Income Ideas

[Clothes_Tyme]

Hey all,
My mat is unattended witha 99cent store on 1-side and a cleaners on the other. The cleaners does WDF and uses my machines. I do not have any vend machines except for soap & bathroom.

I am limited on space. Any ideas on extra revenue?

[mr_soap]

I have 3 games I do not own.
Collect 50% and use very little electric.

[Ken]

Buy your own games keep 100% money.
If the security is not big issue,you can buy a counter top game,a used Mega touch,touchmaster or a counter top 48 games multi classis game or you can find a mini stand up game,use about 20"x30" space.If you have no space,a multi game system will be the way to go.

[VetsqLaundry]

I too have local vendors leave their pinball / game machines and do a 50/50 with money. To me it is more beneficial than owning because every couple of months they switch out the games to keep them fresh for the regulars.

[Ken]

cost $300 -1500 to own a game,you will get the game pay for fast.I had outside vender for near 10 years ,I didn't know what a good extra imcome until I own my own games,I found out my vender didn't really pay me the 50%....a touch screen games have over 30,40 games,Neo Geo has 4,multicade has 48,you don't really need to change games that often,only take 10 mins to change a Neo Geo game card anyway.
I am in video arcade business now but laundry owners are not my main customers,most customers are home owners for their rec rooms.

[Andy]

I own my own Megatouch, it's a great game, I recommend buying your own-get the newest version you can afford-it will pay for itself.

[laundryboy]

Ken is a great source of information. I bought serveral games from Ken over two years ago. They paid for them-selves in less than three months. I went on to buy additional games from ebay and others. The only reason I bought more was my comfortablity level after having Ken's machines and his instruction.

They are not hard to work on. You will still need to learn a little - nothing compared to running a laundromat, though. There are plenty of sources out there and parts vendors.

[Cap0319]

has anyone heard of picking up and dropping off WDF at customers houses?

think of the older folks who may benefit (and pay well for) this service.

older folks pay big bucks for lawncare, in home help (Homeinstead is a service that will clean your house, do your laundry, and cook for you) and some get their groceries delivered.

every day 50,000 of us turn 50 yrs old (babyboomer stat I heard)

time intensive but it might pay off,

thoughts?

[srhaz]

Residential pick-up is very common. Most of mine are elderly. I don't think it takes up too much of my time (only have a handfull). On my way home from my real job, I simply pick it up or drop it off. They are only blocks from the matt anyway. If it grows, I'll hire a driver.
Negatives: They will soil their pants at times and dribble soup on their shirts.

[goingtoarizona]

I also got great info from Ken, he's too far away, so I bought my arcade games locally. I hope one of my tenants moves out, and I'll open a small arcade in his old spot. Soda machines are good, and great in the summer.We have a 40 some odd selection snack machine that does 70-100 a week gross, at 50% mark up.The arcades rule though, you never have to stock them, and very seldom have any refund requests...

[Ken]

Residential pick-up is very common. Most of mine are elderly. I don't think it takes up too much of my time (only have a handfull). On my way home from my real job, I simply pick it up or drop it off. They are only blocks from the matt anyway. If it grows, I'll hire a driver.
Negatives: They will soil their pants at times and dribble soup on their shirts.

We used to have to lot drop off from an elderly home,homeless place in winter,my emplyee hate to do their drop off.Their washer brake once,they drop off a few truck load stuff,when we wash and dry them,we had to open the door in the winter!
I bought some land a few years ago,if I ever decide to build a laundromat,I will put a mini arcade in.

[Clothes_Tyme]

Thanks all for the input.

Unfortunately, I don't have a place to put a arcade machine. HAH, I can stick it in front of the bathroom door, that way no transients can use it and I wont' have to clean it :) Snack vending is not an option because of the 99+ cent store next door. But the idea of pick up and drop off for the ederly is a good idea.

Again thanks to all the talented members of Coinwash!

[pete f]

Thanks all for the input.

Unfortunately, I don't have a place to put a arcade machine. HAH, I can stick it in front of the bathroom door, that way no transients can use it and I wont' have to clean it :) Snack vending is not an option because of the 99+ cent store next door. But the idea of pick up and drop off for the ederly is a good idea.

Again thanks to all the talented members of Coinwash!

Don't think a combo soda snack wont work. You can sell soda for 75 cents, candy for 65 cent and chips for 55 cent. The 99cent store has to sell everything for 99 cents! ( or at least in people mind) so they are thirsty or hungry they will buy from you anyway. The volume of your store is in direct proportion to the vend sales. look at combo machines.

[goingtoarizona]

Don't ever rule anything out, we have a soda machine that still does the same numbers and more, there was a vacant grocery store next to us, now that it's open, we sell as much as and more soap and soda than ever before. Their security guard buys our orange soda and our chips from our snack machine.

[Clothes_Tyme]

What your saying maybe true PeteF and GoToArizona, But they do sell their candy for 55 cents or more depending. But the problem I'm facing is a space to put anything (snack or arcade). I want to increase the income of the mat (unattended) but I think I'm stuck.

What I really need is a 5th wall :)

[srhaz]

I don't know if you own your building or not.
Can you put a soda pop vending machine outside?
I have one outside doing ok. If anything it attracts attention to people passing buy.

[Clothes_Tyme]

I don't know if you own your building or not.
Can you put a soda pop vending machine outside?
I have one outside doing ok. If anything it attracts attention to people passing buy.

Unfortunately I don't, and The landlord is an a$$#@!! They won't go for it.

I would like the extra income to help support changing out some old equipment.

[Ken]

How big is your store?eq mix?can you post a picture?
If your store has no space for any extra machine,how will you have any extra income?
New machines may get some new customers and extra payment too.
Some companies do make table top ,flat screen arcade game,if you can bolt/lock it done.You can find used table top cheap,flat screen table top costs a little more.

[DirtyLaundry]

If I was out of room, I'd take out a topload and put a pop machine in. I know my pop (soda) vendor takes in more money, and percentage of profit is way better than a topload. A customer is spending about 1 hour and a half in your store - they are going to get thirsty.

[Clothes_Tyme]

How big is your store?eq mix?can you post a picture?
If your store has no space for any extra machine,how will you have any extra income?
New machines may get some new customers and extra payment too.
Some companies do make table top ,flat screen arcade game,if you can bolt/lock it done.You can find used table top cheap,flat screen table top costs a little more.

I'll try to post a pic Thursday.

True no room for extra machine however the table-top may be a good idea. OR perhapsa as dirtylaundry said maybe take out a toploader.

All good points from the Coinwash crew...I will definitely look at forcing some sort of machine into the mat.

[bodman]

If you have older machines this wont work .If you can program the machines some mats have 1/2 price washes M-F 6am to 6pm. theory is you bring in the custy that use the mat on the weekend and free up the machines for more customers on weekend. The goal is to meet your breakeven during the week and nights and weekend is your profit minus the extra utilities. this works for some.

[DuboisLaundry]

serve beer
http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=2815220
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/life/story.html?id=4947ae58-aea3-44c1-92c0-1a184c216f78

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Laundry tumbles with beer

Reuters


Sunday, May 20, 2007


If you'd rather be having a beer with friends than washing your clothes, a U.S. laundromat has come with the solution. With six beers on tap, plus a range of bottled brews in the fridge, wireless Internet connection, couches and video games, Laundry 101 is as much a bar as a laundry.

"The people who use the bar usually just have a beer or two while they do their laundry," said Zach Brandon, 34, part-owner of Laundry 101 and city council member in Madison.

Brandon came to Madison from Ohio in 1998 to open a hybrid mix of Internet cafe and laundromat, but all that's left of that plan is a $7,000 espresso machine under the bar.

"There are eight coffee shops, not counting two Starbucks, within a few blocks of here," he said, kicking the espresso machine.

"So that idea went out the window pretty fast." Instead, Laundry 101 serves an array of beers including local brews such as Capital Brewery's seasonal Maibock ale -- made in Middleton just outside Madison -- catering largely for students from the nearby University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It's a Saturday night, but unlike other downtown bars serving the 41,000 strong student body here, Laundry 101 is relatively empty with just a few students using the washing machines and driers, surfing the web or having a beer.

"Saturday is actually one of our quietest nights, it's far busier during the week," Brandon said.

While the bar only brings in a small portion of Laundry 101's business, bar tender Allie Gilman, 21, said there are many regular customers, plus the occasional tourist. "It's generally a fun, easygoing crowd we get in here, people who want to kick back with friends while they wash their clothes," said Gilman.

[Anonymous]

Suds Mackenzie? I toyed with the idea of offering a beverage service in the mat, but didn't think it would be feasible, reaslistic, profitable, etc... I could most definitely see this being a hit in a college town, I would have passed its competitors to do my laundry there when I was in school!

Neat idea, curious if it will prove beneficial if/when the novelty wears off?

James