[foreigner]

The problem is with our payments infrastructure there isn't a practical way to make a "machine" on the internet that accepts two quarters. OP's machine charges $5. The Stripe minimum charge is $0.50, and their fees on that charge would be almost $0.21.

[alexchamberlain]

How does that $0.21 compare to the cost of maintaining the coin machine on a vending machine and sending someone to collect the cash?

[mytailorisrich]

The difference between fixed and marginal costs applies here.

The costs you mention are essentially fixed costs. The marginal cost of a sale is then zero (ignoring the cost of the item itself).

With Stripe the marginal cost is 21c or 42%. You can increase sales ad infinitum and Stripe will still take 42%...

[notpushkin]

Aren’t there payment processors that charge a flat percentage without the fixed part? Or you can use alternate payment methods (e.g. SEPA payments in Europe are practically free, and many eWallets / QR payments in Asia use flat percentage as well IIRC. Crypto is also a possibility if you’re in the right niche.

[Ferret7446]

My understanding is that you can do it on layer 2 networks like Lightning, though it suffers from the same limitations shared by all decentralized systems (e.g., depends on gaining widespread adoption and weakness from internetwork blockades).

[y-curious]

Not to mention, even intelligent adults in Silicon Valley don't own cryptocurrency. Quite the opposite of a vending machine; Analogous to a vending machine in the US that only accepts Turkish Lira.