Consider a vending machine for added profit

Chances are good that you pay a lot for every square foot of your laundromat, so every piece of floor space needs to be producing in one way or another. If you have some extra room that isn’t making you profit, you may wish to consider investing in a vending machine.

There are a lot of options when choosing a vending machine, and it is important to do your research. Finding out what your customers want and giving it to them is generally the best way to have a successful vending machine. Below, we have illustrated a few of your options.

Leasing
If you don’t want to worry about the hassle of investing in a laundry machine, keeping it topped up and maintaining it, leasing out your floor space to a vending machine company is an option. The company will deal with the machine, including filling it with new snacks or beverages.

Another upside to leasing is that you have no liability for expired products. If you own your vending machines, you will be responsible for replacing any products that are past the expiration date – that’s money you don’t get back. If you allow a company to lease the space, that’s on them.

The downside to this is that you will receive a very small share of the profits. For many laundromat owners, this makes buying a better option.

Buying
Purchasing a vending machine can cost you anywhere between $500 and $4,000, depending on the model, according to Western State Design. While a worn-down looking machine may do slightly less business, all machines perform the same function, so laundry business owners shouldn’t shy away from older machines.

“A combination machine selling both snacks and soda in the same machine will cost $3,600 to purchase new,” Dan Marrazzo, a Philadelphia-area laundromat owner, told the laundry equipment source. “Financing for two years will be $200 to $300 dollars a month, which is easily covered by sales of the product and will leave a reasonable profit for you at the end of the month.”

If you have spare room in your laundromat, a vending machine is an excellent way to use it to make profit. This money may only be a few hundred dollars a month, but over time or across multiple laundromats, it can add seriously to your bottom line.