Vending Machine Questions
Everything business owners ask us before they place a machine — cost, contracts, headcount, restocking, payment, pricing and coverage. If yours is not here, call or text and ask; you will reach the people who run the route.
Cost, Contracts & Qualifying
How much does it cost to get a vending machine for my business?
It costs $0 — Gotham Refreshments LLC provides the machine, delivery, installation, weekly restocking and all maintenance completely free of charge. We earn our money from the products sold inside the machine, not from you. There is no purchase, no lease, no service fee and no contract required.
Is the free vending machine really free? What is the catch?
There is no catch: with Gotham Refreshments LLC the machine, delivery, installation, restocking and repairs are all free because we earn revenue from product sales. The only two things your business provides are the floor space and a standard electrical outlet.
Do I have to sign a contract?
We do prefer a contract but it is not necessary. The contract does not lock you into anything. If we do a contract and you feel the contract is not being upheld we can discuss and if need we remove machines for free at your request.
How many employees do I need to qualify for a vending machine?
There is no minimum employee count at Gotham Refreshments LLC — no headcount limit, no floor, no cap. National providers often require 40 or more employees before they will place a machine; we evaluate each New York and New Jersey location on its own foot traffic instead, and small teams usually do very well with a combo snack-and-drink machine.
How often do you restock the machines?
Gotham Refreshments LLC restocks every machine weekly as standard, and more often at high-volume locations. Real-time remote inventory monitoring tells us what sold before you have to call us, so the machine is refilled on a schedule that matches your actual foot traffic rather than a fixed calendar.
How fast can a machine be installed?
Most Gotham Refreshments installations happen within days of the first call. Call or text (917) 284-2685 with your address and daily headcount and we will confirm the machine, the product mix and a delivery date — usually on the same day you reach out.
Are you insured? Can you provide a certificate of insurance?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments LLC carries general liability insurance covering every machine we place, and we issue a certificate of insurance to your building or property management wherever one is required. The machine remains our property and our responsibility throughout, so damage to it and its servicing never land on your business. Tell us your building needs a COI and we arrange it before the machine ships.
Do you need a permit for a vending machine in New York?
No — as the host business in New York you do not need a permit or licence of your own to have a Gotham Refreshments LLC machine on site. We own, operate, insure and service the machine, and it stands inside your premises on private commercial property rather than on a public sidewalk, so the vendor licensing that applies to street vending is not what is in play. Your business provides the floor space and a standard outlet.
Do you need a permit for a vending machine in New Jersey?
No — a New Jersey business hosting a Gotham Refreshments LLC machine does not need a permit or licence of its own, because we own, operate, insure and service every machine we place. It works the same way across our Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark and Hudson and Essex County route: you provide the space and the outlet, and we handle the rest.
Can you place more than one machine at our location?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments regularly places a snack machine and a BevMax drink machine side by side, and adds machines on separate floors, wings or buildings as demand grows. There is no limit on the number of machines, and additional machines are free on the same terms as the first.
What if we already have a vending machine and a different operator?
Switching to Gotham Refreshments is straightforward, because there is nothing to buy out — you tell your current operator to collect their machine, and we install ours free. Since we place machines with no contract required, you are never locked in with us either.
How do I get started?
Call or text Gotham Refreshments at (917) 284-2685, or send the form on this page, and tell us your address and roughly how many people are on site each day. We recommend the right machine and product mix at no cost, and most locations are installed within days.
The Machines & Technology
Can the product selection be customized for our location?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments LLC builds the product mix around your location and keeps adjusting it. We start from your foot traffic and who is on site, then rotate the planogram based on what actually sells: more energy drinks and jerky on a warehouse floor, more baked snacks, protein bars and bottled water in a corporate office or gym.
What kind of vending machines do you install?
Gotham Refreshments LLC specializes in modern glass-front machines: glass-front snack machines and BevMax glass-front beverage merchandisers, sized to the location. Combo machines that carry snacks and drinks in one footprint are available where floor space is tight. Our top-of-range snack cabinet is the Crane Merchant Media 2, with 60 selections, a 9-inch touchscreen and SureVend guaranteed delivery, specified where a site has the traffic and floor space for it. Every machine has a card reader, LED lighting and energy-efficient refrigeration.
What payment methods do the machines accept?
Every Gotham Refreshments machine accepts credit and debit cards, tap-to-pay mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and cash. Nobody on your team is ever stuck hunting for exact change.
What happens if the machine breaks or takes someone’s money?
Call or text Gotham Refreshments at (917) 284-2685 and we handle it — repairs are free and refunds are issued promptly. You are reaching the local operator who services your machine, not a national call center in another state. On our Crane Merchant Media 2 cabinets it rarely comes up: SureVend uses an infrared sensor to confirm the item actually dropped, so a snack caught on the coil is not charged for in the first place.
Can we get a machine for a lobby or customer waiting area?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments places glass-front machines in customer-facing lobbies, waiting rooms and showrooms as often as in staff breakrooms. Glass-front cabinets, LED lighting and a clean modern face are exactly why we standardize on them: the machine has to look like it belongs in the room.
What is remote inventory monitoring, and why does it matter to me?
Remote inventory monitoring means each Gotham Refreshments machine reports what it sold and what it is low on over a cellular connection, in real time. It matters because nobody at your business has to notice an empty coil and call us — we already know, and the restock is planned before your team runs out.
What is a combo vending machine?
A combo vending machine sells snacks and cold drinks from one cabinet: shelves of chips, candy and bars up top, refrigerated bottles and cans below, one card reader for everything. Gotham Refreshments places combo machines free at locations where floor space or headcount does not justify two separate machines — small offices, lobbies, waiting rooms and satellite floors.
Is a combo machine or two separate machines right for our location?
Under roughly 40 people on site, a combo machine is usually the right call — one footprint, about three feet of wall, snacks and drinks both covered. Above that, separate glass-front snack and drink machines carry more depth per product so the popular items do not sell out mid-week. Gotham Refreshments recommends one or the other from your daily headcount, free, and swaps the machine if the first pick turns out wrong.
Products, Selection & Pricing
What does a snack or drink cost at the machine?
Most traditional snacks run $1.00 to $3.00 and healthy snacks $1.00 to $5.00 in a Gotham Refreshments machine. On the beverage side, water is $1.00 to $2.00, soda and flavored drinks $1.50 to $2.75, sports drinks $2.00 to $2.75, energy drinks $2.25 to $4.00, and coffee and specialty drinks $2.50 to $5.00.
What healthy options can you put in the machine?
Gotham Refreshments stocks baked chips, veggie straws, popcorn, pretzels, protein and nut bars, beef jerky, nuts and pistachios on the snack side, and bottled water, sparkling water, low-sugar sports drinks and zero-sugar sodas on the beverage side. We can dedicate shelves — or the whole machine — to better-for-you options.
Do you offer micro markets or office coffee as well?
Gotham Refreshments focuses on what we do best: modern glass-front snack and BevMax beverage machines with cashless payment, restocked weekly. Bottled and canned coffee — Starbucks Frappuccino, Doubleshot and cold brew — is stocked in the drink machines, so a caffeine option is covered without a separate coffee service contract.
Questions By Location Type
Do you service multi-shift and 24/7 operations?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments machines run 24/7 and we schedule restocking around second and third shift so night crews never find an empty machine. Remote monitoring flags fast-moving selections between visits so the high-volume lanes get refilled first.
Can you stock a school machine to our nutrition standard?
Yes — tell Gotham Refreshments which nutrition guideline your district, campus or program follows and we build the selection list against it before the machine is delivered. Student-facing machines and staff-lounge machines are stocked to different planograms and serviced on the same weekly visit.
Can a campus have both student machines and staff-room machines?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments routinely places student-facing machines and separate staff-lounge machines at the same site, each with its own product mix. Both are free, both are restocked on the same weekly route, and you are dealing with one operator rather than two vendors.
What should a gym put in its vending machine?
A gym machine should lead with bottled water and sports drinks by volume, then protein bars, jerky and nuts, then energy drinks for the early crowd — that is how Gotham Refreshments builds a fitness planogram. High-turn locations get the larger BevMax beverage machine so the busiest lanes do not run dry between visits.
Does a vending machine cost our gym anything to host?
No — Gotham Refreshments installs and stocks the machine at no cost to the gym, with no contract required and nothing for your front desk to manage. The machine sells around the clock without adding a single task to your staff rota.
Can a franchise gym like a Planet Fitness or Crunch location get a vending machine?
Usually yes — most franchise gym locations control their own amenities, so the local owner or manager can approve a vending machine without going through the national brand. Gotham Refreshments works directly with franchise and independent gyms across Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey, and because the machine, installation and restocking are free, it adds member value without touching the location budget.
Can a medical facility have separate machines for patients and staff?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments places patient- and visitor-facing machines in lobbies and waiting areas and separate staff-room machines with a different product mix, all serviced on one weekly visit. Waiting-area machines usually lead with bottled water, juices and better-for-you snacks.
Do warehouse machines handle heat, dust and heavy use?
Yes — the glass-front machines Gotham Refreshments places on industrial floors are built for continuous commercial duty, and every repair is ours to make and ours to pay for. If a machine cannot cope with a particular environment we will tell you before it is delivered rather than after.
Where We Serve
Do you place vending machines in New Jersey as well as New York?
Yes — Gotham Refreshments runs weekly routes across eastern and northeast New Jersey, including Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark and the Hudson and Essex County corridor. New Jersey locations get the same free placement, weekly restocking and no-contract terms as our New York accounts.
Everything Else
What areas does Gotham Refreshments serve?
Gotham Refreshments LLC serves Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan and eastern and northeast New Jersey. In New York that is Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan; in New Jersey it is the Hudson County waterfront including Jersey City and Hoboken, and the Newark and Ironbound corridor. We do not currently serve Queens, the Bronx or Long Island, and we will tell you so on the first call rather than waste your time.
Who pays for the electricity?
The host business supplies a standard outlet, and a modern vending machine typically draws only about $10–15 of electricity a month. Every machine Gotham Refreshments places uses LED lighting and energy-efficient refrigeration, which keeps that figure at the low end.
Do you serve Long Island, Queens or the Bronx?
Not at present. Gotham Refreshments serves Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan and eastern and northeast New Jersey, and keeping the route tight is what lets us restock every location weekly rather than whenever the truck can get there. If you are just outside it, call or text (917) 284-2685 — we will say honestly whether we can reach you.
How much does a combo snack and drink vending machine cost?
From Gotham Refreshments it costs $0 — the combo machine, delivery, installation, weekly restocking and all repairs are free, because we earn from the products sold inside it. Buying a comparable new combo machine outright typically runs $2,500 to $7,000 before anyone has stocked it, insured it or fixed a jammed coil.
Do combo vending machines take credit cards?
Every combo machine Gotham Refreshments places has a card reader as standard: credit and debit cards, tap-to-pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay, plus cash and coin. One reader covers both the snack shelves and the drink shelves, and the machine reports its own sales and stock levels in real time.
Still have a question?
Call or text and you will reach the people who run the route — not a call centre.
Get Your Free Vending Machine
A few quick questions — most are a single tap, and the whole thing takes about 60 seconds. We use the answers to size the machine and build your product mix before we recommend anything. Prefer to talk? Call or text (917) 284-2685.