Can You Buy a Vending Machine and Put It Anywhere?
To put it bluntly, the Micro Real Estate website would not exist if you could put a vending machine anywhere. If you are the owner or operator of a vending machine, then you need to make a deal with a willing commercial property owner or renter — say you want to put a vending machine in an independent pizza restaurant and they rent their space from a landlord, then you would need to talk to the pizza restaurant owner, but probably not their landlord. If you want to put the vending machine outside of the pizza restaurant, then you might need to also talk to the landlord because they may have the final say on the outside appearance of the building. So, no you can’t buy a vending machine and put it anywhere, but you can put it anywhere that will accommodate your vending business.
There are a few other things to consider when choosing a location, and first and foremost is foot traffic. Without foot traffic you will not make any money, so you need to pick a place that a lot of people are likely to visit. Second, you need to determine the product you’ll be able to sell at that location — if it’s just snacks and drinks then it can go almost anywhere, but sports fields, hospitals, schools, and office buildings are probably your best bets. If you’re planning to sell high priced electronics, you’ll need to put a greater emphasis on security measures (cameras and business insurance), that’s why these machines are typically in airports. There are other more unique situations as well. Pool toys at a pool? Sure! Pool toys at a hospital? No way. This is just basic product-market fit.
You will also need to consider the rent you need to pay on your micro-property (the spot where the vending machine will be placed). You will essentially have a landlord that will ask either for a fixed fee per month (this could vary wildly depending on who you talk to) or for a cut of your sales every month (this could range from 2–15%). You also need to consider how much it will cost to stock you vending machine. If you end up throwing down for a brand new vending machine, it is possible to participate in a rebate program which will fund your snack purchases for the first 6 to 12 months. Obviously, if you buy a used machine, those rebate won’t be applicable.
Since this process typically involves a lot of phone calls and lost time, Leptonic, Inc. has developed the Micro Real Estate website to help link together vending machine owners/operators with commercial property owners/managers to facilitate the placement of vending machines. We view this transactional process similar to renting an apartment in a building, except that there would not be a person living inside the vending machine (at least we hope no one is living in a vending machine).