How To Buy An Existing Vending Route?

You may buy an existing vending route for various reasons. Some people may want to start a vending business this way while others buy a vending route to expand their business. A vending route owner may sell it due to:

• Retirement

• Illness

• Shifting to another area

• Other unforeseen event

It is imperative to find out if the previous owner had a good relationship with the business owners and other location owners. The machines should also be checked for being well installed and established for at least 1-2 years.

Buying a vending route is an important decision and expensive too. The average cost of a vending route may be $100,000. Before spending thousands of dollars on purchase of a vending route, verify that it is worth your investment. Make sure that bulk of the machines is in sound condition and well maintained.

Analyze the kind of equipment you are buying through the vending route. Is it easy to service and repair? Planet Antares vending machines are very reliable and durable without frequent breakdowns. If it needs frequent refilling and repairs, you may have to spend a lot of money later on. Also, examine the sales pattern in the last few years. It may be rising or falling.

Investigate into the reasons for such performance of the vending machines or products.
Don’t forget to review the financial statements of the vending business that you are planning to buy. Take help from your lawyer and accountant for accurate estimates of business figures. Outside verification is essential to make sure that your substantial investment is not going to waste.

It is not sufficient to depend on the previous owner’s description of the vending route. You must visit the different locations yourself to check the suitability of the vending route for your business requirements and objectives. You may be a beginner or an experienced vending machine business owner. This step is a necessity in both cases.

A typical vending route will have a selling price of about 70% of the gross sales per annum. The average sales per machine will be multiplied by the number of vending machines in a vending route to get the total sales per year. A more lucrative vending route will be generally more expensive than a normal, average return generating route.

Estimate the average sales figures to be used as a reference for comparing the price quoted by the seller of vending route with the sales generated by the vending machines in that vending route.