Vending Machines Can Cost Us 580% More

Posted by The Happy Rock on July 2, 2007

I go to the vending machine maybe once a month. Each time it gets more and more painful knowing that the item is has such a huge markup(I still buy). I realize that am paying for my lack of planning and laziness. Let’s take a look at how much we are paying for convenience.

I compared the price of a couple items out that could be purchased at Costco or Sam’s club to the $0.80 cents that you would pay in a vending machine.

$0.138 cents for Austin’s Crackers - 580% more in a vending machine

$0.226 cents for Microwave Popcorn - 354% more in a vending machine

$0.38 cents for 3 Musketteers - Better, but still 210% more in a vending machine

$0.709 cents for a 20 oz. Pepsi - 176% more in a vending machine at $1.25

Just for fun, $0.0226 cents for gum balls - 1109% more

If you were to buy a soda and a pack of crackers just three days a week, you would be spending 320$ a year. This is almost $200 more a year than buying it yourself. Is $200 worth changing your habits to visit Sam’s or BJs a few times a year? This isn’t even taking into consideration the fact that if we put just a little upfront planning in, we would probably make better choices than a Mountain Dew and a pack of Peanut M&Ms. Some people even take it a step further and capitalize on the situation by having their own mini-snack stores.

Are you vending too much?

» Filed Under Health, Planning, Spending

Trackbacks/Pings

82nd Festival of Frugality (Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog) on July 10th, 2007 2:05 am
Best Frugality Posts from Festival of Frugality 82 at Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money on July 13th, 2007 7:02 am

Comments

9 Responses to “Vending Machines Can Cost Us 580% More”

Andy Double Par (1 comments.) on July 5th, 2007 10:23 pm

I never thought about it, but when put in percentages, those markups are a lot scarier! So are gumballs the highest % markup?
TheHappyRock (23 comments.) on July 5th, 2007 11:11 pm

Andy,

The percentages do open some eyes. At least they did for me.

As far as gumballs being the highest, I included it because I thought it would be. I can’t think of any items that would be higher.

If anyone has an thoughts, I will research it.
Johanna B on July 14th, 2007 4:44 pm

I don’t consider myself to be a vending machine addict except when I take my daughter to her class at a community college in another town. There I spend probably 4 or 5 dollars getting things out of the machines. I now see that I should plan ahead and eat something before I take her so I will be less tempted to spend the cash. Thanks for an eye-opening post.
The Happy Rock (329 comments.) on July 15th, 2007 11:03 am

Glad to help Johanna.

It is eye opening when something spurs us seeing the reality of our actions. Sometimes scary too, but that is all part of facing change. Good luck on changing that habit.
Mr vending route (1 comments.) on July 12th, 2008 1:58 am

Its all about convenience. We are so lazy we will pay 10 times more for the products as long as we don’t have to get in our car and go somewhere. I guess with the price of gas these days its probably a wash anyway.
Holly on August 28th, 2008 12:55 pm

I was trying to find ways for my workplace to save money. Is it cheaper to buy several cases of pop and charge a certain amount for a can/bottle or is it cheaper to have two pop vending machines and one snack vending machine around?
I was thinking we could just buy in bulk from Sam’s and charge a small amount and then get the deposits back on the drinks and just recycle all the money back in to buying more….
The Happy Rock (329 comments.) on September 1st, 2008 11:58 pm

@Holly,

I think the vending machine shouldn’t really cost your company any money. The vending machine company installs it and stocks it, but it will costs the employees a high mark up.

If someone buys soda and sells it at cost, it will be much cheaper than a vending machine for the employees but will take added effort from an employee. It might be a nice perk for the employees.

I haven’t had to deal with that question before, but hopefully my input helps.