OnHand does not publish what a venue earns. There is no average monthly check, no “typical” Phoenix payout, and no percentage on this page. A venue earns a revenue share of what guests actually buy. That number moves with the room. Anyone who hands you a single dollar figure before seeing the building is guessing, or selling.
If you need the cost split first — who pays for the machine and the product — read who pays for free placement. This page is only about why earnings are not a statistic we are willing to invent.
Why is there no honest dollar figure on this page?
Because a real figure describes one machine in one room, and we do not have results that would make an average meaningful. Hours differ. A number averaged across a nightclub, a lobby, and an office would describe none of them. Publishing it would be advertising. We will not do that.
What we will say
Guests pay the machine. The sale is split. The venue’s side is a revenue share. OnHand’s side covers the machine, the inventory, and the labor. The split is agreed for that location. It is not a rent payment, and it is not guaranteed if nobody buys. The FAQ states the partnership the same way, without a rate card.
What a sales deck often does instead
It picks a flattering site, multiplies a price by a hopeful number of transactions, and calls the product an “average.” That math is not a forecast. If we will not show our work, do not trust the total. Ask what would have to be true in your room for a result to show up. Then look at whether those things are true.
What variables actually move earnings?
Foot traffic that passes the machine, the hours that traffic exists, what is in the cabinet, and where the cabinet sits. A full building with an empty hallway produces nothing. A smaller room everyone walks through can do more. In a Phoenix summer, cold drinks move. Packs move when that audience is actually in the building.
Traffic that counts
Headcount on a lease, a capacity sign, or a Saturday door count is not the same as people who stand in front of the machine. A Scottsdale bar’s patio door and a Tempe office’s badge gate are both “traffic.” Only the path past the cabinet counts. We look at that on a site check, described in what to expect after you request a machine.
Hours
A machine earns during the hours the room is alive. A downtown Phoenix office that empties at six does not earn like a hotel lobby that runs all night. A Mesa warehouse on a swing shift is its own pattern. More hours are not automatically more sales if the extra hours are empty.
Mix and price
Water and energy drinks are a different ticket from a sealed card pack. Food and beverage, Pokémon cards, and nicotine and lifestyle should not be forced into one imaginary basket. Nicotine and vapes are 21+ and only where rules and the venue allow. They are not a lever you pull to inflate a spreadsheet. OnHand is not a law firm. Read the statute quotation on the FAQ with counsel if that line is even a question.
Placement
Lobby versus back hall is not a design preference. It is whether the machine is on the way or on a detour. In summer, a detour across heat is a lost sale to the convenience store that was already on the drive home. Put the machine on the path people use. Apartment placement and gym and office stocking both come back to that.
How does revenue share work without a public rate?
Each sale is divided. You receive the venue share. OnHand retains the rest to pay for equipment, product, and the people who service the route. We do not post the ratio because copying one building’s terms onto another would be inaccurate. You will hear the terms for your site in a direct conversation, not from a blog.
There is no “industry standard” percentage cited here, because citing one would be a borrowed statistic we did not measure. If another operator advertises a rate, ask what it is a share of, who buys the inventory, and who eats the unsold product. Those answers change the meaning of the percentage. Our answers are in how free placement works: we buy the machine and the product; you do not.
What does the venue not spend, and why does that matter?
You do not buy the cabinet, pay a setup fee, purchase inventory, or hire someone to run the machine. Earnings are a share of sales from equipment you did not buy. That still does not make them large. It means you should not subtract a loan you never took.
Compare that with a traditional route that leaves cash handling or complaints on your staff. Staff time is a cost even when nobody puts it in the pro forma. Smart versus traditional vending is that comparison without a fake savings percentage attached.
What should a Phoenix owner ask instead of “what’s the average”?
Ask whether people will pass this spot during open hours, which line matches them, and what you must provide: space, power, and access. Ask how restock works with your security rules, and what happens if sales are weak. A serious operator will decline a bad stop. They will not invent a rebound.
Ask those questions for a bar in Old Town, a community in Chandler or Mesa, a gym in north Phoenix, or an office in Tempe. The Valley is not one market for this. Locations is the list of venue types, not a heat map of income.
What does not increase earnings?
A louder claim. A second machine in a room that could not support the first. A 21+ product where it does not belong. A card machine where people wanted water. Fresh food we cannot keep fresh. Any forecast that never reaches a person standing at the cabinet.
Remote monitoring helps us stock what sells. It does not create demand. Cashless payments remove a chore. They do not raise the share by themselves. The machine lines are there so you pick the product people in that room already want.
FAQ
Venues earn a share of real sales. OnHand does not publish the share or an average payout. Traffic past the machine, hours, mix, and placement decide the sales. A single Phoenix number would be made up, so it is not here.
Will you estimate earnings on a call?
We will talk about fit and the variables in your room. We will not dress a guess as a forecast. If the site is wrong, the honest estimate is that we should not install.
Does a busier neighborhood guarantee a higher share?
No. The rate is negotiated for the site. Busier surroundings only help if those people pass the machine and buy. A busy street you cannot see from the lobby does not vend.
Do card machines earn more than drink machines?
Not as a rule we will print. A sealed pack is a different purchase from a water. Either can be a poor fit. Compare audiences, not internet categories.
Where do I see the terms?
In the conversation about your location, not on this page. Request a machine and we usually reply within one business day.
Start with the room, not a spreadsheet
Tell us the venue and which line you are considering. We will say if it looks like a placement or a pass. Use the contact form. Bring questions about traffic and access. Leave the invented average at the door. A neighborhood name is enough to start.