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How much to charge for vending machines

There’s no single right price. It depends on your costs, your hours and your area. Here’s how to work out a vending machines price that covers your costs and pays you, with a quick check you can fill in now.

Updated

Your local vending machines plan

The cost categories for vending machines are already listed — every amount is blank, so you fill in local quotes and your own estimates. Nothing here assumes how much demand there is where you are.

  1. 1. Tell us what it will cost — per sale, per month and to start. Guesses are fine; you’ll mark them.
  2. 2. See what to charge — the price that covers costs, the price that pays you, and how it compares with competitors.
  3. 3. Change any cost and watch the price move — then see the sales and the real cash it takes to start.
  4. 4. Get a decision report — a plain-English verdict, what has to be true, a stress test, your first year month by month, and checkpoints for the first 90 days.

About 15 minutes for the full check. Guesses are fine: you can firm them up later.

Your numbers stay on this device — nothing you enter is sent anywhere. Your plan is kept in this browser as you go, so you can come back to it; choose Forget to remove it, for example on a shared computer.

GoProOffice is owned by GHL Financial Services, which offers business formation, tax planning and bookkeeping. The Business Idea Check is free and works the same whether or not you ever ask us for help.

Got a minute?

Quick price check: vending machines

Six numbers, an instant first answer. Rough guesses are fine.

Blank = we’ll suggest one

Supplies, materials, travel

Rent, insurance, software, phone

Blank if others make it

Add a few more numbers

Enter your cost per sale, monthly costs, what you need to take home, and your hours.

Your numbers carry over. The full check adds startup cash, the ramp-up, the market and a stress test.

What each item has to cover

A price that only matches what others charge can still lose money. Start from your own costs. For a vending machines business, each item carries:

  • Product cost per item
  • Host commission per item
  • Card and payment fees, as a share of the price

Then a share of the costs you pay every month, however much you sell:

  • Insurance (liability and commercial auto)
  • Vehicle (business share)
  • Phone and internet
  • Scheduling, invoicing and payment software
  • Ongoing marketing
  • Bookkeeping and tax preparation
  • Machine repairs

And two things most first prices leave out: your own pay, and money set aside for income and self-employment tax on the profit.

Three prices worth knowing

  1. The price that covers costs. Monthly costs shared across your expected items, plus the cost of each item, grossed up for card fees. Below it, every month loses money.
  2. The price that pays you. The same, with your pay before tax added to the monthly costs. This is the real minimum if the business is your income.
  3. A recommended price. The price that pays you plus a profit cushion for slow months, repairs and growth.

The quick check above works out all three from your numbers. The pricing calculator shows each step of the formula.

Check your price against your area

Prices vary a lot by town, so we don’t publish averages. Collect real ones instead: ask three or more local businesses for a quote the way a customer would, and note what each includes. Then answer these:

  • What do local competitors charge? Ask for quotes the way a customer would.
  • How long does each item take you, including travel and preparation?
  • How many items can you deliver in a week at a quality you’re proud of?

If the price that pays you is above everyone you found, that’s worth knowing before you start. Lower a cost, sell more each month, or offer something customers will pay more for.

Pricing mistakes to avoid

  • Machines don’t earn without good locations. Secure host agreements before buying machines.
  • Pricing from the cost of materials alone, and forgetting packaging, platform and card fees, shipping you absorb and returns.
  • Keeping the same price when your suppliers raise theirs. Check your costs every few months.

Next steps

General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. See our disclaimer.