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Phil Mickelson is no longer singing VEND's praises.
Another interesting tidbit from VEND's recently amended franchise disclosure document -
There's a section in the document in which endorsements by public figures are discussed. In the past, there was a paragraph there describing Phil's agreement to speak of his experience with the company. In exchange, Phil got a reduced purchase price for his kiosks AND WARRANTS (there they go again!).
Anyway, that paragraph about dear Phil has been deleted. Now the disclosure simply reads that VEND does not use any public figure to promote the franchise system.
So, I take it that Phil is either completely gone from the scene (seems likely) or, at the very least, VEND doesn't care to have him describe his experience dealing with them and their franchises (probably true as well).
Speaking of Nick's credibility.....
Here's another reason that you can't count on VEND or Nick to give you the straight truth.
The franchise disclosure documents, even those that have been amended as recently as a month ago, do not disclose the performance of any kiosks other than the original 3 company-owned kiosk that included high-flying performers like the Houston Space Center.
So, if you were to engage in discussions with VEND today about becoming a franchisee, they'd hand you a "disclosure" document that doesn't disclose how the kioks installed after the first 3. Nothing about their revenues, cups per day, etc. So, you might be inclined to believe that a kiosk will be a cash cow that will generate average gross revenues of $73,730 per kiosk.
Something tells me that the truth is far from the "disclosure".
There's no Flavor Burst in R&I's kiosks yet.
Seems that Nick and friends haven't been all that forthcoming when they talk about "six flavors with a twist" or 7 flavors. They discuss it as though it is currently available and in operation.
Not so!
According to their most recent set of franchise disclosure documents, the Flavor Burst technology is not yet available. Nick predicts that it will be available by September 2019, but we all know about Nick and his predictions. Even when it becomes available, it will cost you $2,000 - $2,500 per kiosk.
The bigger concern is probably the reliability of the Flavor Burst-enhanced kiosk. If it is taking them 2 years or so to get things together, who knows how well it will work when it's finally released?
Chalk another notch in the belt that keeps track of Nick's lack of credibility.
Hey, Phil and Yates are celebrating their one-year anniversary!
I wonder how many kiosks Phil has acquired?
That's just it - This is in addition to the offering described in the 10-Q!
Maybe Nick has found a use for all those Print Mates kiosks - he's printing shares like crazy!
They described a sale of a convertible debenture in April 2019. The first sale under this notice is on June 6.
So, they:
1. Sold $500,000 in debt convertible at 50 cents in April;
2. Offered another $2 million in convertibles in May; and
3. Are offering yet another $2 million in some sort of convertible now, and paying a broker fee of 7% to place it.
Bringing the total securities offerings in the current unfinished quarter up to $4.5 million presumably representing 9 million shares or more in dilution.
Another day, another dilutive offering.
So, now Nick is engaging in general solicitation for investments in what appears to be a convertible debt instrument. Hard to say, since the details are lacking.
He has sold $250,000 to the first investor and is looking to sell up to $2 million in total. He agreed to pay a 7% commission.
I'll bet that the conversion rate is a lot less than $0.50 a share, but even if it's $0.50, that's another 4 million shares out the door.
Nick can't print those shares fast enough!
Aside from the valuations based on momentum, growth, fashion, eyeballs, vaporware or what have you, maybe we could take a look at expected share price based on more traditional fundamental metrics.
On that basis, I don't see $1 by late summer, but maybe just maybe by year end.
If that 26% gross profit margin that the new CFO promised actually comes to be by October 1, the last quarter could be profitable. Of course, the only way that seems possible is through the delayed benefit achieved by taking a write-off last quarter, which thereby depressed that quarter's gross profit margin but would benefit future quarters.
So, let's assume a 26% GP margin, even if it's only a one-time event.
With the projected 400 deliveries per quarter through the end of the year, and assuming a fairly high price per kiosk of $50,000 (the most important of these assumptions), that comes to $5.2 million in gross profit for the quarter. Assuming $4 million in SG&A brings that down to $1.2 million in EBIT. On an annualized basis, that's $4.8 million in earnings. Now, we don't know where the share count will stand, but we can see that it could easily be 100 million shares in the not-too-distant future. Assuming that's the number to use, we are at $0.048 per share in annualized earnings.
So, what multiple to apply? At a sky-high 50 or 100, you could be looking at $2.40 to $4.80 per share. At a more reasonable 25 times earnings, we are at $1.20. I don't think the market is going to be so charitable as to apply a 50 or 100 multiple to one quarter's annualized results, but maybe a 20-25 multiple is achievable? Hard to say.
The results are highly dependent on the assumption of a $50,000 average selling price. If it's $45,000, which may be more reasonable, VEND won't deserve a $1 valuation from a fundamental perspective.
So, yeah, I can see potential for $1 or better, even under traditional approaches.
Last week, Nick disclosed in a video interview that VEND's next product will be another robotic food vending machine.
The protections offered by VEND to franchisees are VERY limited. I haven't re-checked the agreement, but I'm pretty sure that VEND could sell to a competitor if it chose to do so, and it would probably just do a license deal with TCBY without equipment, for that matter, which is even less likely to legally interfere with the franchisee's rights under their agreements.
TCBY and Stoelting jointly developed a yogurt vending machine that TCBY attempted to launch. It looks as though Stoelting tried to make a go of selling the machines itself after TCBY threw in the towel. The machines were pretty plain boxes, with none of the robot sizzle that the Robofusion machines offered. It looks as though yogurt choices were very limited as compared to the VEND kiosk as well.
The enforcement of patent rights is a difficult and very expensive undertaking, and victory is never a certainty. I doubt VEND has the resources to wage war with TCBY or Stoelting, and I note that there are other machines out there that VEND has not seemingly not bothered to complain about - the Frobot machines in northern California, and some products being introduced by international manufacturers that are very robot-oriented.
More importantly, the VEND patents do not appear to provide any protection against the TCBY/Stoelting machine. The VEND patents seem to be limited to machines that have a viewable interior.
All that said, there's a chance that TCBY and Stoelting took the potential for VEND litigation into account, but I doubt that it was the primary reason for their withdrawal from the venture.
I doubt that it helped with Walmart when they learned he had canceled a shareholder meeting.
That is unheard of.
I saw that Yates had skipped out on a shareholder meeting, just incredible.
It's fun to play the guessing game, but it doesn't really matter who any of us are. Good points are good points, and bs is bs, regardless of the source.
But I'll play along!
I thought Franky was probably Nick's brother Frank.
I thought RoBoZo might be Nick, but I think Nick has more on the ball than that. As I recall, RoBoZo and at least one other poster have attempted to threaten Sonata by calling out his real name and suggesting that they know who he is and more details about him. To what point, other than to make themselves look bad, I don't know.
I have been repeatedly described as a short (or as a disgruntled attempted franchisee). I'm not, but what does it matter? If you can't address the facts that I post, you can't legitimately dispute my points, and they aren't made invalid by my identity. They all come from the company, after all.
I thought for sure that someone would eventually suggest that you and I are either the same person or somehow in league with each other. To their credit, no one has gone that far, but even so, what would be the point?
It seems to me that Alvie is just an investor who is well-informed by inside sources, but not an insider. He seems entirely sincere and careful to remain factual. The main difference between him and me, it seems, is that he is optimistic and I am skeptical, which probably indicates that he's the nicer of the two of us.
I take it that the lack of response to my question about Flavor Burst means that it is not operational, at least not without problems.
And, yes, Nick Yates clearly reads this board.
Nick, why did you password protect the June 2019 investor presentation?
Please ask someone to explain Regulation FD to you.
Thanks, DDR. That's consistent with what I read about Flavor Burst. It seems to produce a visually attractive effect. Even though it's not fully mixed into the product, I suppose the flavor's there when you take a spoonful that includes the stripe, and the looks of it are nice.
I'm still wondering what the deal is with VEND. I was going to be in the vicinity of a kiosk on Memorial Day, but plans fell through. My curiosity may drive me to see it first-hand, but I know we've got a number of board participants who can tell me if it's fully operational (and I'm not counting RoBoZo in that number).
Nick, the KPIs are mostly headed in the wrong direction.
New installations down from 76 to 57.
(There were 14 replacements, but that's not good news, and even if those were counted as deliveries, the total amount dropped from April.)
Average revenue per new installation down from $40,000 to $39,000.
Average price per kiosk for new sales down from $55,556 to $50,000.
They did secure more locations (55) than they had in April (44), so not all the KPIs declined.
No news on 19 Degrees.
Will Print Mates save the day?
Anyone here seen Flavor Burst in the wild?
I didn't know about it until I asked why there are only 2 spigots but 6 (or 7?) flavors of froyo offered at an R&I kiosk. Now that I do, I'm intrigued. Sounds like a pretty nifty trick.
DDR and doesitreallymatter were kind enough to open my eyes to the existence of Flavor Burst, but it didn't sound as though either of them had actually seen it in operation. Nevertheless, I saw no reason to doubt them.
That said, one of the reasons I was confused was that I had seen screen shots from the kiosk's customer input screen that only showed a choice between chocolate and vanilla, and I had read posts by owners of some kiosks that suggested they only offered 2 flavors at a time.
Thinking that maybe those were old shots and outdated posts, I figured that it was now installed, up and running. But then along comes the video that VEND itself just published in the interview by Cheddar that includes one of those chocolate/vanilla screen shots? Why would that show up? Was it just old footage?
I see the VEND first announced it was working with Flavor Burst in April 2017. The last mention of it seems to be in October 2018, when VEND states in its press release that in the quarter ended September 30, 2018, VEND was "Completing final stages of development of the Flavor Burst six-flavor system combined with a three-spigot self-cleaning and sanitizing mechanism;" Nothing further has been said about Flavor Burst from what I can find other than that the same 6/7 flavors keeps getting touted. So, I guess it's gone live but that they didn't see a need to announce it?
What's noteworthy is that here after 16 months of work, the Flavor Burst system had not yet completed development. Maybe it had been installed in a somewhat undeveloped state? Maybe it was installed sometime thereafter?
So, I'm asking, what gives with Flavor Burst? Is it out there in the field? Does it work? Some of you must know. I'm looking at you, FroYoDude.
And don't get me wrong, if it's working, it seems to me that it solves a very big piece of the puzzle in terms of attracting purchasers and competing with the brick and mortar alternatives. I continue to think that it's a nifty idea.
Thanks, Alvie. Appears to have been well-attended.
Yeah, I oversimplified and tried to give every benefit of the doubt. The point being that profitability is not around the corner.
As to cash flow, I was focused on operating cash flow prior to the need to address repayment obligations. That situation looks pretty hopeless, eh? Here's a prediction - those franchisees won't get paid.
On the potential for additional stock compensation expense, I don't know the rules that well, but a bunch of Nick's option shares are tied to the achievement of performance goals, and a lot of the options are subject to vesting. I don't know when the compensation expense would be recognized in those situations, but I thought some or all of that might only occur when the conditions have been satisfied. There are also another 3.8 million shares that could be granted under the employee plan. And finally, it would be a mistake to underestimate Nick's willingness to grant himself more shares.
I'm pretty sure there's no class action litigation pending.
For one thing, the company would be obligated to disclose it in the 10-Q.
For another, the lawyers that file class actions like to do so with a splash, with a widely-distributed press release. Sometimes they announce plans to "investigate" even before they file.
Finally, there are a few places on the web where you can search for class actions. I just looked at a couple, and nothing came up.
Now, it would come as no surprise that they have received a shakedown letter or two to the bottom-feeders.
In the end, though, maybe the lack of a class action signifies the assessment of the plaintiffs' bar that there is a low chance of recovery on any claim that is successfully brought. The most successful plaintiffs' lawyers are the ones that are careful to choose the right cases, after all.
Here's some bright, cheery Sunday thoughts.
What would it take for VEND to become profitable or at least cash-flow positive over the last 6 months of 2019?
Let's assume that they deliver kiosks / report revenues at the high end of the range - 800 over the final 6 months of 2019.
Extrapolating from the numbers in the last 10-Q, my guesstimate is that they would need to generate at least 8.2 million in gross profit on those 800 machines to report positive net earnings (although that assumes that stock-based compensation doesn't spike, which I'm afraid might happen if things go well).
So, that works out to a gross profit of $10,250 per machine for all 800 machines. Based on VEND's projections for revenues, that doesn't look like it's in the cards, but, hey, with higher sales prices and reduced costs, you might get there eventually.
Now, what if we ignore those nasty non-cash charges like stock-based compensation, depreciation, interest accruals, etc.? That looks like it brings the break-even gross profit number down to around $8,375. Unfortunately, with projected sales prices at only $41,000 per kiosk for the 2019 deliveries, VEND is still short. And that's even if Nick shaves $4,000 per kiosk in manufacturing costs like he suggested in March.
So, it looks like GAAP profitability and positive cash flows will remain elusive for the balance of 2019. But, we're getting closer!
If you want to indulge in some super-optimistic assumptions to see the profit light at the end of the tunnel, you might think:
- hey, those SG&A costs are still too high. There must be some fluff in there that could be cut. How much are they paying Frank Yates, for instance?
- Maybe the manufacturing costs will plummet when Stoelting comes on the scene.
- Maybe stock-based compensation will drop like a rock.
- Maybe some of those lower-priced franchisees will drop out and be replaced by those high-flying $58,000 payors.
- Maybe those Print Mates kiosks will start printing money. (OK, now I've gone too far.)
On the other hand, increasing production and deliveries accompanied by any recovery in the rate of franchise sales would tend to drive the business's working capital requirements up and up. So, even if break-even is achieved, cash flow still looks like a downer.
But, hey, there's always 2020.
You got me wondering what the potential dilution might be from all the warrants and options that have been issued. It's pretty spectacular.
From the 10-Q, between warrants and options that have been issued, and assuming the current private placement gets filled, you're looking at another 26 million shares. And there's another 4 million or so that's authorized to be issued under the employee stock option plan, so you're probably faced with another 30 million or so shares, plus whatever gets done in the next round(s) of private placements.
The prices at which the warrants/options are exercisable are pretty darn low, too. There's a slug at 87 cents, but the rest all range from 50 cents, to 38 cents, to 30 cents all the way down to 16 cents.
So, here's this company that had a mere 35 million shares outstanding 2 years ago to one that could end up with over 100 million shares if all the warrants and options are exercised. With no end in sight.
Hey, could you tell me (please) what VEND’s ownership interest is in 19 Degrees?
Also, it’s interesting that long-waiting franchise wannabes are swapping in for 19 Degrees ownership. Good for VEND , not so good for them, but I guess they were desperate to get on the VEND train.
Here's your chance to support Nick.
Do you agree with his prediction that they will gin out units at the rate of 80 per month? If so, for the rest of the year?
And do you think they will install 1400 units? If so, by what date?
Predictions are cheap, and Nick has a long history of making them and forgetting them. Just ask, and we'll all be happy to give you a list.
I think that VEND may very well survive long enough to get an installed base that supports future operations, but anyone who unquestioningly buys into Nick Yates' predictions is whistling past the graveyard.
Never claimed to know it all. In fact, just the opposite - My knowledge is but a poor blunt instrument to be sharpened by the sharp attacks of the more fully-informed followers like you.
That said, why would a new investor who saw the Cheddar interview elect to buy on the open market when there's a better deal through private placement?
Nick can always take care of himself through compensation comprised of lots of stock and options. You? Not so much.
But, please tell me more. My inadequate knowledge longs to be supplemented by the gentle and not so gentle teachings of the better-informed.
On a positive note, Nick is noticeably successful in getting press and he is a really really smooth-talking guy. Brings to mind a song:
Sweet talking guy, talking sweet kinda lies
Don't you believe in him, if you do he'll make you cry
He'll send you flowers and paint the town with another girl
He's a sweet talkin' guy
(Sweet talkin' guy)
But he's my kind of guy
(Sweet talkin' guy)
Sweeter than sugar, kisses like wine
(Oh he's so fine)
Don't let him under your skin, cause you'll never win
(No you'll never win)
Don't give him love today, tomorrow he's on his way
He's a sweet talkin' guy
(Sweet talkin' guy)
But he's my kind of guy
(Sweet talkin' guy)
Why do I love him like I do
He's a sweet talkin'
(Sweet talkin')
Sweet talkin'
(Sweet talkin') guy
Stay away from him, stay away from him, don't believe his lyin'
(Stay away from him)
No, no, no you'll never win, no you'll never win, loser's in for cryin'
(No you'll never win)
Don't give him love today, tomorrow he's on his way
He's a sweet talkin'
(Sweet talkin')
Sweet talkin'
(Sweet talkin')
Sweet talkin'
(Sweet talkin')
Sweet talkin'
(Sweet talkin') guy
Stay away from him
(Sweet sweet, sweet talkin' guy)
No no no you'll never win
(Sweet sweet, sweet talkin' guy)
Thanks for the info.
Still a bad idea to let disenfranchised franchisees to roll into the 19 Degrees deal. Not a good deal for new investors. So, it's good that there aren't many who have elected (but I still bet that Nick offers it to the disenchanted).
Thanks. I watched the Cheddar interview.
I had never heard of Cheddar, but the interviewers seemed capable enough and asked intelligent questions, and my oh my, that Nick is a smooth talker.
He done good!
Now, if he can just deliver performance that finally matches his projections. 80 deliveries a month! 1400 robots installed!
After all, he's never been wrong before.
Hey, FroYoGuy!
Feel free to enlighten me!
My understanding is that anyone who owns a kiosk is free to swap it for an interest in 19 Degrees.
Now, if you own one of those RoBoZo-style kiosks that is minting money, there's no way you're gonna make that trade!
But, if you're one of the poor souls who has held onto a kiosk through thick and thin and mostly thin, with multiple operational issues, software problems, broken robot arms, etc. and/or one that's only generating a measly 7/cups a day in sales, then you might jump at the opportunity.
That's what the insurance industry likes to call "negative selection" when the only ones who take your offer are the ones you don't want to take your offer.
What happens? Well, you get 19 Degrees loaded up with all the problem kiosks that franchisees are looking to bail on. I can imagine that Nick and company actually steer unhappy franchisees in that direction in lieu of having to negotiate a buy-out.
So, if you happen to know that there are protections in place to prevent 19 Degrees from getting loaded up with other franchisees' rejects, I'd love to hear about it, but while you're at it, please explain why your explanation is inconsistent with VEND's public statements.
I'm all ears!
As usual, you are under no obligation, but your silence will speak volumes.
Speaking of the scoreboard and stock price...
It occurs to me that if I were in love with the investment opportunities presented by VEND, buying stock on the public market is not where I would place my bet.
There are so many options - publicly-traded VEND, kiosks, 19 Degrees, private placements....
By process of elimination -
19 Degrees is a sucker's bet, since its selection of kiosks will be adversely affected by negative selection (only the worst-performing franchisee-owned kiosks will be transferred in) and higher administrative costs. So, that's out.
You could buy a kiosk, but between the kiosk owner and the company, I would have to think that the winner in any arrangement is the company. Profit on the sale and 12% royalty plus other benefits. So, sorry, RoBoZo, but I think you have the relative concentration of your purported investment reversed. I think you'd do better as a stockholder than a franchisee (unless, of course, you manage to sell the INCREDIBLE numbers of cups that you have claimed! And I can't count on RoBoZo levels of performance).
So, for me at least, that brings it down to a choice between the public shares and the private placement deals. True, the private placements seem to all have lock-up periods, but they haven't been very onerous. And the current offering is quite attractive relative to buying stock outright. You come in (a) as a creditor, higher up in the food chain for repayment, (b) earning 15% interest, (c) with a right to convert to common shares if it suits you, and (d) at a conversion price that is at a significant discount to the market price. Unless there are undisclosed negatives associated with the private placement, it strikes me that this choice is a no-brainer.
So, if I had $25,000 or more with which to profess my love for VEND, I'd be on the phone with Nick arranging a private placement for myself.
Which brings me back to the scoreboard/stock price. I think the price is highly unlikely to rise significantly while the private placement option is available. Unless you are either not an accredited investor or you're just ignorant, you'd limit your purchases to the private placements, and the public stock price will not reflect your interest. On top of that, the profligate issuances of stock in private placements and otherwise have generated and continue to generate massive dilution, so your purchase will be at the mercy of that.
Has there ever been a time in the last year or two when the private placement option wasn't on the table? I don't think so. So, there's some doubt about my theory in light of the price spike that occurred just over a year ago in response to the successful pumping over future prospects. I guess there are a lot of retail investors who were motivated by the press releases and such to run out and buy without looking into things like the private placement. And, it could happen again. But for anyone who takes the time to look, a private placement approach would be the way to go, and that won't do the stock price any good.
Gotta love the comic relief!
So, now you tell us that your multiple kiosks are averaging 57 cups per day per kiosk? That’s incredible!
How many kiosks are you talking about?
And how many more are you awaiting?
And I gather that you think that your experience is typical of other kiosk owners?
500,000 cups must be right around the corner!
Incredible!
Spread the good news, Robozo!
I am by no means adamant that the company should fail. My reference to "company" was not intended to be a reference to VEND, just Nick and his buddies.
It would suit me fine if VEND does well. In fact, for your sake and the sake of others, I hope it does well. I don't think that's likely, but it is certainly possible.
For what it's worth, I meant it when I said that VEND had burned through a lot less cash this most recent quarter than what might have been expected. And they managed to do that without driving accounts payable through the roof.
How'd they do it? Well, it appears that cash came from converting (a) Due from franchisees, (b) Inventory, and (c) Deposits, into cash, and by increasing liabilities in (x) Deferred revenues, (y) Rescissions payable and (z) Accrued personnel costs.
And that result, it seems to me, is largely a combination of prudent reductions in investments in inventory and a reduction in working capital requirements brought about by a lower level of franchise sales. Longer term, that could become a problem, but in the short term, it seems to have helped cash-flow wise.
Oh, and the cash loss may have been a bit lower since some of the expenses such as stock-based compensation are non-cash.
One unfortunate thing for the departing franchisees is that they are being forced to provide financing for the business, and that sure helped VEND make it through the quarter.
So, DDR, I'm not all about the negatives. I prefer to be factual and somewhat objective, and I don't mind pointing out the positives when I see them. It's just too much fun to point out management's foibles, failures and dishonesty. There's just so much material there! And it's just so much fun to dig into it!
I am destined to be disappointed, since I have conflicting desires. I would like to see Nick Yates and company receive their just rewards, and I would like to see investors and franchisees come out fine. Those two things are unlikely to both happen. At least I'll be happy if you make money even if Nick sails off into another sunset.
I think you can chalk it up more to playful banter. Print Mates is not going to make or break VEND. It could be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but it doesn't look like much.
It is interesting in that it serves to further demonstrate the questionable decision-making of management (as if there was more need of that!).
I think the real question remains whether VEND can get machines installed fast enough to beat the clock before time (that is, cash) runs out.
Nick Yates listens to us!
So, just a few scant hours following my repartee' with Frankyclairvoyant in which I pointed out the printmates.com/purchase web page offering to sell kiosks to all takers, guess what?!?!?!?
They take the page down! www.printmates.com/purchase is no longer there!
I hadn't mentioned it before, but Nick also took down his page at nicholasyates.com after I pointed out the questionable claims of achievements that had been made on earlier versions of that page.
So, I am very glad he's paying attention.
Nick, if you're still paying attention, please note that the offer to sell someone (anyone) a kiosk still exists at various and sundry locations on the Print Mates web site, so your web page guys have a bit more work to do if you want to remove all those potentially problematic offers. Also, the page design got a little screwed up in your hasty move to cleanse the "purchase" tab, so there's that, too.
Now, I wonder, why would it be problematic to be caught offering kiosks to any and all takers? Or even to R&I franchisees, for that matter? Could it be that there is no franchise disclosure document in place covering the sale of a Print Mates franchise? And, with VEND's history of having been caught selling franchises without effect documents on file with state regulatory authorities, we wouldn't want that to happen again.
OK, Frankyclairvoyant, I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't answer my question, but I suppose a wise guy like you may have seen where I was headed:
- so doesitreallymatter asks how many Print Mates kiosks you have purchased.
- you answer by saying that they are not for sale.
- I point out that they are indeed for sale and point you to the web page.
- You counter that they are only for sale to R&I franchisees (something that is not supported by anything contained on the web site and seemingly inconsistent with the web site, making me wonder whether the idea was pulled from some orifice).
- "Ah ha!" I think. If Frankyclairvoyant is a franchisee, then he could buy the Print Mates kiosks, and he should provide a different answer to the question originally posed by doesitreallymatter instead of offering the excuse that he can't buy one (because they are not for sale).
Now, I'm thinking that a smart guy like you must be a franchisee, but who knows, maybe you aren't?
Anyway, there's no rule that says that you have to answer my questions, so I'll just have to be content with the information (albeit questionable) that you have chosen to share. Another VEND mystery will have to remain unresolved.
But, if the mood strikes you, please let me know if you are a franchisee and, if so, why you aren't already the proud owner of a Print Mates kiosk.
Fear not, I will continue in my quest to sharpen my dull wit and, in the process, help VEND out with that pesky transparency that they so desire.
Well, you certainly put me in my place!
I'm clearly no genius, but I am grateful for the enlightenment that you provide. I seek only to sharpen the dull tool that is my knowledge against the sharp wit and superior information of folks like you.
So, are you a R&I franchisee?
So, "They aren't for sale"?
Why do they have a "Purchase" page on the Print Mates web site, then?
https://printmates.com/purchase/
Sorry for the initial mistake and appreciative of your post.
I saw a press release dated January 4, but now that you mention it, they look as though they claimed the sale of over 100,000 cups as early as December 19.
Thanks. That means the second 100,000 took about 57 days. Improvement!
Hmmm, from what I can tell:
100,000 sold as of January 4, 2019.
200,000 sold as of February 14. That's 41 days later.
300,000 sold as of April 4. That's 49 days later.
400,000 sold as of May 18. That's 44 days later.
There seems to be a disconnect between perception versus reality when it comes to VEND's "KPI".
If I'm wrong about any of the above, please set me straight.