When a Magic Box lands in your lap, you learn what “making change” really means.

One day in 2015, my friend Cynthia called and said, “Oleg’s gotta get rid of this vending machine. $100, and it’s yours. Oh. And you have to figure out how to get it out of here.”

I’d been sitting on an old cigarette machine for a year or so, cooking up ideas for products to vend with limited space, and specific sizing. A full size snack vending machine seemed a lot more customizable.

As a lifelong treasure hunter, garage sale addict, bargain queen, small boutique owner, & maker/crafter, getting a vending machine for $100 seemed like a no-brainer. I was gonna stock that thing with whatever in the hell I wanted!

Things you learn about vending machines on the first day of owning your first vending machine:

1)They’re really, REALLY heavy.

2)This definitely isn’t going to fit in the back of a Honda Element.

3) It’s really fun to sell fun.

Magic Box is a woman-owned, woman operated business.