Vending machines

The research was done by AI agents that open web pages. Some sites refuse them; where that happened we say so. The small numbers point to the source list at the end. Where a figure is our own sum or guess, it is marked “our estimate” and the basis is given.

The claim

Our collection for this scheme is small: 11 tweets¹. One has a large audience. The other ten come from a single account with one follower and almost no views, and they link to that account’s own blog¹. So this page rests mostly on how the method is promoted in general: on the sellers’ own websites, in interviews and in the press. View counts are as collected. The page judges the scheme, not the people who tweeted.

“Don’t buy more crypto. Don’t start Amazon FBA. Don’t invest in real estate.

Instead invest in 3 vending machines that will pay for your mortgage, car payment and kids college fund.

Here’s how it works:”

@MikeHoffmann, 16 July 2025, 535,935 views¹. The tweet carries two photos and no figures¹. One photo shows a two-door glass-front cooler with a card reader between the doors. The other shows a micro market: two coolers, snack shelves, a self-checkout screen and a microwave. We opened both photos on 10 October 2026. X’s data shows 37 replies; we did not read them or any thread under the tweet¹.

“A first haircut ends with a prize. A small capsule machine by the front desk can earn from that moment with no staff time.”

@VendBuddy, 4 October 2026, 2 views¹. Part of the tweet; it goes on to link to a blog post.

“Boaters and anglers load up before sunrise, when the bait shop is still dark. A machine at the dock sells to them when nobody else can.”

@VendBuddy, 4 October 2026, no view count recorded¹. Part of the tweet; it goes on to link to a blog post.

The first tweet holds almost all of the views in the collection¹. The second account is quoted because it sells a product tied to the claim, a subscription tool for finding locations, priced on its own website³⁴. The text of its ten tweets gives no income figure¹. We opened one of the blog posts they link to and did not view the others or any images.

What the scheme is

You buy one or more vending machines, put them in someone else’s building (an office, a factory, a hotel, a block of flats) and keep the difference between what the snacks and drinks sell for and what they cost. You own the machine. You do not own the spot. The building’s owner may take a share of sales, called a commission, and can ask you to leave.

The work is finding a location, buying stock, driving to refill the machine, collecting cash, and fixing jams. People who do this for a living call their set of machines a “route”.

There are larger and smaller versions. A “micro market” is an open set of shelves and coolers with a self-checkout screen, usually in a workplace. A “smart cooler” is a card-only fridge that charges for what is taken out. Both cost more than a snack machine. A “combo machine” sells snacks and drinks from one cabinet. At the small end, a capsule machine is the coin-operated globe that sells a toy in a plastic egg.

The mechanism is real: this is an old trade with tens of thousands of operators¹³. The question is how much one machine sells, and how many machines the claimed income takes.

The arithmetic

The tweet gives one number: three machines. Its text and photos give no sales per machine, machine price, cost of stock, location share, card fees, hours or capital¹. The steps below fill the gaps from other sources, all for the United States. Because the photos show a smart cooler and a micro market, we test the claim against ordinary snack machines first and then against those larger formats.

Step 1: what the three machines have to cover

The median monthly housing cost for a US homeowner with a mortgage was $2,035 in 2024². “Median” means the middle household: half pay more, half less. The average car loan payment was $697 a month in March 2026³.

Our sum: $2,035 + $697 = $2,732 a month. Divided by three machines, that is about $911 of profit per machine per month. We did not price the college fund, so the real bar is higher.

Step 2: the size of one sale

Cantaloupe, a company that sells card readers for vending machines, reported on 581,202 connected food and drink machines in the US and Canada for 2025: “In 2025, the average vending transaction was $2.01.”⁴ Card sales averaged $2.45 and cash sales $1.57, and 78% of sales were by card⁴. In its “Smart Store” format, a fully cashless cabinet of the smart-cooler kind, the average sale was $4.49, and in micro markets $3.02⁴. Cantaloupe sells card readers, so it has an interest in the card figures.

So $1,000 of sales is about 500 separate purchases at a snack machine, or about 220 at a smart cooler (our division).

Step 3: what the operator keeps from each dollar

• Stock. A journalist’s survey of 23 operators put product cost at about half of sales⁵. An operator with more than 30 locations, buying in bulk, says 30% to 40%¹⁰. A beginner buying small amounts is likely nearer the higher figure (our reading).
• The location’s share. Reports run from nothing to 25% of sales. The Hustle wrote that owners “often end up paying the owner a commission of 10%-25% of gross sales”, and its list of costs gives “5-25% of revenue”⁵. A seller of vending software writes: “Operators commonly report 5 to 15% of sales.”¹² An operator coached by Vendingpreneurs, a paid vending coaching programme (see “Who makes money from it”), offers “rev shares (3-5% of gross sales)” that start only after six months¹⁰. An operator with 21 machines wrote: “Of all my locations, I pay only one venue 15% of the monthly profits.”¹⁸ These are all operators’ own reports. We found no measured data.
• Card fees. A dealer says the card-reader company Nayax charges 5.95% per transaction, or 2.5% plus 10 cents (the plan it recommends for sales over $5), plus $7.95 a month per reader; the reader itself is listed at $353.75¹¹. At the $2.45 average card sale, the second plan works out dearer, about 6.6% (our sum), so we use 5.95%. The Hustle’s cost list gives “~5-6%”⁵. A marketplace for operators lists 5.5% card processing on machines it sells, plus monthly fees³². Vendingpreneurs’ own article gives a lower range, 2% to 4%²⁹. None of these is a card company’s own price list. With 78% of sales on card, 5.95% is about 4.6% of all sales (our sum: 0.78 x 5.95).
• Sales tax. Florida’s formula, for example, takes about 6.06% of total receipts for food and drink in counties with no extra local tax⁵². We leave tax out of the sums because it varies by state.

Our estimate of what is left from each dollar of sales:

Then take off about $8 a month per card reader¹¹. This is before fuel, sales tax, repairs, spoiled stock, insurance, any loan payment and the owner’s time. So it overstates profit.

The lean case is not the best case reported. The 21-machine operator says stock takes 30% of his sales, part-time staff 10%, other costs 10%, “and my take-home profit is 50%”¹⁸. An Ohio operator’s stated profit is 57% to 67% of his stated sales (our division)¹⁷. Both are the operators’ own figures.

Step 4: what one machine sells

• The largest measured figure. Cantaloupe’s report says “Consumers spent over $3.3 billion at vending machines in 2025”, cash and card together, across its 581,202 connected food and drink machines⁴. That is about $5,680 a machine a year, or about $473 a month (our division). Limits: these are machines with a card reader that reports sales, which leans towards established operators with better sites; some machines may not have run all year; and Cantaloupe is the source.
• The trade association’s figure agrees. NewsNation reports: “NAMA estimates the typical operator generates around $6,000 in revenue per machine annually, about $500 a month.”¹⁷ NAMA is the US vending trade body. The same report says its typical operator runs 277 machines¹⁷. We could not open NAMA’s own document.
• A survey of 23 operators. The Hustle: “the average operator in our sample owned 13 machines that gross $309 per machine per month. But self-reported revenue per machine per month ranged from just $75 to $650.”⁵ (“Gross” here means sales before any costs.) The sample is small and self-reported. The page is dated June 2024, but the text reads as written in 2020, so the figures may be six years old.
• One 35-machine operator. In the same article his machines take in $10,000 a month, about $286 each (our division). “His best location, a hotel, earns him $2.8k; his worst sometimes only sees $200.”⁵ He is the same operator who appears below as the vending YouTuber, so we count him once.
• An Ohio operator with 24 machines reports “about $100 to $150 each” a month¹⁷. He also runs a YouTube channel with 2 million subscribers¹⁷.
• The tweet author’s first machine. An interview article says: “Mike’s first machine made $600 per month, with $300 in profit.”⁶ That is his own statement, in an article on a site that says it may earn a commission from its links⁶.
• Card sales at a large processor. Cantaloupe’s annual report to investors shows 1.28 million active devices and $3,444 million of transactions in the year to June 2025¹⁵. That is about $224 per device a month (our division). It is a rough guide only: it covers card sales, and the devices include laundry and amusement machines and units that only report data.

So an average connected machine sells about $470 to $500 a month, small operators’ own reports run from about $100 to $650, and single outstanding locations reach $2,000 or more.

Step 5: the sales the claim needs

Sales needed = (profit wanted + reader fee) ÷ what is kept per dollar. These are our sums from the figures above. We show two averages: $309, the small survey⁵, and $473, the measured figure⁴. “Strong locations” sell $2,000 a month each, the level one large operator uses as his minimum (see “The upside”)¹⁰. The machine counts include $8 a month per machine for the reader. The sales in the $1,000 and $10,000 rows leave that fee out.

As snack machines. Each of the three machines has to sell $1,660 to $2,600 a month. That is 27 to 43 purchases a day, every day of the month. It is 3.5 to 5.5 times the measured average of $473⁴, and five to eight times the survey average of $309⁵.

Going the other way: three average machines take in about $930 to $1,400 a month (3 x $309 = $927 and 3 x $473 = $1,419). The Hustle’s illustration is that “an operator who makes $5k per month in revenue might take home something like $2k in profit”, which is 40%⁵. On that share, three average machines leave about $370 to $570 a month (our estimate).

As the formats in the tweet’s photos. The comparison changes, because these are different kinds of machine.

• Smart coolers. At a $4.49 average sale⁴, $1,660 to $2,600 is about 370 to 580 purchases a month, or 12 to 19 a day (our division). That is fewer purchases, but a dearer machine: the coached operator prices one at $9,000 and reports $750 to $800 a month of profit from it in a good spot¹⁰. Three such machines, on his own figures, would cost $27,000 and bring $2,250 to $2,400 a month, close to the $2,732 but under it (our sum). Measured sales so far are lower. Cantaloupe counted $6.3 million of sales across Smart Store locations that grew from 71 to 572 during 2025⁴. That is roughly $900 to $1,600 a location a month, depending on how many were active (our estimate).
• Micro markets. Cantaloupe counted $1.13 billion of sales across 7,451 micro market locations in 2025⁴. That is about $152,000 a location a year, or about $12,600 a month (our division, using the year-end count of locations). At 35 to 55 cents kept, one average micro market on that network would leave about $4,400 to $6,900 a month before staff, spoiled fresh food, theft, fuel and tax (our estimate; our kept share was built for snack machines and may be too high here). So if “3 vending machines” means three micro markets in good workplaces, the claim is within the range of measured sales. These sites belong mostly to established operators, and a workplace big enough to carry one is the hardest kind of location to win.

The claim, then, is not impossible. As three snack machines it needs three exceptional locations, each as good as that operator’s best hotel site at $2,800 a month⁵. As three micro markets or strong smart coolers it needs far more money and the kind of location that established operators compete for.

Step 6: the price of the machines, and the loan

On one vendor’s catalogue on 10 October 2026, new snack and drink machines were on sale from $2,474 to $5,584 (regular prices $2,999 and $6,799), and micro market bundles from $3,339 to $17,299⁷. Another maker’s site advertises “Vending Machines Starting at $2,999” and “$0 Down Financing”⁸. NewsNation gives $3,500 to $6,800 for new machines at a warehouse club and $500 to $2,000 for used ones¹⁷.

Three new snack machines therefore cost about $7,400 to $16,800 (our sum: 3 x $2,474 and 3 x $5,584), before stock, card readers and transport. Three smart coolers at the $9,000 quoted above cost about $27,000¹⁰.

Borrowing is often the route offered to beginners. A 2024 article that links to Vendingpreneurs says: “one of Mike’s combo snack and drink machines costs $5,500. At today’s rates, financing that over 5 years equals around $170 per month.”⁹ That is about $10,200 over the five years (our sum).

The payment is fixed whatever the machine sells. A financed machine needs about $320 to $500 of sales a month just to cover its own loan and reader fee (our estimate: $178 ÷ 0.554 and ÷ 0.354). A machine selling $309 a month keeps roughly $100 to $165 (our estimate from Step 3), less than the $170 payment. A machine selling $473 keeps roughly $160 to $255, which covers the payment only in the lean case. With a loan on each machine, the tweet’s claim needs about $1,970 to $3,080 of sales per machine per month (our estimate).

Step 7: capsule machines

The scheme also covers capsule machines. They are cheap: on the same catalogue a 2-inch capsule machine was $175, and packs of 300 toy-filled capsules were $50.99, $92.99 and $130.99, or 17 to 44 cents a capsule (our division)⁷.

They also sell little. VendBuddy’s blog post, the one its tweet links to, gives this example: “A kids salon may see 10 to 40 children on a busy day. If one in five buys a capsule, that is a handful of sales.”¹² That is 2 to 8 sales on a busy day.

Our estimate: at $1 a sale, with 17 to 44 cents of product and a 10% commission, 46 to 73 cents is kept. If every one of about 26 open days a month were busy, that is roughly $25 to $150 a month per machine, and $1,000 a month would need about 7 to 40 such machines. The catalogue’s seller puts it higher: “A single well-placed machine can generate $50-$300 per month”⁷. That is a seller’s statement with no data behind it on the page. We found no operator reports for capsule machines.

How many operators reach these levels

The best data is from the US Census Bureau. Its Nonemployer Statistics are built from tax returns and count businesses with no paid employees. For vending machine operators in 2023 there were 21,746 such businesses, with total sales of $748.4 million¹³. That is an average of about $34,400 each (our division). These are sales before the cost of stock, not income. Not all are one-person businesses: 19,061 are sole proprietors and 2,685 are partnerships or corporations, which hold 26% of the sales (our sum)¹³.

The counts are the Census Bureau’s; the shares are our division¹³.

Read against Step 5:

• Almost half (49.5%) took in under $10,000 in the year, and 70.7% took in under $25,000¹³.
• About 29% took in $25,000 or more, roughly the sales that $1,000 a month of profit needs¹³.
• 8.4% (1,832 businesses) took in $100,000 or more¹³.
• 2.3% (496 businesses) took in $250,000 or more, roughly the sales that $10,000 a month of profit needs. That is about 1 in 44¹³.

Limits: the table shows how big these businesses are, not how many failed. The under-$10,000 group includes people in their first, partial year: the count rose by 2,069 in 2023 alone¹³. It also includes people who run one to three machines on purpose as a sideline; two machines at $309 to $473 a month land under or just over $10,000 a year (our estimate). The data leaves out operators with employees, so the largest firms are missing, and it cannot show who quit.

More people are entering. The count rose from 15,192 in 2021 to 19,677 in 2022 and 21,746 in 2023, up 43% in two years¹³. Total sales rose about 20%, so average sales per business fell from about $41,200 to $34,400 (our division)¹³. The industry code changed between 2021 and 2022, and we did not check that the two codes match exactly.

Employer businesses are far fewer. A second Census dataset counts 3,227 vending establishments (places of business) with paid employees in 2023, under the older industry code 4542¹⁴, against 21,746 businesses with none¹³.

What people who tried it report

We found no payment-verified or audited income report from an independent small operator. Every per-machine and per-route figure below is the person’s own statement.

A reporter’s summary. A Wall Street Journal reporter who followed vending side-hustlers told the radio programme Marketplace in March 2024: “Many people were enthusiastic about vending machines as a way of making money, and it’s going great for them,” and “But there are plenty of other people who have really struggled with this.”²² Marketplace describes the result for those it worked for as hundreds of dollars a month, and names the common problems: finding a location, moving a very heavy machine, and making a profit after upkeep and stock²². We could not open the Journal article itself.

A six-month report from a newcomer. A news site’s account of an anonymous forum post describes two refurbished machines bought for $3,200, plus $400 of stock²¹. The office machine takes $280 to $350 a month and the car-repair-shop machine $120 to $180²¹. The article says: “After factoring in gas, inventory, and occasional maintenance, the side hustle is generating about $130 to $150 in monthly profit.”²¹ At that rate the $3,600 spent takes about two years to earn back (our estimate). The poster described restocking every two weeks and a jammed bill acceptor, the slot that takes banknotes²¹. We read this on a site that reposts the article; the original article and the forum post refused our tools.

An operator with 24 machines in central Ohio estimates $3,000 to $3,500 a month in sales and “around $2,000 in profit across all 24 units”¹⁷. The report does not say what period the $2,000 covers; it appears to be monthly. That is 57% to 67% of his stated sales, above our range in Step 3 (our division). Another operator in the same report says: “You’re not going to really make a lot of money off one machine.”¹⁷

Locations vary enormously, and they are hard to get. One operator’s sites ranged from $200 to $2,800 a month⁵. The Hustle wrote: “Some owners we talked to have to make 100+ calls before landing a decent location.”⁵ Vendingpreneurs’ own case-study page says of one member: “A former Meta employee spent four months without landing a single vending location before his route grew to seven locations doing about $12,000 a month.”²⁷ A 2008 local newspaper report on one packaged vending offer quotes buyers who said the places they had been told about were already under contract to large drinks companies⁶¹. We did not find that seller’s reply, so we do not name it.

The work does not stop. The Hustle lists insurance of about $500 a year and storage of about $100 a month on top of stock, commission and card fees⁵. Its conclusion: “To make vending work as a full-time gig, an operator typically must implement economies of scale, building the business up to dozens of machines that collectively generate a livable wage.”⁵

A small route may be hard to sell for what it cost. One 2006 personal write-up describes a six-location route that was sold for a small fraction of what had been put in, because it could not be serviced around a weekday job²³. It is one old account.

Established operators are a different group. The trade magazine Automatic Merchandiser surveys operators each year. Its 2026 report estimates industry revenue at “$40.04 billion, an 18.3% increase from the $33.85 billion in 2024”, and says “More than 65% of respondents reported revenue growth in 2025”¹⁶. That total includes micro markets and office coffee¹⁶. Operators with under $1 million in sales were 65.4% of respondents and 23.7% of sales; those over $10 million were 15.4% of respondents and 51.2% of sales¹⁶. The report also speaks of “thin margins”¹⁶. It is a voluntary survey of established firms, and its shares fit a sample of about 26 answers (our inference: 65.4%, 19.2% and 15.4% are 17, 5 and 4 out of 26).

What the rules allow now

There is no platform here that can ban you. The gatekeepers are the building owner, the state tax office, the local licensing office and the card-reader company. Only US rules were checked.

Running machines is legal, and it is a registered retail business.

California’s tax agency says: “You generally need a seller’s permit if you make sales through a vending machine. You need only one permit, regardless of how many machines you operate”⁵¹. Florida requires registration and a certificate for each county before a machine operates, and makes wilful violation a misdemeanour⁵². Wisconsin licenses food and drink machines at $125 plus $9 per machine a year, with exemptions for some packaged snacks and soft drinks⁵³. Federal calorie-labelling rules apply to “a person engaged in the business of owning or operating 20 or more vending machines”⁵⁴.

Some products and places are restricted. Federal rules list vending machines among the “methods of sale that are not permitted” for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, with narrow exceptions⁵⁵. On federal property, “priority shall be given to blind persons licensed by a State agency” for vending facilities⁵⁶. In schools, federal nutrition standards cover food sold from vending machines⁵⁷. Accessibility standards require at least one machine of each type to meet the rules for reach and operation⁵⁸.

You do not own the location. Seller and vendor guides put contracts at two to three years⁵⁹ or three to five years⁹. A good spot can be lost when the term ends, or taken by an operator who offers the owner a higher commission (our reading).

The legal risk sits mostly in how the scheme is sold. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the US consumer-protection regulator. Its Business Opportunity Rule covers a seller who takes payment and says it will “Provide locations for the use or operation of equipment, displays, vending machines, or similar devices, owned, leased, controlled, or paid for by the purchaser”³⁶. Such a seller must give a disclosure document “in writing at least seven calendar days before” the buyer signs or pays³⁶. If it quotes earnings, it must state “The number and percentage of all persons who purchased the business opportunity” who reached that level³⁶. Florida has a similar state law for deals over $500 where the seller says it “will provide locations or assist the purchaser in finding locations” for vending machines³⁸.

Coaching alone is not clearly covered. A course that does not promise locations falls outside the current rule (our reading of the rule text)³⁶. On 13 January 2025 the FTC proposed extending the rule to business coaching³⁷. The FTC’s rule page showed no final rule when we read it³⁷. Whether a programme that supplies location leads counts as providing locations is a legal question we do not answer. We make no claim that any account or company quoted on this page is covered by, or in breach of, any rule.

The regulators’ record on vending packages is long. These cases concern only the companies named in them. None concerns any account or company quoted elsewhere on this page, and we do not suggest any connection.

• FTC cases, 1998 to 2009. In 1998 the FTC announced “a sweep netting over 40 enforcement actions against fraudulent vending machine business opportunities”; the release notes that a complaint is not a finding or ruling⁴⁰. In a 2002 complaint described in a 2004 release, it alleged that buyers of one package were told eight machines costing $3,300 “could gross $81,000 a year and net almost $50,000 a year while working only a few hours a week”, and that “few even recovered the amount they had invested”; that case was settled³⁹. In a 2007 settlement it alleged that companies paid $150 to $6,000 to find locations “often did little or nothing for their customers”⁴². Most of these cases were complaints or settlements, in which nothing was admitted or decided by a court⁴³⁴⁴⁴⁵. One went to a ruling after a contested case: in the Westbrook Marketing case, “The court entered a litigated judgment of $4,059,235 against these five defendants.”⁴⁶
• 2012. In a case about DVD-rental machines, headlined by the FTC “FTC Returns $2.9 Million to Consumer Victims in DVD Vending Scam”, the agency alleged that “the defendants had no reasonable basis for their claims and all investors lost money”⁴¹.
• 2012 to 2015. The US Justice Department announced an indictment (formal criminal charges) over the Vendstar candy-machine opportunity under the title “Ten Individuals Indicted in National Business Opportunity Fraud Scam”, and said: “The typical customer paid about $10,000 for the business opportunity.”⁴⁷ A Justice Department release of 6 November 2015, reprinted by a trade paper, says a jury convicted six men the day before⁴⁸. We read the reprint, not the release on the department’s own site or a court document.
• 2023, not decided as far as we found. In July 2023 Connecticut’s banking regulator issued a cease-and-desist order and a notice of intent to fine Vend Tech International, alleging among other things that it “sold an unregistered vending machine business opportunity for approximately $80,000” to one buyer⁴⁹. The allegations concern registration, disclosure and advertising. The notice says the regulator “has reason to believe” the company broke the law and gives the company the right to a hearing⁴⁹. We did not find the outcome or the company’s reply.
• 2025, pending. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the founder of Water Station Management and two companies over water vending machines sold to investors who were told the machines would be run for them. It alleges that more than $275 million was raised from more than 250 investors across two related schemes: more than $165 million from the sale of machines, mostly to retail investors, and more than $110 million in notes sold to institutions⁵⁰. It alleges that “thousands of the water machines did not exist or had already been sold to other investors”⁵⁰. Criminal charges were announced alongside⁵⁰. These are allegations. As far as we checked, the case is pending.

All of these concern packages and hands-off investments sold with income promises. They are not evidence against buying a machine and finding your own locations. We found no FTC vending case from 2024 to 2026, which may be a gap in our search.

Who makes money from it

In our 11 tweets: every one comes from an account whose tweet or profile points to a vending product or service, according to the labels in our collection¹.

The coaching programme. The website of VendHub, a marketplace for vending operators, says its parent company Modern Amenities was founded by Mike Hoffmann and began with a course: “That course grew into Vendingpreneurs, a community of 2,000+ paying members.”³¹ An interview with Mike Hoffmann of Vendingpreneurs links to his X account under an earlier handle, and X’s data for the most-viewed tweet shows the same earlier handle in its photo addresses⁶¹. Our collection records that account’s profile as offering to help others do the same¹. We did not open the profile on X.

What the programme’s own pages show:

• No price. Entry is a sales call, and the page says “your access to leads, coaching, and additional resources scales with the tier and level of support you choose”²⁸. One Trustpilot reviewer calls it “Expensive but worth every penny”³³.
• A headline range. The home page of vendingpreneurs.com gives “In revenue generated per month $1K-$250K”, 2 to 15 hours a week, and under 90 days to place a first machine²⁵. Its footnote reads: “Based on the average results of Vendingpreneur community members. Individual outcomes depend on personal investment, your market, and adherence to the program.”²⁵ A range from $1,000 to $250,000 is not an average. The pages give no median and no count of members who never placed a machine.
• Revenue, not profit. The page of member stories says: “Every number below is that member’s own topline revenue, in their own words on camera.”²⁸ Topline revenue means sales before any costs.
• A disclaimer, on its second site. The landing page at vendingpreneurs.ai says: “Any revenue figures or success stories shown by our company or our clients are not typical and should not be considered as typical or average results. These examples are from real operations but represent some of our most successful implementations.”²⁵ We did not find this wording on vendingpreneurs.com.
• The terms. “We make no guarantees regarding income, business success, or specific outcomes.” And: “all sales are final. Refund requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis at our sole discretion.”²⁶
• Its own cost list for a newcomer. “Typical startup costs range from $3,000–$10,000+ for 1–3 machines.”²⁹

Machines, stock, leads and fees. VendHub describes its business as “National wholesale, equipment with marketplace credits, lead generation off Google Maps”³¹. Its help page lists recurring charges on some machines: “Monthly software fee $35 minimum / $139 maximum, based on 5.4% of monthly gross sales Credit card (CC) processing fee 5.5%”³². The page does not say how those fees are split between VendHub and the hardware makers.

The press around it. Two of the articles we cite for the programme’s figures link readers to its sales call through tagged links, and the site’s general disclosure says: “If you sign up or make a purchase through one of our partners’ links, we may receive compensation”⁹¹⁰. Neither article says whether this particular link pays.

Tools and communities. VendBuddy’s pricing page shows a location-finding subscription at $49 or $79 a month³⁴. Its terms say of its figures: “They are not guarantees or typical results” and “you can lose money”³⁴. The launch post of a paid operator network, Vending Circle, gave $79 a month for members joining in its first 30 days and $99 a month after that; the post is undated³⁵. The Hustle reported a couple who offer “an online course ($297) and ongoing consulting services ($97/mo) for new vendors”⁵.

Content. The best-known vending YouTuber services about 30 machines. Input magazine reported in 2022 that they “earn him $10,000 to $12,000 a month”, while YouTube advertising “can earn him almost as much — between $5,000 and $10,000 a month”²⁰. The machine figure is sales; the YouTube figure is close to income. The Hustle says his channel “now earns more than his machines”⁵. The Ohio operator in Step 4 also has a large YouTube channel¹⁷.

Most of the success stories we found come from people or companies that also earn from teaching or publicising vending. That is our count across the sources we opened, not a measured share.

The upside

Some people do build real businesses from vending. This section sets out the best documented cases. None of the individual cases was checked by a third party: each is the operator’s own statement.

What the measured data shows

Businesses with no employees. The Census data is the only independent evidence about small operators. In 2023, 1,832 US vending businesses with no employees (8.4%) had sales of $100,000 or more, 496 (2.3%) had $250,000 or more, and 111 (0.5%) had $500,000 to $999,999¹³. About 17% had $50,000 or more¹³. On the 35 to 55 cents kept per dollar in Step 3, $100,000 of sales would leave very roughly $35,000 to $55,000 a year before fuel, tax, repairs and loan payments (our estimate).

The larger formats. On Cantaloupe’s network in 2025, micro markets averaged about $12,600 of sales a location a month, and Smart Stores roughly $900 to $1,600 (our divisions, with their limits, in Step 5)⁴. So the testimonials for micro markets below, at $22,000 to $25,000 a month, are high but in a real range, while smart coolers so far sell less per site than the $2,000 minimum one operator uses¹⁰.

Individual outcomes, in the people’s own words

Notes on the table:

• All figures are sales, not profit. The first operator claims half of sales as take-home¹⁸. The Hustle’s illustration is 40%⁵.
• The first operator’s figures imply about $1,200 to $2,000 a machine a month (our division), far above the measured average of about $473⁴. He says one location “is on pace to gross $100,000 this year”¹⁸. These figures are unverified.
• Both essays describe a slow start. The first reports $5,000 in year one¹⁸. In the second, the first location “only sold $181 worth of products during the first three months”¹⁹.
• Both essayists’ low weekly hours (4 and 6 in the headlines) depend on part-time employees who restock the machines¹⁸¹⁹.
• The $50,000-a-month operator refuses any location that cannot sell $2,000 a month, and says a weak site that “makes $700 a month” is, after stock, “barely worth it”¹⁰. He reports $750 to $800 a month of profit from a $9,000 machine in a good spot, earned back in 10 to 12 months¹⁰.

Vendingpreneurs’ case-study page lists larger figures: 41 machines heading “toward $90K a month”, 18 machines at about $650,000 a year, one hotel location at $18,000 a month and one micro market at $22,000 to $25,000 a month²⁷. These are testimonials chosen by the seller, which its own disclaimer calls “some of our most successful implementations”²⁵. Most come from micro markets, hotels and routes of 18 to 41 machines.

Routes for sale

Working routes are bought and sold, which is a sign the modest version works. We could not verify the listings: a business-for-sale site refused our tools, and we saw its listings only in search summaries²⁴. As seen there, routes of 6 to 12 machines were listed in 2026 with $36,000 to $64,000 of yearly sales and $16,500 to $40,000 of yearly owner earnings, asking about $46,500 to $95,000²⁴. These are sellers’ own unaudited figures.

A realistic good result (our estimate)

Built from the cases above: the $5,000 first year¹⁸, the 24-machine route with about $2,000 a month of profit¹⁷, and the Census spread¹³.

• Year one. Two to five machines, a few thousand dollars of sales, and little or no profit after paying for the equipment.
• Years two and three. For someone good at winning locations: 10 to 25 machines, leaving roughly $1,000 to $2,000 a month, anchored on the one operator report of $2,000 across 24 machines¹⁷. Unverified route listings suggest up to about $3,300²⁴. The equipment for 10 to 25 machines costs about $5,000 to $50,000 used¹⁷ or $25,000 to $140,000 new⁷ (our sums). At $2,000 a month, 24 used machines take about six months to two years to earn back, and 24 new ones about two and a half to five and a half years (our estimate). We have no sourced figure for the hours; the low figures on this page come from sellers and from operators with hired help.
• A full-time income. Dozens of machines, hired help and storage, usually three or more years and $50,000 to $160,000 put back into machines.

The common size is smaller: almost half of businesses with no employees take in under $10,000 a year in sales, a group that includes newcomers and deliberate sidelines¹³.

What it takes to compete

What the people who succeed have

1. Locations, won by selling. The machine is easy to buy. The placement is the asset. One operator’s sites ranged from $200 to $2,800 a month⁵, and the largest operator in our table turns down sites under $2,000¹⁰. Getting a good one means approaching building managers again and again: 100 or more calls in The Hustle’s account⁵. Two of the operators in our table came from sales jobs¹⁰¹⁹.
2. Capital, or debt. The larger outcomes took $160,000¹⁹ and $400,000¹⁰ of equipment. Our estimate for $10,000 a month of profit is 9 to 14 strong locations (Step 5), or roughly $80,000 to $125,000 of equipment at $9,000 a site¹⁰.
3. Scale. Step 5 shows why: $1,000 a month takes 4 to 10 average machines. Every operator in our table above runs 21 or more machines or locations^5101819. The Hustle’s conclusion is “dozens of machines” for a living wage⁵.
4. Time on set days, a vehicle and storage. Restocking cannot be skipped, and machines weigh 600 to 800 pounds⁵.
5. Bulk buying. Stock at 30% to 40% of sales belongs to operators buying for 21 or more machines¹⁰¹⁸. The small operators surveyed paid about 50%⁵.
6. The right equipment for the site. In the trade survey, 54.3% of respondents run smart coolers, which make up 33.5% of the equipment they have placed¹⁶. Micro markets have the highest measured sales per site⁴, and the largest testimonial figures come from micro markets and hotels²⁷. These formats cost more: $3,339 to $17,299 for a micro market bundle on one catalogue⁷.
7. Patience. $5,000 in the first year for the operator who later reported $300,000 or more¹⁸. Four months without a location for one coached member²⁷, against the programme’s headline of under 90 days²⁵.

Competition for locations is rising. Businesses with no employees grew 43% from 2021 to 2023 while average sales per business fell¹³. An older trade article says the share of operators classed as small fell from 81.3% in 1995 to 51% in 2014⁶⁰.

What it costs

• To start small: $2,474 to $5,584 for a new machine⁷, or $500 to $2,000 used¹⁷, plus a card reader at about $350¹¹ and stock. Vendingpreneurs’ own figure is $3,000 to $10,000 or more for one to three machines²⁹.
• Each month, per machine: stock at 30% to 50% of sales, the location’s share of nothing to 25%, card fees of about 5% to 6% plus about $8^5101118, and about $170 if the machine is financed⁹.
• Around it: sales tax⁵¹⁵², any state or city licence⁵³, insurance, storage, fuel and repairs⁵.
• Optional: coaching at an unpublished price with no refund by right²⁶²⁸, and tools at $49 to $99 a month³⁴³⁵.

How to tell early which side you are on

These checks are our judgement, built from the figures above.

• Do you have a location before you buy a machine? Machines can be bought in a day. If weeks of asking produce no site, that is the hard part of the business telling you something.
• How many people pass the spot each day, with no shop nearby? The tweet’s claim needs 27 to 43 purchases a day per snack machine. A site with 10 staff sold $181 in three months in one account¹⁹.
• First 60 days of sales. Under about $320 to $500 a month, a financed machine does not cover its own loan (Step 6). About $300 to $500 is average⁴⁵. $2,000 is the level one large operator calls worth having¹⁰.
• Count the kept share yourself. After stock, commission, card fees and tax, is 35 to 55 cents of each dollar left? If stock costs you half the sale price, you are at the low end.
• Is a seller promising locations and an income? Then US rules call for a written disclosure seven days before you pay, with the share of past buyers who reached that income³⁶. Ask for it.
• Is someone offering to run the machines for you? That is a different product, an investment in someone else’s business. See the pending 2025 case above⁵⁰.

What we did not verify

• The tweet’s thread and the author’s profile. We opened the two photos through X’s public embed service. We did not read the 37 replies or any thread, so we do not know whether figures were given there. We did not open the author’s X profile; the link to the programme rests on the interview article and X’s own data, as described above⁶¹. The programme’s about page describes a route of “over a dozen machines and thousands of dollars in monthly income”³⁰; the text we extracted does not name the writer, so we did not use it.
• The coaching price and member outcomes. No price was found. “2,000+ paying members” is the company’s figure. The case-study videos were not watched. A post in which the tweet’s author is said to offer machine financing was seen only as a search-result title and is not used.
• Profit. Census gives sales only. The 40% take-home is one article’s illustration, and our 35 to 55 cents leaves out fuel, tax, repairs, spoilage, theft, insurance and hours. We found no measured profit data, no survival rates, and no count of people who buy a machine and never place it. Our kept share was not tested for micro markets or smart coolers.
• Sales per machine. The $473 figure is our division of a card-reader company’s totals and covers connected machines only. The $309 figure rests on 23 self-reported answers that may date from 2020. The trade body’s figure was read only in a news report. The Smart Store figure is a rough range because locations grew eightfold during the year.
• Census details. We did not check that the 2021 industry code matches the later one. That the data leaves out businesses below about $1,000 in sales is from memory.
• Card fees and commissions. Nayax’s and Cantaloupe’s own price lists were blocked or missing. Commission figures are operators’ or vendors’ statements.
• Prices. New-machine prices are sale prices from one catalogue on one day, one maker’s banner and one news report. Used prices are second-hand. Wholesale snack and drink prices were not read. The $9,000 smart cooler price is one operator’s statement.
• Capsule machines. No operator reports, sales data or toy-safety rules were found or opened.
• Individual outcomes. Both CNBC pieces are first-person essays that do not say records were checked. The interview figures are self-reported in articles that link to the programme. The forum post behind the six-month report was not opened. The Wall Street Journal article was not read.
• Routes for sale. The listing sites refused us directly and through a reader service, so every figure in that section is unverified. We do not know whether prices include machines and stock.
• The trade survey. Its sample size is not stated; about 26 is our inference. The 2016 trade article was read through a tool that summarises the page.
• Regulator cases. Final outcomes of the 1998, 2001 and 2023 matters were not checked. The Vendstar verdict was read in a trade paper’s reprint of a Justice Department release, whose printed release date has a wrong year. The current status of the 2025 cases is unknown. The FTC’s plain-language guidance pages returned errors, so the rule was read as legal text, and only in part. We found no action against a vending coaching programme, which is not proof that none exists.
• Licences and tax. California, Florida and Wisconsin only. City health permits and rules for age-restricted products in machines were not checked.
• Outside the United States. Nothing was researched.
• Exact quotes. Many pages were read through a reader service or a tool that extracts text. Some quotes, including those from California’s tax page and the programme’s terms, were not re-checked word for word in this revision.
• Whether the people named have seen this page. The people and companies named here were not contacted before publication.

Sources

“Read at source” means we opened the page or file itself on 10 October 2026. “Secondary” means we read an article or summary about the source, not the source itself. “Estimate” means our own sum. “Through a reader service” means a service fetched the page for us because the site refused our tools directly.

1. Does It Pay collection of 11 tweets on this scheme, collected 2026-10-06; individual tweets linked above. Read from our collected copy on 2026-10-10, not from the live tweets. The text, date, reply count and two photos of the most-viewed tweet were also read on 2026-10-10 through X’s public embed service (cdn.syndication.twimg.com) and its image server.
2. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates press release. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/acs-1-year-estimates.html . 2025-09-11 (2024 data). Read at source on 2026-10-10.
3. Experian, auto loan debt study. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/research/auto-loan-debt-study/ . Data as of March 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
4. Cantaloupe, “Micropayment Trends Report 2026”. https://www.cantaloupe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Micropayment-Trends-Report-2026-Final.pdf . 2026-07 (2025 data). Read at source on 2026-10-10. Per-machine and per-location figures are our estimates.
5. The Hustle, “The economics of vending machines”. https://thehustle.co/the-economics-of-vending-machines/ . Page dated 2024-06-24; the reporting appears to date from 2020. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
6. Niche Pursuits, interview article on Mike Hoffmann and Vendingpreneurs. https://www.nichepursuits.com/mike-hoffmann-vendingpreneurs/ . 2025-05-21. Secondary: an interview article with self-reported figures; the page was read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
7. Gumball.com catalogue: combination machines, https://www.gumball.com/collections/combo-vending-machines ; toy capsule machines, https://www.gumball.com/collections/toy-capsule-vending-machine ; and 2-inch toy capsules, https://www.gumball.com/collections/2-inch-toy-capsules . Live catalogue. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
8. Wittern Group, vending machines page. https://www.vending.com/vending-machines/ . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service; a direct fetch did not show the quoted banner text.
9. Side Hustle Nation, “How to start a vending machine business”. https://www.sidehustlenation.com/how-to-start-a-vending-machine-business/ . 2024-05-07. Secondary for the figures (an interview write-up); the page was read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
10. Side Hustle Nation, “From zero to $50k in monthly vending revenue in 16 months”. https://www.sidehustlenation.com/from-zero-to-50k-in-monthly-vending-revenue-in-16-months/ . 2025-10-20. Secondary for the figures (an interview write-up); the page was read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
11. Kleen-Rite, dealer page for Nayax card readers. https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-65438-nayax-advanced-technology-readers-for-vending-mdb.aspx . Undated. Secondary: a dealer’s statement of the card company’s fees, read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service. A second dealer gives about 5.95% and a monthly fee of $7.95 to $14.95: https://vmfsusa.com/nayax-vending-card-reader-guide/ .
12. VendBuddy blog, “Kids hair salon vending machines”. https://vendbuddy.io/blog/kids-hair-salon-vending-machines . Updated 2026-10-04. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
13. US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, 2023 file (industry code 445132). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2023/historical-datasets/nonemp23us.zip . Data year 2023. Read at source on 2026-10-10. Also the 2021 file (code 4542) and 2022 file at the matching addresses, and the record layout at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/technical-documentation/record-layouts/us-record-layout/us_record_layout_2017.txt . Shares and averages are our estimates.
14. US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023 file (industry code 4542). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/cbp23us.zip . Data year 2023. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
15. Cantaloupe, Inc., annual report (Form 10-K) for the year ended 2025-06-30. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/896429/000162828025041775/ctlp-20250630.htm . Filed 2025-09-08. Read at source on 2026-10-10. Per-device figures are our estimates.
16. Automatic Merchandiser, “2026 State of the Industry” report. https://img.vendingmarketwatch.com/files/base/cygnus/vmw/document/2026/07/6a593a00f360a71d4e44af42-2026sovi.pdf . June/July 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
17. NewsNation, republished by Yahoo, report on making money from vending machines. https://www.yahoo.com/news/making-fast-money-vending-machines-145926413.html . 2025-02-20. Read at source on 2026-10-10. The trade association’s figures in it are secondary.
18. CNBC Make It, first-person essay by the operator of Joyner Vending. https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/2022/09/29/31-year-old-turned-his-side-hustle-into-a-300000-business-i-work-just-4-hours-a-week-now.html . 2022-09-29. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
19. CNBC Make It, first-person essay by an operator of 57 machines. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/06/28-year-old-built-a-side-hustle-that-brings-in-30000-a-month-i-only-have-to-work-6-hours-a-week.html . 2022-12-06. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
20. Input magazine, article on vending machine YouTubers. https://www.inputmag.com/culture/vending-machine-youtubers . 2022-02-25. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
21. Benzinga article on a forum post about two vending machines, read on a site that reposts it. https://diyhaven858.wasmer.app/index.php/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/15267 . Repost dated 2026-01-31. Secondary; the original article and the forum post refused our tools.
22. Marketplace, “Vending machines: an emerging side hustle”. https://marketplace.org/2024/03/28/vending-machines-an-emerging-side-hustle . 2024-03-28. Secondary for the Wall Street Journal reporting it summarises; the page was read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
23. Personal write-up, “The vending business”. https://charest.net/2006/08/13/the-vending-business/ . 2006-08-13. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
24. BizQuest, vending route listings. https://www.bizquest.com/business-for-sale/savannah-vending-route-5-hrs-week-high-margins-high-end-machines/BW2501494/ and others. Listings live in 2026. Secondary: seen in search summaries only; the site refused our tools.
25. Vendingpreneurs, two sites. Home page, https://vendingpreneurs.com/ , undated, read at source on 2026-10-10 (the “$1K-$250K” figures and their footnote). Landing page, https://www.vendingpreneurs.ai/ , page dated 2026-02-17, read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service (the “not typical” disclaimer).
26. Vendingpreneurs, terms. https://vendingpreneurs.com/terms . Last updated 2026-01-26. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
27. Vendingpreneurs, case studies. https://vendingpreneurs.com/case-studies . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
28. Vendingpreneurs, pre-call resources. https://vendingpreneurs.com/pre-call-resources . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
29. Vendingpreneurs, “Top 5 questions” article. https://www.vendingpreneurs.com/news/top-5-questions-vending-entrepreneurship-program . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
30. Vendingpreneurs, about page. https://vendingpreneurs.com/about . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
31. VendHub, about page. https://www.vendhubhq.com/about . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
32. VendHub help, “Machine fees”. https://help.vendhubhq.com/en/articles/14779435-machine-fees . 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
33. Trustpilot, reviews of Vendingpreneurs. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/vendingpreneurs.com . Live page. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
34. VendBuddy, pricing and terms. https://vendbuddy.io/pricing and https://vendbuddy.io/terms . Live pages, October 2026. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (pricing through a reader service).
35. Vending Circle launch post. https://assetoperator.beehiiv.com/p/vending-circle-is-live . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
36. FTC Business Opportunity Rule, 16 CFR Part 437. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/437.1 (also 437.2 to 437.4) and https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/part-437 . Rule in force since 2012. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
37. FTC, notice of proposed rulemaking on the Business Opportunity Rule, https://www.ftc.gov/node/87052 , 2025-01-13; and the rule page, https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/business-opportunity-rule . Read at source on 2026-10-10.
38. Florida Statutes 559.801. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0559/Sections/0559.801.html . Current statutes. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
39. FTC press release, “FTC cracks down on bogus business opportunities”. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2004/01/ftc-cracks-down-bogus-business-opportunities . 2004-01-21. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
40. FTC press release on the 1998 vending sweep. https://www.ftc.gov/node/39954 . 1998-09-29. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
41. FTC press release, “FTC Returns $2.9 Million to Consumer Victims in DVD Vending Scam”. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2012/06/ftc-returns-29-million-consumer-victims-dvd-vending-scam . 2012-06-27. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
42. FTC press release on providers of locations. https://ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2007/10/providers-locations-business-opportunities-ordered-stop-misrepresentations . 2007-10-10. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
43. FTC press release on Pathway Merchandising. https://www.ftc.gov/node/40689 . 2001-10-17. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
44. FTC press release on Marketing & Vending Concepts. https://www.ftc.gov/node/40745 . 2002-01-16. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
45. FTC press release on Inspired Ventures. https://www.ftc.gov/node/41402 . 2004-03-03. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
46. FTC press release on Westbrook Marketing. https://www.ftc.gov/node/43413 . 2009-01-26. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
47. US Department of Justice, “Ten Individuals Indicted in National Business Opportunity Fraud Scam”. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ten-individuals-indicted-national-business-opportunity-fraud-scam . 2012-10-10. Read on 2026-10-10 in an Internet Archive copy; the live page did not load.
48. Vending Times, reprint of a US Department of Justice press release on the Vendstar verdict. https://www.vendingtimes.com/news/vendstar-verdict-six-convicted-on-vending-machine-biz-op-fraud-charges/ . Reprint dated 2015-11-16; release datelined 6 November. Secondary: a reprint, read on 2026-10-10 through a reader service.
49. Connecticut Department of Banking, notice of intent to issue a stop order, order to cease and desist, notice of intent to fine and notice of right to hearing, concerning Vend Tech International. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/dob/enforcement/securities/2023-sbid/vend-tech-international-inc-71823.pdf . 2023-07-18. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
50. US Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release 26375, https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26375 , 2025-08-15; and press release 2025-107, https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-107-founder-owner-washington-based-water-machine-manufacturer-two-companies-charged-275-million-fraud , 2025-08-14. Read at source on 2026-10-10 (the press release through a reader service).
51. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Publication 118. https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/formspubs/pub118/ . Revised June 2023. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
52. Florida Statutes 212.0515. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0212/Sections/0212.0515.html . Current statutes. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
53. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, vending machines. https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/VendingMachines.aspx . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
54. Federal calorie-labelling rule for vending machines, 21 CFR 101.8. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/101.8 . Current text. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
55. Federal tobacco sales rule, 21 CFR 1140.16. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/1140.16 . Current text. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
56. Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 U.S.C. 107. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/107 . Current text. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
57. US Department of Agriculture, Smart Snacks in School. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/smart-snacks-school . Undated in our copy. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
58. US Access Board, ADA Standards, section 228. https://www.access-board.gov/ada/ . 2010 standards. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
59. VMFS USA blog on vending contracts. https://vmfsusa.com/blogs/business/vending-contract-renewal . Undated. Read at source on 2026-10-10.
60. VendingMarketWatch, “Vending viability through the years”. https://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/management/blog/12174604/vending-viability-through-the-years . 2016-02-25. Read at source on 2026-10-10 through a tool that summarises the page.
61. Santa Monica Daily Press, “Vending venture gone bad”. https://www.smdp.com/vending-venture-gone-bad.md . 2008-10-03. Read at source on 2026-10-10.

Corrections

If you are quoted or named on this page and think something is wrong, want your reply shown beside it, or want to be removed, write to [email protected]. We aim to reply within 14 days, and always within one month. Factual errors are corrected with a dated note here. A sentence that is seriously disputed comes down while we check it.

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