View Full Version : Red Bull vending machines good investment?
syka16
10-13-2005, 05:03 PM
I've got about $10,000 to invest in a part-time business venture. I'm researching buying a few Red Bull vending machines and posting them in some decent spots. I have a few family connections that would be willing to rent me some space. Has anyone gotten involved in that sort of venture? Is it more headaches than profit?
pokergrader
10-13-2005, 05:05 PM
The only problem I can think of is that I dont like putting more than $1 into a vending machine to buy anything, and im assuming these are going to sell for something like $2-$5.
istewart
10-13-2005, 05:06 PM
Yes, while you're at it, lower the price below $3 or whatever the [censored] it costs.
swede123
10-13-2005, 05:07 PM
Vending machines seem kind of scary to me. You get some punk break into one and there's your profit for the month. A friend of mine back in Portland put some money into a little enterprise of Slushie carts during the summers. After some initial struggles he ended up making some cash on this venture. Obviously this involves taking on employees and so on, so it's a bit more involved.
Swede
daveymck
10-13-2005, 05:18 PM
Can you not rent or lease the machines? how many would you get for the amount? How much is the rent for the patch?, do you need insurance etc etc. To me on the face of it unless you can buy a [censored] load of machines your break even point is going to be quite some time in the future, dependant on the profit margin per can and volume you will sell, it seems like more hassle for the profit on the face of it, with the figures may be an easier decision.
syka16
10-13-2005, 05:21 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Vending machines seem kind of scary to me. You get some punk break into one and there's your profit for the month. A friend of mine back in Portland put some money into a little enterprise of Slushie carts during the summers. After some initial struggles he ended up making some cash on this venture. Obviously this involves taking on employees and so on, so it's a bit more involved.
Swede
[/ QUOTE ]
My uncle used to own a bunch of those around Tampa and his $5.25/hr employees were stealing all the profit... go figure.
Your right, vending machines do attract punks. I'd be putting them in rather low risk areas so I hope that could be avoided. But still... that would worry me. The fact that I wouldn't show any profit for at least a year is pretty normal for any new business and certainly the case with this one. But still, I can't find any better place to invest my money other than some lame CD or whatnot.
Freakin
10-13-2005, 05:23 PM
Did you guys ever think about vending machines in really cold places? If it gets below freezing during the winter, they have to heat the pop, as well as cool it during the summer.
It's like a thermos; keeps cold things cold, keeps hot things hot. How does it know?
Freakin
I'm gonna go with the not worth it option. I'd save up until you have 30k and then go into real estate
swede123
10-13-2005, 05:24 PM
You'd be surprised what people will do for a hundred bucks in change. We have a vending machine in my office building, which would be about as low-risk as anywhere on earth. Yet, last year sometime someone cracked it open, stole the cash and broke the machine so the fatties in the office couldn't get their Snickers bars for a few weeks. Now the machine is hidden away inside a lunch room.
Swede
syka16
10-13-2005, 05:24 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Can you not rent or lease the machines? how many would you get for the amount? How much is the rent for the patch?, do you need insurance etc etc. To me on the face of it unless you can buy a [censored] load of machines your break even point is going to be quite some time in the future, dependant on the profit margin per can and volume you will sell, it seems like more hassle for the profit on the face of it, with the figures may be an easier decision.
[/ QUOTE ]
well taken. Here's a little more info
http://www.franchisegator.com/cgi-bin/profile.php?key=836&f_type=13
daveymck
10-13-2005, 05:32 PM
Looks like from that you have to put in the locations they are telling you or that you select from their options. Send off or the information and if its a glossy and fact free as this I would give it a miss.
Blarg
10-13-2005, 09:00 PM
I don't know about selling only red bull, but I met a guy who put soda machines in office buildings. He started up with very little capital and just kept adding machines, and said it very quickly wound up being really profitable. There's always another office somewhere, and management squirts hot monkey love on the idea of making a buck back from their employees.
Service is important though. If they call you up to say they're out of coke, you better get off your ass, or have your employee get off his ass, in a day or two at most, or you're useless. People want their sodas right away, and if they have to interrupt their work to leave the buildihg to track one down instead of getting it in the lunchroom right away, your bad service is basically impossible to forget.
So you have to have either good and totally reliable employees or do it yourself. It's not a tough business to maintain, but it's the wrong business to be half-assed in. Clients don't turnover often, but you can sometimes lose business and/or get replaced real fast if you're the kind of dude who substitutes excuses for performance. At least in the kind of hard-ass offices I've worked in.
tinga81
10-13-2005, 09:07 PM
The only way this is going to work is if you put a Jagermeister vending machine next to it.
tonypaladino
10-13-2005, 09:15 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Did you guys ever think about vending machines in really cold places? If it gets below freezing during the winter, they have to heat the pop, as well as cool it during the summer.
It's like a thermos; keeps cold things cold, keeps hot things hot. How does it know?
Freakin
[/ QUOTE ]
Normal vending machines do not have heat functions. Have you seen this? Maybe they are made specially for cold areas, but why the hell would you have an outdoor machine in a cold area?
Freakin
10-13-2005, 10:36 PM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Did you guys ever think about vending machines in really cold places? If it gets below freezing during the winter, they have to heat the pop, as well as cool it during the summer.
It's like a thermos; keeps cold things cold, keeps hot things hot. How does it know?
Freakin
[/ QUOTE ]
Normal vending machines do not have heat functions. Have you seen this? Maybe they are made specially for cold areas, but why the hell would you have an outdoor machine in a cold area?
[/ QUOTE ]
I guess I just assumed....
Surely places like Chicago that are hot in the summer and cold in the winter don't just empty out all the vending machines by the pool!? What will the swimmers drink?
Freakin
[ QUOTE ]
but why the hell would you have an outdoor machine in a cold area?
[/ QUOTE ]
I live in Minnesnowta and wonder the same thing. We have machines out all year, but who wants a cold drink when it's -10 /images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Vending machines in Japan serve warm drinks in winter (eg hot can of tea or cocoa) and cold drinks in summer. kicks Ass.
(plus they never steal your money !)
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