Take a look at this

[Vend And Glow]

Hi,
As an “X” clubber myself” these things were great and everyone used to have a glow stick in there hand, we would buy them from army shops or fishing /camping shops, But all the bigger clubs in the big citys sell there own, Or at least did then.(cant remember what they cost) This could work but no good in my area as there are only a few clubs round here now and they are slowly shutting down too,

My Bro-inlaw owns/runs the biggest night club in Plymouth http://www.thekarmanightclub.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and can have about 3k clubbers in the door each week-end but he too is unsure what will happen this year, He also has a guy that stands about with a tray full of glow sticks ect… (im not sure what they sell for) but can find out for you.
I think if you make sure the machine can light up and is in a good place it may work well, But for me the cost of the machine is too much.
It does look great tho and I wish you all the best..
Thanks
Ben

Hi Ben thanks for the response.

When i trialed the machines with Luminar Leisure one of the reasons for them wanting the vending machine was the fact that glowsticks etc took up too much space behind the bar and they simply didn't have enough people to sell the drinks let alone the glowsticks!

Glowsticks are also a very high shrinkage product and although they new they could make some money selling them it just wasn't worth the hassle.

The machine was the perfect answer.

The trials didn't do too well because Luminar were struggling (they have since gone into administration)

I then trialed for three months in Walkabout (Hanley) and although the machine was in a poor position(upstairs with the toilets) it still averaged 8 sales per week at £3 vend. I think in a good position it would have got many more sales(downstairs with all the punters).

In holiday camps like Butlins i was selling between 80 and 100 tubes per month at £3 per machine.

[Big Chris]

Hi Vend & Glow,

Just to add my two-penneth, i think this is a great idea. As a profesion i am a nightclub manager, so i totally see the concept and how it will work.

You would have to hit the younger crowd/charva/student bars with these machines, but there is huge mileage in them. We had something similar in one of the other nightclubs my group had and were selling around 50-75 a month (don't know exact figures as i don't see thier books). That was with just a few glow sticks and some sort of glowing whistle (which was very annoying), but that was vending at £5, so you are offering massive value for money per vend in my opinion.

As some have said there may be a wow factor to start with and then it will fall off a bit, but especially with student bars, new students come every September, and will be more than happy to pay out £3, so they will have longevity in some bars, and chava bars yes you will sell huge amounts.

In regards to the testing that you done in Luminar, i would totally discount that, as i know that alot of the managers knew what was coming and basically were looking for better options and not really pushing the club, therefore you test is a bit of a void.

In terms of the price, i for one wouldn't be put of by it at all. Yes a bit cheaper would be great, but in Newcastle these things would be extremley popular and make a lot of money, very much a party atmosphere in most the pubs up here.

Please keep us updated on how things are progressing as i can see me being very interested in having some of these for myself.

Kind Regards

Chris

[Vend And Glow]

Hi Vend & Glow,

Just to add my two-penneth, i think this is a great idea. As a profesion i am a nightclub manager, so i totally see the concept and how it will work.

You would have to hit the younger crowd/charva/student bars with these machines, but there is huge mileage in them. We had something similar in one of the other nightclubs my group had and were selling around 50-75 a month (don't know exact figures as i don't see thier books). That was with just a few glow sticks and some sort of glowing whistle (which was very annoying), but that was vending at £5, so you are offering massive value for money per vend in my opinion.

As some have said there may be a wow factor to start with and then it will fall off a bit, but especially with student bars, new students come every September, and will be more than happy to pay out £3, so they will have longevity in some bars, and chava bars yes you will sell huge amounts.

In regards to the testing that you done in Luminar, i would totally discount that, as i know that alot of the managers knew what was coming and basically were looking for better options and not really pushing the club, therefore you test is a bit of a void.

In terms of the price, i for one wouldn't be put of by it at all. Yes a bit cheaper would be great, but in Newcastle these things would be extremley popular and make a lot of money, very much a party atmosphere in most the pubs up here.

Please keep us updated on how things are progressing as i can see me being very interested in having some of these for myself.

Kind Regards

Chris

Thanks Chris i just looked up "Charva" in the urban dictionary and found the definition rather amusing!

Anyway which nightclub do you manage?

What i would like to do is enable the machine to vend glowsticks and bracelets without packaging. In essence you would buy your stock and just fill it up.

Would get maybe 4 bracelets for a £1 and a glowstick for a £1-£1.50.

The problem i had first time round with wanting to vend the products like that was the tollerance involved in vending such small and delicate items was very difficult to achieve.

That is why i decided to put everything in a tube where the tolerance wasn't such an issue.

I will certainly keep you informed.

[david@naughtyvend]

Got good reviews written buy themselves on blog marketing sites as GlowVend, looked at it and immediately realised the product could be sourced very easily in low quantity from UK suppliers and in bulk for pennies from Asia with CE markings. The machine, massive...

Looked like a "churn" business seeking franchisees and investors IMHO so didn't take it further.

[Vend And Glow]

Got good reviews written buy themselves on blog marketing sites as GlowVend, looked at it and immediately realised the product could be sourced very easily in low quantity from UK suppliers and in bulk for pennies from Asia with CE markings. The machine, massive...

Looked like a "churn" business seeking franchisees and investors IMHO so didn't take it further.

That will be "GlowVend" (Necklaces) or the other company "glow machine" both American companies.

I have never marketed Vend And Glow or written reviews about myself and it is not available as a franchise yet as the concept is not viable just yet, so you are talking about the wrong business.

As pointed out earlier in the thread the website is not accurate as it was designed before the machines and pricing structure was decided on.

I wouldn't sell something that i don't think is viable. The business is certainly not a "churn business seeking franchisees" as i don't have any franchisees, however i am looking for investors and people with experience to help develop this unfinished concept and make it franchise ready.

I have had several people on here ask to buy a machine or two and i have politely declined, however i have sold them stock to sell seperately.

My web address is http://www.vendandglow.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but don't take any notice of the info as it needs re doing to be accurate.

I actually was invited onto this forum after my request for investment was spotted on the UK business forum.

See my introduction for further info.

Kind Regards

Lee Wharton.

[Vend And Glow]

Here are the two sites that i believe David was speaking about.

http://www.wpbowling.com/oxalight/default.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and

http://www.glowmachine.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

David, please don't think i am being arsy with you as i am not i just want facts to be straight that's all.

Cheers, Lee.

[david@naughtyvend]

Absolutely Lee, not a comment at you but rather the companies in the USA and their format... If have a new USP it could work but I concur with others on this thread.

...if you want to chat about vending and franchising, give me a call.

[Rossi fan]

Hi, I took samples to my sites and some were vaguely interested, but not as a packaged item. They wanted the glow stick and lanyard and would happily pay £1 for each, but the glasses are too fiddly. The most someone was prapared to pay for a capsule was £2, so I think vending these at £4 would be hard, unless you have a captive audience like a theme park, or party club etc.

Thanks,

Pau

[Vend And Glow]

Hi, I took samples to my sites and some were vaguely interested, but not as a packaged item. They wanted the glow stick and lanyard and would happily pay £1 for each, but the glasses are too fiddly. The most someone was prapared to pay for a capsule was £2, so I think vending these at £4 would be hard, unless you have a captive audience like a theme park, or party club etc.

Thanks,

Pau

Hi Paul

What kind of sites did you go to?
Could easily put one Glowstick and Lanyard in a tube with a bin underneath the machine to collect the empty tubes. Tubes can then be re-used?

The tubes sell very well at £4 at Holiday parks and £3 at Ten pin and in the student bars.

[Rossi fan]

Mostly pubs, but one night club. The night club said that the door men have in the past bought similar from Pound shops and sold them to make a bit on the side. Sorry,

Paul