The big machine that dispenses merchandise when you deposit money is what is called a vending machine. When you deposit your money, it is checked by a currency detector, and then the machine allows you to get your desired item. You find them everywhere; in shops, malls, offices and in any other busy locations. This is very convenient for everybody, and unlike a shop, you don’t need the presence of personnel when making a purchase.

Items sold:

Vending machines are very popular. There are also photo booth vending machines, which are quite a hit amongst the youngsters. You can buy snacks and beverages, as well as newspapers from vending machines. This newspaper machine is also called a Vending Box, where a large number of identical newspapers are piled up. Once a sale has been completed, the door returns to a locked position on its own. You can just open the box and take all of the newspapers, or leave all the newspapers outside the box for others. You may also put the door to an unlatched position slowly, or block the door from fully closing. This machine is set up assuming that the customers are honest and pick up only the newspaper they have paid for. Hence, the name “Honor Box”.

The items sold in vending machines depend from country to country. Some countries do sell alcoholic beverages like beer, where in some countries this is not allowed. Even cigarettes were sold on a large scale in the U.S before, but now we rarely find them due to concerns about under aged buyers. You can only buy when you insert a pass in the machine to prove your age, though in some European countries cigarette machines are still very common.

Types of vending machines:

Some of the popular ones are:

– Bulk candy and gum ball vending machines: These machines are completely mechanical, where you can get candies, a bouncy ball, or a small toy or jewelry, for one or two coins. The items you get would be purely by chance, as the items may be unsorted. The machines are cheaper compared to soft drink or snack machines. Many operators, in order to save the money to pay for the locations, they donate a percentage of the profits to charity.

– Full line vending machines: Here you can buy cans or bottles of soft drinks and snacks. As the demand for drinks and snacks are high, these machines have the advantage that many locations contact a vending company themselves, and request for installation of a machine.

– Specialized vending machines: These are the machines that you find in ladies restrooms to buy pads or tampons, and in men’s restrooms the most common is condoms, though in some places you can also find medicines and dispensing cologne machines.

Maintenance:

It is advisable to periodically clean refrigeration condensers, lubricate mechanical parts, and adjust the machines to avoid any problems. Incase the machine breaks down, vending machine repairers fix the obvious problems, like loose electrical wires, malfunctions of the coin mechanism, and leaks. However if it’s a major problem, then testing devices such as electrical circuit testers are to be used to find defective parts, and the defective part is either fixed or replaced. While servicing, a circuit board or other component is only replaced. These repairers employed by small companies, fill and fix machines on a regular basis. They collect money; fill coin and currency changers, and repair machines when necessary.

Who owns these machines?

These vending machines in the U.S are mostly operated either by store owners or by individuals, who buy the machines or rent them. They stock the merchandise, and share a certain percentage of the profits. The vending machine businesses operated by these individuals are broadly categorized into two; bulk candy, and soft drink/snack vending. There are also other machines like U.S. Postal Service machines which are maintained by governmental or quasi-governmental entities. Whatever the type of independent vending operation, the entrepreneur has to play the active role of a salesman in persuading locations to accept the machine.