Vending Machines: The Hidden Goldmine or Just a Pipe Dream?

Who has ever tried it?

I had a family friend who did vending machines in retirement. They didn’t mind that their part-time gig stocking and maintaining a dozen or so vending machines netted them less than $10K a year because it kept them active.

In the right locations you can generate good sales and minimize vandalism, but you’ll likely have to sacrifice a good bit to lease that square of real estate. A profitable machine is also one that needs to be stocked frequently and you’ll need several to generate a reasonable income.

@Mai
You also can’t make more than like 20-30k a year and claim SS.

Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

Ashton said:
Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

Seemingly every single damn post in the sub that trends is not passive income

Emmy said:

Ashton said:
Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

Seemingly every single damn post in the sub that trends is not passive income

Shocking, making money can never be passive! Even stock market requires some work!

Emmy said:

Ashton said:
Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

Seemingly every single damn post in the sub that trends is not passive income

That’s because the sub is also about side hustles, despite the name. Don’t get too caught up with the name.

Ashton said:
Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

There’s. Always. Some. Numpty. Saying. This.

Noel said:

Ashton said:
Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

There’s. Always. Some. Numpty. Saying. This.

Idk man, it seems pretty simple to me: This is a subreddit for passive income, not /r/sidehustle

@Ashton
It’s for side hustles as well, despite the name. Side hustles can lead to passive income. Don’t be so anal about things. Relax a little.

Ashton said:
Vending machines. Are. Not. Passive. Income.

What about my W2 job. 40hrs/week seems pretty passive to me.

It’s mostly a pipe dream, although exceptions do apply.

I had 6 vending machines at one point in different businesses. The machines were actually connected to a network and would send sales updates to the system so that I would know exactly when they needed to be refilled. Even though it was more efficient it was still kind of a pain. At the time I had a full-time job and the route wasn’t super close to my house. This was my very first business so I made some mistakes. Tax wise I made mistakes, how I ran it, the timing, it was all wrong. I think if you can plan it well, have the route be close to your home location, and improve on the efficiencies those machines gave me, it might have been something I could grow into a good business.

It’s definitely not really passive though. Lots of shopping, doing the route, paying for systems, maintenance on the machines, lots to think about. This particular business wasn’t giving me enough to pay someone to do the route either, so again things I could have done differently might have helped. I think if you’re patient and can grow the business it certainly could be a good solid business but it has to be a big route to give you enough to make it worth your while. Of course the locations are important too. This route was purchased from someone; some of the locations were solid and others were just ok.

Great if you have a Time Machine

Pax said:
Great if you have a Time Machine

Hey, have you heard about this “drop-shipping”?

Knew a guy who handled the gumball machines in random places, he didn’t make a killing but it was enough to live on and all he had to do was resupply and take the coins and cash them.

I have mini claw machines. Make pretty good. Just gotta find a location. Not as hard as drinks and snacks. Some YT vids on it if you wanna check it out.

I wouldn’t consider that passive income, maybe if you hire someone to stock the machines?

My friend Dennis made heaps of money on vending machines. Just go 38th & 6th in the basement of the K-Mart. You just go downstairs, you get the key from David and boom!

Passive money is when you put millions somewhere to pay you dividends that is it