Vending Machine Revenue Calculator
Calculate vending machine revenue, profit, ROI, and break-even timeline based on daily sales, profit per item, and machine cost.
Vending machine profit calculation helps operators decide whether a specific location is worth the investment in equipment, stocking, and maintenance time.
The core formulas:
Monthly Gross Revenue = Daily Sales × Average Item Price × Days per Month
Monthly Profit = Gross Revenue − (Product Cost + Location Fee + Service Cost + Depreciation)
Payback Period (months) = Machine Cost / Monthly Profit
ROI = (Annual Profit / Total Investment) × 100
What each variable means:
- Daily Sales — average number of items sold per day (varies widely: 5–10 for poor locations, 50–150+ for busy offices or schools)
- Product Cost — wholesale cost of items (typically 40–60% of vending price)
- Location Fee — commission paid to the property owner (typically 10–25% of gross revenue)
- Service Cost — your time to restock, collect cash, and handle repairs
Worked example: Machine cost: $3,000. Daily sales: 30 items. Average price: $1.75. Product cost ratio: 50%. Location commission: 15%. Monthly service cost: $80.
Monthly revenue = 30 × $1.75 × 30 = $1,575 Product cost = $1,575 × 0.50 = $787.50 Location fee = $1,575 × 0.15 = $236.25 Monthly profit = $1,575 − $787.50 − $236.25 − $80 = $471.25/month Payback period = $3,000 / $471.25 = 6.4 months
Location quality benchmarks:
- Excellent (factory/warehouse 200+ workers): 80–150 sales/day
- Good (office 50–100 workers): 20–50 sales/day
- Average (small gym): 10–20 sales/day
- Poor (low-foot-traffic area): under 10 sales/day