Bulk candy vending is only a small portion of the vending business, bulk vending only accounts for about 1% of the entire vending industry. The largest part of the vending industry is full line vending which is comprised primarily of selling snacks and chips in large coin operated machines, however full line isn’t limited to soda and snacks, the full line market is almost limitless. Full line vending consists of things like ATMS, movies, condoms, electronics and hot coffee. There have been a couple “corporate” type bulk vending businesses such as Folz, which is the biggest most well known vending route operator, but most bulk vending businesses are run by individuals or families, they are small home based businesses. Bulk vending consists of routes made up of small machines that sell gumballs, candy, nuts, or small toys.
Bulk vending is a great business for small operators. The biggest expense is vending machines, which even brand new are not outside the reach of people with even modest means. A new double head machine can be purchased for about $200 and if you’re willing to shop around and wait for a better deal, used machines can sometimes be found dirt cheap online or in the local paper. The hardest part of bulk vending is finding businesses in which to place your machines. Because of the low barrier of entry to vending, there is a lot of competition.
A lot of people make the false assumption that vending is A) either a scam or B) a get rich quick scam, but its neither, it’s just a small home based business just like any other. It takes a lot of work to get a route established. The return on product costs is high, but it takes a lot of bulk machines in order to make a decent living. Since each bulk head only makes about $7 you can see that a lot of machines are needed to make a good living.
