Vending commission rate checker

A building wants a cut of your machine’s sales and you need to know if the number is normal. Pick the kind of location, enter the monthly sales and the commission they asked for, and see how it compares and what you keep at each rate.

Two benchmarks, labelled for what they are. The public one comes from 28 government, school and college vending contracts we read line by line: the 7 that state one rate for every machine have a median of 25% (10% to 52%). The location-type bands come from our commission rates guide and reflect what operators report signing at private sites, not a survey.

The public contracts behind the benchmark

These are the 7 documents, out of 28 reviewed, that state one commission rate for every machine. The rest either let bidders name the rate or split it by product line. Full method and every document: Vending Commission Rates and Contract Terms 2026.

How to use the result

1. Inside or below the band: the ask is normal. Put it in the agreement with gross sales defined as money collected less sales tax and refunds.
2. Above the band: counter with the number from the table that keeps your after-product-cost figure where you need it, or offer a step-up: a lower rate now and a higher one once sales pass a level you name.
3. Flagged red: offer a monthly product credit instead of cash, or walk. There are more locations than machines.
4. Write it down: drop the agreed rate into the placement agreement generator so the draft matches the handshake.

Our data has limits and we say so: the public sample is 7 documents and skews to large, bid accounts, and the private bands are editorial. For the negotiating side, read tiered revenue-share agreements and how to negotiate vending locations.

Questions people ask

What is a normal vending machine commission rate?

It depends on who is asking. In the 7 public government and campus contracts we reviewed that state one rate, the median was 25% of sales, from 10% to 52%. Those are large, competitively bid accounts. For private sites, our commission rates guide puts most small and mid-size accounts at about 5% to 12%, with small offices and laundromats often at 0%.

Is commission paid on gross sales or profit?

On gross sales, almost always, so the location is paid before your product cost. That is why the checker shows two numbers: what you keep after commission, and what is left after product cost too. Define gross sales in the agreement as money collected less sales tax and refunds.

How small is the public-contract sample?

Small: 7 documents out of 28 state a single rate for every machine. Most public solicitations ask bidders to name the rate, so the number never appears. Treat the median as a reference point for bid work, not as what a private building should ask.

When should I walk away from a commission ask?

The rule in our guide: walk when commission plus your product cost reaches about 58% of sales, or when a site asks over 20% without the volume to carry it. The checker flags both. You can also offer a monthly product credit instead of cash, which costs you only your product cost on it.

Does this tool tell me what a location will make?

No. It does arithmetic on the monthly sales figure you type in. To estimate sales for a specific building, use the location value calculator, then bring that number back here.

Sources

• Vending Commission Rates and Contract Terms 2026: VendBuddy review of 28 public vending RFPs, agreements and awards (2015–2026), as of 2026-10-08; single-rate documents n=7. CSV.
• Location-type bands and the 55% / 58% lines: Vending Machine Commission Rates (editorial bands from operator practice).
• Each public document is linked in the table above.