A vending machine lives or dies on daily volume. Take the margin per item and multiply by units sold per day to see what each machine actually earns.
A $1.75 item costing $0.60, selling 25 a day, earns $28.75 a day — the number that decides if a location stays on the route.
The example
Three machines, each with a sale price, unit cost, and daily volume.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machine | Price | Cost | Units / day | Profit / day |
| 2 | Lobby snacks | $1.75 | $0.60 | 25 | $28.75 |
| 3 | Gym drinks | $2.50 | $0.90 | 40 | $64.00 |
| 4 | Office combo | $1.25 | $0.55 | 18 | $12.60 |
The formula
Margin first, then scale by volume:
How it works
The parentheses make the order explicit:
(B2-C2)is the profit on a single item — price minus cost.D2is how many of that item sell in a day.- Multiplying the unit margin by daily volume gives the machine's daily profit.
Multiply daily profit by location days to compare machines and decide which spots are worth servicing.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter the price, unit cost, and units sold per day.
Variations
Per-month profit
Scale daily profit to a month for route planning.
Pitfalls & errors
Keep the parentheses. Without them, =B2-C2*D2 multiplies cost by units first and gives a meaningless number.
Cost should include shrinkage and spoilage, not just the wholesale price, or daily profit looks rosier than it is.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Why the parentheses?
Should I include the commission I pay the location?
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