Used vending machines are a way to enter the rewarding, profitable vending industry for less than buying all new equipment.  I really must admit I'm not the biggest fan of used vends for beginners.  If you are new to this business, I think the best way to go is to become an owner/operator of a vending route.  It is the best way to get your feet wet, as they say.  That said, I will share with you everything I can to help you with used vending machines.  There are places to find good, serviceable used machines.  It is kind of like buying a used car -- some are lemons, some are great values.  Go into shopping for machines with open eyes and you will be fine.

Used snack, soda, or gumball machines are a plausible way to enter vending.

Why do I say plausible? My personal experience is used vends are not the best method for beginners, but are a legit way to enter this business.  What will used machines save you? As you have probably reckoned, used machines will save you money.  New snack machines sell for about $4,000 and up.  Used snack machines can be found for a couple thousand.  What's better than used machines? A brand new route. As an owner/operator of a vending machine route, you get access to the industry, a full route of machines to stock and share profits from, and for about the same price as one used vending machine.  That said, if you decide used is the way to go for you, I can help you find machines.

Offline, you can find deals in the classified ad section of city newspapers.  The bigger the city, the bigger the newspaper, the more options you will have.  Also, try calling large vending machine operators near you and asking if they have old machines for sale.  Keep an eye out for auctions in your area.  You could pick up the occasional used machine that way.

On the Internet, there are a number of places to look for used vending machines.  You have probably already thought of eBay.  Used vends will always be available there.  Further, you should try CraigsList, where people sell all kinds of things, and equipment from all kinds of businesses is available.  You could definitely get lucky there.

There are sites that specialize in vending machine classifieds, so be sure to look there.  The quite appropriately named UsedVending.com is a vending machine classified site with a page for each U.S. state.  If you're good at sniffing out real bargains, you can do well here.  Also try VendingConnection.com, which has vending classifieds, for used and new machines.

If you just can't choose to buy into a vending route, used vending machines will definitely get you into the business for less money than new machines.  I wish you all the best in vending.