Practical and personal considerations

by Mike Coons

There are numerous considerations to evaluate when choosing a change machine for your car wash business—some practical and some personal. And there are options and models to suit most customer requests. Basically it boils down to two basic considerations—What do you want to take in? And what do you want to pay out? Toss in some other considerations like—future expansion or alteration plans and whether you are building new or refurbishing old, and of course the budget consideration—and from there, it seems to get more complex in a hurry. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. Let’s take a look at some considerations that are pertinent to car wash owners and operators.

What Do You Want to Accept or Take In?

This is a pretty simple question—and most of us would enthusiastically say “Dollars—and plenty of them!” That’s fine, because cash is still king; it’s why we got into this crazy business in the first place, right? But what denominations will you accept, and will you dole out quarters (or tokens) for the entire amount? What if someone inserts a $50 bill—do you want to be able to handle that?

Consider accepting denominations that you are most likely to encounter. If your wash has all self-service bays, then accepting $1, $5 and $10 bills is probably fine. If you have an open-topped or high-bay for trucks and RVs, however, you might want to consider accepting $20s too. A basic model, like the Standard Change-Maker MC300RL, which accepts $1, $5 and $10 bills, is equipped with a single hopper to hold 3,200 quarters ($800 worth) and a 500-bill stacker, sells for around $1,850 (including the Mars bill acceptor).

What about credit cards? Despite the fees associated with them, accepting credit cards can be a boost to your bottom line with increased sales (or larger purchases). A general rule of thumb is that accepting credit cards will increase the volume of a car wash by 20 percent to 30 percent. While adding credit card acceptors to your change machines does add more expense to the change maker, it can certainly help to build volume for your business.

However, with the federal regulations for credit card acceptance in change machines—you can not dispense change (dollar coins or quarters), you must dispense tokens. The regulation calls for you to dispense something that has no value outside your business. Many car wash operators use tokens in their car washes because of the security and ability to assign any value to the token in their wash (a token can have 50 cents or $2 value in your wash equipment).

What to Dispense or Pay Out?

Once you have identified what you will accept then the next logical step is asking what you will dispense. If your car wash is coin-based, will you dispense all quarters? Or will you try to ease your customers into dollar coins by dispensing them as well. If you are dispensing a single denomination (whether quarters, dollar coins or tokens) then a single hopper will suffice. If, however, you want to break a $5 bill for say three $1 coins and $2 worth of quarters, then you’ll need two hoppers. The machines should be sized sufficiently (coin capacity) to provide an ample supply without having to add quarters, dollars or tokens every couple of hours. There are rear load machines that have between one and four hoppers—or 3,000 to 12,000 quarters capacity. However, the more coin hoppers in the machine, the bigger the machine and the more wall space required for the machine. The physical limitations of your available wall space may also dictate the number of hoppers you can use.

As a general rule of thumb the “simpler” a change machine is, the cheaper it is. As you add more “bells and whistles” you also add dollars. Some of the cost is due to programming required to payout multiple denominations—and some is due to the fact that there are more components within the enclosure. Likewise, as you add components—most manufacturers add security features to the enclosure, such as more or heavy-duty locks, thicker metal, heavy-duty hinges, etc. This is geared to helping you protect your investment and your money inside the machine!

A Case for Credit Cards

Accepting credit cards makes it more convenient for your customers to pay for their car wash. But in-bay credit card systems can be expensive. That is because these typically are tied in to a centralized computer system—most often this is located in a storage room along with soap, chemicals, towels and other car wash necessities. These rooms can be warm in the winter and blistering in the summer—which is not an ideal environment for electronics or personal computers designed for home use. Because if the computer crashes, so does your ability to transact business.

A more economical means of accepting credit cards is to add a credit card acceptor to the change machine and dispense tokens. This methodology allows car washes to accept credit cards without the high costs associated with credit card acceptors in each bay. Some estimates put the cost to convert to in-bay payments systems at $20,000 to $25,000. Locating a central credit card acceptor with the change machine/token dispenser, on the other hand can be done for much less. A Standard Change Maker model MC535RL-CC, which accepts $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills as well as credit cards, and is equipped with two hoppers to hold 10,400 tokens and a 500-bill stacker, normally sells for $4,900. This model also includes a 4-button “package” select—or a 3-button “pulse” select kit—which allows the operator to customize the price and quantity of tokens dispensed.

Even within the basic parameters discussed above, there are optional accessories which can impact the price, but also the convenience and operational aspects of your car wash. For example, the 500-bill stacker that is standard on most change machines can be expanded to a 1,000-bill stacker as an optional accessory. Each manufacturer has their standard components such as bill acceptors. If you already have a change machine or token dispenser at this facility or another one that you operate, you may wish to standardize—which may mean an upgrade in components.

In addition to enabling cost-effective entry into the credit card acceptance market, tokens are also a viable choice for marketing, security and customer convenience reasons.

Marketing—More Than Token Value

One of the beauties of using tokens is that they can be valued however you’d like. While a quarter will always be equal to 25-cents, a token can be valued at $1 or $1.25 or more. This means that a customer can insert a single token (valued at $1.25) into a self-serve bay to begin the cycle—rather than five quarters. This certainly simplifies life for your customers who do not have to fumble with pocketfuls of change.

Using tokens also allows operators to incent higher volume purchases by offering better deals—such as $1 each, six for $5, 13 for $10 and so on. This is a great way to reward loyal customers.

Operators also like to mint tokens with their name, logo and value on them so that they get some branding accomplished each time that the customer sees this token with their pocket change.

Tokens also allow operators to perform “direct marketing” like mailings to new residents in the area—inviting them to try the local car wash. While you could try that with quarters or dollar tokens, it would be much more expensive (since the tokens are much less expensive than either the quarter or dollar coins) and would be virtually impossible to track results.

Tokens also provide the opportunity to support local civic groups and non-profits with their fundraisers. Often tokens are sold at a discount to these groups which then sell them at face value and keep the difference for the group. Baskets of car wash related items—like chamois towels, tire cleaner, air fresheners and tokens—are also popular items with fundraisers as they can be used for raffles or as door prizes.

Security Issues

In addition to providing marketing opportunities, token-based car washes are less likely to be victims of theft and the accompanying vandalism (which is often more expensive than the theft). That’s because when change makers and token dispensers are filled with tokens rather than cash, would-be thieves are not interested in breaking in. Often simple and inexpensive signage is enough to alert nefarious personnel to this fact.

Operationally, car wash operators who use tokens rather than cash also have less money tied up in the operational side of their business. And since the tokens are durable, the only time that they need to be replaced is when customers walk off with them or when they get grungy looking from exposure to the elements.

The question of whether to use tokens or real coins is beyond the scope of this discussion, but is important from the standpoint of hopper volume. Busy car washes may opt for dual hoppers to ensure that a sufficient supply of quarters or tokens is on hand to allow business to proceed. And while minimal, there is an additional cost for this option.

Another consideration is whether this will be new construction or a retrofit into an existing facility. If you are looking at new construction, then the sky is the limit. If it is a retrofit, however, there are considerations such as will the new change machine fit within the envelope of the previous version or will the opening have to be enlarged? Again, these are not deal breakers, but they can add cost and time to the equation.

Many change machines are available in either front loading or rear loading styles. The front loaders are loaded and emptied from the front panel—so anyone can see what is happening. These are more prone to the elements, and require some sort of gazebo or covering. Rear loaders, on the other hand, are set into a wall and emptied and loaded from the rear—hidden from public view. Most self-serve car washes opt for rear loaders because they are more secure.

While there are many options to consider when choosing a change machine, it all boils down to what you want to take in, and what you want to pay out—and how that may change in the future. The best advice is to think it through—to see what makes sense for your current situation and future growth. Then pick up the phone and talk with your local car wash equipment distributor. Then talk with some manufacturers—and ask them for references similar in size and make-up. Like many aspects of life, buying a change maker can be simple or complex—but it does not have to be complicated.

Mike Coons is VP/national sales manager at Standard Change Makers Inc. The company’s full line of bill breakers, change machines, token dispensers and pay stations may be seen at www.standardchange.com. You can reach Mike at mcoons@standardchange.com or  800.968.6955.