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T HE COI N M A C H I N E J O U R N A L
G O L D
B R I C K S in
V e n d in g P R O M O T I O N S
Check the Profit Margin, Appraise Sales Possibili
ties Before Investing Experience Teaches.
• From time to time T he C oin M a
chine J ournal has warned against
promoters in the coin machine indus
try, although such warnings seldom
reach the uninitiated. Any manufac
turer of a worthy product has the
right to boost his wares as much as
he can, and to sell all he can but now
and then there appear on the scene
slickers or overzealous promoters who
not only wind up broke but impose
great losses on unqualified and inex
perienced newcomers.
Occasionally a concern will open
up in a popular office building with
a cheap and unknown machine and
proceed to establish routes selling
these routes to new prospective oper
a tor s.
One such venture which may have
started out with the best of inten
tions back of it was recently brought
to light when complaints were made
by customers who were trying to
carry on after the promoters folded
up and disappeared. This concern
whose names might well have been
Gallilee and Squirms established a
new type of operating syndicate sell
ing off machines from a supposedly
large and profitable route. This pair
did reasonably well with nut venders,
and were encouraged to add other
machines which had not met the test
of time and use. In the necessity of
keeping a vicious circle going they
sold routes of sanitary belt machines
(not napkins) to women operators.
The sales talk was of such a nature
that it appealed to women, and two
ladies in a midwestern city who were
in need of employment sunk their
combined savings in a route of these
machines.
The evil of the proposition lay not
in the machines themselves but in the
fact that the promoters had not made
permanent and equitable connections
for supply of merchandise. That they
may have overstated their proposition
was not necessarily wrong since they
may have been drunk on the wine
of their own enthusiasm and believed
for the moment that the possibilities
were there for big profits.
The promoters guaranteed satisfac
tion, and by satisfaction they meant,
according to their sales contract that
the operator who bought their ma
chines would net a given amount each
month. If after a stipulated time the
buyer was not satisfied, the promoters
agreed to take over the operation of
the machines and give the owners a
monthly royalty on the machines.
When the time dame to make good
the promoters had left for parts un
known leaving a string of creditors
at their doors as well as a sad but
wiser group of investors.
The two ladies referred to cour
ageously set out to find a source of
supply for thep^;. sanitary belts but
could find noiie iat a price that would
give them a profit.
The item, a ten cent seller, cost
them seven and one-half cents. In ad
dition to this they were obliged to
give their locations 25 per cent of the
gross, so that after IS months of oper
ating ten machines their original in
Enhanced Scans © The International Arcade Museum ■
December, 1933
vestment had not been approached.
The promoters had guaranteed that
the ten machines would net $80.00 a
month profit, a nice sideline for some
women who might be employed. But
they did not gross $2.00 a month and
the guarantee of 75 cents per machine
royalty was never forthcoming as the
Messrs. Gallilee and Squirms were
not to be found inquiry reveals.
Beware of promoters!
It’s immaterial, but we think the
Kaiser had a better looking mustache.
We suspect that Senator Borah
wants to recognize Russia so he may
be able to disagree with it.
The latest thing in Hollywood, in
men’s clothes this fall, will be women.
The senator who wants to inflate
the currency just a little bit and then
stop, reminds us of the fellow who
used to go over to the corner saloon
for just one drink and then didn’t
get home for three days.
Europeans find us Americans pretty
much like peanuts. We shell out
better after we’ve been roasted.
War-debt money is certainly hav
ing a harder time than aeroplanes in
crossing the Atlantip from East to
West.
F L A S H
- - -
As last form was going to press
a telegraphic news flash was re
ceived from Bally Manufacturing
Company containing two important
announcements. First a movement
has been started by that company
called the "Junk the Junk” drive. A
trade-in allowance o f $3.00 is made
on any kind of game regardless of
kind or description, to apply on
purchase of Blue Ribbon machines
only. This offer extends to Janu
ary 15 and operators are asked to
write for full details.
The second item is the introduc
tion of a new popular priced game,
"Pennant” , to sell in the price range
of #25.00.
Tune and space forbid further
details.
http://cmj.arcade-museum.com/
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