Thursday, October 18, 2012

A Look at Soda Vending Machines

Soda vending machines come in a number of sizes. You can get soda vending machines in a system that holds just four or six selections, or you can get machines that dispense dozens upon dozens of cans. Choose a smaller size if you're looking to save money or space. Choose a larger size if you think the customers will be diverse enough in their tastes, and if you think total traffic will merit the greater number of selections.
Soda vending machines can be the closed-box type, where you can't see the beverages, or the glass-front type, where the beverages are visible. The advantage to the closed-box type is anonymity; the customer can't see what's missing, and you don't have to clean out the inside as often to make it presentable. The advantage to the see-through machines, however, is that the customer can see exactly what they're buying. Sometimes just displaying the product clearly is enough to make the customer want to buy it.
Some machines are customizable for either cans or bottles. The bottles can be plastic or glass (although today, more manufacturers have found it more economical to offer soda in plastic bottles and glass is becoming increasingly rare). To adjust for cans or bottles, there are a number of possible mechanisms. Some are as simple as pushing or pulling a panel in the back of the machine, to simultaneously adjust all slots. The advantage to this is that you can switch up product styles to find out which style maximizes your profits at any given time. These adjustable machines also allow you to adjust the price, as with all vending machines.
Soda vending machines vary widely in price. If you want to buy new, your advantage is that there is less that is likely to go wrong, you will have warranty coverage, and you might even have service coverage on your soda machines.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Finding Vending Machines For Sale

If you want to invest in a vending machine, there are a number of reputable suppliers to choose from.
Vending Machine Companies
Automatic Products
Automatic Products international, ltd. produced their first glass-front vending machine in 1949. Today, API operates all over the world and is the leading U.S. manufacturer of glass-front snack/candy, hot beverage, fresh/frozen food, and snack/can combination vending machines.
Beaver Vending
Beaver Vending Corporation was begun in 1963 and has since become one of the most respected vending machine companies in the world. They sell vending machines for gumballs, stickers, and small candy. They also distribute Black Dog Woodwork designs, such as the eye-popping Wazoo Toys and Candy Cable Car kiosks.
Crane Merchandising Systems
Crane Merchandising Systems offers a complete line of vending machines, including those for food, snacks, hot and cold beverages, and combinations. Owned by the Crane Company since 1985, Crane MS is one of the most financially backed vending companies in the world. This makes them rather reliable.
Dixie-Narco, Inc.
Dixie-Narco Vending Systems, Inc. is owned by Maytag. They have a full line of cold beverage vending machines for sale, including agreements with Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, 7UP, other cold beverage manufacturers, and milk. DNI also owns Conclux, a manufacturer of coin changers.
Royal Vendors
Royal Vendors designs and manufactures high quality beverage merchandisers. Among their vending machines for sale are Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Live Display, Milk, and see-through machines.
The Vendo Company
The Vendo Company offers the usual 7-UP, Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi-emblazoned machines, but Vendo also has more flexible options. Their Impulse Coolers allow for irregular shapes and have see-through sides, for full flexibility. And their Vari-Pak merchandiser can be adjusted to sell either cans or bottles.
North American Vending
North American Vending offers mostly just gumball machines and small candy machines, but they have a variety of styles, such as fun see-through spiral vending mechanisms. They also offer a simple snack/can combination merchandiser.
Seaga Manufacturing
Seaga is a huge vending machine company offering machines for gumballs, capsule candies, pan candies, snacks, soda, snack/can combos, and other cold beverages. Seaga also makes coin changers, medical vending machines, mechanical wine cellars, and more.
Arrow Vending Machines
Arrow offers a full line of gumball, snack, soda, combo, cold beverages, and candy machines. They also have change machines and over-the-counter prescription dispensers.