Vending can be a great business for the right person or company. Like all business there are risks but relatively speaking they are easily controlled while the upside potential for earnings makes the vending business very attractive. One of the nice things about vending machines is that once they'be been purchased and have been placed and stocked, then they go on to earn without you being present at the location. They are very much like automated sales people only they don't take breaks.
When purchasing your vending machines often people think they must start out with new ones. Although, new is nice but they can also be expensive. The other extreme is purchasing used vending machines but then you run a probable risk of getting equipment that will need repairs and need them often. The middle of the road solution is to purchase refurbished machines rather than new or used. Refurbished machines are used machines whcih have been completely overhauled, serviced and updated. They are tested to be working properly and are often restored to looking like new and usually come with a guarantee of some kind regarding parts and service labor. Even so it is probably a good idea to do a little research and find yourself a good distributor for vending machine parts or service.
As far as stocking your machines a good place to get product is at the large discount warehouse type outlets. Usually you can get a membership there for around fifty dollars or less and they are very easy to select your products and load them into your vehicle for storage at your facility and to distribute to the machines you have when stock is needed to be replaced. Please keep in mind that when purchasing product for your machines try to guage what type of consumables will be appropriate for that location. A good location is one that gets a lot of foot traffic and is in an area that is easily seen and accessed.
Of course there are several other things to understand but those would be the basics at their most basics. For more information you may want to contact a reputable vending company such as Global Vending Group for sales, info, and service. Global Vending Group can be reached by calling toll free: 1(800)592-4220