How to get a vending machine for my business: the 3 ways compared
A free machine still costs you floor space, an outlet and a signature, so here is how to make sure that trade pays.
Getting a Machine
Getting a vending machine: guides for business owners
How to get a free vending machine for your business, and what it is worth before you say yes: how free placements work, what commission to expect and which machines suit your floor. The guides also run the buy-versus-host math and cover gyms, bars, laundromats and hotels.
Start here: the Getting a Machine guide
All Getting a Machine guides
What a machine pays you
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Vending machine commission for business owners: what a fair rate looks like
Four public contracts and 81 signed venue shares show what a fair rate looks like, and why the word net matters as much as the percentage.
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Best vending machine for my business? 7 types ranked by what they pay you
Operators rank machines by what they earn; this ranking uses the number a host needs, which is what each machine pays you for the floor it takes.
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Should I buy my own vending machine for my business? The break-even math
Owning keeps every dollar the machine takes in, along with every refill, repair and permit, so here is the sales level where that trade starts to pay.
Guides by venue
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Vending machine for gym owners: when to host one and when a cooler pays more
A drink machine by the door is easy to get. Whether it beats a cooler behind the front desk depends on your check-ins and your staffing.
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Laundromat vending machines: what to own, what to host and the per-turn math
Soap sells with every wash and snacks sell with every wait. The two machines deserve different deals, and most owners should run at least one themselves.
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Hotel vending machine options: vending machine, micro market or staffed pantry
The right choice depends less on your brand than on who is at the front desk at 2 a.m. and how many rooms you sell on a weeknight.
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Arcade machines in bars: revenue share, licenses and the buy-or-host math
The percentage on the agreement is only half the deal. Whether prizes come off the top, and whose name is on the license, decide what the bar keeps.
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Vending machine for office break rooms: how free service works
Published programs want 30 to 50 people on site before they place a machine, and at a typical office the payoff is the service, not the commission.
Guides by machine
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Free claw machine for business: how the revenue share and licenses work
A placed claw machine costs nothing up front, but the basis of the split and your state’s amusement rules decide what it actually pays you.
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Massage chair revenue share vs photo booth and ATM placement: what hosts earn
Three specialty machines, three different ways of paying you. Turn each offer into dollars per square foot before you give up the corner.
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How to get a Coke machine for my business, from a bottler or an operator
A branded soda machine comes from the regional bottler or from a vending company that stocks the brand, and that choice decides the lineup, the service and the commission.
