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Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

wsj.com

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Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#61

Post by prepend »

choilive wrote: post #59
prepend wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why it is so rare for people to drag vending machines somewhere to do it in peace. They are big and bulky and heavy and all that work for, what, $80? Junkies aren’t usually that coordinated to pull this off.

$80 is a good payday for a junkie. I've seen junkies steal manhole covers for a couple bucks of scrap metal.

Stealing manhole covers is quite easy compared to hauling off a vending machine and drilling out the cash box.

$80 sitting easy is great for a junkie. But requiring multiple steps and special equipment may as well be a voyage to the moon.

For proper criminals who can plan and procure equipment, $80 probably isn’t enticing.

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#63

Post by red-iron-pine »

dullcrisp wrote: post #30
smallmancontrov wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At one sucker born every minute, 15 years sounds like enough minutes to sustain a new fad.

15 years * 1 sucker/minute = 7,884,000 suckers, not accounting for leap years!

> Coinbase had 108 million users in 2022, up from 56 million people in 2021

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#64

Post by red-iron-pine »

listenallyall wrote: post #52
gruez wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Looking for actual returns that aren't sacked with fees and conditions The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF[1] has 12.0% annualized returns over the past decade, and only charges 0.03% in management fees. [1] https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profi...

And you know for a fact it will also return 12.0% annually for the next decade?

past performance is no guarantee if future returns; you're not wrong there.

but will vending machines + their associated maintenance hours & overhead + supplies of goods to be sold return you more, or less, than VTI?

hell, with interests rates being what they are, but 100k into high interest savings, bonds, certificate accounts, etc. and catch an easy 4.5% ($4500/mo.) with little to no risk, overhead, or random youth stealing your stuff.

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#66

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #64
listenallyall wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you know for a fact it will also return 12.0% annually for the next decade?

past performance is no guarantee if future returns; you're not wrong there. but will vending machines + their associated maintenance hours & overhead + supplies of goods to be sold return you more, or less, than VTI? hell, with interests rates being what they are, but 100k into high interest savings, bonds, certificate accounts, etc. and catch an easy 4.5% ($4500/mo.) with little to no risk, overhead, or random youth…

I think you mean $4500/yr, or $375/month. Pre-tax.

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#67

Post by [deleted] »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #64
listenallyall wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you know for a fact it will also return 12.0% annually for the next decade?

past performance is no guarantee if future returns; you're not wrong there. but will vending machines + their associated maintenance hours & overhead + supplies of goods to be sold return you more, or less, than VTI? hell, with interests rates being what they are, but 100k into high interest savings, bonds, certificate accounts, etc. and catch an easy 4.5% ($4500/mo.) with little to no risk, overhead, or random youth…

[deleted]

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#68

Post by neuralRiot »

prepend wrote: post #56
ethbr1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why you drag it somewhere you can do it in peace.

That’s why it is so rare for people to drag vending machines somewhere to do it in peace. They are big and bulky and heavy and all that work for, what, $80? Junkies aren’t usually that coordinated to pull this off.

As a teenager (back in the gold age of arcade) i used to work as a helper on an arcade, vending machines and jukeboxes repair shop. I’ll tell you none of those machines are easy to drag arround!

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#69

Post by listenallyall »

FooBarBizBazz wrote: post #66
red-iron-pine wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

past performance is no guarantee if future returns; you're not wrong there. but will vending machines + their associated maintenance hours & overhead + supplies of goods to be sold return you more, or less, than VTI? hell, with interests rates being what they are, but 100k into high interest savings, bonds, certificate accounts, etc. and catch an easy 4.5% ($4500/mo.) with little to no risk, overhead, or random youth…

I think you mean $4500/yr, or $375/month. Pre-tax.

The guy is math-illiterate and assumes everyone has $100,000 in cash lying around. The people in the article all started with under $5,000, the low cost of entry is the primary appeal of a vending machine business.

Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines

#70

Post by Spastche »

as someone who has looked into this extensively and even owns a few machines, the biggest cost of machines besides "rent" is credit card devices and fees. there's coin op mechanisms, but nobody carries money so you get much less sales. unless the feds redo the coinage system... good luck
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