Vending Machine Economics

[Pat Logsdon]

Ironguy's post (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=282868#282868) in the Genesis thread got me thinking about the disparity between snack prices in vending machines. I think I've got it pretty good where I work, as demonstrated by the list below:

.65: Pop Tarts, Hostess donuts, danish, etc.
.50: Cookies (Famous Amos, Mother's, etc.)
.45: Chocolate bars, Skittles, M&Ms, etc.
.35: Chips (Doritos, Fritos, Cheezits, etc.)
.25: Gum, Lifesavers, breath mints, etc.

What do things cost in YOUR vending machine? :mrgreen:
The above prices are in US dollars, by the way. If you live in another country, please post your prices, and a conversion if you know it. :)

[JackTheTripper]

Food Machine (1 only)

$0.55 Granola Bar (various flavers)
$0.60 Chips, crackers, Chex mix, Cookies
$0.65 Candy Bars



Soda machine (1 only) AKA: The "Eight Button Bandit"

$0.65 for no soda (But you get sounds like you're going to get one, no extra charge.)
$0.65 for 1 soda (12 oz. can)
$0.65 for 2 sodas (each is a 12 oz. can)

It really depends on how the machine is feeling. Funny thing... I just sat down from buying a soda (Well, paying for a soda that never showed then putting more money in and finally getting my soda) and read this.

Seriously, this machine is hit and miss. You never know what you're going to get. It's so bad our finance department sent out procedures for refunds.

[Jon Westfall]

Here are some great ones from The University of Akron:

Pepsi product (in 20 oz plastic bottle): $1.25 (about .89 - .99 at store)
Snickers Bar: $0.65
Some Revolving Bakery Product: $0.85

In general, you get majorly ripped off on drinks. UA had a great scheme: Only pepsi products, and ONLY in the 20 oz bottle. You couldn't buy a regular 12 oz can of pepsi for $0.50...

Now that I'm mostly at The University of Toledo, life is better: $0.50 for my choice of coke or pepsi.

[Jon Westfall]

Food Machine (1 only)

$0.55 Granola Bar (various flavers)
$0.60 Chips, crackers, Chex mix, Cookies
$0.65 Candy Bars



Soda machine (1 only) AKA: The "Eight Button Bandit"

$0.65 for no soda (But you get sounds like you're going to get one, no extra charge.)
$0.65 for 1 soda (12 oz. can)
$0.65 for 2 sodas (each is a 12 oz. can)

It really depends on how the machine is feeling. Funny thing... I just sat down from buying a soda (Well, paying for a soda that never showed then putting more money in and finally getting my soda) and read this.

Seriously, this machine is hit and miss. You never know what you're going to get. It's so bad our finance department sent out procedures for refunds.

This reminds me of a coke machine I once knew that would give you 2 if your previous 2 orders were in a set order (i.e. buy a coke, than a diet coke, than another coke and boom - 2 cokes). It was really weird but was reliable. My friends and I used to use it every day at school, watching for people to buy a coke than diet, than run up and buy a coke. Worked like a charm!

[Darius Wey]

Typical soft drink: A$2.00 (600ml bottle)
Typical packet of chips: A$1.25-$1.75 (can't remember the weight but it's one of those packets which probably measure about 20cm in height)
Typical candy bar: depends really, you can find them anywhere between A$0.80-A1.75

I've found prices vary from city to city, vendie to vendie. :)

[mrkablooey]

canned sodas: $0.25
chips: $0.20
candy bars $0.35
nuts $0.35
cookies (6) $0.20
pastry $0.30
bottled water $0.60

[maximus]

Typical soft drink: A$2.00 (600ml bottle)
Typical packet of chips: A$1.25-$1.75 (can't remember the weight but it's one of those packets which probably measure about 20cm in height)
Typical candy bar: depends really, you can find them anywhere between A$0.80-A1.75

I've found prices vary from city to city, vendie to vendie. :)

For $2 you can have a full lunch down here in Indonesia.

No vending machines yet downhere.
It is still cheaper to put 'vendinghumans' on the streets.

[Darius Wey]

Typical soft drink: A$2.00 (600ml bottle)
Typical packet of chips: A$1.25-$1.75 (can't remember the weight but it's one of those packets which probably measure about 20cm in height)
Typical candy bar: depends really, you can find them anywhere between A$0.80-A1.75

I've found prices vary from city to city, vendie to vendie. :)

For $2 you can have a full lunch down here in Indonesia.

No vending machines yet downhere.
It is still cheaper to put 'vendinghumans' on the streets.

I know! I love getting meals in Asia! It's very cheap!

[bjornkeizers]

*grumbles* Yet more proof that everything is cheaper in the US.

At my school, I pay 1 euro for a regular can of Coca Cola. Light and other drinks are all 1.10. So, that's $1.20 for a can of soda, and my school is *CHEAP!*

Do you know what I pay for a can of soda on most other vending machines say... at a train station or mall? 1.50 euro - $1.80!! 8O

[aliensub]

Here in Denmark it´s a little more expensive to get the chocolate fever:
1.25$ for mars, snickers etc.
1.60$ for a can of soda (0.33 cl)
Chips also about 1.60$ for a little bag.

Danish from a machine :idontthinkso: Here you can buy it from a bakery where they belong. But i tend not to eat anything thats called the same as my language 8O

[Yogyakarta]

For $2 you can have a full lunch down here in Indonesia.

No vending machines yet downhere.
It is still cheaper to put 'vendinghumans' on the streets.

Ugh! That brings back memories of my last sojourn in Indonesia 3 years ago. I was in Yogyakarta, and ate siomay at one of the warungs (i.e., "vendinghumans") on Jln. Malioboro. A few days later I came down with cholera. For those who've never had cholera, like many tropical diseases it's simply another form of terminal diarrhea.

I never learned my lesson though, because I was back eating at warungs again once I'd recovered in Jakarta. Hey Maximus, have you ever been to the warungs in Jakarta where they serve bannana & cheese with chocolate syrup? Lets see if I can remember the name... pisang keju or something like that.

Paul

[Janak Parekh]

*grumbles* Yet more proof that everything is cheaper in the US.
Not uniformly. There are parts of NY that charge $1 or more for a can of soda. That said, your prices are on the high end of ours, and NY is close to the highest prices in the US.

--janak

[PetiteFlower]

I think it depends on whether the company subsidizes the machines at all.

We have one machine with 20oz bottles of soda for $1 which isn't bad. My last job it was $1.25.

The other machine is chips for $.75, candy for $.65, cookies and tastykakes for $.85, and large pastries and large bags of candy for $1.

There's a 3rd machine that sells sandwiches and other more substantial stuff, but I don't know the prices offhand.

[maximus]

Ugh! That brings back memories of my last sojourn in Indonesia 3 years ago. I was in Yogyakarta, and ate siomay at one of the warungs (i.e., "vendinghumans") on Jln. Malioboro. A few days later I came down with cholera. For those who've never had cholera, like many tropical diseases it's simply another form of terminal diarrhea.


:rotfl:

My first indonesian meal was a fried fish with very hot chili/terasi paste (terasi is made from grinded dry prawn) with rice steamed inside banana leaves .. which put me into a 2-days diarrhea. I was forced to run to the toilet every 10 minutes. ha ha ha. It taste very nice though. After recovered, I ate another indonesian meal made from fish paste, and I got another diarrhea. But this time, it was not as bad as the first one. I think my stomach got used to indonesian meal by now, no more diarrhea. One can find very good foods down here my favourite is the 'tahu telur' (fried tofu and egg in soy sauce and peanut dressing, with boiled vegetables on top), 'marlin rica' (marlin fish in rica rica sauce -- very hot sauce), and of course fried oxtail in coconut soup. Some of you might wonder .. hmm .. oxtail ? :)

I never learned my lesson though, because I was back eating at warungs again once I'd recovered in Jakarta. Hey Maximus, have you ever been to the warungs in Jakarta where they serve bannana & cheese with chocolate syrup? Lets see if I can remember the name... pisang keju or something like that.
Paul

Of course. Pisang Keju Pak Edy (Mr. Edy's Pisang Keju) ? They are actually very good. But I hardly dine-in, mostly carry away. I am not confortable being stared upon by the kids in the areas while I am eating. FYI, Mr. Edy has a new recipe : banana+cheese+chocolate+young coconut. Very nice. You should try that next time you are down here :)

[Yogyakarta]

One can find very good foods down here my favourite is the 'tahu telur' (fried tofu and egg in soy sauce and peanut dressing, with boiled vegetables on top), 'marlin rica' (marlin fish in rica rica sauce -- very hot sauce), and of course fried oxtail in coconut soup. Some of you might wonder .. hmm .. oxtail ? :)

Oh man, I love tahu telur! I also love tahu tek-tek and gado-gado. When I was in Indo., I dated a girl from Palembang, and she introduced me to such Palembang specialties as empek-empek. I also dig sate ayam Padang and martabak (not manis though). I'm getting really nostalgic for Indonesia now :cry: I don't miss soto buntut (oxtail soup) at all, it's all fat and bones!

Hey Maximus, have you ever been to the warungs in Jakarta where they serve bannana & cheese with chocolate syrup? Lets see if I can remember the name... pisang keju or something like that.
Paul

Of course. Pisang Keju Pak Edy (Mr. Edy's Pisang Keju) ? They are actually very good. But I hardly dine-in, mostly carry away. I am not confortable being stared upon by the kids in the areas while I am eating. FYI, Mr. Edy has a new recipe : banana+cheese+chocolate+young coconut. Very nice. You should try that next time you are down here :)

Yeah, Pak Edy's, that's the place! Man, the addition of the young coconut does sound good! Regarding the staring kids, that happens just about everywhere in the poorer sections of SE Asia, especially if you happen to be a bule like me. In Indo. though, it was the groups of idle young men that seemingly hang around everywhere giving you the death stare that bothered me the most. I often wanted to shout, "get a job!", but that might have invited even more "attention". These groups of preman would more or less leave you alone, however, unless you were in the company of Indonesian females. If that happened, they felt compelled to shout out insults and obscenities at the women. For those who don't know, in many Asian countries, a native woman seen in the company of a foreign man is usually assumed to be a prostitute.

Well, I apologize for deviating from the subject of this thread, but Maximus's posts brought back a lot of memories for me. :D

Paul

[ironguy]

Lucked out today. Kim brought in a bag of home made cookies.

Anyone want one?

[maximus]

Oh man, I love tahu telur! I also love tahu tek-tek and gado-gado. When I was in Indo., I dated a girl from Palembang, and she introduced me to such Palembang specialties as empek-empek. I also dig sate ayam Padang and martabak (not manis though). I'm getting really nostalgic for Indonesia now :cry: I don't miss soto buntut (oxtail soup) at all, it's all fat and bones!

Boy, you really tried a lot of stuffs. How long did you stayed in indonesia anyway ? Gado-gado is nice, but i prefer 'karedok' more. It is just like gado-gado, but karedok is made from raw vegetables instead ... so you will have greater chance of diarrhea. :D

Pempeks are very nice. I like the one with the egg inside. And the hot/sour soup that came with pempeks ...

Yeah, Pak Edy's, that's the place! Man, the addition of the young coconut does sound good! Regarding the staring kids, that happens just about everywhere in the poorer sections of SE Asia, especially if you happen to be a bule like me.

Well, I am not caucasian, but they are still staring at me. I guess they just dislike foreigners in general. You are correct about the indonesian female company though. These folks tend to be hostile when they see indonesian females accompanying foreigners.

These groups of preman would more or less leave you alone, however, unless you were in the company of Indonesian females.

I am afraid that is no longer true though. I think things are getting worse down here since al q aeda's infiltration into indonesia. Several friends/coworkers of mine got very bad experiences when travelling alone on the streets of jakarta. They got mugged, brick was thrown into their cars, foreigners got screened on the streets to find australians/americans etc.

The australian embassy got bombed several days ago, and since then the american, australian and several european embassies have instructed their citizens to stay home and to avoid public areas.

[Yogyakarta]

Boy, you really tried a lot of stuffs. How long did you stayed in indonesia anyway ? Gado-gado is nice, but i prefer 'karedok' more. It is just like gado-gado, but karedok is made from raw vegetables instead ... so you will have greater chance of diarrhea. :D

Yeah, I'd forgotten about karedok. That is another one of my faves. I loved going to those Javanese style restaurants where you sit on the floor and eat with your fingers.

I worked in Indonesia from March 2000 to April 2001. I was in Batam, actually, working on a commercial satellite project (ACeS - Asian Cellular Satellite). Batam is a sinister kind of place. You have migrants from all over Indonesia hanging around there, occasional ethnic strife (the various ethnic groups in Indonesia generally hate each other's guts), lots of girls, and lots of bule(white foreigners), Singaporeans, & Malaysians looking for those girls. I got to travel around Indonesia and Southeast Asia quite a bit while I was there. My one regret is that I didn't go to Bali. :(

Pempeks are very nice. I like the one with the egg inside. And the hot/sour soup that came with pempeks ...

I think the soup/sauce is called cuka (pronouned chuka).

Well, I am not caucasian, but they are still staring at me. I guess they just dislike foreigners in general. You are correct about the indonesian female company though. These folks tend to be hostile when they see indonesian females accompanying foreigners...

Yeah, tell me about it. Once I learnt some Indonesian words, I was actually able to understand what the bums were saying. It was quite difficult to be restrained under those circumstances.

These groups of preman would more or less leave you alone, however, unless you were in the company of Indonesian females...

I am afraid that is no longer true though. I think things are getting worse down here since al q aeda's infiltration into indonesia. Several friends/coworkers of mine got very bad experiences when travelling alone on the streets of jakarta. They got mugged, brick was thrown into their cars, foreigners got screened on the streets to find australians/americans etc.

The australian embassy got bombed several days ago, and since then the american, australian and several european embassies have instructed their citizens to stay home and to avoid public areas.

Actually, I'm not surprised that it's like this now. Back in February 2001, I witnessed a pro-Osama Bin Laden rally in the heart of Yogyakarta. It was comprised of a bunch of young hoodlums on motorcyles wearing white turbans, bandanas covering their faces, and carrying banners with OBL's mug on them. Then there were the fatigue and white turban clad Laskar Jihad types, soliciting donations at markets and street corners for their Jihad in the Moloccas (Ambon). Batam itself was intimidating simply because of the groups of idle young men hanging around and giving passersby the staredown. I experienced the same thing in Jakarta too.

I also learned, from working with native Indonesians, that ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are not well-liked. I talked to a Canadian guy who was in Jakarta back in 1998-1999, when there were a bunch of anti-Chinese riots. He was an eyewitness to a murder of a Chinese guy in a hotel he was staying at. A gang of Indonesians walked into the hotel looking for Chinese, found one, and shot him dead on the spot. After the shooting, my Canadian friend said that the guy who pulled the trigger had an evil grin on his face, indicating that he was pleased with his handiwork.

One of the reasons I got into martial arts was because I never wanted to feel intimidated by young punks during my travels again.

I love to travel, and I love to meet people when I travel, but I'm not as naive about the locals as I used to be. Granted, almost everybody you meet in a place like Indonesia is kind and friendly, but every once in a while I'd cross paths with some jerk out to prove how macho he was. Either that, or he was after my wallet. In third world Asia, you have to have eyes in the back of your head.

Hey, but the food is great!

Paul