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Ice Vending

Car wash (will be). Ran across an article about a stand alone ice vending machine that dispenses ice similar to a hotel ice machine but the customer pays and fills supplied bags. The two gas stations nearby frequently run out of ice and the article got me thinking. This is a rural area with a lake near and lots of hunters and fisherman.
 
You will probably do well in that area, at least seasonally. I know a number of washes with ice machines and only get ice sales in the summer, but it's enough to turn a profit.
 
I would definitely do it...I am not a good location for one but my good friend owns 3 washes in my town and has 2 ice machines and they both do about 35K per year!! The ice machines he buys runs about 90K so he pays them back in less than 3 years!! He absolutely loves them and has lines constantly. For a reference he has two gas stations within a 1000 feet and still does that well.
 
I have talked to three car wash owners that have them. None of them would do it again. They described the difficulty with maintenance and not being able to deal with refrigeration-related issues without getting help. One owner described it at the worst investment he has ever made in his life. And he's like really old, almost as old as Randy.

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still don't see the correlation of car washes and ice machines. boats don't usually stop by to wash before they go out boating for the day, usually they come in at the end of the day.
 
We have mud bogging events close by and they come from out of town. Both gas stations run out aster the events and since they usually wash their trucks at this wash figured it could be a side thing. Would not offer in winter though.
 
Greg Pack said:
I have talked to three car wash owners that have them. None of them would do it again. They described the difficulty with maintenance and not being able to deal with refrigeration-related issues without getting help. One owner described it at the worst investment he has ever made in his life. And he's like really old, almost as old as Randy.

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This was similar to my experience , although we turned a decent profit. Only though, cause I HUSTLED & got 2 restaurant accounts on my ice. Unless it's the HUGE Ice house machines, which are far more than $90k, you're going to run outta ice after only about 30 bags. Those few days of the year you kill it, ain't worth it. You need DAILY ice sales, not seasonaly & event related.
After initial warranty of 1 yr runs out, there is a LOT of maintenance & preventative maintenance. Our ice machine was 15% of total wash sales & 65% of total headaches.
 
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30,000? Wow That's a huge investment for one unit. The ROI would be an extremely long time. Scratch that idea. Maybe in FL or in a very hot year round state.
 
Nuphoenix said:
30,000? Wow That's a huge investment for one unit. The ROI would be an extremely long time. Scratch that idea. Maybe in FL or in a very hot year round state.
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$30k is too much for a used machine. You can find those 4 sale ALL the time. The reason should be obvious to us.
Oddly enough, I had more issues when it turned cold, than I did when it was hot. I had an ice merchandiser, to store ice. That is a MUST, for those times you have breakdowns, which after yr 1 will be often
 
You have to register with the state to dispense the water in our area. And keep a log of when unit is cleaned and must be done periodically. Seems like more of a PIA.

With that being said, a co workers brother works for a large chain that sells water and since they added ice vending to their units, ice sales surpassed water sales at all locations.
 
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