Requires Exact Change & Does Not Accept Bills

Mechanical machines were designed back in the 1950's when vending machines took just change. These machines have individual plastic coin mechanisms for each product (see picture below). Exact change must be used for each selection. The maximum amount you can sell a product for is $1.00 - so you are missing out on the entire energy drink market along with sports drinks and many other popular products. Companies selling these kinds of machines sometimes sell a dollar bill changer that you can attach to your vending machine. It usually will not accept $5 bills. It hangs off the side of the machine and not only is very unattractive, but also takes up even more space. The machine owner is responsible for the drilling, sanding, etc. involved in the installation of these optional bill changers.

• Cheaply-made plastic coin mechanism for each product
• Must use exact change
• $1.00 maximum price
• Each coin must be placed in the right slot - or it will jam the mechanism
• Some machines have as many as 16 plastic mechanisms that can jam up, break or malfunction

Jams Very Easily

Each product in a mechanical machine has its own plastic coin mechanism. Exact change must used in product selection. There are even slots for each individual coin (see picture above). For example, on a product requiring sixty-five cents, there will be two Quarter slots, one Dime Slot and One Nickel slot. Each coin must be placed in the correct slot. If a Dime is accidentally placed in the Quarter or Nickel slot, this will jam the coin mechanism. The coin cannot be retrieved so the money is lost and the product cannot be purchased. The customer then complains to the location owner who puts an out of order sign on the machine. The coin mechanism must be disassembled to retrieve the jammed coin.

A Nightmare To Change Pricing

Each plastic coin mechanism uses a complex combination of disks and spacers to configure the mechanism for the exact coins that must be used. To increase the cost of a product, the machine owner must completely disassemble the coin mechanism and rearrange the disks and spacers to the new price configuration. Raising the price from 70 cents to 75 cents involves replacing two Dime disk/spacer sets with a new single Quarter set of disks/spacers. Setting a new price on just one product takes about 10 minutes. Therefore, if you are changing prices for six products, the process will take about one hour.

Difficult To Locate - Perceived As Old Fashioned

Location owners expect a modern looking and operating machine to enhance their location. Mechanical machines have remained almost unchanged since they were introduced in the 1950's. Many location owners reject mechanical machines on their looks alone. This makes it very difficult for machine owners and even professional locators to find good locations for these kinds of machines. Locators are forced to place machines in substandard locations or not disclose the type of machine to the location owner - which creates major problems when the machine owner arrives with an outdated machine.

Cannot Vend Bottles & Energy Drinks

When it comes to drinks, most mechanical vending machines cannot vend anything other than 12 oz cans of pop. You will dramatically limit your income by not being able to vend all of the popular water, sports & energy drinks.