it is the average civilian ex-war worker,
who in many instances has accumulated
savings in cash and bonds. This type of
prospective victim in many cases has lost
his war work, and with a sizable reserve
of money is looking for a legitimate in·
vestment. Veterans are fairly well protected
by the provisions of the G.I. Bill of Rights
and the investigations conducted under
that bill. But the "flush" civilian relies
too often on his own judgment, sometimes
to his subsequent deep regret.
In Philadelphia a series of advertise·
ments appeared in the newspapers offering
vending machines and vending machine
equipment at a small price with the prom-
ise of enormous profits. The typical victim
was rushed through a deal, ~old a lot of
high. priced equipment or an exclusive ter-
ritory, and then too late discovered that
the locations were so poor that he could
never hope to pay the cost of the equip-
ment.
There is of course a legitimate and
profitable business in the stamp vending
machine business. But the very fact that
there are many legitimate operators in this
field make it a profitable one for the
unscrupulous promoter. Frequently an ad-
vertisement will be placed in a newspaper
advertising a stamp vender route and rna·
chines for sale with the promise of huge
profits. The victim often learns that while
the machines and the routes are real
enough, the profits are grossly exaggerated.
Most every owner of a business establish-
COIN
ment is glad to have a stamp vending ma-
MACHINE chine on the premises because of the time
it saves him and because of the small profit
he acquires from it. But the trade in stamps
must be in sufficient volume to ' pay for
the machine in a reasonable length of
time, or the owner of the machine will
suffer a loss.
FOR
MARCH
Those who have made and continue to
make a good living from stamp vending
machines advise newcomers to watch the
route over a period of time, study the
income, and make certain that the entire
operation is all that is advertised.
There are many types of coin operated
machines for which the racketeer has de-
vised some method to de.fraud. One of
these is through the purported sale of
exclusive rights to a single territory-
R"'EW
12
"4'
STANDARD BRANDS
Presents tlte
MACHINE TESTER
Locates trouble instantly in all
electrical devices. Tests conti·
nuity, open circuits, grounds,
etc. Short circuits easily de.
tected. No blowing of fuses.
Highly e1ficient. Easy to use.
Perfectly safe. Every operator
should have one.
$9.50
complete with Instructions
Badger Solei
Badger Novelty
1612 W. Plco Blvd .
Los Angeles
2546 North 30th St.
Milwaukee
"rights" that are sold as many times over
as the traffic will bear, or until the pro-
moter is caught.
Then again, the racketeer "salts" a route.
He gets possession of a number of rna·
chines, puts them on locations, and claims
to have an established business. His method
is to go from one machine to another,
depositing a good deal of money in each,
then take his victim around with him to
witness the collections. Naturally, the vic·
tim does a little mental arithmetic and
comes to the conclusion that with this
tidy income he will pay for the machines
in a few weeks-after which time the
income will be all gravy.
Better Business Bureaus have issued the
following as a yardstick for profits:
"Potential profits from the operation of
vending machines of all types are depend·
ent upon a number of factors: the avail-
ability of similar merchandise in the
immediate vicinity of the vendor; price of
the same merchandise elsewhere; the prox-
imity of similar vendors; the condition
of the vending machine (no sales when
machine is out of order); the amount of
WE TAKE THE GAMBLE
WHEN YOU BUY FROM US!
Any Machine We Sell Is Guaranteed to Satisfy or the Ship-
ment Can Be Returned Within Five Days After Delivery for
Full Cash Refund of Purchase Price Less the Transportation
charges.
GET OUR PRICES
MILLS
MILLS
MILLS
MILLS
GOLD CHROME BELLS
MILLS
SILVER CHROME BELLS
MILLS
BROWN FRONT BELLS
MILLS
BLUE FRONT BELLS
MILLS
BAKERS PACERS
ALL MODELS -
CHERRY BELLS
BONUS BELLS
MELON BELLS
CLUB CONSOLES
ALL COIN PLAYS
We Speclallze in Rebuilding Mills Slots and Paces Races
SEE US FOR PACES RACES - Service and Supplies
BAKER NOVELTY CO.
1700 WASHINGTON BLVD., CHICAGO 12, ILL.
work necessary to service the machine and
keep it in operation; the original cost of
the machines and the nature of the con-
tract with the merchant on whose location
the machine is placed, and the margin
between cost and selling price of the
machine. All of these factors should be
carefully weighed prior to purchase."
The best advice is to be automatically
suspicious of anyone who promises, or
"guarantees" higj1. returns on an invest-
ment. Associations of coin machine oper-
ators and distributors and Better Business
Bureaus located in practically all large
cities will supply information without ob·
ligation to anyone interested in entering
the coin machine field. Those already suc-
cessfully established in the business, and
who are anxious to maintain a good repu-
tation for the business will do well to
adopt the slogan "before you invest-in-
vestigate."
Repeafoscope fo Resume
NEW YORK-Initially shown at the 1941
Coin Machine Show in Chicago and forced
into the mothballs by the advent of war,
Repeatoscope is making ready to offer its
automatic coin-controlled motion picture
mat:hine again. During the Show, Repeato-
scope booked substantial orders from more
than 350 operators and interest has re-
mained at a high pitch during the war
years.
Repeatoscope offers a new method of han-
dling film that licks film breakage which
has been the main cause of service calls on
movie devices. In Repeatoscope the films
are mounted on metal carrying bands which
absorb all the mechanical stresses. This
multiplies the volume of reliable unbroken
service in cyclical operation at least twenty
times, according to officials of the firm.
Further contention is that the saving in
film stock used more than offsets the cost of
applying the metal carriers. A patented rna·
chine perforates and assembles the two com-
ponent strips in one operation.
Tests have been made in various local
spots and average take has been over $30
per week. Two machines operating contin-
uously for two and a half years in the Ter·
minal averaged $50 per month per machine
with operating costs, exclusive of location
rent, amounting to about 10 per cent of the
gross.
Repeatoscope will be in production shortly
and estimates there are more than 350,000
locations awaiting machines in this country
alone.