Frequently Asked Questions
A: Antique Coke Machines do not defy the normal principles of LOGIC, Antique Coke Machines are only a good investment when they have been restored by a professional, the same as an antique car or an antique jukebox.... As a rule, all good quality antiques will go up in value, unless they are mis handled..... A beautiful original Coke Machine has more value than one of the same model that was mis handled by an amateur trying to do a restoration..... A professionally restored Coke Machine will have more value than a beautiful original Coke Machine, just like a professionally restored 1959 Corvette has more value that a nice original unrestored 1959 Corvette. Now imagine a 1959 Corvette refurbished by an amateur who didn't know what he was doing...... He has actually decreased the value of the original Corvette by mis handling the restoration.... ANTIQUE COKE MACHINES ARE THE SAME !!! AND AMATEURS ARE DECREASING THE VALUE OF ORIGINAL COKE MACHINES ALL THE TIME.... UNFORTUNATELY, THE PUBLIC, BARGAIN HUNTER CUSTOMERS ARE BEING TRICKED BY THESE AMATEURS WHO MISREPRESENT THEIR MACHINES AS RESTORED...... I know because they contact me all the time, and want to trade in their machine, that they are not happy with, on one of mine, and are disappointed when I explain that they were tricked by the Amateur and by themselves, bargain hunting..... I WOULD MUCH RATHER START WITH AN UNRESTORED ORIGINAL, THAN HAVE TO UN-DO WHAT SOME AMATEUR HAS DONE TO A MACHINE.... AMATEUR RESTORED MACHINES HAVE LESS VALUE THAN ORIGINALS, SO BUYER BEWARE!
Q: What beverages are available today that will vend through these machines?
A: A lot of the fun associated with owning a vintage soda machine is buying, collecting, and enjoying the different beverages available today that will vend through these machines...I have attached many photos showing just some of the different beverages that will vend through these machines...The possibilities are almost endless...no special ordering is necessary; simply walk down your grocer's aisles with your eyes and mind open...go to different grocery stores and beverage stores and look for yourself!
These beverages are available right at Walmart:
Sodas in glass bottles: Orange Crush, Grape Crush, Strawberry Crush, IBC Root Beer, IBC Diet Root Beer, IBC Cream Soda, 7Up, A&W Root Beer, Sunkist Orange, Coke, Sprite, and Big Red. Also weird off-brand sodas, Yoohoo, etc.
Plastic ½ liter bottles: RC Cola, Sunkist Orange, Pepsi, Ginger Ale, Squirt (All Cotton Club flavors), etc.
Plastic Bottled Beverages: Gatorade, bottled water, bottled juices, kid's juice bottles, green teas, lemoned teas, mineral waters, Propel, energy drinks, etc.
Adult Beverages: All long-neck beer bottles, wine coolers, wine bottles, small champagne bottles, B52's, Mudslides, Malts, Lagers, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Twisted Teas, etc.
Note: Some of the better grocery stores even carry sodas with pure cane sugar like the original sodas down south...
ALSO: Imagine the number of photos of adult beverages I could also add...beer alone...
BOTTOM LINE: JUST ABOUT ANY BEVERAGE YOU CAN THINK OF IS NOW AVAILABLE IN BOTTLES THAT WILL VEND THROUGH THESE MACHINES...
Q: How do I tell an amateur restorer from a professional?
A: eBay feedback is a tool one can use to research a seller, eBay feedback can also be confusing to understand and misleading...Look to see how many positive feedbacks a seller has for the sale of restored antique soda machines, contact those people, talk to people, contact the buyers, ask if they have heard anything bad about the seller, do your research...Another obvious way is to study the listing...Are detailed photos provided? Is the machine pictured the actual machine you will receive? Many do the 'bait and switch', taking orders that they can't fill...promising results that are never produced. Ask the seller questions: Do they simply hammer-tone paint interiors or powdercoat? Do they disassemble the machines or “scuff and paint”? Buyers beware: There are a lot of shortcuts that most of the “restorers” take, the amateur restorers make almost all the shortcuts...
A: Powder coating is a new process. Powder coating is a plastic material that acts like a ceramic. It goes on in a powder form, then is baked on and melts together. Once cool, it hardens thus encapsulating the metal in a new protective coating that will not rust or oxidize like the old galvanizing did. BEWARE: Many "restorers" will simply paint over the old galvanizing with hammer paint. This is a cheap simple cover-up.
Q:
How does the shipping process work?
A:
The shipping is a separate contract, between buyer and shipper,
that I can orchestrate for you. I use a moving company, unlike
a trucking company that uses forklifts to move items on pallets. My
machines are hand-trucked by a moving company that can deliver to
your door, provided your street is tractor-trailer accessible.
The
machine can be insured for the purchase price. This not only
insures that you are covered for insurance purposes; it is also proof
that I am not "padding" the shipping costs. You pay
me for the machine only! The shipping cost will come to you
C.O.D. for the shipping only.
I
do not charge extra to go above and beyond when wrapping the machine
for shipment. I carefully wrap the machine in blankets, then
insulating board the heavy cardboard corners. I even document
the machine's condition with photographs in case there should be an
insurance claim.