Owning an ATM machine

illumination on 30/03/2014 - 00:36

Fellow cheapies,

In addition to us 'saving' money by purchasing good deals off ozbargain, I figured another way for us to find further success in our quest of saving money was to find ways to make more money that we can save!

So I decided to research ways of making passive income, and an idea that came to mind was to purchase an ATM machine and make money of the surcharges per transaction.

From there I began my google quest to find if such a business was in existence in Australia and I found Own Your Own ATM.

And I also found this.

So lets re-commence this discussion.

I'm curious as to whether anyone has attempted this. From other search results I've found so far, it doesn't seem like many people have tried, or just the ones that have tried haven't shared their experiences (with the exception of user honkyb in the previous ozbargain post, but there was no elaboration on his success).

Link 1

General Discussion

Comments

  • mskeggs on 30/03/2014 - 06:51

    Where would you site it? Chatting to the local take away owner who lost 15% of his shop front when he put in an ATM, he gets a bit of stress from users having problems (he just directs them to a 1800 number), but seemed otherwise ok.

    • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:34

      Somewhere with a lot of traffic and no ATMs nearby I suppose…

      • Forfiet on 14/04/2014 - 20:09

        a median strip on a main road? Got ya!

  • robotdad on 30/03/2014 - 07:00
    +2

    And this is why Nigeria continues to enjoy its national advance-fee-fraud industry. Don't ignore the bad stories because you want it to work or believe that your success will be greater than those that have gone before you.
    There have to be some other turnkey investments that have an enduring historical success with established and transparent business models. Laundromats, carwashes etc?

  • holdenmg on 30/03/2014 - 08:24
    +1

    Hi,

    Google "port adelaide football club atm sponsor"

    The better more established company in thia area is http://www.customersatm.com.au/

    • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:41

      Yea I read about myATM (posted it in the OP). Sounds fishy.

  • c64 on 30/03/2014 - 08:42
    +5

    it will quickly turn expensive when someone decides that they want to contents of your atm and pulls up in a 4x4 with a tow rope and rips out the machine, along with much of the surrounding wall.

    you need to pay for the machine, you will need insurance and then hope that people will actually use the machine.

    i think the people making most of the money are the ones supplying and maintaining the atm.

    • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:42

      I've definitely thought of that too.
      Insurance for the potential loss? Something similar to home & contents insurance.

  • altomic on 30/03/2014 - 12:08
    +1

    if it was so good then why are the companies renting/selling them?

    • wukachuka on 30/03/2014 - 12:49
      +2

      ^^^ This, totally…
      If it was making decent money you would'nt be able to hire them imo.

    • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:45

      A great question, which I myself am also struggling to answer.
      But definitely agree with you and wukachuka. I wonder what's in it for them to hire them out to 'investors'.

      • tonyjzx on 30/03/2014 - 17:48

        i think its the same as investment property schemes and whatever

        how is this different to vending machine owners? every scheme has its winners and losers

  • retiredfeline on 30/03/2014 - 12:14

    Stick with saving money with the ING 5% cashback. I haven't used an ATM for a while, preferring to get my cash from Woolies cashout, with the 50c bonus. While ATMs will live on for a while, electronic payment will surely erode their usage.

    • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:48

      Well I would if the cashback was still active for me, but even so, we're talking about different things here. 5% cashback is a way to save money when you're spending money. I'm trying to find ways of earning more money.

      Although, on your second sentence I have considered that to be potential competition to ATM machines and these ATM businesses. I guess a good place to site an ATM would be near a shop which doesn't accept card payments.

      • retiredfeline on 30/03/2014 - 18:29

        True, earned money and saved money are different things. However if you were to compare the worth of $1 earned vs $1 saved, $1 earned is worth $1 minus your marginal tax rate, whereas $1 saved is worth its full value because it's post-tax.

        The other things I want to mention is these ATMs are put in places where people have few or no alternatives. I saw one in a student cafe where the maximum withdrawal was $60, meaning the service fee ($2? $3?) was a high fraction of the withdrawal. Speaking for myself I don't want to take advantage of people that way.

  • MATTDAMON on 30/03/2014 - 15:17

    Few guys at work own ATM's and get resonable returns, they are all parked inside pubs/RSL and they earn around 100-200 a week in pure profit after expenses. Its not too bad given the relatively minor outlay for one.

    • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:49

      $100-200/wk is very decent - that equates to $400-800 per month, which is $5000-10000 per year.

      If the figures are accurate, on a worst case scenario ($5000/yr), you would take about 3-4 years to earn back the initial outlay of the ATM. Otherwise, you would take 1.5 years (at $10000/yr).

      How much more do you know about it though?

      • djones145 on 31/03/2014 - 07:21

        Pubs and rsl are prolly the best case scenario but hard to get and limited and most already have them

        Next best bet is a 7 eleven in the city or something like that but most already have it. Chances are you'll be earning less than half of what you can get in a pub or rsl meaning return period is going to be higher.

  • illumination on 30/03/2014 - 17:51

    Something else that baffles me..
    Why can the ATMs be sold back to them for 10% of the initial purchase price after the 'agreement period' (of 8 or 10 years) has finished? Why is the ATM only worth 10% of the cost, and even so, why would we sell it if after the period is over, if it is still generating consistent cashflow and money?

    I would imagine that if the ATM turns out to be lucrative, common sense tells me it should be worth more than what we paid for it. Not 90% less…

    • JimmyF on 31/03/2014 - 15:07

      Everything has a useful life…. Do you SEE 10 yr old ATM's kicking around? The answer is no. These machines have a lot of moving parts, things wear out and need replacing. 10 years is a pretty good run. Basically they are saying you are going to get 20% of your investment back each year for 10 years, then 10% back at the end of it. So 110% return over 10 years.

      It sounds too good to be true….. which sort of makes me wonder, you know the old saying. If it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is!

      • Forfiet on 14/04/2014 - 20:13

        plus in 10 years time people would of possibly learned new ways how to tamper with that particular machine model…..

  • whiteflame on 31/03/2014 - 10:18

    The real issue is finding a profitable location. Any profitable location in the CBD in any city is already taken. So good luck in finding one.

    • JimmyF on 31/03/2014 - 15:15

      read the website, they do all this for you. Basically you pony up $14k and they will return a MIN of 20% a year to you, or $0.3 per transaction, whichever is highest. After 10 years, they will buy the machine back for 10%.

      The grey area seems to be about site fees, servicing of the machine etc.

      • djones145 on 31/03/2014 - 20:27

        sounds sus

        with interest rates at record lows
        people should be falling over themselves taking out a second mortgage to invest heavily in these!
        with interest rates at 5% and this is a guarantee 20% return its like printing money!

        • JimmyF on 02/04/2014 - 11:33

          Correct…. As i said above, If it sounds too good to be true then you know the old saying. If it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is!

        • djones145 on 02/04/2014 - 12:50

          just like mushroom farms and ostrich eggs its fully legit and free money

          please send me all ur funds and i will invest for you

  • altomic on 07/04/2014 - 21:14

    nvm

  • retiredfeline on 16/07/2015 - 16:08
    +1

    Came across this news item and remembered this discussion.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-16/hundreds-of-atm-invest…

    Looks like a Ponzi scheme.

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