Sales
They are not what was in the cash box: that also holds the change you put in, and leaves out card payments. Sales come from how much each slot emptied, or from the counters.
Vending machine profit calculator How much does your machine really make?
Enter your numbers and see what is left once VAT, stock, the site's commission, waste, visits and the cost of the machine come off. It starts with a made-up example: replace each figure with yours.
Free, no sign-up Your figures never leave your browser
What the machine makes per month
€205
- Per year
- €2,460
- From each euro sold, excl. VAT
- €0.26
- What each sale leaves
- €0.425
- Break-even point
- 318 sales a month, about 11 a day
- You recover the machine in
- 13.6 months
- Your hour works out at
- €41.00
See the full calculation
| Takings, incl. VAT | €880.00 |
| Sales excl. VAT | €800.00 |
| Stock sold | −€360.00 |
| Site commission | −€80.00 |
| Waste | −€20.00 |
| Visits | −€40.00 |
| Machine depreciation | −€60.00 |
| Other fixed costs | −€35.00 |
| What the machine makes | €205.00 |
A rough calculation with the figures you enter. It does not replace your accountant.
How it is worked out
The same calculation for every machine.
What changes from one machine to another is the numbers, not the calculation. This is the line the calculator uses:
What it makes = sales excl. VAT − stock sold − site commission − waste − visits − depreciation − other fixed costs.
- What each sale leaves is the price excluding VAT minus what grows with each sale: the stock, the percentage commission and the waste spread over the sales.
- The break-even point is the number of sales that pays for what does not depend on selling (visits, depreciation, fixed costs and the site's flat fee). Below it, the machine loses money even with a full cash box.
- The payback period divides what the machine cost by what it makes each month before depreciation. It is most useful before you buy.
- The calculation explained step by step, with the costs people forget most, in our guide How much a vending machine makes.
To get it right
The figures people get wrong most.
The cost of stock
Your latest purchase price, not last year's. When the supplier puts prices up and the machine price stays the same, the margin shrinks without warning.
Waste
What expires or breaks shows up nowhere unless you write it down, and each unit thrown away takes the margin of several sold.
Questions
About the calculation.
How many sales a day does a machine need to be profitable?
As many as its break-even point, and that changes with each machine. In the calculator's example it is about 318 a month, around eleven a day. Enter your costs and margin to see it for yours.
How much does a site charge to host a vending machine?
There is no set rate: it is agreed with each site. It can be a percentage of sales, a monthly amount or both. The calculator handles either.
What VAT rate do I enter?
The one included in the price of what you sell. If you mix products with different rates, use an average weighted by sales. For Spain, we explain the rates in VAT in vending machines.
Does it work outside Spain?
Yes. The calculation is the same anywhere: enter your own VAT rate, prices and costs. Only the example and the guides linked here refer to Spain.
Do you store the figures I enter?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and is not sent anywhere. If you reload the page, the example comes back.
More things that eat into the route
Does any other ring a bell?
This calculation, done for you at every restock.
Repónlo works out sales from what you record at each visit and, with your fixed costs and what you agreed with each site, shows you the profitability for the period. Free for one machine.
Start free with one machine