Coin Laundry as a Business - Inputs Please?

hey peps - anyone here has any experience with coin laundry as a business? I am considering buying one in eastern suburbs of Melbourne. heaps of them up for sale and varying prices.

Interested to know what things I need to consider and how do the numbers stack up. Will talk to a few agents over the next few weeks.

  • Generally, how much is the profit margin?
  • What should be a good price given the weekly sales, have noticed listings about 15-20 times of monthly sales.
  • Can the numbers be trusted given its mostly cash business unless it accepts card payments.

Any other gotchas i should consider?

TIA.

Comments

  • +65

    Nice try, ato

    • +5

      In OzBargain, my troll posts identify me.

  • +10

    A lot of these answers will differ based on location and market. Anecdotal information will not help you as may not apply to your specific case.

    You'll want to pull together a proper business plan and may need to hire some professionals to assist you with estimating revenue & strategy but also identify all the different risks, costs, taxes, legals and other considerations that may impact your decision.

    • +2

      I plan to do that. Ta.

  • +79

    heaps of them up for sale

    What does this tell you?

    • +1

      A bit confusing, so that’s why want to assess.
      Will do the numbers and calculations but wanted to see if there are any experienced players here.

    • +13

      Owning a laundromat it actually alot of work. Its not passive in that you just sit back and collect coins.

      There are lots of videos on it on Youtube as its a popular revenue stream.

      Im willing to bet people didnt realise the work involved and want to move on.

      • +3

        Years ago I helped a family friend from time to time who owned one. Agreed - it was constant work.

        If you want the place to look half respectable it needs manning at least 2-3 hours per day. That's just for cleaning. If you plan to offer service washes it'll be even more time to wash, dry and fold. If you don't clean the place every day it'll look like crap - dust and fluff everywhere, people spill soap powder everywhere, empty their pockets all over the floor so sand and crumbs go everywhere.

        Then you have people that decide to walk in in work boots leaving mud all over the floor. Nearby restaurants try to wash their greasy tea towels and other people bring dog/animal bedding and try to wash it at the laundromat because they don't want to use their own machine. For this reason after seeing this, I would never put my clothes in a laundromat machine, I'd rather hand wash them if my washing machine broke.

        Then there's the people that have stuck coins, so shove all sorts of stuff in the slot to try to fix it jamming up the mechanism which requires repairs. One time the change machine was vandalised in an attempt to steal it.

        Then there are the fair share of abusive and rude customers who will complain.

        All in all, it's a lot of work. I think it's pretty telling there are so many for sale. People have had enough and want out.

  • +17

    Can the numbers be trusted

    No money in laundering?¿

    • +3

      The white powder is for cleaning the ~nose~ cloths.

  • +6

    Generally, how much is the profit margin?

    They are not, unless you already have a supplemental pre-existing cash friendly business …

    have noticed listings about 15-20 times of monthly sales.
    heaps of them up for sale and varying prices.

    These two statements don't already trigger alarm bells for you?!?

    Can the numbers be trusted

    Um, these businesses aren't usually setup for transparency, do you think you can trust the numbers?!?

    • -2

      I am thinking from % returns annually e.g. one listed for 200K says weekly sales of $3500 so monthly sale is 14k approx.

      10-12% profit on sales will give around 7-10% ROI.
      Need to validate these numbers.

      • +4

        As above, in a pending recession, do you think people would "give up" such lucrative investments?

        As above, again, these statements should be triggering alarm bells for you ;)

      • +2

        $3500 a month is dreaming I'd say… @ $1 or 2 bux per wash…..

        • $3500 a week 😲

        • +18

          Where are you getting a wash for under $5 these days at a commercial laundromat?

          Our local is minimum $6 for 9KG, up to $15 for 27KG. Dryer is $1 per 6 minutes, we'd usually have to spend $5.

          At ~$10 average spend per person, that's only 350 washes a week, or 50 washes per day.

          • @Jolakot: Not be judgemental but can I ask, why do you use a laundromat?

            I know people use them for large doona's that don't fit regular machine but for regular clothes?

            • -3

              @JimB: Maybe he uses a laundromat because he doesn't have a laundry, I'm guessing that would be fairly high on the reason scale..

              Btw starting a question with "not to be judgemental but…" Means you are being judgemental.

              • +3

                @Grish: I guess there's no way not to be judgemental then.

            • +2

              @JimB: We mostly use our own small washing machine for regular clothes, but we'll often use their dryers during winter, as drying stuff inside sucks

              Only time we really use their washers is for heavy stuff, especially wool blankets and thick wool coats, as well as doonas etc

              • @Jolakot: Thanks. Makes sense.

                How many minutes does it take to dry thick woolen blankets/coats/doonas in the commercial dryer?

                I'm fortunate to have a large washing machine but our dryer won't handle big doona's so we have to time the wash with clear bright day in winter. Would take days to dry indoors.

                • +1

                  @JimB: We'll usually put $7 in the machine, so I guess 42 minutes

                • +1

                  @JimB: i did a blanket in dryer $7 and i think it was 30 mins

                • @JimB: Well I'm not sure anyone would put anything woolen in a dryer? Doing a cold air dry and light tumble is pretty worthless

            • +2

              @JimB: I've seen people use them for their pet's stuff, so their own machines at home don't get filled up with dog hairs, etc, and then grody up their clothes and sheets later.
              I don't think the machines are cleaned or maintained on any proper schedule.
              Using a laundromat is just one step up from washing your stuff in the puddles outside the local pub.

              • @playerzer2: lol a bit like the car wash for dirty 4WDs.

                Having said that, washing machines are designed to wash dirty items, so dog hair etc will be caught in the waste filters and not circulating in the washing cycle.

                Plus these are commercial machines.

                I'm pretty certain it's in the business owners best interest to clean the machines on a regular schedule.

          • @Jolakot: thanks for this insight. never used one so wasn't sure what are the prices

        • +4

          i went to one the other week and it was $12 per wash and $7 for the dryer

          • @TrustNoBody: I'm on the wrong planet.

            • @pharkurnell: the only reason i went and paid that much was i did a heavy asf king size minky blanket , 1 king quilt , double bed sheets and there’s no way it would fit in my 8kg washer as this was 26kg washer n had heaps more room

      • +2

        There is your answer right there. 7-10% is not good for an active business, that is basically what you would expect from a REIT. Have you subtracted a wage for someone to maintain the equipment, or is your labour free?

        The only reason someone would buy such a shitty business is to get around citizenship requirements

        • +2

          This and it's exactly why so many are available once you have citizenship better to put your cash and time elsewhere.

      • similar figures to what i have seen also, however they do fluctuate (without any logic) throughout the year, a lot seems to depend on where you are also.

        I've had trouble and figuring out a starting from scratch scenario

      • +3

        No one here seems to mentioned the key problem with these businesses. Power & maintenance costs, with power being the No1.

        Electricity prices are rising & these machines are massive power users. It's a terrible business to be moving into as most users can buy a cheap 'no brand' machine at home for a fraction of the cost 10 yrs ago.

        • Given with ridiculous rent price with smaller size of unit, I bet some ppl choose to just use coin laundries instead of having their own…

          Not that I would go there but I've seen some units don't have laundry room

    • +4

      have a supplemental pre-existing cash friendly business

      like "driving a Winnebago into the desert for a weekend with some chemistry supplies" kind of business :)

    • +1

      already have a supplemental pre-existing cash friendly business

      so bikies?

  • +3

    see if the books are verifable, eg tax returns, go to the business in person and observe how busy it is. Check water and elecricity and rent costs (long lease and rent increases etc)

    • +1

      Thanks for the pointers.

      • +2

        Have a forensic accountant with knowledge of Newcomb–Benford law etc to check over the books properly. Cash businesses are inherently difficult to verify etc; however cooking books is also moderately easy to verify and there is some science behind it etc.

  • +6

    Also isnt electricity going up on July 1, consult an accountant about small business and if any help from government, taxation wise

    • +8

      This is key - the biggest OPEX for these businesses is electricity and prices are only going up, competition is strong, easily replacable and your ability to respond to input increases is constrained by a tight market.

      If you were the only laundry in a mining town, a great investment. If you're one of 20 in a suburb - maybe not so much.

      But review the books, factor in a 50% price rise in power costs, and see if the numbers stack up

      • +1

        This guy launders!

        • the first detail email i get from selling agent says ATO numbers are less than actuals.. so can't really trust and difficult to verify

          • +3

            @coolhead: For purposes of evaluating the business, ignore this - go strictly off the ATO numbers. Not only can you not verify these cash-in-hand figures (which may well actually also have unspecified outgoings for cash casual employees), they are very likely to disappear at any time if the ATO pays a visit.

            But do you really want to buy a business operating outside the law? Moral questions aside it's risky, to put it mildly.

          • +1

            @coolhead: So send this email to the ATO

  • +5

    see if there is room for an add on income such as drink and snack vending machine or combo that you fill yourself, also check if there is a sevice person for machines and how new they are, even energy efficiency, also a hot drink vending machine such as coffee

    • Sounds like a good idea. Maybe a skill tester and/or kids toy ones too.

    • +5

      Maybe a couple of pokies and you are in business.

      • +17

        Would fit a lot more pokies if you got rid of the washing and drying machines.

        • +1

          I’m gonna start my own laundromat! With blackjack and hookers!

  • +5

    Do your own maths. You have some sales figures - work out how many wash/dries that is, how much power used, how much water.
    Price the machines, depreciate them over their warranty life.
    Add the rent and rates/utilities.
    How are you going to staff it, how are you going to handle cash, what does that cost.

    Good luck.

    • Thanks for additional pointers. had most of it in my questions list.

      • +1

        make sure to include all running costs… maintenance, who is going to check on the shop/ empty the machines etc… if you could buy a few and make the rounds weekly might be worth it, one on its own and expecting to be "passive" i think is fantasy, if it was so alot more people would be doing it.

  • +9

    You need way, way more information than "it's a coin laundry" and do some due diligence. It's like asking what a cafe makes, it varies all over the place.

    Where is it, what's the population like and changes that have/are happening, have you checked if any new ones are popping up nearby, how old are the machines (if you're going to have to replace 20 washing machines at $3k a pop there goes years of your profits), what are the main costs and have they changed thanks to supply issues with covid/power prices/etc.

    These things are cheap as dirt to start up too. Are the people you're buying off just going to take your cash and start a new one? There's probably a better business in flipping these places than there is owning them.

    • Interesting view, setting up a new one from scratch. Will have to do some numbers for this tho. Thanks.

      I would be looking n at something with fairly new machines under warranty etc.

    • and do some due diligence

      Not OP but I'm curious. How would due diligence look in this scenario? It's not like you can ask existing laundries as they will not be forthcoming. Google will be vague. Business advisors will not be specialised. etc

      Not disagreeing, just genuinely curious how someone would get the ball rolling on an adventure like this.

      • +10

        No probs! I used to work in audit and did a bit of due diligence work, a lot of it is common sense. You sell something, you spend money to sell that thing/service, you hire people to do the work, you have a bunch of assets, you have loans or capital funding it all. A lot of my training to be a chartered accountant focused on this kind of business analysis.

        Generally it's about getting all the paperwork and make sure it lines up. Tax, GST, payroll filings (super, salaries, payg), bank statements and financial statements should all agree to each other. Payroll should match bank statements which should match super filings/payg for example. Expenses and invoices for stock should all line up. Then do some reasonable estimates, how much soap should they use, how much are cleaning fees, how much are electricity bills? Depreciation is a huge thing too, make sure the assets line up to expected (should be land + building if that's owned, fittings if it's rented, washing machines should be depreciated over several years, etc. If they don't own the building, should be paying reasonable rent).

        Keep an eye out for a lot of cash movements. Regular companies do not use tonnes of cash and it should all be traceable. If the owner is pulling cash out then it should be dividends or salary for them. GST filings should usually be paying lots of money to the government - if you're making a profit you collect a lot more GST on sales than you pay on expenses (particularly because salaries have no GST) unless there's lots of asset purchases, of which all those assets should be on an asset register.

        That's the basic starting point, from there it gets into a lot of analytical and audit methodology. End of the day though, all the transactions should match off. If they don't, something is wrong.

        • +3

          Damn, that's a really good reply thanks. So I guess the first big step is getting these documents from the seller, which only a motivated seller would provide. Makes it hard to put an offer on an existing business that haven't invited a sale.

        • thanks mate, appreciate the pointers

    • +6

      Flipping these is right. Not the same business but I knew a charcoal chicken shop owner who sold his business, and found out that selling charcoal chicken shops is much more profitable than selling chicken, he now creates a new shop every 2-3 years and sells it off once it's established usually to someone looking for a visa.

      • +2

        someone looking for a visa.

        this is the real money maker. I knew a 6th generation Australian of Chinese family history, and he made a fortune selling business real estate to new Australians in the 80s,90s and 00s.

    • how old are the machines (if you're going to have to replace 20 washing machines at $3k a pop there goes years of your profits),

      These things are cheap as dirt to start up too.

      Which is it?

      • Both are true, the context is different.

        If you're buying a business for $200k you'd expect working hardware and a few years before replacement. If you're starting out a new business, $60k of hardware isn't expensive.

  • Could be fun. I'd think about turning it into a service where you collect containers of clothing and sheets and you or your employee washes, dries, and folds them, before delivering them back. I'd pay for it, folding and ironing clothing is such a chore. Thought what's to stop someone from stealing the clothes if they are left out the front door of the house, so I guess it wouldn't be that simple. It would let you have a staff member in the laundromat helping protect the machines, but how do you protect the worker. Probably doesn't math out with costs.

    • +5

      This can be run at home, no need to lease shop paying rentals, and preferably in apartments that don't have water meters for individual unit as usage billing is done via pro-rata of interest held per unit.

      Also could do with hiring international students whilst charging them accommodation rentals for their wages.

      • +1

        Most of the coin laundry / laundromats in the USA do a wash and fold service.

        We always use them on holiday, drop it off in the morning, head out and do all your business for the day and come back in the evening and collect your clean folded laundry, worth every cent. They charge by weight.

        Pick the right market (busy inner suburbs city professionals, tiny apartments etc etc) and your adding a massive revenue stream to the existing coin laundry business, they run side by side and co-exist perfectly.

        But it does turn the business into a full time job, probably realistically 1.5 FTE jobs for yourself or an employee. Would work well for a husband and wife team, can add a part time employee easily enough if needed👌

        • But with the cost of this service, many businesses have turned to doing it themselves.

          When I helped a family friend in her laundromat business, she would do a service wash and charge the set fee of the machines plu about $5-10 for 'service' - ie fold and deliver. In the end it was barely worth her time and effort plus petrol to drop and pick it up.

          Some of these businesses stopped when the price moved up, they simply purchased a washing machine $500 and heat pump dryer $800 and did it themselves - think hair dresser, nail salon, etc. It takes two seconds to put towels/hair dresser stuff in a machine, then move to a dryer once done in between seeing customers. Instead of paying $30-50 for a service wash, the investment in their own washing machine/dryer would break even in no time.

  • +1

    Maybe set up camp in one of them and see how many people come through, repeat a couple of times at different times of the day. Keep a tally/spreadsheet and estimate from there, it’ll be a fair bit of work, but could help you gather more data.

    I was semi interested in a coin laundry too (but cashless to avoid vandals trying to break into the cash box)… and yes, vending machines for laundry powder, fabric softener, snacks, drinks, etc, would be a must.

    I imagine location is key, maybe somewhere where there’s a lot of students, tourists, etc.

    • Yeah will look at a key location. Not possible for me to camp there but planning to visit 2-3 times at various time.
      Might ask the current owner about busies day/ hour etc.
      “ vending machines for laundry powder, fabric softener, snacks, drinks, etc, would be a must.”

      Thanks for the idea.

  • +1

    are any of them coin laundries anymore? when moved to adelaide about 8 months ago used a couple of laundromats and all were buy an online amount of money then input machine number etc… through a website/app.
    i think one i used had a couple of coin only machines, but others all digital.

    • Yeah will check when I got to inspect. Coin or card.
      Would prefer card - no doubt.

  • +2

    Not long ago only 3 in my area. Now 10+, i wouldn't buy.

    • Would stay away from that area

    • +1

      Yep, people park them in vacant shops they can't lease quite regularly.

      Probably a good sign your area had some vacant shop fronts.

  • +10

    heaps of them up for sale and varying prices.

    That should tell you something, businesses that are easy to run and make money are not normally offloaded that fast.

    Generally, how much is the profit margin?

    'depends' on a lot of things, from the rent cost to the usage of the machines.

    Can the numbers be trusted given its mostly cash business unless it accepts card payments.

    Not at all. You need to look at the numbers over a few years to get an idea, Never assume 'hidden' cash, as there might not be any! Also some places 'stuff' the books just before sale to offload them! So if a business has suddenly picked up income in the last 3 months, I can assure you, it hasn't. The owner is just stuffing the books to make it look better.

    The hint for working out if the figures are 'correct', is get the water bill. From here look at the machines manual and find the water used per wash. A quick calc will give you roughly how many washes a day the place is doing, times that by the average wash cost. Assume 1:1 wash/dry cycle (factors for those that do two washes and put into one dryer, and people just come to dry only). Crunch the numbers, does this match up to what they are claiming? If it is falling way short, then someone is lying.

    Basically I looked into this type of business a few years ago and lots of them for sale are either faking the books or are run down trash heaps not making any money. Basically the trash ones are used as part of a business visa loophole to get people into the country. So once that is completed they 'move' it on to the next buyer errr visa holder.

    • +1

      Insightful, thanks looking into the water bills and working out revenue it any spikes should be helpful n straightforward I guess.

      If water bill has gone up then surely the usage should have gone up as long as rates were the same.
      Cheers

      • Insightful, thanks looking into the water bills and working out revenue it any spikes should be helpful n straightforward I guess.

        I looked at one place and the water usage did not remotely match the claimed income numbers. When I questioned the owner, they caved and said they had fudged the figures for sale.

        If water bill has gone up then surely the usage should have gone up as long as rates were the same.

        If there is truly a jump in income shown at a certain point, then yes, the water/gas bills will reflect this. For every bit of income increase, there is an underlying cost for water/gas depending on if it is a dryer or washer that is used. So you never get a spike in income without a spike in utilities.

        Laundromat users are creatures of habit, aka they keep going to the one they like. You generally have to change something big to get new customers from another place.

        • I guess new vending machines could cause a spike too

        • Laundromat users are creatures of habit, aka they keep going to the one they like. You generally have to change something big to get new customers from another place.

          An increase in customers could also cause a decrease in customers: you attract new customers, your existing customers don't like how crowded/busy the laundromat has become and go elsewhere.

  • a lot in my area have increased their prices in the last 12 months, and their customers have declined too

    • Prices have to go up surely due to inflation and all utilities costs going up.
      I guess as long as it’s at pat with competitors it should be ok.

      • +1

        Gas and Electricity prices going up, pretty much the big input cost for laundry doubt any of the shops have roofs big enough for a decent solar array either.

      • Yep and people tighten their belts a bit and start to wash at home and use a clothes horse to save a few $$$$

        There is a delicate balance in pricing with these kind of businesses.

        Same with a car wash, my local I used for many years was recently sold to new owners, they tidied it up a little, lick of paint, did the gardens, some new equipment.

        It used to be 1min 30secs on the machine for $1

        Suddenly one day it changed to 1min on the machine for $1, massive increase.

        I moved on to a different newer car wash that still charged the old rate. Not as close to me but near my travels throughout the week.

        The price increase turned me off the place completely, I won’t be back out of principle.

    • Do you monitor their client base?

  • +4

    This question reminded me……was watching young Sheldon and at one episode, meemaw bought into a coin laundromat biz as well - because the coin laundry has a sideline biz as a gambling room…

    Sorry not helping the question. This just jog my memory wheel.

    • Hahah.. I remember that one cheers

    • +4

      Haha…mind wandered like your's except I was thinking "Everything Everywhere all at Once" where they're running a Laundromat as the family business, but also happened to be getting audited by the IRS. In a weird way, the movie also shows how much work is involved in running a laundromat and its not as 'passive' as people think.

      • +1

        Ahh that movie. I watched the first hour or so but that movie confuses the hell out of me. I ended up not finishing the movie.

  • +3

    Have you checked the ATO small business benchmarks?

    https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Small-business-benchmarks/In…

    Interestingly the smaller turnover business have a higher profit margin and lower labour costs. This probably means the owner does a lot of the work without drawing a salary.

  • -2

    HOMELESS people thank you for their new home

    • +5

      Dandenong's Lunar Drive-In, is uncertain with owners offering the 15-acre site for sale.

      Sadly the issue with the Drive in is the land was worth diamonds…

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