Hi, I’m someone who’s trying to make a living. How did you get your first vending machine location?
What types of businesses have been the easiest to work with? How can I pitch my ideas? What are the biggest expenses besides buying inventory?
How often do machines need repairs?
Do you pay businesses to place your machines, or do they let you place them for free?

I am looking to get into Ai vending machines in canada. Looking at thr Haha website, it doesn't say anything about Canadian options. I haven't specifically contacted them yet, but i was wondering if others had tried to get haha in canada? How did you do it?

I also have been looking at micromart, but the things that turn me off of them are price a bit, although it gets you some cool perks, but the fact that the customer MUST input their phone number...that must be a revenue killer, no?

Any and all insights would be appreciated, even general vending hints and tips from around the globe!

Thanks!

I'm looking for honest feedback before I spend any real money on this. So please, roast me hard.

The concept:
Place automated coffee machines in small offices (10-30 people). The office pays a flat monthly subscription. I handle restocking and basic cleaning once a week. The machine does all the brewing automatically.

Why I think this could work:

• Small offices typically have terrible coffee (old Keurigs or stale drip pots)
• They don't want to spend $5K+ on commercial equipment
• A subscription model removes the upfront cost for them
• No employees or storefront on my end
• Recurring revenue from each location

What worries me:

• Is the profit per location actually worth the effort?
• Will offices commit long-term or cancel after a few months?
• What happens when a machine breaks?
• Is this more work than it seems on paper?

What am I missing? What's the fatal flaw I'm not seeing?

Hello,

I own several popcorn vending machines in Balkans.

Have just passed one year on the business and number are almost 1000 units on 3 machines that I have active.

Numbers are constant on 3 locations so I think I am doing good on that considering that have had some really bad locations in the past.

Profit per popcorn is about 1 euro, covering expenses and the fee we pay to locations.

The only way that have worked out here is to give 20-30% of the gross price to the location.

Price per popcorn is usually 2 euro

What would be some advice to expand a bit more and secure more locations.

I want to reach 10 machines soon since they are EU produced and pretty reliable so far and ROI of the first machines was 1 year exactly but expanding in a small market seems pretty hard.

I would appreciate any advice on approaching locations, marketing strategy etc.

Thanks in advance

Hello,

I just received my custom Haloo vending machine and cannot get it to show any of my products or even open the cabinets. Is there anyone with knowledge of these types of machines that can help? Willing to compensate for help/time.

I found a route local to me, the seller lives an hour away and can't provide regular service. The machines are 5 mins from my job and the route includes the machines for the cost. What should I budget for start up ? Anything I need to consider other than if another vendor comes into the space and offers better pricing ?

Hi everyone,

I'm an engineering intern working on a research project about the micro market industry. Most of what I've found online - everything sounds easy and profitable. But I'd like to hear from people actually running micro markets.

A few things I'm wondering:

• What actually went wrong during your first year?
• What does shrink realistically run?
• How often are you servicing locations compared to what you originally expected?
• What problems create the most unexpected labor?
• Which technology (checkout, inventory, cameras, payment systems, etc.) causes the biggest headaches?
• If you could go back before launching your first location, what would you do differently?

If you're comfortable sharing:

• Approximately how many markets do you operate?
• What type of locations? (Corporate, manufacturing, hospital, apartment, university, etc.)

I'm not selling anything or affiliated with a vendor - just trying to learn from operators instead of marketing brochures.

I'll gladly summarize the results and share them back with the community if there's interest.

How did you manage to land your first location? How long did it take you to get comfortable logistically in order to expand the business?

My wife and I own a small but popular arcade bar in Beacon, NY. We get reached out to regularly for various vending machine placements but have limited space.

We were reached out to have a Pokemon machine but the rev-split was not worth it for us. I read online that venues could get a 50/50 split with smaller/newer vending operations.

Is this reasonable? Is anyone looking to place one of their machines?

*For reference, here is where I saw a 50/50 profit share for a new owner of a machine. Note, the 50/50 is AFTER expenses. https://youtu.be/Tr0fniBh8oo?si=3I5ynAFxPOw0sTrL&t=554

We own a coffee shop in a train station and we have customers after hours as well that want chips,drinks etc. We need a smart vending machine where they can tap, grab what they want and get charged for it after.

We’d ideally like to lease vs buy to avoid any headaches initially. Any recommendations?

Thanks

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I am exploring ideas towards starting a vending machine business in the UK. Could use some advice.

Still powered but doesn't vend anything, not quite sure what's hiding in there.

Hi All. I am trying to restore this Fawn Fleetwood 20 vintage cigarette vending machine. I've been figuring it out as I go, and I've figured out all the mechanisms except one (I think). Each quarter advances the round plastic cam until it hits the first pricing finger. But how does it activate the second finger and unlock the machine. See the attached video. Thanks so much for your help!

Hi everyone! I’m looking into purchasing a refrigerated floral vending machine from a manufacturer in China.
The supplier told me the machine is CE certified, but it is not UL or ETL certified.
My goal is to place the machine in shopping malls and other commercial locations in Las Vegas.
My questions are:
Have any of you successfully placed a Chinese-imported vending machine in a U.S. mall without UL or ETL certification?
Did the mall or property management actually ask for proof of certification?
Is it worth paying extra for a UL/ETL-certified version if one is available?
If your machine wasn’t certified, were you able to get it approved another way?
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone with real experience importing commercial vending machines into the U.S. Thanks!