introducing tokens in self serve

how do you feel about introducing tokens in self serve?
i have recently had a discussion witha car wash operator who says he makes additional moneybecause people tend to lose leftover tokens or because they dont want to hold on to them decide to spend them. can anybody give me their personal experience? thanks so much.

You're probably going to get a lot of opinions on the subject. We've never used tokens or had the need to; some people switch to all tokens to prevent breakins. Some use them to offer a bonus payout with a larger bill. Adding tokens to the payout for a bill in the hopes of token walkoff is IMO a poor reason to do it. I have known a few people who did it to cut down on their changer abuse, and for that it works well.

I think all car washes exeperience some traffic from people just wanting change. It used to annoy me alot (and still does a little) , but if you think about it, you are having people come onto your property - they could buy a wash in the process or better yet know where to come when they do. Tokens would take them to another wash or probably persuade them to get change elsewhere. Forcing the customer to use his left over tokens and come into your business is also something to think about. There are pros and cons. Fun parks use tokens alot, and it seems to work well for them. Their thought process seems that once you get the tokens for $5, 10 or 20 you have to use them. Conversely, a customer may not want left over tokens all the time.
My opinion would be to stay with quarters. I'd rather not want to give a customer any reason (especially in this economy)to avoid by business.

I've never used token to replace real money in the changers. But I have communicated with quite a few that have swapped over. 90% plus are happy they made the swap.

I will say that the rising expense of tokens would encourage me to look at valuing them at a dollar instead of a quarter. They are getting expensive! I just paid about .15 each for some small ones. I could envision them being so close to .25 each in a few years that that you lose the "walkaway" advantage.

I thought about what crown said - if you mix tokens and quarters in your changer, I wonder if people abusing the changer expecting only currency and getting some tokens would come back to use them.

Regardless of how you do it, there's going to be some "customer training" involved. Signs alone won't help. One guy I know who started mixing tokens had people asking him "What am I supposed to do if I have leftover tokens?" He had to tell them to use up the tokens first since it didn't occur to them.

I'll say again that looking to make a few cents on token walkoff is a bad reason to switch. Adding in-bay credit card acceptance would be a better investment.

I had a credit card to token machine that actually brought in 8% of my ss gross. $1 tokens are best. Bonus tokens with every transaction. Check out all local game rooms and be sure to get a size and weight that's different. They are good for fleet sales also. Figure 20% will never return. Also figure, once you issue them they will continue to surface for years to come, even if you stop selling them. If I was in a high crime area, I would consider not taking any cash but only if that was my last resort.

I believe the Pay One Price format would help solve a crime problem also. Because no one would be on site unless they had already paid you $5. If you are considering a token only systems, I would certainly look at POP before I made a final decision. Token only is a hassle for the customers.