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What are Vending Machines?
Home » Small Business » Vending Machines » What are Vending Machines?A vending machine is a machine that dispenses merchandise when a customer deposits money, validated by a currency detector, sufficient to purchase the desired item. In the United States, vending machines generally serve the purpose of selling snacks and beverages, but are also common in busy locations to sell newspapers. The risk with newspaper vending machines is that a customer could open the box and make off with all of the newspapers after paying for one leave all of the newspapers outside of the box. The success of such machines is dependant on the assumption that the customer will be honest, which is helped by the fact that having more than one newspaper is not often useful.
Items sold via vending machine vary by country. For example, some countries sell alcoholic beverages through vending machines, while other countries do not allow this. Cigarettes were commonly sold in the U.S. through these machines, but this practice is increasingly rare due to concerns about underaged buyers. Sometimes a pass has to be inserted in the machine to prove one's age. In some European countries, by contrast, cigarette machines remain common. Another common class of vending machines are photo booths.
The most popular trade magazine for U.S. vendors is Vending Times, a publication covering the entire vending industry.
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