Originally Posted by Bama

I worked for Pepsi for 8 years, the last 2 of those years was filling their vending machines. My route (one of 6) serviced an entire county and I would, on average, fill 60 machines per day, averaging roughly 300-500 cases per day.

On my daily route I would run into the local "ma & pa" operations and talked to their drivers and I can tell you that if a location is worth being in, Pepsi &/or Coke were most likely already there. The few that we weren't in is because we only carried soda and the business would want snack options too.

The money is phenomenal. That is why you see so many of the larger grocery chains producing their "private label" brands as well as their own vending machines outside of their stores along with the Pepsi and Coke machines. Getting your machine next to theirs is where the phrase "snowball's chance in hell" was coined.

You'll spend in the neighborhood of 1500 per machine unless you buy used.

What I'm trying to get at is.... that ain't the way to go. It takes too many years to recoup your investment for the machines - especially if you're giving a cut of the profits to the business.


What you want to do is this...... Direct office business sales.

That's where you deliver cases of soda to the offices and they either give the pop away to their employees or for a small per can cost. In this instance, they either keep the soda in the refrigerator they already own or you supply them one with a x year contract. You can pick up a small fridge at Costco or Sears for around 100 bucks or pick up a slightly larger one that can hold snacks too. That's a shitload cheaper than a vending machine and they come with a warranty for service.

You hire a salesman to get locations for you (min office of 10 employees) and pay him X per location. You hire someone to man the phones and service your accounts each month to get their orders and you hire a delivery driver. Service repairs? They'll be some sure but you just drop off a new refrigerator and take the busted one back to the shop and have it fixed there and if out of warranty - toss it and write off the loss.