What is the best value to place on tokens?

[mikempls]

Ok, I just updated my coin acceptors to Slugbuster II. I'm now trying to decide what token to use. The one I want to use will cost me .31 per token, and I am currently selling my tokens for .25. We buy 8000 to 10000 each year. At the new cost we would be loosing money on the lost tokens. My start up is $1.50 for 4 min. and the customers can add quarters or tokens and get 40 seconds for each one added.

My thought is to change the value of the token to $1 or .50 and change the start up time to $1 for 2 min 15 sec. or $2 for 4.5 min. Or I leave the value at .25 and use a lower quality token and accept the fact that I will still get some tokens that people didn't purchase from me?

Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[lag]

Do you sell them ,or dispense them out of your changer? The ones we sell we will usually get most of them back ,they have a value of $1.00. Our start is $1.75 ,but we sell them at a discount.

the ones we give in our changers have a 25 cent value,we usually have to get a bunch every year. Lose maybe 30% a year for some reason.

We use X- 10's, and I think they run around .21 each. What I like about x-10 's is you can get tokens that work only at your wash. No more finding other peoples tokens in the vault.

 

[bneckrock]

I sell tokens out of a separate token changer and out of a credit card dispenser. I value mine at $1.00. Quarter tokens didn't make any sense to me given the cost of the tokens and I am trying to break the "quarter wash" mentality of some of my customers.

I give a discount for quanties out of the dispenser and also use them for fleet sales, promotions and refunds (along with cash). I use a 1.125 inch token that no one else in my area seems to use.

My start up is $1.50 for three minutes, but token customers usually drop in 2 tokens (4 minutes). My vendors, vacs, ss bays and IBAs all take them. Even at a $1.OO value, a good number walk off every year. Since I pay much less than the face value, this doesn't bother me at all.

I would not even consider a 50 cent token, I don't see any upside to that. Get your customers to think in dollar, not quarter units. Not a new idea, nut one I heartily endorse.

 

[lag]

one thing i forgot to add.. We us ethe quarter token at only 2 locations to keep people from using our changers for laundry ,or whatever reason they feel they need to.

 

[Waxman]

The choice is clear; dollar tokens. My ss is $2/3.5 minutes. I don't discount. I sell 5 tokens for $5, etc. They are accepted in my ss., vending, vacs and even IBA.

Discount if you want to, but don't go less than a dollar value!

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

You didnt say anything about your competition, so I am assuming that it doesnt factor in to this decision. If that is the case, this is a no brainer for me: $1 tokens, $2 startup.

 

[Randy]

There?s no way I?d use a .25 token. Go with the Dollar token, you?ll never regret it. You might have to change your start up price. Don?t discount your tokens, sell them for dollar each. We?ve been on $1 tokens for 15 years and would never go back to quarters.

What size token are you thinking of going to? We use a 1.074 token. What kind of changer are you using?

The only problem you have is you?ve got a ton of .25 tokens out in your market. Have you thought about how you?re going to eliminate those from your wash? One of the washes here that changed tokens had customers bringing in their old tokens for over 2 years. You should have gone to a Slugbuster III coin acceptor that way you?ve still be able to weed out your old tokens.

 

[MEP001]

You should have gone to a Slugbuster III coin acceptor that way you’ve still be able to weed out your old tokens.

Also because the Slugbuster II will accept a dollar coin and give only a quarter of time, something to know if a customer claims it happened 'cause it'll likely be true.

I agree with an even dollar start-up and $1 value for tokens. To help your customers adjust, you could offer bonus tokens with a larger purchase, say 6 tokens for a $5, 13 or 14 for a $10, 30 or 35 for a $20.

If your only reason for using tokens is to mix some into the changer along with quarters to stop changer abuse, there are tokens that cost less than 25? each.

 

[mikempls]

Thanks for all the suggestions

I will try to answer the questions in order.

1. We dispense the tokens out of the changers, and we do a few fleet sales at a discount. The majority of the tokens are dispensed.

2. Other then several automatics in the area, our closet SS competition is about a 5 minute drive away. He dispenses a combination of 85/15 tokens and quarters. He charges $2 for 4 min. and .25 for 30 sec. per additional token/quarter. Our washes are in about the same condition, my wash is maintained a little better (cleaner). He has spot free rinse, we do not have spot free rinse.

3. We are using 2 change machines, a Rowe and a Hamilton.
The tokens we use now are just a little bigger then a quarter.
We only dispense tokens, but all our equipment will take both quarters and tokens. The previous owner switched to tokens to eliminate damage from break ins. Knock on wood, it has worked so far.

4. We have only installed one of the Slugbuster II for testing, so we could return the other ones. We may have to do that?

Thanks again for all the suggestions, this is a great website!

 

[mikempls]

Lag, where do you buy your tokens? I'm not familiar with the x - 10

 

[bneckrock]

Try the following:

http://www.idxinc.com/x10.htm

 

[MEP001]

Both the Rowe and Hamilton hoppers will dispense the .984 tokens with no modifications.

 

[mikempls]

Are you guys accepting both quarters and tokens?
It sounds like most prefer $1 tokens. My main concern is that my customers are used to being able to add .25 for additional time. I am also a little worried about raising my price from $1.50 to $2.00 as well.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Are you guys accepting both quarters and tokens?
It sounds like most prefer $1 tokens. My main concern is that my customers are used to being able to add .25 for additional time. I am also a little worried about raising my price from $1.50 to $2.00 as well.

Most of us accept $1 tokens, quarters, and $1 coins. The trend is toward credit cards, and some are getting away from quarters altogether. Based on what you have said here, this is still a no-brainer for me: $1 tokens, $2 startup ... and get an acceptor that can take quarters as well.

I'd also recommend that you get an acceptor that can still take your old tokens too, but due to walkoff there might be less of them out there than you think. Easy enough to offer a buyback program, which would be an excellent marketing push - you know, "double your money - for every $ you send me in old 25c tokens, I'll send you $2 in shiny new tokens".

 

[mjwalsh]

Try the following:

http://www.idxinc.com/x10.htm

I was told by Mike Oliver in Des Moines at the Heartland Show last spring that the X10 tokens are only guaranteed unduplicable if they are used with the IDX specific coin acceptor. Has anyone used the X10 tokens successfully with the Slugbuster 3's???

 

[MEP001]

The X-10 tokens are coded beyond what a Slugbuster can distinguish, in fact they probably wouldn't work in a Slugbuster at all.

 

[Doug P.]

I used the IDX coded tokens with slugbuster II's for years and never once had a problem.
They do not read the code on the tokens but they are made of a good quality alloy that reads different from cheap tokens.

Doug P.

 

[MEP001]

I used the IDX coded tokens with slugbuster II's for years and never once had a problem.

That's good to know. In retrospect, maybe coded tokens wouldn't be a bad idea since so few people use them and no one else in the area is likely to have them at all.