Tuesday, September 25, 2007

How To Decide The Rate Of Vending Commissions?

Starting a vending business will require you to take many decisions. The primary decisions involve selection of the vending machine supplier, machine models, pricing, products and vending machine locations. As a new business owner, you may not be sure what rate of vending commission to offer to the location owners.

The best thing would be to offer no commission at all. This is possible when you have associated with a charity and business owner allows the amount to be paid as commission to go to the charity. If you aren’t linked with a charity, you can try to convince the business owners regarding the benefits of keeping a vending machine in their premises.

However, these arrangements may be possible in the short-term only. Eventually, you will have to pay commission to location owners to keep your machines. What will be your strategy to arrive at a certain rate? You can’t get into a bidding war or heated negotiation deal with a prospective location owner. So, it is important to plan the vending commission to be offered beforehand.

It is always better to explain the computation of commission to the prospect. This will help them in understanding the costs deducted from projected revenue on which the commission will be paid. You should also offer a comparative analysis of the rate offered by you and other vending operators.

Another option is to place your Planet Antares vending machines for free at the potential location for the first month. Observe the machine sales during this time period and then fix a monthly commission on that basis. This approach establishes two things:

  • The location owner is assured that the operator is genuine.
  • The vending operator can use a logical basis of computing commission rather than depending on rough estimates and industry standards alone.

Vending commissions may seem to be a financial burden but when fixed correctly, they can boost your vending machine operator business too. A reasonable rate will help you establish good relationship with premises owners and go a long way in enhancing future contracts and reputation.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Planet Antares Vending Machines: Electrical or Mechanical?

So you are planning to start a vending machine business. The first step will be to purchase the machines from a reliable supplier like Planet Antares Inc at prices that fit in your budget. Initially, you don’t want to invest too much money so you need to find a low-investment vending machine.

Vending machines are of different kinds, such as:

1. Gumball vending
2. Toy vending
3. Snack and Soda vending
4. Newspaper vending
5. Digital products vending
You will also find a variety of styles, colors and sizes. So it is imperative to choose a vending machine according to your requirements and objectives. Vending machines may be electrical or mechanically operated.

In case of electrical vending machines, there are various features which may not be present in case of mechanical vending machines. Some of these are:
• Wide range of sizes and capacities that enables appropriate selection of the desired vending machine.
• Heavy and bulky machines ensuring safety and lesser thefts
• Accept dollar bills through an acceptor and changer supported by a keypad
• Automatic return of change to the customer after dispensing the ordered product
• Electric vend counter to dispense the products
• Need third party technical support for repairs and servicing
• More profits per transaction as these machines can vend items priced upto $100
On the other hand, mechanical vending machines have features including the following:
• Smaller size and capacity
• Accepts coins through different coin receptacles and if one gets stuck, the others still continue to function
• The selected products are dispensed when a customer turns the handle
• Change is returned by additional bill changer equipment mounted at its side
• Don’t require electricity in most cases but soda vending needs power to keep the beverages cold
• Easy to repair and service
• Lesser profit potential per transaction as the product prices are usually upto $1

Your choice of the vending machine depends on your budget, local area needs and the products you want to sell. You will find superior-quality electric and mechanical vending machines offered by many good companies like Planet Antares Inc. Do your homework and make an informed decision for best results.