Vending businesses that sold through BizBuySell between 2021 and 2025 went for a median $83,500, or about 2.15 times the owner’s yearly earnings. Buyers paid 93% of the asking price on average, and the median business sold in 64 days, per BizBuySell’s vending benchmarks1.
In California, a buyer who pays the full price before the seller’s sales-tax account is cleared can become liable for the seller’s unpaid tax, up to the price paid (RTC §681222).
What routes sell for
BizBuySell publishes figures for vending businesses sold on its site from 2021 to 2025. Owner earnings is seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE): profit before the owner’s own pay.
| Sold vending businesses, 2021–2025 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $83,500 |
| Median asking price | $88,498 |
| Average sale price as a share of asking | 93% |
| Median days on market | 64 |
| Median yearly revenue | $71,000 |
| Median owner earnings (SDE) | $39,601 |
| Sale price ÷ SDE, lower quartile / median / upper quartile | 1.80 / 2.15 / 2.62 |
| Sale price ÷ revenue, lower quartile / median / upper quartile | 0.88 / 1.11 / 1.33 |
BizBuySell says a route with consistent sales over $130,000 a year may sell above 2.5 times earnings, and one under $50,000 closer to 1.8 times. It also notes that routes are often traded between existing operators.
Operators on Vendiscuss price routes on gross sales instead. One long-time poster put asking prices at 10 months18 to 12 months of gross17, adjusted down for high commissions, dirty machines, and outdoor placements. Another said most of the price is the equipment18, because a location can ask a new owner to leave the day after closing. These are operator-reported rules of thumb.
California listings in October 2026
BizBuySell’s California vending page showed 30 results on October 3, 2026. Thirteen were established routes. The rest were start-up packages, equipment-only sales, laundromats, an ATM route, and a photo shop.
| Listing | Asking | Owner earnings (SDE) | Revenue | Asking ÷ SDE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, 5 locations9 | $35,000 | $12,806 | $18,967 | 2.73 |
| San Jose, 1 machine with Nayax5 | $44,900 | $20,400 | $31,400 | 2.20 |
| San Diego County, 3 locations4 | $48,000 | $16,500 | $35,667 | 2.91 |
| Victorville, 3 machines at one site8 | $65,500 | $23,500 | $41,500 | 2.79 |
| Northern California, 1 vending route6 | $69,950 | $16,480 | $46,035 | 4.24 |
| Dixon, 19 locations incl. micromarkets10 | $215,000 | not disclosed | $152,533 (2025) | – |
| Vacaville, 17 machines in a gym chain7 | $245,000 | $26,000 | $142,000 | 9.42 |
Every figure is the seller’s or broker’s. BizBuySell states on each listing that it has not verified them. Five of the six California routes that disclose earnings ask more than 2.62 times SDE, the top of the middle half of sold prices.
Where routes are listed
- BizBuySell3. 258 vending listings nationally on October 3, 2026. A listing there also appears on BizQuest and LoopNet, so BizQuest shows the same routes.
- Route Consultant. A route brokerage listing FedEx, bread, and vending routes. Its “net operating income” figure is an estimate14, “usually between 10% and 25%” of revenue, and is not taken from the seller’s books.
- The Route Exchange15. A route broker in Batavia, Illinois. It says deals close 4 to 12 weeks after the sales agreement.
- VendRoute16. Run by VendHub. It introduces buyers to the broker handling each sale; listings are not exclusive to it.
- Vendiscuss. The operator forum has no classifieds section; routes for sale are posted as threads in its topic forums.
What to check before you pay
The location agreements
Listings range from “written placement agreements are in place at all locations” (Denver12) to “the seller reports that there are no written contracts” (Dixon10).
Under California Civil Code §145719, the burden of an obligation transfers only with the consent of the party it is owed to. A placement agreement obliges the operator to service the machine and pay commission, so ask the seller to get each location’s written consent to the change of operator before closing. Read the commission terms for every location at the same time.
The sales records
- Card reader and telemetry reports. The Denver listing says about 98% of its sales run through cashless readers and are recorded by the payment platform. Ask for the platform’s machine-level reports for at least the last 12 months, exported by the seller while you watch.
- Tax returns and profit-and-loss statements. An Atlanta route11 asking $215,000 was listed as cash-only because it had neither, and its broker said no bank or SBA lender would finance it.
- Fabricated figures. In 2022 a Massachusetts man pleaded guilty38 to defrauding three route buyers of about $187,500, two of them with fabricated profit spreadsheets.
Who owns the machines
The same Atlanta listing says 13 of its drink machines are supplied and repaired by Coca-Cola. Bottler-owned machines are not the seller’s to sell. Get an asset list with serial numbers and match each one to a machine on site.
How much depends on one location
The San Jose listing is a single machine. A North Carolina route37 of about 60 locations has 26 of them in one city. Ask for sales by location and work out what share the top one or two produce.
Inventory at closing
Listings handle stock three ways: excluded and sold separately (San Diego, $2,500), included at a fixed amount, or counted at closing (Atlanta). Agree which in writing, and count it at cost on the closing day if it is being paid for separately.
A non-compete
California voids most non-competes, but Business and Professions Code §1660120 allows one when someone sells a business with its goodwill, limited to the area where the business operated. Without one, the seller can approach the same locations after closing.
California: hold back for the seller’s sales tax
A buyer of a California business “shall withhold sufficient of the purchase price” to cover the seller’s unpaid sales tax until the seller produces a CDTFA receipt or a certificate that nothing is due (RTC §681121). A buyer who does not withhold becomes personally liable, up to the purchase price.
CDTFA Publication 7425 sets out how it works in practice:
- The buyer, or the escrow company, requests a tax and fee clearance through CDTFA Online Services or in writing, with the bill of sale, the price, every location bought, and the escrow number.
- CDTFA tells escrow how much to hold back: the seller’s liability plus sales tax due on the furniture, fixtures, and equipment in the sale.
- CDTFA has 60 days to respond, counted from the latest of the request, the sale date, or the date the seller’s records are made available for audit (RTC §681222). Publication 74 warns it can take 60 days or more, especially if there is an audit.
Each business location counts separately under Regulation 170223, so buying part of a route can still trigger the rule. Regulation 1702 says that “in cases of doubt” the buyer should get a certificate.
You also need your own seller’s permit. A CDTFA account is valid only for the business it was issued to, and under Regulation 169924 the seller stays liable for tax a new owner runs up under the old permit until CDTFA is told. The sales tax itself works as described in California sales tax on vending machines.
The bulk-sales notice
California’s bulk-sales law applies when the seller’s principal business is “the sale of inventory from stock” and the assets are worth between $10,000 and $5,000,000 (Commercial Code §610326). Where it applies:
- At least 12 business days before the sale, the buyer records a notice with the county recorder, publishes it in a local newspaper, and mails it to the county tax collector (§610527).
- In a cash deal of $2,000,000 or less, the buyer or escrow pays the seller’s creditors’ timely claims out of the price (§6106.228).
The statute does not mention vending, and we found no court or agency source on whether a vending route counts as selling inventory from stock. Ask the escrow officer to decide at the start; the 12-day clock affects the closing date.
Form 8594 and depreciation
When a business changes hands as a group of assets, buyer and seller each file IRS Form 859429 and split the price across seven classes. Stock is Class IV, machines and vehicles Class V, a non-compete and the location list Class VI, and goodwill Class VII. Agree the split in the purchase agreement; the IRS says a written allocation binds both parties unless it finds the amounts inappropriate (IRS Publication 54430).
The split matters to the buyer because machines can be depreciated quickly. For tax years beginning in 2026, the section 179 limit is $2,560,000 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-3231), and 100% bonus depreciation applies to qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, which can include certain used property (IRS Publication 94632). Publication 946 does not name vending machines, so confirm the recovery period with a tax adviser.
Paying for it
SBA 7(a) loans can fund a change of ownership, up to $5,000,000. The rate is capped at the base rate plus 6.5% on loans of $50,000 or less, plus 6.0% up to $250,000, and lower above that (SBA33).
According to a May 2025 law-firm summary35 of SBA’s lending rules (SOP 50 10, version 8), a change of ownership needs at least 10% from the buyer, and a seller note counts toward that only if it takes no payments for the life of the SBA loan. SBA lists version 8.1 as effective October 1, 202634; check the current terms with the lender.
Seller financing is the other route. In BizBuySell’s Q2 2026 Insight Report13, 90% of buyers across all industries expected it, and 29% of sellers planned to offer it. The Vacaville listing says seller financing may be available.
When a route sale is a business opportunity
The FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule36 covers a seller who gets someone into a new business and says it will provide locations for vending machines. The rule’s text does not exempt the owner of an existing route selling to a first-time operator, and we found no FTC guidance either way. If you are new to vending and the seller is promising locations as well as selling machines, ask for the one-page disclosure described in turnkey vending packages.
