Laundromat general questions

[Dan-Ark]

Any laundries set up for using tokens? Seems you would get the same "walk away" benefit, have less cash on hand and be able to centralize your cash intake to one secure facility. Any reason not to take credit cards (phone pay, etc etc) at the token dispenser again to have one (or two) swipers to maintain and secure.

 

[MEP001]

I hadn't considered that mainly because I'm not at all familiar with the acceptors laundry equipment uses. I also wouldn't want to dispense only tokens from a changer because people really don't want to have unused tokens left over. I could do the bill breaker/bill-to-token combo a local car wash operator has done, which his customers like because even if they have a $20 they can get just a few tokens and change. It would also certainly be a lot less expensive to have a CC swiper on a token dispenser than have a swiper on every piece of equipment, but I know of a laundromat chain that's cashless except for purchasing a prepaid card. I'd like to be able to offer a bonus amount or some type of loyalty rewards.

 

[JGinther]

We set ours up just like Dan-Ark mentioned. We have a changer that dispenses dollar coins and quarter combinations, and we have a Hamilton Credit card to token machine. We value the tokens at 1 dollar. Our changer also has a coin acceptor to break dollar coins down to quarters when people think we are 'stealing from them' by only giving them whole dollars instead of allowing them to use 1 quarter at a time on things like dryers. Imonex is great to work with... We ordered all of our machines 'coin acceptor delete' and ordered Imonex short drop 2 coin/2 token acceptor. They somehow, in only an inch of drop space, can accept dollars coins and tokens the same size valued at a dollar, and quarters along with a token the same size valued at a quarter. Since all the machines use short drop coin acceptors, the options are very limited and many are still mechanical quarter only machines because of this. We have relatively high credit card use due to this setup, and have programmed the vending machines and car wash/vacuums to accept the same tokens which is nice because people get bored waiting on laundry and will wash their car. It would be nice to have card readers on all of the machines, but its just a huge waste of money considering this token method seems to work fine... And walk off tokens more than make up for the fee of processing the card. We have one single card reader running the whole show. The changing needs of the Credit card compliance is easier to swallow in this instance versus over 100 card readers being behind the times...

I tried to order validators on our large machines and everyone looked at me like i had 2 heads. There's not a easy secure way to do it without it sticking out in some direction. The laundry market evolves about as fast as a crocodile. I don't get it. I have also found that the general laundry customer isn't forward thinking about payment methods either. Many don't have a clue what a dollar coin is. Many don't know that you can pay with them. Even after saying to them...'you can pay with them'... they still don't get it... They want 'their money back'. A large percentage (1/3 I would guess?) just think laundry machines can only take quarters and they are happy with that.

I know of laundromats which have used only card acceptance where you prepay on a 'wash card' to pay on every machine. While that would be super awesome from an owner standpoint for a plethora of reasons, I think the market would shrink dramatically - they just don't get it. And on top of that - many believe that 'cards are evil' and they 'don't trust banks' and heard from their cousin that 'they can cheat you by stealing your money if you use their card' and whatever nonsense they believe since they went bankrupt when they had their first credit card with 'free money' on it. Car washes hit a much broader spectrum of population than laundromats do, that's for sure.

 

[MEP001]

Many don't have a clue what a dollar coin is.

I've seen the same thing, evidently dollar coins are still getting through my Slugbusters (Done with them, btw) and someone got one from the changer instead of a quarter. He didn't recognize it as US currency and asked me if it would work. He wasn't from my usual demographic, he was a white man whose first language was English.

I know of laundromats which have used only card acceptance where you prepay on a 'wash card' to pay on every machine. While that would be super awesome from an owner standpoint for a plethora of reasons, I think the market would shrink dramatically - they just don't get it. And on top of that - many believe that 'cards are evil' and they 'don't trust banks' and heard from their cousin that 'they can cheat you by stealing your money if you use their card' and whatever nonsense they believe since they went bankrupt when they had their first credit card with 'free money' on it.

That's a good impression of the potential customer base we're looking at. If there's something cheap to install we might consider it, but either way it'll still take quarters. If for some reason we can find a demand for a machine that needs $15 to start, I'll add a bill acceptor box next to it or maybe just put a Cryptopay swiper on it.

Thanks, I really appreciate the info I've gotten so far. Still haven't gotten a reply from the admin of coinwash.com.

 

[mjwalsh]

Some more items to show support for laundromat wise: For those who prefer the highest possible denomination coins option for the much larger quantity of individual pieces of laundromat equipment ... it would be helpful if the commercial manufacturers would standardize the openings so a wider variety of coin mechs could be used ... especially the highest quality such as the MicroCoin QLs etc.

Another standardization that would be helpful ... is what has helped the self service car wash industry & that is the ability to not have too many obstacles for the interface wiring for choosing the number of wash & rinse fills etc .... On the dryers it tends to be just "time based" like in our SSCW bays.

BTW .... there is a significant quality difference between commercial ($$$) grade soft mounts & more residential grade soft mounts from what I have gathered. Europe might be ahead of us in that department ... not sure.

 

[Allan]

We have a 2400 sq ft laundry. Similar situation as TDL. It was a salon that was originally built to be a laundromat. Since the utilities were already in place, there was a significant savings to make it into a laundry as was originally intended when constructed.

We ended up building a Dexter laundry and installed used dryers and some washers that we acquired from a laundry that was closing an hour away. Our location was tucked in between many many older apartments. It ended up being a strong location and I'm glad we did it, but I am far from an expert... I only have one experience. Looking back, I would have bought all new equipment for the reason that all of it would be on dexterlive when only our new machines are otherwise compatible.

The machines are much more reliable than car wash equipment in general, so used isn't a bad idea... But for us, if we would have known the strength of the location ahead of time, we would have been better off buying new simply for not having to deal with other small repairs as often.

Hard mount is just like Mep assumed... Firmly mounted to thick concrete with very serious anchors (epoxied in even) so that the machine will not vibrate during extraction cycle. Soft mount are like home models that just sit in place and use a 'suspension' system to absorb the shock. The technology of soft mounts have come a long ways over the years, but it still means more moving parts to wear out vs a strong main bearing and a strong frame that just stays put. The only advise I have, is the crappier the place, the better your laundromat will do. I wouldn't look at if there's not one to compete with, as much as if the place is just generally in a low rent and populous area. Also, if you have transient workers (ie. oilfield), that can be incredibly helpful for customer generation and fluff/fold service. Also, don't discount how much a large washer will make. Having several of the largest machines in town is a big draw and is a time money/saver for the customer and end up making the majority of the business. We didn't even do any top load machines, and I think I'm glad we didn't... All stainless steel washers and dryers make a nice looking place.

Lastly, I would reconsider going cashless... Its very heavy cash vs credit card since the customer demographic is pretty much low income only.

How has your laundry business utilities cost been since you started, has your water/sewer & electricity cost gone up over the years in your area?

 

[soonermajic]

Son has a chance to buy laundromat, grosses $120k, net $60 k, asking price $150k obo. Here's the rub: business only, not the bldg / land
Also, has 36 wash & 36 dryers. 9 washers are topload Wascumat(sp?)? Only 1 washer over 35lb ,& it is 50lb.
Pretty decent looking wash & kept up pretty good. It's in SW Dallas, so low class area, but LOTS of people.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[washnshine]

Son has a chance to buy laundromat, grosses $120k, net $60 k, asking price $150k obo. Here's the rub: business only, not the bldg / land
Also, has 36 wash & 36 dryers. 9 washers are topload Wascumat(sp?)? Only 1 washer over 35lb ,& it is 50lb.
Pretty decent looking wash & kept up pretty good. It's in SW Dallas, so low class area, but LOTS of people.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

If your son is not getting the building or land, how much rent does he have to pay? Are there any provisions in the contract for the land and building owner to not knock the building down, or offer it to your son to buy first, if he wants out? Is this a stand alone building on the land, or a strip mall/plaza with other businesses?

 

[soonermajic]

Strip mall & #1400/mo. Very cheap for Dallas.
Don't know of right of 1st refusal on purchasing bldg / land

 

[washnshine]

Strip mall & #1400/mo. Very cheap for Dallas.
Don't know of right of 1st refusal on purchasing bldg / land

So the net is more like $43,200 after rent - or did the $60k include the rent? Being in a strip mall, he may still never have control of the building and land unless the current owner owns the whole strip. $150k seems ok for that still, but I think you would want some certainty for the future. A new owner could double the rent or push out businesses to make room for others.