itself with as little as 1 case of 1-inch 850 count gumballs. Having a route of gumball machines can be lucrative if you're able to scale it in a way that the route is self-substantiating.  A self-substantiating route is a route that is built organically and where the profits are reinvested into new machines and product until you reach your target location placement goal and your initial investment has been paid off.

Simplified example: if you purchase 1 case of 1 inch 850 count gumballs and you sell every gumball, you can calculate your revenue. Now keep in mind, revenue is not profit. In order to calculate your profit, you'll need to deduct the cost of the gumballs and any shipping you paid to get the gumballs delivered to you. You should also deduct the cost of the machine until the initial investment has been recouped. 

Profit before machine is paid for:
Initial cost of machine: $89 - Rhino Gumball Machine
Cost of Gumballs: $30
for Machine and gumballs: $33 (varies by zip code)
Total Cost: $152

Total Revenue: $212.50 (if you sell every gumball)

Total PROFIT: $60.50

With the hypothetical example above, you could purchase a rhino gumball machine and 1 case of 850 gumballs and machine would pay for itself and generate a profit after just 1 case of gumballs. Please keep in mind that it will most likely take a number of months to sell all 850 gumballs and you may have to subtract some waste. However, if you're able to nail down a high traffic location, you can do very well with a gumball machine. You should always secure locations prior to purchasing new machines.