Well, sort of. It's not like I come up to a counter with money to buy the papers, lol.

Based on what I can sell, I tell them how many papers I need daily and on Sundays. They give me the papers each night, along with my home copies. Then, at the end of the month, they charge me for the papers I took that month to sell.

Now, a few days after they charge me for the papers, I give them my "returns" which are the papers I do not sell. They'll then credit me for those and that'll reflect on my next month's statement.

So the $768 of quarters isn't pure profit... somewhere in my mess of mid-month and month ending paperwork for my two routes and my single copy (the machines) routes, it'll say that I paid $200 or something for those papers.

Yes, I stop and empty/fill the machines with newspapers every night. It only takes a second and those 7 machines are in 3 different places... 3 machines at one store, 2 at another and 2 at yet another location. I sell 2 different newspapers, that's why I have 2 machines in each location. I also sell advance Sundays at the store where I have 3 machines. I deliver 5 different newspapers to customer's homes though.

 

Makes sense. Never knew those machines were privately operated. Thats why Im so curious! Sounds like a good deal though, if you're looking at the physical effort to monetary return ratio.

 

Well, generally they're not privately operated. Only us with very rural routes have coin machines. It's just too far off the beaten trail for the newspaper company to come out and deal with.

 

thats what i figured, im the same way. LA is some 70+ miles from me and San Diego is 80 miles or so. Im thinking about looking into this little business venture.

 

I'm not sure you you'd be able to just get coin operated machines. Usually, out here at least, you get them if they're on your home delivery route.

Now there is one guy at my warehouse that does only single copy (the papers that get sold via machine or store) for an entire city. He takes hundreds of newspapers a night and drives all over the city of Marysville to each machine and store. The thing that blows though is that it takes him a long time, he has to keep record/track of sales at each store and bill them, count probably thousands and thousands of dollars of quarters a month (we might of invested in a coin counter though) and then the worst part... returns.

The newspaper company doesn't take the whole paper back, they just want the date cut out of it and then you to tally up your returns for each day.. blah blah blah. For me, it's not too hard to do. For him... eek!!!

Now home delivery routes at my company pay unbelievably well when compared to other newspaper companies in the area. They not only pay well but I have a route where I don't even have to get out of the car... I just deliver to their newspaper tubes by their mailboxes.

Generally, the awesome routes (like mine) are very hard to get. Other newspaper carriers with crappy routes are always trying to get the good ones and they're the ones that get hired because it's hard to find someone who really understands that this is a 365 day a week job and will consistently show up to deliver and have some longevity (training people on routes is a PITA).

Too bad you didn't live near me. I'm looking for a sub carrier. I'd pay you $70 a night for 3.5 hours of work or $60 a night if you don't want to mess with taxes at the end of the year.

 

I see, a lot of good info! Im gonna look into it and see what the deal is here locally. I could use a side job, so if someone here needed a "sub-carrier" even, that could work too.

 

Getting into a paper route via being a subcarrier is a great way to go about it. That's how I eventually got my job.

I think a good way to judge a good company/route is by how hard it is to obtain. Good routes have carriers who'll keep that same route for years, if not decades. Bad routes have high turnover.

One more little thing. A crappy route/company will only pay you for what you make off of the papers you deliver. A good route/company will not only pay you that amount but a lot extra for your effort. I get an additional $1000 a month on my big route and another $300 on my small route in this type of money (we call it "carrier discount", what they call it elsewhere, I don't know).

With all my routes and machines, I average around $2200-2500 a month for 3.5 hours a work, 7 days a week. That doesn't include gas but the company does reward me with $200 in gas a month if I get little to no complaints. There are also no taxes taken out. However, since I drive 80+ miles a night, I can claim that at the end of the year and actually break even or get money back.

Anyhow, that's the skinny on my job. It sound so uber crappy when I tell people I'm a newspaper carrier but in actually, It's a kick ___ part-time job. Nothing like getting paid for doing almost absolutely nothing, lol.

 

If you have any input as to where machines can go, you need machines in front of restaurants. Especially breakfast places.

 

I remember helping my dad deliver the Seattle PI when I was a little kid. I wouldn't mind having a paper route for a side job but I don't want that wear and tear on my car! haha maybe it's time to invest in a beater car.

 

That's who I deliver for. Well them and the Times. I'm not entirely sure how well they pay for city routes. I know in the warehouse where I work, the people who deliver in the City of Marysville don't make as much as us who deliver more north and/or on the outskirts of the city.

Yes, I can put my boxes anywhere or get more boxes. The company doesn't care... they just need subscription numbers and the more I can sell, the better.

Unfortunately, having a rural route in the middle of nowhere, limits the amount of places I have to put newspaper boxes. I have two little stores and one retirement community and that's it. The rest of my route is just rural roads with houses.