New generation of aluminum can reverse vending machines (RVMs)and recycling equipment.

Cash-for-Cans Businesses & Equipment

This site provides helpful information concerning aluminum can recycling machines, automated & non-automated recycling equipment, the aluminum market, reverse vending and recycling. We specialize in refurbishing, operating, and selling new and used aluminum can recycling machines also known as Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) or Buy Back Centers since 1985. We also fabricate automated high volume beverage container counters and take requests for other specialized equipment. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. - Dale Beckman, Jr. - Owner - Updated April 28, 2008

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Featured Reverse Vending Machine for sale:

Used & fully functioning Pelican RVMs $9,900 to $12,900 (USD) each!

call Dale for details at 1-608-295-2157.

{To see other machines and promotions, click here}

Other offer below:

This is a genuine opportunity for you to have your own stable business that is simple to set up and operate for years to come!

This is a somewhat yet unknown business in different parts of the U.S. It is an Aluminum Can Reverse Vending Business also known as a Cash-for-Cans or Buy-Back business. These fully automated machines purchase aluminum cans from the public. They have proven themselves to be a stable source of supplemental or primary income for businesses or individuals.

I have been in this business since 1985 and I have never offered or known of a RVM (Reverse Vending Machine) that was simpler to operate, maintain, or rugged then the GoldCan RVM!

To set up and operate this business is simple. All one needs to do is to set up a GoldCan machine, put money in it to pay the people for their cans, and then empty the machine of cans when it gets full. It takes around 1 hour a week to maintain and unload the processed cans from the GoldCan machine. There are a lot of ways to resale the cans but you can be sure that you will get a premium price for the cans purchased by the RVM because of the larger quantity of cans. If you want to know details about the costs, profits, warrantees, and other information, and profit, read on and visit the rest of this web site. If you want more detailed information then what is on this site, please contact me.

This GoldCan machine up for sale has not been used but has a couple of small dents in the stainless steel receptacle. It is a fully functional machine that runs great! It is on sale for $29,500 US Dollars. The RVM is made of 3/16" (4.8mm) to 1/4" (6.35mm) thick cold rolled steel with the exception of the stainless steel receptacle (where people put their cans in and get money) and has two floors and a roof. The machine weighs about 5000 pounds empty and measures 14 feet tall by 8 feet wide. The machine works by sucking in cans from the customer through a hole and into the top half of the machine where they are crushed and stored. It is very fast. There are two side man-doors. The top side door allows the cans to be removed and the bottom side door is used to fill the coin dispensers and check records. The RVM is controlled by a super rugged refurbished Panasonic Toughbook laptop computer. The control program is very user friendly and licensed. The power requirements are 240VAC with 50A - Single Phase service. The machines are shipped on their side and can be set up with an extension boom forklift or small crane - Unless we use our own equipment to do it for you. It may cost about $100 for a small crane operator to set it up for you. We can offer assistance with setting up your shipping. Shipping costs are not included with the purchase price but may be free or greatly reduced depending on the shipping destination and possible other factors - Call for details.

If the buyer wishes to pick up the machine, the machine must be removed within 90 days of purchase with the funds clearing our bank, to avoid storage charges ($10 / day). We usually assist the buyer with handling at little or no additional cost. Please contact me for further information.

The machine comes with a 120 day replacement warrantee on all processing components and their controls due to failure from normal functions. This does not include shipping damage which should be covered by the carrier nor does it cover "act(s) of God" like flooding or other natural events. The warrantee date begins with the date of purchase. We reserve the right to have the needed time for arranging transportation to the point of destination. This usually takes about two to four weeks.

Any potential buyer is welcome to visit by appointment and see how the machines operate.

All prices mentioned in this listing are in US Dollars.

Read on to see answers to questions people have asked:

Click here to see other frequently asked questions

"How does someone make money in this business?"

To see a performance / profit and cost analysis of 4 RVMs in operation during 2006 you will need to contact me and request it. This is highly sensitive, genuine, and confidential material. It is guarded to protect the interests of clients who operate RVMs purchased from me.

An example of some of the types of information included with the above mentioned performance / profit and cost analysis:

Here are some averages from one of my own machines I operate in a town with a population of about xxx:

	The machine took in xxx pounds by count of clean and empty aluminum cans or xxx pounds of actual weight of unclean cans from xxx and xxx . This actual weight of unclean cans is arrived at by an average realistic formula of multiplying the clean count weight by xxx. This comes to being able to resale xxx pounds of cans a day (this is an average from xxx through xxx ). The machine reached this average after the second week of operation! An important thing to acknowledge is that the machine counts cans and does not weigh cans. So when the cans are sold to a larger scrap dealer, the cans are weighed on a scale. Because of the moisture and other foreign materials that are normally present, the scale weight at the scrap yard averages xxx of the credited count-weight of the RVM. The acceptance of some foreign materials such as some moisture is normal and usually unavoidable for UBC (Used Beverage Containers) scrap dealers. My average sell weight is xxx of the count-weight.
	The xxx pounds of cans were sold to a larger scrap dealer for an average price of xxx cents per pound (averaged from xxx thru xxx) which comes to $xxx / year for sales.
	The machine bought each can for 3/4 ($.0075) of a cent which roughly translates to 25 cents per pound (Currently, the industry standard is 33 empty and clean 12oz. aluminum cans per pound). The cost of coins to purchase the cans from the public for $xxx / year (xxx pounds of cans credited to the public by count).
	The average cost of electricity and services to the machine came to about $23 / month or $276 / year.
	The lot rent is explained in detail in the confidential information and comes to $xxx / year.
	When you put it all together for a year�s period of time, it looks something like: $xxx Sales (non-taxable in Wisconsin (recycling)) $xxx Cost of coins $276 Electricity and services $xxx Lot rent $xxx Profit for the year This profit equals $xxx a day or $xxx a month or $xxx in 10 years!

Other costs and information of running a RVM business:

	Insurance varies on what you want and how many machines you have - The more you have, the lower it goes, for liability insurance. I pay on average less then $100/ year per machine.
	Electrical costs will vary depending on your climate and electrical provider. For the above machine, I paid an average, over the course of a year, 65.4 cents per day or $238.71 for a year for electricity (The machine used 2194khw for the year). There were some additional service charges included in the figure above of $276.00.
	The life expectancy of a machine is a long, long time due to the fact that all the components are easily replaceable and the shell, doors and floors are so thick.
	It takes time for the surrounding community to realize that a reverse vending machine has been placed in their community. Normally, you will get a good idea on how the machine will generate income within the first 2 to 12 weeks of operation. This particular machine mentioned above was steadily meeting the numbers shown by its second week of operation!
	Please keep in mind that I operate machines in Wisconsin (North Central US) where the climate gets cold in the winter. I believe that if a machine was set up in a warmer climate, the averages would be even higher. Some people will buy a car for the price of one of these machines. But the car will not last as long nor will it continue to make money for years to come. This is not a rags to riches business but it is a long term, stable and proven money maker.

"How do you go about securing a site? When you have a number of them to choose from what rental rates are you looking at generally?"

My reply was:

From experience, try to stick with local businesses. Ask for an appointment to speak to the owner. I have had the most success when speaking with owners. Be presentable and respectable. I personally like to let the owner know that I take full responsibility for the operation, appearance, and maintenance of the machine. I also have liability insurance and pay for all of the electrical costs. I reinforce the fact that they are under no obligation what-so-ever - Of course, you will make your own terms. If it is conducive for their business, I also relate to them how the machine acts as an additional customer draw to the location and it pays the customer cash which in turn is often spent locally.

When it comes down to how much the land owner gets, I know of one location where the store realized the benefit so much that they allowed the machine to use the store's electricity at no cost and they even took care of emptying the trash cans for the machine! In other locations, it is common to pay a royalty of the cash paid out to the customers for a given time period such as a month or two. The royalty can range from 2% to 10%. This is very similar to some regular vending businesses. Some have also purchased land for their machines seeing that they could always get their money back for the land -if not more- and the taxes are minimal because no permanent structures are usually on the land thus their cost for placing a machine on their purchased land was actually a separate long term investment.

Rental / Royalty rates can vary a lot depending on the circumstances.

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