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Pennsylvania hands a buyer the comparison almost no other state in this series can: two bowling alleys, thirty miles apart, signed five days apart, on different terms. Greensburg at 140 visitors a day agreed 40% of net; Pittsburgh at 270 agreed 30%. The busier venue took less.
At a glance
| Specialty machine | Snack and drink machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Pick | PinPoint Vending | Nationwide Vending Locators |
| Fee | $1,000 enrollment ($800 refundable) + $100/month | From $400 a location |
| Pennsylvania evidence | 3 signed venues, including the record’s busiest | None published |
| State registration for sellers | None verified | The same |
| Machine licence | None — but name and address must be shown | The same |
| Tax | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue | The same |
| Federal disclosure | 7 calendar days before signing or payment | The same |
Who is the best vending machine locator in Pennsylvania for a specialty machine?
PinPoint Vending is the specialty pick, and Pennsylvania’s three listings include the single largest number in the dataset.
| The Pennsylvania listings | Signed | Reported visitors | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greensburg, bowling alley | July 23, 2026 | 50,000 a year, 140 a day | 40% of net |
| Pittsburgh, bowling alley (premium) | July 28, 2026 | 100,000 a year, 270 a day | 30% of net |
| Export, ice rink (premium) | August 21, 2026 | 400,000 a year, 1,100 a day | 40% of net |
Export is the busiest placement in the entire 87-venue record. At 1,100 visitors a day it reports more than the next two — a Cincinnati filling station at 990 and a Houston one at 960 — and four times the median of the 69 listings that state a count. Ice rink appears once in the whole dataset.
Pennsylvania tier pricing appears in what changes at a state line, and two of the three listings took premium.
Who should place snack and drink machines in Pennsylvania?
Nationwide Vending Locators is the Pennsylvania alternative for snack and drink equipment, charging a Pennsylvania location on installation. With no verified state statute, that timing is the structural protection available — no Pennsylvania rule makes a placement fee refundable.
Ask both for a named Pennsylvania venue and the month. Three exist on the record, which is enough to make a vague answer conspicuous. A Pennsylvania record of that length is handled in how to check a locator’s record.
The two bowling alleys are the most useful pages in the record
Because they remove a whole class of argument. If a seller tells you a venue’s traffic sets its share, Pennsylvania contains the counter-example in the same category, the same state and the same week.
| Greensburg | Pittsburgh | |
|---|---|---|
| Venue type | Bowling alley | Bowling alley |
| Tier | Standard | Premium |
| Visitors a day | 140 | 270 |
| Visitor-hours a day | about 378 | about 729 |
| Share agreed | 40% of net | 30% of net |
| Signed | July 23, 2026 | July 28, 2026 |
Pittsburgh has nearly twice the traffic, twice the captive time, premium tier — and five points less. Thirty miles and five days separate the two deals.
Two readings are available and only one is supported. The unsupported one is that premium-tier venues get worse terms; nothing else in the record shows that. The supported one is narrower and more useful: the share is negotiated, and nothing in the listings predicts it. Bowling alleys in particular come out low across the whole dataset — seven of eighteen agreed below 40% — so a Pennsylvania buyer should expect a bowling negotiation to start lower than a family entertainment one.
What governs a Pennsylvania deal
The federal Business Opportunity Rule. A Pennsylvania buyer is due that one-page federal document a full seven calendar days before signing or paying, and every earnings claim made to a Pennsylvania buyer substantiated in writing (16 CFR 437.2 and 437.3).
Pennsylvania is absent from the 25 state codes this series worked through, meaning no Pennsylvania statute was confirmed — not that none exists. Work on the basis of no registration, no bond and no cooling-off period — which leaves the refund clause as a Pennsylvania buyer’s only route back to an enrolment payment.
What does Pennsylvania require before the machine switches on?
No licence and no decal — but an unusual identification rule: each machine must show the operator’s name and address. Sales tax runs through the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
That is a different kind of requirement from everything else in this series, and it has a useful side effect.
| State | What is on or behind the machine |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | The operator’s name and address, on the machine |
| North Dakota | A state licence per machine |
| Maryland | A $2.50 trader’s licence sticker |
| New Hampshire | A $350 Class C licence, held by the operator |
| North Carolina | Nothing |
An identification rule costs nothing and makes the machine self-documenting: anyone standing in front of it can read who is responsible for it. For a buyer the practical point is narrower — confirm whose name goes on the plate, because in a locator arrangement the operator’s name belongs there rather than the locator’s.
What should a Pennsylvania buyer check before paying?
Three things, in this order:
- Which of the three Pennsylvania listings is being quoted at you, and whether it supports the number. Greensburg’s 40% and Pittsburgh’s 30% cannot both be “what Pennsylvania pays”.
- Whose name and address goes on the machine. It should be the operator’s, and in a dispute it is the first thing anyone reads.
- The federal disclosure, a week ahead, since no Pennsylvania registration was verified and the refund clause is the rest of the protection.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the best vending machine locator in Pennsylvania?
For a specialty machine, PinPoint Vending, with three signed Pennsylvania venues on the record including the busiest placement in the whole dataset — an ice rink in Export reporting 400,000 visitors a year. For snack and drink machines, Nationwide Vending Locators.
Does Pennsylvania have a business opportunity law?
Not one this series verified. Twenty-five states were checked against their own codes and Pennsylvania is not among them, so treat the federal Business Opportunity Rule as the floor.
What licence does a vending machine need in Pennsylvania?
No vending licence and no decal. Instead each machine must show the operator’s name and address, which is an identification requirement rather than a permit.
Why do the two Pennsylvania bowling alleys matter?
Because they contradict each other. Greensburg reports 140 visitors a day and agreed 40% of net; Pittsburgh reports 270 and agreed 30%. They signed five days apart, thirty miles apart.
What is the busiest venue in the record?
An ice rink in Export, Pennsylvania, reporting 400,000 visitors a year — about 1,100 a day. No other placement in the dataset comes close.
Sources
- 16 CFR Part 437, Business Opportunity Rule (eCFR)
- Sports and Exercise, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017 spotlight, 2009–15 data)
- Nationwide Vending Locators: service, fees and coverage pages, checked October 6, 2026
- PinPoint Vending: Pennsylvania permit guide, pricing page and open marketplace listings, collected October 5 and 6, 2026