The next rent-seeking scam to pitch to the incoming generation. I'm surprised Fannie and Freddie aren't offering financing for vending machines too.
This was already an “entrepreneurship” fad pretty recently. Maybe 15 years ago.
Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
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Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#12Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#13Considering how much people steal in walmart, i dont see this going well unless this is mainly added in secured places
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#14I looked into doing this in the 2010s and it’s really an enormous pain in the ass to scale. A lot of the turnkey options were pretty much scams too. Machines that vended DVDs were popular back then. You have to find the hot spots, negotiate for the space, deal with any vandalism, reload the machines, respond to problems. Not what many would consider “passive”
When machines were cash only you could theoretically avoid taxes on some of the income, something that might have offset some of the hassles. With credit cards and electronic payment that’s not really possible.
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#15Buy my course on vending machines
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#16Reading this on WSJ is interesting. Having been raised in a very working-class family, but now being fortunate enough to have a stock portfolio, I'm struck by how romantic a business like this (or the other small business entrepreneurs I see on YouTube, such as a guy who runs laundromats and car washes) is to me -- I guess just by how straightforward the business model is and how it appears (at first glance) to be something one man can just do all by himself.
It's inexplicably intriguing to me to consider doing a side hustle like this -- even though in terms of both risk and reward I have to acknowledge it is probably no better than what my savings is doing right now in various stocks and funds.
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#17This isn’t Japan half the cost will be in securing the machine from vandals and thieves
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#18I wonder if he makes more money from his YouTube channel where he talks about vending machines.
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#19Buy my course on vending machines
Yep, there's a good chance that the people selling the proverbial shovels and pick-axes are getting richer than those mining the gold.
Re: Chasing Passive Income, Americans Turn to Vending Machines
#20I looked into doing this in the 2010s and it’s really an enormous pain in the ass to scale. A lot of the turnkey options were pretty much scams too. Machines that vended DVDs were popular back then. You have to find the hot spots, negotiate for the space, deal with any vandalism, reload the machines, respond to problems. Not what many would consider “passive”
The only kind of vending machine low maintenance enough that I think it can count as passive is digital vending machines that only take electronic payment, e.g. a Bitcoin ATM. There's no physical goods to restock so once it's in place, you're hopefully good for a long time. But as you point out, even getting the location, the machine, and then installing it, is enough work to potentially not fully count as passive.