Course Content
THE 7 COSTLY MISTAKES VENDING OPERATORS MAKE (AND HOW TO AVOID THEM)
How to Protect Your Profits, Land the Best Locations, and Build a Vending Business That Pays You Every Month
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INTRODUCTION
01:57
MISTAKE #1 — Buying the Wrong Machines
02:08
MISTAKE #2 — Choosing Bad Locations
02:12
MISTAKE #3 — Pricing Products Too Low
00:00
MISTAKE #4 — Stocking the Wrong Products
00:00
MISTAKE #5 — Ignoring Maintenance
00:00
MISTAKE #6 — Failing to Track Profits
00:00
MISTAKE #7 — Not Using Contracts
00:00
FINAL THOUGHTS
00:00
THE 7 COSTLY MISTAKES VENDING OPERATORS MAKE (AND HOW TO AVOID THEM)

✅ MISTAKE #3 — Pricing Products Too Low

Why trying to “be the cheapest” will kill your profits faster than your competition ever could.

New vending operators make this mistake all the time:
They get nervous…
They look at the soda prices at Walmart…
And they think — “If I price lower, I’ll get more sales.”

Wrong. This is the fastest way to run your vending business straight into the ground.

❌ Why Being the Cheapest is NOT a Winning Strategy:

  • You’re not Walmart. You don’t have their buying power.
  • Locations and customers don’t care if you’re 25 cents cheaper — but they will care if your machine is always empty because you can’t afford to restock.
  • Being cheap kills your margins, so every breakdown, refund, or repair comes straight out of your pocket.
  • You set a bad precedent — once a location is used to cheap prices, good luck raising them later.

✅ Here’s the Truth:

People use vending machines for convenience, not price.
They’re not standing there comparing your prices to Sam’s Club.
They’re thirsty. They’re hungry. And they’re paying for the speed and access.

Your job isn’t to be the cheapest — it’s to be profitable.

✅ How to Price for Profit (My Rule of Thumb):

  • Aim for a 50-60% profit margin on snacks and drinks
  • Use keystone pricing: Price your product at double your cost as a starting point
  • Factor in card reader fees, commissions, and spoilage — most new operators forget these and lose money

Example:
Buy a Coke for $0.75 → Sell it for $1.50 – $1.75 (depending on the location’s traffic and exclusivity)

💰 BOTTOM LINE:

The vending game isn’t about being cheap — it’s about being smart and profitable.
Undercut your margins now… and you’ll spend the rest of your vending career working harder for less.

👉 Want my personal pricing strategies — and formulas to protect your margins?

📘 Covered in: Beginner Course, Module 3 — Profit-First Pricing Strategy
👉 Explore this lesson or continue to MISTAKE #4 — Stocking the Wrong Products

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