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Commissions and Placement Agreements for Vending Machine Locations

With vending machine placement, as with all business dealings, it is always recommended that you put your placement agreements in writing. Even if you and the location are only agreeing to the most basic terms of placement, it is always best if you lay it out on paper so that you can both sign. The reason for this is not because you're trying to be overly formal, but a document on paper is always handy to make sure that both you and the location know exactly what is expected of you, and in any time of doubt, you will have a reference that will clarify any points that may have been forgotten over time.

The agreement is also the ideal place for you to layout any commissions that you have settled upon as payment to the location. Sweetening the deal to a location to have your vending machine placed for you is not, by any means, a required practice and, more often than not, it is not required. However, in a location that has a tremendous amount of profit potential and one that is highly coveted by vending machine businesses, it is not unheard of to offer a commission of between ten and thirty percent to make your machines the most attractive contender.

There are some vending machine business operators who hesitate to insist upon written agreements. The reason for this is that it can make it more challenging to find a location for the machines. Many businesses will hesitate to sign an agreement as they are nervous about being "roped in" to something about which they do not quite feel certain. For this reason, you should assure any hesitating business that the agreement is not at all a contract trying to trap them, but is instead a place to show the rights and expectations that you can both maintain. It is a place to keep all of the relevant information for the location of the machine and ensure that you both understand the key elements of what is involved.

That being said, placement agreements are not at all required and if you feel - after you have been in the business for a while and have a better idea of how things work - that written agreements are not helping you much but are actually keeping potential locations from finding your machines attractive, you can always feel free to test a few locations without an agreement in writing and see if you can feel just as comfortable working that way.

It should be noted that in the case of charity sponsored vending machines, there is almost always a written placement agreement. This is because the reason that you want charity sponsorship for your machines is to make them seem more appealing to locations without having to give them a commission. Therefore, you will want to show that the charitable element of your business is an official and serious one. The location will want to know that you're not just abusing a charity's name to obtain sales. The placement agreement in this case is not a long one, but should clearly outline all of the pertinent elements, especially with regards to the charitable donations that will result from the placement.

Placement agreements are indeed up to you, but they are highly recommended whenever you've sweetened the deal with commissions or charitable sponsorship.