📊 How much do ATM machines make?

Is the ATM business worth it? PrimeNate confirms it absolutely can be, but you cannot treat it as an instantly replacing your salary source of income on day one. Running an ATM route requires real hustle to find solid locations and manage the machines. This calculator breaks down the real profit potential of an ATM side hustle based on hardware costs, typical location revenues, and store owner commissions.

To start your route from scratch, you need to purchase the physical ATMs and supply the initial vault cash. As PrimeNate puts it, if you wanted to purchase a machine, um, you're looking at around 2 to 2500, $2,000 to $2,500 for a machine initially. Used machines provide a cheaper entry point at around $1,800 to $2,000.

Keep in mind that older machines carry a higher risk of expensive repairs. As PrimeNate warns, just to throw numbers out there, a new keypad for one of these machines runs about $600. Cash dispensers run close to $1,000, which eats into your profits fast if you fail to budget for maintenance.

Your income heavily depends on location quality and your relationship with the store owner. As PrimeNate states, if a location is making $300, you got you're on track. Slow locations might only pull in $30 to $70 a month.

From that gross amount, you must pay the store owner a commission to keep your machine in their shop. As PrimeNate advises, pay the people like, I don't know, like a third of its earnings. You still come out ahead to rinse and repeat the process.