Coffee Vending Machines Prices: Should you rent or buy?

The world of coffee vending machines used to be limited to the ubiquitous black and red Nescafe branded vending machine. Pretty much every South African has seen this guy at some point. Whether it was in a petrol station, canteen or office, the black and red “push button” machine has become something of a legend.

Nescafe Coffee Vending Machine

These coffee vending machines used to cost around the R5000.00 mark which made them fairly affordable for most. Today different varieties of coffee vending machines have become far more prevalent but the competition has unfortunately not led to
a price drop in the coffee vending industry.

Entry level vending machines now sell for around the R20,000.00 mark with some breaking through the R100,000.00 barrier! So does this mean coffee vending machines will now find homes only in the wealthiest of offices and fanciest of petrol stations? Fortunately not. The high price of coffee vending   machines, has led to many rental solutions being made very affordable these days. But aren’t rentals just a synonym for financing (where the customer lands up paying 25% more in the long run) ? The answer again is, fortunately not.

Most coffee companies these days link your coffee purchases to your rental amount. So let’s say you would ordinarily buy product for your machine which would enable you to make 50 cups of coffee per day. The coffee company, which you were renting from, would then discount your rental against your coffee purchases so you would land up paying very little for your rental in the end. You would need to buy your product anyway, so you might as well buy it from the guys you rent from and reduce your rental.

If you would like a rental and purchase price list of all coffee vending machines sent to you or if you would like to ask any coffee related question, please complete the form obelow!