How much commission to give a vending location

You finally got a yes. Then the manager asks the question every new operator dreads: "So what percentage do we get?" Or worse, they ask two weeks after install, once they have seen people buying drinks.

Search for an answer and you get two worlds that do not agree. Vendor and marketplace blogs say 8 to 12% of gross is typical and 20% is fine for a busy site. Operators on Reddit, asked the same question, mostly answer with one word: zero.

Both are true, for different deals. This guide shows you which one you are in, how much a commission really costs you, and how to offer one that only starts once the machine has earned it.

How much commission should you give a vending location?

Start at 0%, and if the location insists, offer 5 to 10%, ideally of net and only on sales above a monthly floor. That is the short version operators converge on. When someone asked r/vending what percentage to offer a property owner, the top replies were "0%" and "Zero percent", and one added that the location gets a free amenity while you carry 100% of the risk.

A commission is the share of sales you pay the business hosting your machine. It is negotiated, not set by law, and it can be:

• a percentage of gross (all sales, before your costs),
• a percentage of net (what is left after product cost and fees),
• a flat monthly fee, or
• a hybrid, such as a small percentage plus a minimum.

VendingExchange, a marketplace that connects locations with operators, says rates of "5% to 20%+ of gross sales" are common and that they are "almost always negotiable." The gap between that and Reddit is about who the location is. A 20 person office is grateful for a snack machine. A hotel lobby, a hospital or a school district knows its traffic is worth money and has heard from other vendors.

If you are still finding your first placement, read how to start a vending machine business with no money first: the free placement pitch is what keeps this number at zero.

Should commission be based on gross or net?

Net protects you; gross is easier for the location to check. The same headline percentage can cost you twice as much on gross, because gross includes the money you spent on stock.

Here is an example with round numbers (our illustration, not a real machine). Say a combo machine grosses $1,000 in a month, product costs $450 and card fees run about $50.

At 10% of gross you hand over a fifth of your take. At 20% of gross, you are giving away 40% of what the machine leaves you. That is why one r/vending operator said that above 5% they would mark the difference up in their prices.

Real margins can be thinner than this example. In an r/vending thread picking apart a smart cooler, the poster modeled $2,000 a month in revenue with 50% product cost and 6% card fees, and ended up with about $197 after fixed costs. One reply said a 50% margin "isn't enough. You need 65-70." Add a commission to numbers like that and the machine stops paying for itself. The Vending Machines pack includes a sales sheet that runs this math per machine, so you know your real net before you negotiate.

Tip: If you agree to gross, write that sales tax is excluded from the base. Tax is not your revenue, so it should not be theirs either.

To see what a typical machine actually grosses before you agree to any percentage, check how much vending machines make a month.

What do vending locations expect by type?

Small sites usually expect nothing; high traffic, institutional sites expect 10 to 20% of gross or more. These are published ranges from VendBuddy, a vending software and education site, as of October 2026. They are its own estimates, not a survey, so use them as a sense of what a location may have heard, not as a price list.

Public contracts are a different game. VendBuddy says the public contracts it reviewed had a median commission of 25% of sales, with a spread from 10% to 52%. Those deals come with bids, insurance requirements and volume, and they are not where a first machine belongs.

Wider Matrix, a machine maker, suggests opening at 8 to 10% when a site wants a percentage. Reddit operators would call that high for a small site. The honest read: the bigger and busier the location, the more leverage it has, and the more you need real sales data before you agree.

When is it worth paying a location commission at all?

Pay when the sales justify it and the location would otherwise go to a competitor. The cleanest example in the threads: one r/vending operator said every one of their sites paid zero except one at 30%, and they only accepted that because the machine was in an extremely busy spot that often made $500 to $1,000 a week in net profit.

Another commenter in the same thread said a 10% ask is worth considering if a machine might do $500 to $1,000 a week, "only if they ask though." Notice the pattern: nobody suggests paying a commission on an unproven machine.

Signs a commission is worth it:

• The site has heavy, captive traffic: a hotel lobby, a hospital waiting area, a factory breakroom with long shifts.
• A competitor already pays commission there and you are trying to replace them.
• The location agreed to a sales floor, so you only pay once the machine performs.

Signs it is not:

• The machine is new and you have no sales history.
• It sells a few items a day.
• The location is asking because they assume you are getting rich.

How do you structure a sales floor commission?

A sales floor means you pay a percentage only on sales above an agreed monthly amount. It protects you in slow months and gives the location a reason to help the machine sell. Commenters on the pickleball thread below suggested exactly this: "10% net when sales are over 750$ a month."

1. Run the machine at 0% for 60 to 90 days. Track gross, product cost and fees per month. You need your own numbers before you negotiate.
2. Set the floor near your break even. Use the level where the machine covers stock, fees, insurance and your time. In our example above, $750 of gross is a reasonable floor.
3. Pick net if you can, gross if you must. If gross, keep the rate at 5 to 10% and exclude sales tax.
4. Pay on a schedule with a report. VendingExchange notes monthly or quarterly payouts with a sales report are standard. A one line report builds trust.
5. Write down what pauses the commission. VendingExchange says commissions stop while a machine is out of service. Add theft and vandalism too.
6. Review once a year. If sales grow, you can raise the share. If they drop, the floor protects you automatically.

A clause you can adapt (have a local professional check any contract you sign):

Operator will pay Location 10% of net sales on monthly gross sales above $750, excluding sales tax, paid monthly within 15 days with a sales summary. No commission is owed for any month gross sales are at or below $750, or for any period the machine is out of service.

What should you say when a location asks for rent after signing?

Hold to the signed terms, then decide with numbers. This happens often. An r/vending operator placed a drinks cooler at an indoor pickleball club on a 12 month, 0% contract with a 30 day out. Within days the owners kept pushing for rent, saying they were "losing out on 300-500 a month of drink sales."

The replies were blunt. One pointed out the owners had sold drinks themselves and quit because they hated stocking the fridge: "They are free to return to doing everything themselves and EARN that $300-500/mo, or they can utilize your service and not have to deal with it. They don't get both." Another noted that at a few drinks a day, the location was never making $300 to $500 a month. Others offered a capped flat fee, around $200 a month, or 5 to 10% with higher prices to cover it.

A reply you can use:

Thanks for raising it. Our agreement is a free placement: I cover the machine, stock, card fees and service, and you get a free amenity. Once the machine has three months of sales, I am happy to share 10% of net on anything above $750 a month. That way you earn more as it sells more, and neither of us loses money in a slow month.

If they reject any floor and the machine sells little, leaving is often the right call. Several commenters said a location that pushes this hard early will keep pushing.

What should go in writing besides the commission?

The commission is one line; the agreement around it matters as much. Competitor guides mostly skip this. Put these in a one page placement agreement:

• Commission basis (gross or net), rate, floor and whether sales tax is excluded
• Payment schedule and the report you will send
• Agreement length and notice to end it (the pickleball contract had a 30 day out, which is what made the rent pressure dangerous)
• Who pays for power and who is responsible for theft or damage
• That you own the machine and can remove it if the business closes or changes hands
• Exclusivity, so a second vendor does not appear beside you

The vending startup cost breakdown lists the insurance and permits that should be in place before any of this.

What mistakes do new operators make with commission?

The biggest mistake is offering a percentage before anyone asks. A top reply on r/VendingMachines: "Don't mention commission unless you want to pay it."

• Agreeing to a gross percentage on an unproven machine. You lock in a cost before you know your margin.
• Copying vendor blog ranges as if they were the law. A 12% "average" means little for a 30 person office.
• No sales floor. A slow month with 10% of gross can turn a small profit into a loss.
• Leaving sales tax in the base. You pay commission on money that was never yours.
• No written terms. A handshake 0% deal is how a quiet site becomes a rent fight.
• Ignoring other cost leaks. In the smart cooler thread, one reply pointed out that cutting $67 a month in avoidable costs adds $804 a year. Commission is the same kind of leak.

Where to go from here

1. Pitch every location as a free amenity and do not raise commission yourself.
2. Track gross, stock cost and fees for every machine from day one.
3. If a site asks, offer a percentage of net above a monthly floor, after 60 to 90 days of data.
4. Put the rate, floor, schedule and exit terms in a one page agreement.
5. Walk away from sites whose ask makes the machine unprofitable.

The Vending Machines pack gives you the full step by step for $19: the location pitch and follow up scripts, the commission and contract terms, the used machine checklist and a sales sheet that shows real net per machine. If you want to compare business models first, all 16 Money Printer packs are $39.