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I am looking into buying one or two reasonably cost snack vending machines. Preferrably under $1200. I would like to inquire about reputable companies that sell these machines, who are they?
Where are some good places to locate the machine and is a contract or fee paid necessary to the owners?
They are good money, but they work a couple of ways. You own one in your own location, and you stock it, its your own expense/proft. Or you get a company to come in to your location, they service, and fill, and pay you a portion of the sales. Depending on who you find, you don't pay anything and just profit share.
One of the easiest, most profitable businesses that I have found is placing gumball vending machines in locations where others pay the overhead. Gumball vending is a pretty narrow niche of a huge industry. It is a tempting thought that if there is money to be made with gumball machines, there must be a ton of money to made from machines that dispense candy bars, chips, cold drinks, and coffee. The gross income from those products dwarf the gross income from bulk candy and gum, but those big machines are much more expensive to buy, much more expensive to maintain, and much more expensive to manage. With gumball vending machines, you fill them with candy before you get to a location, drop them off and move on. most of the time you will not even have to come back to the location until it is time to remove the money and refill them with candy.
Little Overhead, High Profit Margin
I never paid much notice to these little machines until I opened my first business back in the early 1980s. Someone came in and asked me if he could put a machine in the lobby of my printing business. I didn’t think much about it. I just figured it was some charity deal.
The owner of the machine came around about once every two months and emptied the money and refilled it with bubblegum. It was a few years later that I realized that the owner was the one profiting from the machine and if he was contributing a portion to charity it was just a few pennies per dollar. His profit was in the neighborhood of 75%. I was paying the rent and the rest of his overhead for his machine.
Video rental was my next business. I eventually owned a chain of stores, each with a manager who allowed candy vendors to place machines. They believed the same as I had earlier – it was for charity. I allowed the machines to stay for awhile. When I found the time to shop, I bought my own machines and had those that weren’t mine removed.
Those gumball vending machines made the highest percentage of profit of anything in the stores, and that was when video rental was extremely lucrative. Each location made as much as $100 per month profit, and I had sixteen stores. At $100 per month, and sixteen stores, we are talking about $1600. you aren’t likely to find sixteen locations that good, but even if the average location netted 25% of that, that would be an outrageous profit margin.
When we sold our stores in 1994. I removed the gumball vending machines and placed them in locations. I ran that route for about a year, and made a good portion of our pocket money during that time. My wife and I made the decision to move to the Alabama Gulf Coast, and I made the decision not to move the machines. I had that route a short time, but it didn’t take long to learn the business.
The best Locations for Gumball Vending Machines
The best locations for gumball vending machines that I found were stores with good traffic, but no snack options. one of the best locations was a business that hand washed cars. This location had no snacks, but did have a small waiting room with a TV set. Small mom and pop restaurants were good. Auto body shops and service stations (not the kind with convenience stores) were also good. look for locations with high traffic or where customers wait.
Triple Vends
Most of my gumball vending machines were triple vend. all of them accepted only quarters. I had several racks that held six single vends. These racks are fine if you own the location, but if you are placing machines in someone else’s business, the triple vends are the best choice. They are easier to transport and easier to place. you will want triple vends, not single or double vends, because you need enough gum and candy in the machines to last until you can get back. If you have a super location you might be able to place two triple vends.
You need to put something different in each unit of the triple vend. good choices to begin with are are gumballs, runts, skittles. and m&ms. be careful about using m&ms in locations without air conditioning in the summer. as you get more locations, you can experiment with more candy choices. 
Cost of Triple Vends
Good triple vend machines start at around $200. Buy quality, durable machines. there are cheap ones on the market, but they break easily. Used machines can be found with some searching. you might even check eBay. make sure you inquire about shipping. It can be high. once you get a few machines, it might be worth it to travel for used machines. Gumball vending machines are lucrative, but they are not real easy to sell used. most people can’t see the potential, so it is possible to find good deals in quantity. you might even be able to buy machines near your home that are already placed.
when the Milky Way is just dangling there. you paid your 75ยข, but got nothing!
I mutter insults. usually if i kick it enough, it'll come down. making it taste that much sweeter, having worked for it. 
i drop the damn machine and run
Kick the daylights out of them.
get pissed and try to make it fall
I usually curse at it at inappropriate volumes. It must be quite embarrassing to be with me when it happens though, As when I kick it I just hurt my foot..
OMG. some child broke the caffeine machine at school today. I thought I was going insane without my fix. I was not impressed to say the least. Imbecile children, eurgh.
I get one of the big burly guys from maintenace to shake it loose. There usually the size of the vending machine anyways so the stuck snack never has a chance.
Try another selection for $1
candy is bad for you;)