Entering the new side hustle of the year: vending machines. That’s right. The vending machines that eat up your money and gets stuck when you trying to get your snack.

This trend of a side hustle has been circling in social media of people who show off their racks of cash, buying inexpensive snacks from Walmart, Sam’s, or Costco, and even buying mini gum-ball and candy machines to make extra profit. All of this just by owning a vending machine

People claim it’s the new way to get rich and others claim it has helped pay their bills without having to actually work.

I’m not gonna lie. This does seem like a cool and neat way to earn money passively. In a time where money is super tight for everyone this is a great way to make money on the side

But how exactly does the vending machine side hustle work? Let’s find out!

Where Do You Find Vending Machines? What Do You Put In Them?

Owning a vending machine looks easy but where do people even find vending machines?

Apparently you can get them from a lot of different places. Many people who start out get their vending machines from facebook marketplace (they really have everything there) and fix it up to their liking. I’ve seen other people actually buy a vending machine outright from a company that sells them.

But before you even buy a vending machine, you should first figure out what you’re going to sell. The most common way is everyday snacks. Chips, cookies, crackers, candy, sodas all of the above. People love snacks and love the convenience of getting them from a machine rather than driving to the store more.

Other ideas I’ve seen people sell is beauty products and accessories. Lashes and bracelets are the ones I’ve seen the most for people who didn’t want to go the snack route but instead decided to try to sell something they love doing. This could be a great way to invest in a passion or a hobby that you have and sell it for profit.  I could even see this being a big thing with toys, coffee, even items like greeting cards and condoms. You can literally put anything in a vending machine.

Finding A Location

After finding and securing a vending machine to your liking its time to secure a location. Location is everything for your vending machine business. If placed in a bad spot or somewhere where people are more than likely to pass it by then you’re not going to make as much money. The location above all has to be convenient.

Legally, you would have to have permission to place a vending machine on someone else’s property. You would have to talk to the owner of the property and sign a contract or be granted permission. So make sure you can legally place your vending machine in an area before setting everything up. 

Some of the best places to set up a vending machine are:

1.        Offices. In a place where people work behind a desk hours on end, there’s bound to be a time where someone will get snacking. Setting up a vending machine here will give workers an option to get a quick bite to eat without having to leave their work.

2.        Apartments. This is a great place that have a lot of traffic.This could especially be a great place in apartments specifically for college students.

3.        Hotels/Motels. People could be to far away to leave their rooms to get something to eat especially if they’re fare away, so a vending machine would be great for this area.

4.        Gyms. You can get creative with this one! In a gym, you can fill up the machine with protein shakes, towels, nutrition bars, etc. The list could go on for gym vending machines.

5.        Schools/Universities. As a college kid myself, I can tell you right now that we love snacks. Like seriously. I know for me I get hungry in between classes and I don’t want to dish out 13 dollars for fast food, so vending machine snacks is the way to go.

6.        Malls. You could be competing with other fast food chains that are in the mall so getting some attraction here could be a bit difficult. That’s if you put it in a bad spot that is. Nevertheless, owning a vending machine in a store isn’t a bad spot.

7.        Laundromat. Waiting around for your clothes to be washed and dried? Get a snack from the vending machine to pass the time by.

8.        Hospital. I can imagine how buys it must be in the hospital and how little time they have to really settle down and eat something during breaks. Having a vending machine close by could help those who work in the hospital to stay hydrated and semi fed as they go about their busy shift.

9.        Bookstore. Now I never really see vending machines in bookstores, but I can imagine it being outside of one or maybe in a café area. It could possible be for bookworms who want to read while they eat or wait on love ones while they’re finding a book to buy.

10.  Car Dealership. I hate taking my car to the dealership sometimes, because of the long wait times. But luckily there’s usually a vending machine there to keep me occupied. This could be a great spot to gain a lot of traffic from people.

Benefits of Owning A Vending Machine

·      It doesn’t take much money to start. All you really need is enough money to buy the vending machines, rent or buy a space to put the machine, and the products to go inside. You don’t realy need a website for this particular small business and you can easily save money by installing the machine near your home or job.

·      Passive income. When you put your products in your vending machine, you can simply just walk away and let you vending machine do its magic! It’s not required for you to be there 24/7 which is great for people who have other jobs and responsibilities. You can come back to the machine in about a month to restock and see how much money you made over time! Nothing beats passive income.  

·      Potential to expand. If you become profitable in one particular location then maybe it’s time to expand! This would maximize your profit and and be a bit easier to set up now that you hav the experience with the first vending machine you had.

Have you thought about starting your own vending machine side hustle? What would you sell? Let us know in the comments!