Empty Pots Prices

[Guest]

Hi,

I usually get the plastic pots from Midland vending, they work out about 9/10p each with vat and delivery. I find that they jam up in the Chinese towers easily unless you turn them upside down. Anyone else have the same problem? I also found in the last batch quite a few of the pots had holes in the sides where the plastic hadn't set so I threw those ones in the bin.

[Guest]

Do you mean the small pots yeah? (not Pringles size)

Why do they jam, does the lid overlap the top of the pot or something?

[Guest]

I gave up on empty pots just to expensive and time consuming,think the suppliers rip us off on them and the filled ones look much more professional

[Guest]

I dont know why they jam but turning them upside down fixes it, i was talking to a vendor on ebay and he was taping the tops to stop them coming off ehen upside down.

I agree with the avove post going to start using hurleys as i am getting fat self potting anf eating all the sweets haha.

[Guest]

The only thing I self pot is Moaoms because they are easy and pre wrapped. Costs me about 27p per pot which is a decent saving compared to suppliers. (keeps the kids busy) I will only do other stuff if I stumble across a real deal at the cash and carry.

[Guest]

The suppliers are ripping us all off. The pots cost no more than 3p with a lid to make. They pile the cost on so that we buy potted sweets

[Guest]

I don't think the suppliers are ripping us off on the pots. If it costs them 3p to make, they have to add a few pence to pay for the investment they have made on the equipment plus they have overheads to cover too. Does anyon know how much the tooling costs to make the pots?

[Guest]

at the most tooling is low tens of thousands but I doubt it's even that. It's just mass plastic extrusion with a mould, only ever producing one design.

The equipment cost is not the major issue any of us could get one and crank out a bunch of pots, it's storage of the raw material and finished pots and then distributing them at high margins but low absolute profit. Established suppliers have a big advantage from a logistical point of view.

[Guest]

I don't think the suppliers are ripping us off on the pots. If it costs them 3p to make, they have to add a few pence to pay for the investment they have made on the equipment plus they have overheads to cover too. Does anyon know how much the tooling costs to make the pots?

One of the posts on page 1 says they are selling them in Portugal at 3p each (small pots), so they can't cost more than 1p or 2p to actually make in Portugal and manufacturing them in the UK would presumably be a similar process and cost. Even taking into account overheads like tooling, materials and storage does that justify a mark up of 350% +? (based on pots being sold for 9p)

[Guest]

From what I can gather, tubz vending and Hurleys charge on average 5p, is that correct?

Let's say it costs them 2p to make, I still think they are justified in making a margin. Those companies who are selling them for 9p are probably not manufacturing them therefore they need to have a profit margin as well.

Tooling to set up in the UK, my guess would be £20k. Buy the same in China, you are looking at say £6-£8k.

The tooling is not going to give a lifetime worth of pots, they are life limited. Machinery breaks down, costs money to fix. Staff have to operate the machinery, that costs too.

We all sell our pots for £1 and we don't mind doubling up on the price to our customers do we. It's no different.