Good Vending Machine Products to Sell?

When it comes to running a vending machine business you have to carefully consider the kind of machines that you want and exactly what you want to sell.

It can be wise to stick with a popular niche and vend products that have proven to be popular and have a track record of success. However some entrepreneurs have also done very well by testing out new concepts and have become pioneers in their introduction.

Let's take a look at the variety of products that are sold from vending machines, both the regular and unconventional, and the profit potential of some of these products.

Food, Snacks and Beverages

According to the National Automatic Vending Association in the US (NAMA), canned beverages make up 40% of the overall vending market, snacks 19%, food 10%, hot cup beverages 8% and cold cup beverages 8%. Snacks and beverages altogether represent 85% of the vending market in the US.

While opportunities are plentiful, many experienced operators find that it can be labor intensive as the products are bulky and need to be re-stocked often. Profit can also be quite low due to products in this area being priced low. Even if you mark up 100% from your purchase price it can be difficult to make money unless your machines are performing really well.

Most experienced operators report that junk food and soda options are much more popular than health bars and fruit juice. So unless you are locating in a school or outside of a gym then you may be better off with the former as it has proven to be more profitable.

Gum Balls and Bulk Candy

Gum balls and other carefully selected candy items can offer far higher mark ups from the purchase price. A gum ball that may cost three cents can be marked up more than 700% and sold for 20 cents or more. Even though we are only talking about a small amount of money here, one of these machines can hold thousands of gum balls.

These kinds of machines don't have to be re-stocked often and when they are the owner can usually take out over $500 of almost pure profit. Candy machines can suit any location, though they are best suited to areas with a lot of children nearby.

One interesting candy related niche market that some operators are getting into is small machines in restaurants selling 'after dinner' mints to guests.

Cigarettes

Cigarettes have traditionally sold well via vending machines in the right locations and currently represent 2% of the vending industry according to NAMA. However the market lately is changing with the gradual introduction of more anti-smoking regulations and the cigarette vending business therefore doesn't look like it will have a bright future.

Toys and Stickers

Toys and trinkets that kids love, such as bouncy balls and stickers, can also have an amazingly high markup and don't have to be replenished so often. In a location with lots of 'young family' traffic these kinds of products can do really well.

Newspapers

Newspapers have to be re-stocked daily of course as nobody would want to buy yesterday's newspaper. This makes newspaper vending machines a bad proposition for most vendors who would prefer to re-stock less frequently unless the location has a huge volume of foot traffic. Locations that are suitable for newspaper vending include busy street corners, train stations and airports.

Bathroom Related Products

In the right environment products such as soap, sanitary pads, condoms and perfumes can be vended from small units attached to bathroom walls.

Arcade and Video Games

The entertainment market is huge and many entrepreneurs choose to specialize in this area alone. With vended forms of entertainment there is usually no product cost involved and machines never have to be re-stocked which makes this sector quite lucrative for those who know what they are doing.

Other Products and Services

Other products and services that are sold via vending machines include CD's, cameras, pantyhose, Internet services, DVD rentals and photos. The Japanese, who are usually the world leaders when it comes to vending machines even sell cans of beer via machine.

One example of an interesting new vending service concept is to perform breath alcohol testing via a machine and locate them in or around bars or night clubs.

New vending concepts are arriving all the time and big profits can be made if you are able to jump on a new idea at the right time. But at the same time, new business owners would do well to concentrate on the vending machine products that make up the bulk of the market share such as snacks, candy and beverages as these are proven winners and are more likely to succeed in any given location.

Basically any product or service should eventually be able to be offered via a machine for a favorable cost and at the greatest convenience. The vending machine industry definitely has a bright future.