Guide · Written by the operators of 300+ machines across Singapore

How to get a vending machine for your office in Singapore

If your workplace has enough people, you do not buy a vending machine — an operator places one at no cost and pays you a share of what it sells. Here is how that actually works, what operators look for, and what to check before you agree to anything.

How free placement works

Under a placement arrangement, the operator owns the machine, buys the stock, keeps it filled on a scheduled route, handles faults and refunds, and insures the unit. Your site provides roughly one square metre of floor space, indoors or under cover, and a standard 13A power point. In return, the site receives a monthly commission on the machine's sales, read from the machine's own transaction records — not an estimate.

Nobody at your workplace has to manage anything. The realistic total effort for the host is signing the agreement and pointing at the wall the machine should stand against.

What operators actually look for in a site

Operators say no to more sites than they say yes to, and it is worth understanding why, because it saves everyone time. Across the placements we run island-wide, the sites that perform share three things:

Headcount. The single strongest predictor. A machine at a well-suited workplace sells forty-plus items on a working day; a machine at a quiet site sells a handful. The people in the building are the market.
Dwell time. People who stay hours buy more than people passing through. Offices with shift work, sites with overtime culture, dorms, training centres and venues where people wait all outperform their headline headcount.
No convenience alternative nearby. A 7-Eleven in the lobby beats any vending machine. The best sites are the ones where the machine is the most convenient cold drink within a few minutes' walk.

Sector matters less than those three variables. A construction site office with 150 workers and no shop for 500 metres is a better vending site than a boutique retail unit in a mall, every time.

The process, start to finish

Check the site qualifies. With us this takes about a minute on the site check form — headcount, hours, what is nearby. The form gives an honest answer either way.
Site survey. A short visit to confirm access, the spot for the machine, the power point and delivery route for restocking.
Agree the terms. Commission rate, product range, and the service schedule. The rate is proposed after the survey because it depends on the volume the site can realistically carry.
Installation. Machine delivered, levelled, stocked and live — typically about two weeks from first contact.

What your site earns

Commission is a percentage of sales, so the earning follows the same logic as qualification: it scales with the people in the building. A stocked machine at a busy workplace turns a dead corner into a small monthly income and — the part hosts consistently underrate — removes the daily friction of a workforce with no cold drinks within reach.

For larger sites, a run of three to five machines in one bay earns commission across the whole run from the same corner, and gives a building the range of a minimart.

What to check before you sign with any operator

Auditable sales. Cashless payment systems produce transaction records. Your commission statement should be built from them, not from a manual count. If an operator cannot show you machine-level sales data, the commission number is a guess.
The service schedule. An empty machine earns nothing for anyone. Ask how often the route visits, and what happens when something sells out early.
Fault response. Who do staff call when the machine eats a payment? It should be the operator's problem, including refunds, at the operator's cost.
Exit terms. A reasonable operator removes the machine at their cost with notice, no penalty. Lock-in fees are a signal about how confident they are in their own service.
Electricity. The host pays it — a modern machine draws about as much as a small fridge — and a straight operator prices that into the rate rather than leaving it as a surprise.

Common questions from office managers

Can we pick the products? Yes — the range is agreed before the first fill and adjusted based on what sells. Healthier Choice, halal-certified and lower-sugar options exist across the range.

Do we need management approval for power and space? Usually just building management sign-off for the delivery. The machine stands on level ground against a wall; no fitting-out is involved.

What if our headcount is borderline? Say so honestly on the form. Borderline sites sometimes work with the right machine mix — and if a site does not qualify, it is better for both sides to know in a minute rather than after a survey.

Check if my office qualifies