- Four different businesses answer this question, and they get conflated constantly: locator services, turnkey package providers, revenue-share placers, and route brokers selling sites that already exist.
- Per-placement locators charge $400–$1,500 a site, payable whether or not the site performs. Per-lead marketplaces are $39–$99/month for leads often sold to several operators at once.
- Revenue-share looks free and is the most expensive of the four on a good machine. 15% of a $1,200/month site is $2,160 a year, every year, against a one-time fee under $1,500.
- “Location assistance” is not “locations.” In a turnkey package, get the number of contractually promised signed placements in writing, or accept that you are buying help.
- The DIY route is cheaper per close for almost everyone under about 20 machines — and the honest case for paying someone is speed, not quality.
Somewhere between deciding to buy a machine and actually placing one, nearly every new operator goes looking for a company that will just handle the hard part. That search is reasonable — placement is the skill the whole business runs on, and it is the one nobody arrives with. Before you spend anything, it is worth reading how to find vending locations so you know what you are outsourcing. This page is the honest map of who actually sells that service, what each model costs in practice, and where the DIY route beats all of them.
Is there a company that finds vending machine locations for you?
Yes — four different kinds, and conflating them is how people end up disappointed. Locator services find and sign placements for a per-placement fee, usually $400–$1,500 a site. Turnkey package providers bundle location assistance into a five- or six-figure equipment purchase. Revenue-share placers charge nothing up front and keep a percentage of what the machine earns. Route brokers skip the problem entirely by selling you locations that already have machines and revenue on them. The right one depends far less on price than on whether you have equipment, capital, or time as your scarce resource.
The four models, side by side
| Model | What you pay | What you actually get | Best when | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locator service | $400–$1,500 per signed placement, or $39–$99/month for leads | A signed host agreement, or a list of prospects | You have machines sitting unplaced and a pipeline that is not producing | The fee is due whether the site performs or not, and marketplace leads are often sold several times over |
| Turnkey package | $30,000–$260,000 for equipment, training and location help | Machines, a start-up programme, and assistance finding sites | You want one transaction instead of ten decisions, and have the capital | “Assistance” is usually not a contractual number of placements — this is the clause to read twice |
| Revenue-share placer | $0 up front, then 10–25% of gross, ongoing | A placement you did not pay cash for | You own equipment and have no capital and no pipeline | The best sites cost you the most, forever. Ask if the share ever ends |
| Route broker | Typically 1–2x annual net for an existing route | Machines already earning at locations already signed | You have financing and want revenue this month rather than in six | The seller knows which of those locations is about to churn and you do not |
Picture the machines paying you while you sleep
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Start building free →1. Locator services
This is the category most people mean. It splits three ways: per-lead marketplaces at $39–$99 a month, per-placement locators at $400–$1,500 a signed site, and full-service business development retainers at $1,500–$5,000 a month. They fail in different ways, and the failure modes matter more than the price list — the full breakdown, including how to vet one and what operators actually report afterwards, is in our honest review of vending locator services.
The short version: per-placement locators are the most honest structure of the three, because they only get paid when something is signed. The reliable diligence step is the same for all of them — ask for three operator references with placements in your region in the last six months and call them, and ask what the site grossed in month three rather than whether they were happy.
2. Franchise-style turnkey packages
These sell a start rather than a placement: machines, training, supplier relationships and some level of location help, for anywhere from about $30,000 to well past $200,000 depending on machine count. The location component is the part that gets oversold in the sales call and underspecified in the contract, so treat it as a separate negotiation from the equipment.
Three questions to put in writing before signing anything: how many signed placements are contractually promised, what the remedy is if a placement fails inside 90 days, and who owns the host relationship if you later leave the programme. A package that answers the first question with a number is selling locations. One that answers with a description of a process is selling help — which can still be worth it, at a different price.
If you are weighing a specific provider, we have the arithmetic worked through on Naturals2Go compared against sourcing your own machines, the ranked field in the best Naturals2Go alternatives, the same comparison for HealthyYOU Vending, and the structural question underneath all of them in franchise versus independent.
3. Revenue-share placers
Someone finds and signs the site, you supply and service the machine, and they take 10–25% of gross for the life of the agreement. Nothing is due up front, which is exactly why it appeals to operators who have equipment and no cash, and it is a genuinely reasonable trade in that situation.
The problem is that it prices your success rather than their work. Fifteen percent of a machine grossing $1,200 a month is $2,160 a year — every year — against a one-time placement fee that would have been under $1,500 once. On a weak site the deal costs you almost nothing, and on a strong one it quietly becomes the most expensive line on the route. Two clauses decide whether it is acceptable: does the share terminate on a date, and can you buy it out for a stated figure. If neither, you have sold a permanent stake in your best location to get one placement.
Note also that this stacks on top of whatever the host is already taking. Read it against normal vending commission rates before you agree, because a 12% host commission plus a 15% placer share on a 27% net margin is not a business.
4. The DIY route (what it actually costs)
Self-sourcing is not free — it costs hours — but the cash comparison is not close for a small route. A lead tool runs $29–$79 a month for unlimited scored prospects, and self-sourced lists close at roughly 15–25% against 5–15% on marketplace leads that went to every operator within a hundred miles. Cost per close lands in the tens of dollars rather than the hundreds.
The honest cost is calendar time and rejection tolerance. Expect to work through a lot of no before the pipeline compounds, which is the part paid placement genuinely does buy you out of. If cold outreach is the specific thing stopping you, the two things that fix it fastest are a better list and a better opener: how to cold call vending machine locations and what each objection actually means.
VendBuddy scores real businesses in your ZIP by headcount, category and captivity, and names the decision-maker role to ask for at each one. It is the same input a locator works from, at a fraction of one placement fee. Free to start, no card required.
How to choose, in order
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a company that finds vending machine locations for you?
Yes, and there are four different kinds, which is why the answers people get vary so wildly. Locator services find and sign placements for a per-placement fee, typically 400 to 1,500 dollars a site. Turnkey package providers bundle location assistance into a five- or six-figure equipment purchase. Revenue-share placers find the site for free and keep a cut of what the machine earns, sometimes indefinitely. And route brokers sell you locations that already exist, with machines already on them. None of them are the same product, and the cheapest headline number is rarely the cheapest outcome.
How much does it cost to have someone find a vending location?
A per-placement locator generally charges 400 to 1,500 dollars per signed site, payable whether or not that site performs. A per-lead marketplace runs 39 to 99 dollars a month for leads that are usually sold to more than one operator. A full-service business development retainer runs 1,500 to 5,000 dollars a month. In a revenue-share deal you pay nothing up front and instead give away a slice of gross for as long as the agreement runs, which on a good machine is by far the most expensive of the four over five years.
Do vending franchise and turnkey packages really include locations?
Most include location assistance rather than guaranteed placements, and the distinction is the single most important thing to get in writing before you sign. Ask three questions: how many signed placements are contractually promised, what happens if a placement fails inside 90 days, and who owns the relationship with the host if you later leave the programme. If the answer to the first is a number, get it in the contract. If it is a description of a process, you are buying help, not locations.
What is a revenue-share vending placement deal?
Someone finds and signs the location, you supply and service the machine, and they take an ongoing percentage of gross sales - commonly 10 to 25 percent - either forever or for a fixed term. It is genuinely useful when you have equipment and no pipeline, because nothing is due up front. The arithmetic turns against you fast on a good site: 15 percent of a machine grossing 1,200 dollars a month is 2,160 dollars a year, every year, against a one-time locator fee that would have been under 1,500 dollars. Always ask whether the share ends and whether you can buy it out.
Is it better to find vending machine locations yourself?
For almost every operator under about 20 machines, yes, on cost alone. Self-sourced lists close at roughly 15 to 25 percent against 5 to 15 percent on shared marketplace leads, and the monthly cost of a lead tool is a fraction of one placement fee. The real argument for paying someone is speed and time value, not quality: if you are entering a new metro and need five placements in 60 days, or your hours are genuinely worth more than the fee, buying placements is a rational trade. If you are placing machine number one, it is usually just an expensive way to avoid learning the skill the whole business runs on.
Related: the honest locator services review, how to find and land locations yourself, the best Naturals2Go alternatives, franchise versus independent, what commission rates are normal, buying an existing route without getting burned, and the negotiation playbook.